Need a good sound hole pickup that will fit an F30...

Westerly Wood

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I am looking at Bill Lawrence sh pups that just fit in the hole and have a chord attached to plug in. NO installation, just simple place and play and take out.
The pup on my F30R does not have a lot of power or volume and my Seymour Duncan Woody pup is too wide for the F30 sound hole diameter.

thoughts?

thanks
 

Westerly Wood

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buy a preamp for the built in pickup?

oh man, genius! funny, my wife was looking over my shoulder while i was out on amazon looking at bill lawrence pups. she goes, can't you just get the current pup in it fixed? lol

well sure, but then i cant buy something....

i will look for a good preamp. any suggestions? :)
 

Westerly Wood

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I'm more than happy with the old l.r. baggs Para DI

i have heard of this one, often, when i was on the AGF, it was all the rage. glad to know it's still solid, as it is quite affordable. thanks krysh.
 

walrus

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Given what frono has said, and particularly if you are going to use it a lot, you can't beat a K&K Pure Mini under saddle pickup...

walrus
 

Canard

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L.R. Braggs, Sunrise, Seymour Duncan (Mag Mic), all good. My favourite is the dark horse among them, the Mag Mic.

It can be fitted with a small battery so there is no need to install the 9v battery holder.


I got my used on CL for about $50. Love it.

The eccentric Aussie guitarist/singer-songwriter, John Butler, used to use them exclusively and maybe still does.



It was hard to find a clip of his that, in one way or another, did not violate the political guidelines of the site, however. ;)

He generally uses acoustics in performance and with pedals and good amplification, he can make them sound like an acoustic or a Strat with its unearthly metallic howl.
 

Westerly Wood

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Given what frono has said, and particularly if you are going to use it a lot, you can't beat a K&K Pure Mini under saddle pickup...

walrus

yeah, i have always used those. got it in the Br and the D35.
should probably put it in the F30R too
 

Westerly Wood

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L.R. Braggs, Sunrise, Seymour Duncan (Mag Mic), all good. My favourite is the dark horse among them, the Mag Mic.

It can be fitted with a small battery so there is no need to install the 9v battery holder.


I got my used on CL for about $50. Love it.

The eccentric Aussie guitarist/singer-songwriter, John Butler, used to use them exclusively and maybe still does.



It was hard to find a clip of his that, in one way or another, did not violate the political guidelines of the site, however. ;)

He generally uses acoustics in performance and with pedals and good amplification, he can make them sound like an acoustic or a Strat with its unearthly metallic howl.


that is a great pup, but will be too wide for an F30 sound hole....
 

Canard

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that is a great pup, but will be too wide for an F30 sound hole....

Interesting. I have a 70s F30-NT, and the Mag Mic fits perfectly. It is not there at the moment, because I have my tripod-mounted DeArmond HB there for another purpose. But it does fit.
 

Westerly Wood

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Interesting. I have a 70s F30-NT, and the Mag Mic fits perfectly. It is not there at the moment, because I have my tripod-mounted DeArmond HB there for another purpose. But it does fit.
hmmm. do you know the length of it per chance? i will measure, as i did like that sound you shared in that video
 

Canard

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hmmm. do you know the length of it per chance? i will measure, as i did like that sound you shared in that video

The widest point below the top ears measures 3 and 7/8ths inches (measured without my calipers).

The sound hole on my F30 measures 4 inches.

Will scan and attach the instruction sheet that came in box shortly. I cannot find a PDF of it on SD's website, at least not quickly.

John Butler endorsement:

 

Canard

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Should add the product page, too.

 

Canard

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Here's another safe Butler performance.

 

Canard

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Oh ... and if you are looking for a used Mag Mic, make sure ti comes with the N-type battery clips. If it doesn't you are stuck with having to mount the 9 v transistor radio battery type clip inside.
 

Br1ck

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I know the K&K is the default go to, but I'm not a fan. Here's my story. I was looking for a pickup to replace a horrid Lyric in a Martin I had. A friend told me about a local pickup maker I should try out, so I called Teddy Randazo and bought a set of Dazzos and his recommended RedEye pre. Instant love. Four sets of Dazzos later, I bought my Martin D 35 that came with K&Ks already in it. Great I told myself, I won't have to spend for Dazzos. Plugged the guitar in, and something was wrong. They must be defective, I thought. Went into Gryphon and asked the guys if they could check them for me. They plugged into a Loudbox mini, AND BEFORE PLAYING THE GUITAR, they rolled all the bass off on the amp. Then they started playing with the mid and treble EQ. Yes, they got a decent sound. So I asked them, that is just how they sound? Yes. You see, it had been years since I touched even the treble knob on my RedEye. I've since moved on to a SunnAudio pre, an even better tone than the already good RedEye. You will need all the considerable EQ on the PARA DI if you go the K&K route. It is a cheaper way to go. Even cheaper is the JJB, witch I put in my cheapo archtop when I had the back off it. Now K&K is only part of the problem. The design of the gain in both the RedEye and the SunnAudio is very linear, so you don't need EQ to compensate for frequency dips and bumps in a poorly designed gain stage. Of course it all comes down to cost of components, and marketing. If Fishman and Baggs used even the best pots, it would double the cost of them. A Dazzo with SunnAudio combination is not cheap, but it is the best plug and play combination I've found. I help run an open mic, and had SunnAudio build me a two input Blender DI in a box. It makes even the cheapest piezo sound much better. Now I don't consider myself a holy grail tone chaser, but I do like trouble free plug and play. Set the board tone controls flat, plug in and go.
 
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