‘74 G-37 want to add pickup

Joined
Jan 12, 2021
Messages
1
Reaction score
0
Guild Total
1
I have a crack in the bridge plate which needs repair. I also want to modify my old Guild acoustic to play through an amp for performances. Any advice on:
Which types (bridge, sound hole, etc.)
Risks associated with the modification
Price range for repair and adding the pickup.

thanks in advance for the feedback
 

walrus

Reverential Member
Gold Supporting
Joined
Dec 23, 2006
Messages
23,936
Reaction score
7,993
Location
Massachusetts
A lot of love here for K&K Pure mini pickups. I replaced the DTAR in my '11 F-30RCE with one. And I had one in my ex-D64, too...

walrus
 

Grassdog

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Messages
550
Reaction score
118
Location
Cincinnati, OH
Have you had a pickup installed before or are you starting from scratch in terms of knowledge about this? Do you have a price range? We can throw out some recommendations, sure, but experiences and opinions are going to be widely varied (and not necessarily confined to just Guild)
 

davismanLV

Venerated Member
Joined
Mar 24, 2011
Messages
19,145
Reaction score
11,682
Location
U.S.A. : Nevada : Las Vegas
Guild Total
2
The bridge plate, inside the guitar between the X-braces, is mostly to keep the ball ends of the strings from tearing up the much softer spruce of the soundboard. I'm not sure if a crack is seriously detrimental to it's function. How is it going to be repaired??
 

dreadnut

Gone But Not Forgotten
Gone But Not Forgotten
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
16,082
Reaction score
6,442
Location
Grand Rapids, MI
Guild Total
2
Repair and K&K Mini, you'll probably be out $300
 

Rambozo96

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2020
Messages
1,659
Reaction score
1,192
Location
Texas
Guild Total
5
Replacing a bridge plate is a fairly expensive procedure isn’t it? For what it’s worth I always had less than stellar experience with the piezo loaded electric/acoustics. Seem to favor the soundhole pickups, and I recall my briefly owned Guild DC5E had a nice pickup provided you adjusted the mic and under saddle pickup to your liking.
 

wileypickett

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2009
Messages
4,949
Reaction score
4,458
Location
Cambridge, MA
For the best acoustic sound you want nothing between the saddle and the bridge. So it's best to avoid under-saddle pickups, unless you don't mind the trade-off.

Bridge-plates are difficult to remove (I know one luthier who says it's their least favorite repair job) but it can be done if you want to go that route.

No idea what your luthier might charge, but I'd recommend having your luthier look at it and see what he or she recommends. They may be able to wick Super-Glue into the crack and thereby avoid any need to replace the bridge-plate.
 

SFIV1967

Venerated Member
Joined
Nov 20, 2010
Messages
18,403
Reaction score
8,882
Location
Bavaria / Germany
Guild Total
8
The question is if the OP really means to replace the "bridge plate" inside the guitar or if he talks simply about the bridge itself. Would not be the first time somebody wasn't clear.
Ralg
 

mavuser

Enlightened Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Messages
8,094
Reaction score
2,610
Location
New York
I would get a passive pickup, plus a nice external pre-amp, that sits on the floor/stage like a guitar pedal. Not a fan of active pickups with batteries and volume/tone controls all in/on the guitar. The external preamps are better, and you only need one to share among many guitars.

as for the passive pickup any one of many sound hole pickups (that's what I see out there onstage most these days, they seem to be most user friendly at high volume), or the K+K as others have posted...or even both, (blended together, or not).
 

Grassdog

Member
Joined
Feb 22, 2009
Messages
550
Reaction score
118
Location
Cincinnati, OH
I'm a fan of the LR Baggs Anthem SL system which in an active pickup combining an undersaddle and internal mic, allowing you to adjust the "blend" between the undersaddle and mic. I have this system installed in a variety of acoustic guitars and it works really well for me.

That said, what works best for you will depend on a lot of other factors like what kind of PA or amp you'll playing through, whether you're playing solo or in mix with a band, what other equipment you use in performance, and of course your budget. This is very much an individual preference kind of thing.
 

Shakeylee

Member
Joined
Jun 5, 2020
Messages
474
Reaction score
276
Location
Philadelphia
Guild Total
4
I think pickup choices are highly dependent upon playing style .
For example, a strummy songwriter might want a K&K , whilst a dearmond magnetic pickup would be the choice of a fingerstyle blues player.
There’s many between that
 
Top