Should I make my acoustic electric or go electro acoustic?

[Stringbob]

Hi, I've got a Taylor 214 but I'd also like to have an electro acoustic. I'm not sure whether to buy one or add a pickup to my Taylor. Does anyone have any advice? If buying an electro acoustic, then any recommendations? Or, if I modify my Taylor, what equipment should I get? I'm a bit torn because I like my Taylor but the thought of modifying it horrifies me.

[monquixote]

Just put a soundhole pickup in the Taylor.

Minimal mods.

[ICBM]

+1

All you need to fit is an endpin jack - and I think Taylors come drilled for these anyway, although I'm not sure about the 2 series.

If you want something less visually intrusive, fit an undersaddle strip or internal body pickup, but just the pickup and jack inside the guitar - keep the preamp outboard. Less intrusive, more reliable, easier to fix or upgrade if it goes wrong, can be bypassed altogether in an emergency.

Do not cut a hole for a preamp in your guitar, it's not necessary. I don't even think fitting a 'powered jack' type preamp is - anything you can do onboard, you can do better offboard. The quality of offboard preamp systems is often higher too, although they can get pretty expensive for the good ones.

[evilmags]

Totally agree about not butchering a guitar to stick a pre amp in it. It will badly hurt the accoustic sound and volume. An undesaddle with a powered endpin or a B band is generally the way to go. Fishman do some good blend systems that don't require much butchery. I've tried these and with the right sound image they are very good.

http://www.fishman.com/products/view/ellipse-aura-1