Orpheums with pickups?

[onlyrockrocks]

Is it too crazy to start three Orpheum threads on one single day? Anyway, here we go...

Did anyone here install a pickup in his or her Orpheum guitar? I don't have one in mine (yet). I always thought these instruments are much too beautiful for that, but on the other hand they are much too beautiful sounding and playing to not take them out too. I guess I only would go the passive pickup route with a strap installed to the headstock. But maybe I am too careful. In the end it's still a tool - a beautiful one though.
What do you think, what did you do and in case you threw a pickup in, which one?

Thank you!

 

[richardp69]

Personally, I will not be adding a pup to any of my Orpheums. I have enough other guitars to fill my plug in need. I just think they are too classy looking to mess with drilling, holes etc. Of course, I'm typically wrong more ofen than right so there is that.

 

[cupric]

Mic it up!

 

[chazmo]

Nope. My perspective aligns with Richard's.

I think if you're going to play any guitar on stage or in a studio, you have to use your judgement about what kind of amplification you're looking for. It's YOUR guitar, and needs to fit your usage. Good luck with your choices, onlyrockrocks!

 

[onlyrockrocks]

I'm with you. But from time to time I'm thinking about it. Especially when I see someone else with a rare and great guitar up on stage and think "Wow, this sounds terrific! And I bet it plays great and I bet it must feel too good to be true to be that easy going with your guitars to put a pickup into a guitar like that and just go up on stage and have fun..." And then I am back home, take a look at my Orpheum and just think...no.

 

[West R Lee]

This thread kind of tickles me a bit. The whole world thought I was crazy when I installed an LR Baggs Anthem in my brand new custom Collings guitar the week it arrived. There's really nothing to the installation if you do the research on installation, answer all your questions in your mind before hand, and have all the proper tools. Start to finish, the Anthem, which has both undersaddle and internal microphone took about 30 minutes to install, but that was with having formulated a game plan well ahead of time. It was a piece of cake.

Having said that, and going to the time and expense of having installed top a notch PUP system in my new Collings, I'd have to agree with a couple of the opinions stated above. I much still prefer the sound of an acoustic through a good condenser microphone, bar none. To me, a mic is the most accurate sound amplified that you can get out of an acoustic.

West

 

[chazmo]

For the record, Jim, I did not think you were crazy. Well, at least not for that reason.

 

[onlyrockrocks]

I am really torn between never ever, that's kind of blasphemy somehow, and being jealous of people who just do it.
I love Chris Stapleton and his beat up Gibson, I loved Keith Richards with his D18 during the Stripped period in the mid 90s, I love people who just make a guitar their own and use it. And when you play live in most situations a mic won't work at all, although it is the most beautiful way to pick up a acoustic guitar.
After buying my Orpheum, I also bought another acoustic for live usage, that already had a pickup built in. Just to don't have to install a pickup in my Orpheum. But I just love my Orpheum so much more and sometimes I think I am an idiot for not taking it out with me. I mean, life is short, why not use it with a non invasive pickup?! And my inner discussion just starts over again...

 

[richardp69]

For the record, Jim, I did not think you were crazy. Well, at least not for that reason.

Well, I think he's crazy as hell. LOL

 

[onlyrockrocks]

Well, I think he's crazy as hell. LOL

And I think you are damn right.

 

[fronobulax]

people who just do it.

People who just do it tend to just do it and not ask a bunch of strangers on the internet for advice. That is coming out wrong but you get the idea.

If a guitar is a tool is the Orpheum the best tool you will ever own for performing under circumstances where you need to be louder? If it is would using a mic make it a better tool than a pickup or is it all about personal convenience and not just sound?

If it were me I wouldn't do it unless I wanted "something" and there was no other way to get that. But I also know it is your guitar and you have to live with the decision, not me.

There is also the scarcity factor. There are relative few Orpheums and in some people's mind this change might reduce the number. Do you feel any obligation to preserve the legacy for the future? (Rhetorical because only your answer matters).

 

[onlyrockrocks]

People who just do it tend to just do it and not ask a bunch of strangers on the internet for advice. That is coming out wrong but you get the idea.

If a guitar is a tool is the Orpheum the best tool you will ever own for performing under circumstances where you need to be louder? If it is would using a mic make it a better tool than a pickup or is it all about personal convenience and not just sound?

If it were me I wouldn't do it unless I wanted "something" and there was no other way to get that. But I also know it is your guitar and you have to live with the decision, not me.

There is also the scarcity factor. There are relative few Orpheums and in some people's mind this change might reduce the number. Do you feel any obligation to preserve the legacy for the future? (Rhetorical because only your answer matters).

Well again, I am with you and I am not.
First of all, in this case I don't really need help, but I am interested in others opinions and choices. I don't have seen a topic like this before (of course I might be wrong), but it's something that already bothers me for quite some time.
The funny thing is: I have my Orpheum now for about 6-7 years and have not yet installed a pickup. But I have seen quite a few Orpheums for sale that had a pickup installed. So, there seem to be people out there who did it for one reason and another. And now that I am looking for another Orpheum I noticed that this might be a deal breaker to me or a chance to just live with it as I can't go back anymore anyway.
Regarding the tool: If one instrument feels like home, it might make you play better. And I think it does make sense to bring a guitar like that with you to a live gig too. You want to feel good - especially in front of an audience.

 

[West R Lee]

Well again, I am with you and I am not.
First of all, in this case I don't really need help, but I am interested in others opinions and choices. I don't have seen a topic like this before (of course I might be wrong), but it's something that already bothers me for quite some time.
The funny thing is: I have my Orpheum now for about 6-7 years and have not yet installed a pickup. But I have seen quite a few Orpheums for sale that had a pickup installed. So, there seem to be people out there who did it for one reason and another. And now that I am looking for another Orpheum I noticed that this might be a deal breaker to me or a chance to just live with it as I can't go back anymore anyway.
Regarding the tool: If one instrument feels like home, it might make you play better. And I think it does make sense to bring a guitar like that with you to a live gig too. You want to feel good - especially in front of an audience.

If I were moving around a stage, then I'd install a pickup of whatever type you prefer. If I were on a stage, on a stool, I'd mic.

West

 

[jeffcoop]

I have an L.R. Baggs Lyric in my mahogany slope-shoulder. It sounds fantastic, though it's somewhat prone to feedback. If I could do it again, though, I'd probably pass on the a pickup (or internal mic like the Lyric). I think I've taken it out to a place that requires amplification no more than twice in eight years. I'm a bit afraid to take it out, and I have other guitars I worry less about.

 

[HeyMikey]

Bastian, One idea you might consider is a sound hole pickup. Check out the Seymor Duncan line. You can install them temporarily without drilling or doing harm to the guitar, or more permanently later by adding the end pin jack.

Steel String Acoustic Guitar | Seymour Duncan

Pickups for Acoustic Guitars that capture the natural character and resonance of your acoustic. Handbuilt in Santa Barbara, California.

www.seymourduncan.com

 

[onlyrockrocks]

If I were moving around a stage, then I'd install a pickup of whatever type you prefer. If I were on a stage, on a stool, I'd mic.

West

Absolutely. Though I once sat on a stool with a mic and in this particular setting it just did not work without any feedback. It was horrible and in the end I needed to play a friend's guitar with a installed pickup.

I have an L.R. Baggs Lyric in my mahogany slope-shoulder. It sounds fantastic, though it's somewhat prone to feedback. If I could do it again, though, I'd probably pass on the a pickup (or internal mic like the Lyric). I think I've taken it out to a place that requires amplification no more than twice in eight years. I'm a bit afraid to take it out, and I have other guitars I worry less about.

Bastian, One idea you might consider is a sound hole pickup. Check out the Seymor Duncan line. You can install them temporarily without drilling or doing harm to the guitar, or more permanently later by adding the end pin jack.

Steel String Acoustic Guitar | Seymour Duncan

Pickups for Acoustic Guitars that capture the natural character and resonance of your acoustic. Handbuilt in Santa Barbara, California.

www.seymourduncan.com

Yes, mics inside the body can cause trouble too. What I found recently is a passive soundboard transducer, that does look very promising. It's the James May Ultra Tonic. No battery, no piezo, only the endpin jack is needed. Of course that's not nothing, but it ain't much either.
Of course a magnetic sound hole pickup is an option too though I already have seen a Orpheum with one that caused some marks where it grabbed the wood. It was very, very, very little, but it was there. But when you do install it carefully, I guess you are absolutely right that this is an option too.

 

[fronobulax]

Bastian, One idea you might consider is a sound hole pickup. Check out the Seymor Duncan line. You can install them temporarily without drilling or doing harm to the guitar, or more permanently later by adding the end pin jack.

No photos because we no longer have the instrument and the damage to the sound hole from the pickup is one reason why it is gone. May be entirely our fault but...

Think of a side view of the PU as something like this ASCII art

]--[

When installed the top of the bracket rests on the sound hole. There is sponge rubber between the top and bottom of the bracket and installation is done by positioning one end of the PU in the sound hole and then pushing it so that the sponge compresses and the other end can engage the sound hole. The problem is that if the bracket is not exactly parallel to the top of the guitar when the PU is being pushed then the bracket will scrape the wood on the top. If you know this can be a problem you can try and avoid it by being careful, improvising something so the bracket cannot scrap or just leaving it in all of the time and dealing with the cord but if cosmetics and personal convenience are factors then a sound hole PU is not the way to go.

Yes, I hate the things. The one that caused the damage (a decades old Seymour Duncan) is still around although it will never touch a Guild in this house. Indeed I should probably just offer it for free to anyone who wants to pay shipping and promises never to use it on an instrument with a fair market value over $100. It is probably worth mentioning that we got it used from a friend who decided it did not work for them and was upgrading to a more permanent installation.

Since this is a soapbox issue I will mention that I have looked an newer sound hole pickups just in case my problem is with decades old implementations and not current offerings, but if the damage problem has been solved I have not noticed it

 

[Brad Little]

I have one of these, makes it easy to go from one guitar to another and doesn't need any guitar alterations. I've only used it a couple of times, but seems to do a good job.

 

[HeyMikey]

I have one of these, makes it easy to go from one guitar to another and doesn't need any guitar alterations. I've only used it a couple of times, but seems to do a good job.

I’ve not heard of that, but it looks very promising. Is it a small condenser type of mic?

 

[Brad Little]

I’ve not heard of that, but it looks very promising. Is it a small condenser type of mic?

It's not a condenser, but not sure what it is, I'll have to see if it's in the instruction booklet. Best guess, dynamic.