DTAR 18V Wavelength Multisource now Duncan Wavelength Duo

txbumper57

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I was looking around for another DTAR 18 volt Wavelength Multisource pickup like New Hartford used in the Traditional Series Guild and found some cool info. One of the stores that regularly carries the DTAR Wavelength Multisource had an ad listed for one and at the bottom they stated, "The DTAR 18 volt Wavelength Multisource is now packaged as the Duncan Wavelength Duo. While the packaging and labeling has changed it is still the same pickup system as before." After reading this I searched for the Duncan Wavelength Duo and found the link to the Seymour Duncan direct site. From the photos it appears everything is the same with the exception being that the preamp is now labeled as the "Duncan Wavelength Duo". The DTAR brand name was an Acronym for Duncan Turner Acoustic Research anyways so it seems Duncan has taken over the brand line entirely and just renamed the pickup as the Duncan Wavelength Duo. This is pretty cool for folks like me who love their DTAR 18 volt Wavelength Multisource pickups and thought that they were discontinued never to be made again. Here is the link to the Duncan listing for the Duncan Wavelength Duo pickup system and they are listing them at $195.

http://www.seymourduncan.com/acoustic/wave-length-multi-source-system-steel

It also appears that they are continuing production on the rest of the old DTAR Line under the Duncan name with the 18 volt Duncan Wavelength Duo for Nylon String guitars and the Regular 18 volt Duncan Wavelength UST only pickups as well.

TX
 
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chazmo

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Duo it is. I think the new name is recent, but the product is the same, and AFAIK had not been discontinued, TX, during the transition. Sounds like the price is right around where it used to be too (roughly).

I don't know what happened to DTAR, but yeah... It looks like Seymour Duncan has taken the product line into its own.
 

Cougar

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Thanks, TX. It seems to be about branding and marketing. I imagine "DTAR" is pretty well known, especially in Guild circles, but maybe not so catchy a name. "Duncan duo"? Not bad. They sure do a great job picking up that acoustic tone!
 

chazmo

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I'll note that they've changed the stenciling on the metal housing accordingly. What I can't tell is whether they've printed new PCBs... I see the words "dual source" on the PCB, but can't make out much else. Used to be they had a DTAR symbol on there. Anyway, I'd be surprised if they re-did the PCB just for the name change, but it's possible.
 

JohnW63

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I'd like to install or have one installed in one of my Guilds, but I am sort of afraid to have it done.

<thread veer>
If it were you, which guitar of mine would it be ?
</thread veer>
 

kostask

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DTAR was a joint venture with Rick Turner and Seymour Duncan, from day 1. Basically, Duncan (the company) financed the researsh that Rick Turner (he of Alembic bass, Rick Turner/Renaissance guitars, and hung out with the early Grateful Dead) did a lot of fundamental work as to why Piezo transducers "quack". or sound like the strings are made of rubber. He found that the leading edge of a sound wave from an acoustic guitar rose extremely fast, and caused an input overload. The overload created a distortion (extra harmonics, electrically), causing the "quack". His solution, in order to give the required headroom to the input section, was to use an 18V pre-amp, not the standard 9V. He did a lot of other research, into the Mama Bear box, and the other units that were.are in the DTAR/now Duncan lineup.

I don't know what happened to Rick Turner's involvement with DTAR. However, please note that Duncan has been building the DTAR stuff all along.
 

txbumper57

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I had read about the joint venture between Rick Turner and Duncan with Turner doing the R&D for the 18 volt system and Duncan doing the manufacturing. Duncan could have bought Turner out of his share or a number of other things could have happened. What your post has me wondering now Kostask is whether or not Duncan plans on continuing the production of the Previously made DTAR designed Preamp/DI boxes like the Mama Bear and the Solstice. I remember not too long ago a member had stated that they were looking for one of the DTAR Model boxes and they had been discontinued. Very interesting to say the least. I hope they do bring them back as I know of quite a few players who really liked the equipment.

TX
 
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chazmo

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Well, whatever happened between Duncan and Turner is not obvious after a 5 minute internet search... It doesn't appear that there was a takeover of one company by the other or anything like that. It's not even clear that D-TAR was ever really a separate entity from Seymour Duncan.
 

richardp69

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It's a great pickup IMHO. I just bought one to put into my newly acquired NH D 50 BG. I found it on Ebay for $69 shipped (if I remember right). The guy/store had 7 or 8 units remaining. Not new, they were taken out of Guilds and then resold as just a pup. This is the 2nd one I've bought from him and the 1st one worked perfectly.

I'm almost thinking of buying up another 3 or 4 just to have on hand.
 

JohnW63

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Afraid of adding a/the pickup, in general, or afraid of entrusting it to someone else?

Both of my acoustic Guilds are nice ones, and not the cheapest instruments I own. I would hate to screw them up by my own hands or by a poor choice of installer. So, I guess my answer to you is...BOTH ! There is nothing "special" about the F47R, so maybe, there is less to lose with that one. But the D-55 might be more fun to amp, with the lower bass, but I wonder if altering a Prototype would be the best idea. Or, I could just man up , realize they are just tools to making music and be done.
 

Christopher Cozad

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Both of my acoustic Guilds are nice ones, and not the cheapest instruments I own. I would hate to screw them up by my own hands or by a poor choice of installer. So, I guess my answer to you is...BOTH ! There is nothing "special" about the F47R, so maybe, there is less to lose with that one. But the D-55 might be more fun to amp, with the lower bass, but I wonder if altering a Prototype would be the best idea. Or, I could just man up , realize they are just tools to making music and be done.
I understand. As with anything unfamiliar, it can be a tough decision.

One solution might be a soundhole-mounted magnetic pickup, leaving the wire/guitar cable on the outside of the guitar. No intrusion, no modification.

Press-fitting the self-stick style pickups into place inside the guitar (e.g., LR Baggs Lyric) is non-destructive and can be easily reversed/changed/modified. Gluing on the Sound Board Transducer style pickups (e.g., K&K, Dazzo) is a bit more involved, and can still be reversed/changed/modified, albeit with a little more risk. Installing an Under Saddle Transducer requires (correctly) drilling a hole through the saddle slot and soundboard, adjusting or replacing the saddle, and potentially fiddling with the slot for a good fit.

The part of the pickup installation/modification that stumps some folks is drilling and/or reaming for the strap jack. It is not that it is difficult, but there can be a pucker factor involved. I've seen some failed attempts, and they aren't pretty. If you are successful up to this point, you now get to practice your soldering skills, connecting the pickup wire(s) to the jack. By way of analogy, you could really ruin a set of expensive rims trying to mount new tires, if you were not familiar/comfortable with the process. You could put those same rims in the hands of a skilled technician, pay for the service, and get back to driving. On the other hand, if you have the knack for it, you can do it yourself.

If you haven't looked into it, yet, and you are still not committed to a particular solution, there is a pretty sweet package made by Mi-Si called the Acoustic Trio. It pairs an UST with an ingenious battery-free, endpin-mounted preamp. A 60-second charge (you plug a cable into the strap jack) gives you up to 16 hours of play time. Having no battery to change is compelling.
 

richardp69

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Richard,

The guy had a Multisource version for that price ?

Not the Multi Source. The unit I bought was the Dtar 18V Wavelength Lock N Load system. Some folks don't like the looks/feel of the larger end cap where you replace the AA batteries. Doesn't bother me and I for sure like the convenience and ease of battery replacement. Works fine for me anyway.
 

F312

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I understand. As with anything unfamiliar, it can be a tough decision.

One solution might be a soundhole-mounted magnetic pickup, leaving the wire/guitar cable on the outside of the guitar. No intrusion, no modification.

Press-fitting the self-stick style pickups into place inside the guitar (e.g., LR Baggs Lyric) is non-destructive and can be easily reversed/changed/modified. Gluing on the Sound Board Transducer style pickups (e.g., K&K, Dazzo) is a bit more involved, and can still be reversed/changed/modified, albeit with a little more risk. Installing an Under Saddle Transducer requires (correctly) drilling a hole through the saddle slot and soundboard, adjusting or replacing the saddle, and potentially fiddling with the slot for a good fit.

The part of the pickup installation/modification that stumps some folks is drilling and/or reaming for the strap jack. It is not that it is difficult, but there can be a pucker factor involved. I've seen some failed attempts, and they aren't pretty. If you are successful up to this point, you now get to practice your soldering skills, connecting the pickup wire(s) to the jack. By way of analogy, you could really ruin a set of expensive rims trying to mount new tires, if you were not familiar/comfortable with the process. You could put those same rims in the hands of a skilled technician, pay for the service, and get back to driving. On the other hand, if you have the knack for it, you can do it yourself.

If you haven't looked into it, yet, and you are still not committed to a particular solution, there is a pretty sweet package made by Mi-Si called the Acoustic Trio. It pairs an UST with an ingenious battery-free, endpin-mounted preamp. A 60-second charge (you plug a cable into the strap jack) gives you up to 16 hours of play time. Having no battery to change is compelling.

Christopher, (Mi-Si), do you have to drill the end pin hole for a 1/4" jack?

Ralph
 

txbumper57

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Not the Multi Source. The unit I bought was the Dtar 18V Wavelength Lock N Load system. Some folks don't like the looks/feel of the larger end cap where you replace the AA batteries. Doesn't bother me and I for sure like the convenience and ease of battery replacement. Works fine for me anyway.

Those Lock N' Load versions are good pickups but the only drawback to them is once you install one on a guitar it makes it almost impossible to change to another pickup at a later date due to the over sized hole that that has to be drilled for the "Lock N' Load" battery endpin. If you ever try to put another pickup system in it or even the Modern DTAR wavelength equivalent (which sells for right at $100 New) you have to do some more modifications to the guitar to mount the smaller more common endpin jack in the much larger hole.

TX
 

adorshki

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I'd like to install or have one installed in one of my Guilds, but I am sort of afraid to have it done.

<thread veer>
If it were you, which guitar of mine would it be ?
</thread veer>

EDIT: POSTED this before reading the whole thread, so missed your concern about messing with the prototype. But I still say it's the best candidate.
But the D-55 might be more fun to amp, with the lower bass, but I wonder if altering a Prototype would be the best idea.

I'm assuming you want to keep your Ovations all original, so:
Prototype D55 would take the least value hit, because prototypes are inherently difficult to appraise. They only have enhanced value to a narrow niche of potential buyers or if historically significant, and usually there's only one, so there's no comparable history of selling prices.
A Mustang prototype would be considered historically significant for example, due to sheer recognition factor and cultural icon status.
A D55 prototype probably only has perceived enhanced value based on historical significance by some folks here on this forum.
So besides not hurting potential future value, I agree it's probably the best candidate for a pickup, besides.
In contrast, an unmodified F47 will always be more valuable than a modified one, to an estate appraiser, anyway, and probably most of us here.
Even if it's a "nice" mod.
 
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Christopher Cozad

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Christopher, (Mi-Si), do you have to drill the end pin hole for a 1/4" jack?

Ralph
You certainly don't *have to*, Ralph, but if may be difficult to utilize the system, otherwise. The heart of the Mi-Si approach is their "battery-free endpin jack/preamp", so you would have that dangling outside the guitar (if you ran the wire out the soundhole, for instance). You would want to secure the wire and the jack outside the soundhole so that the weight of your guitar cable does not yank the pickup out, and so the jack doesn't scratch the guitar. But it could be done.

mi-si_jack_install.jpg


mi-si_acoustic_trio.jpg
 
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