Neck mount pickups

[ajoten]

I have a D-hole Maccaferri style guitar and want to attach a pickup to it (not to replicate the acoustic sound, but to use "electrically"). Because of its soundhole shape, your average clip-in pickup won't fit.

I have 2 options... either one of the spring-loaded pickups like THIS or a neck-mount like THIS.

Both would require sawing off the extended bit of the fretboard, and in the case of the latter, drilling holes in the side of the neck. The instrument was £120 second hand, so hacking it to pieces wouldn't be a disaster... but I still feel a bit uncomfy with the idea, especially if I did so then found the things still didn't work for some reason.

[Actually the springy one might work without carpentry if rotated 180 deg. Dunno.]

Does anyone have any experience of these types of pickups and whether they sound good enough to be worth considering? Or any experience of amplifying grande bouche guitars in alternative ways? Or is sacking it and getting a cheap electric with a thin sound whose neck I don't like would be better?

[BigLicks67]

Normally, I'd suggest a floating pickup as used on arch tops but you have nowhere to put it on your guitar. You could try a LR Baggs anthem and eq it for a more electric sound.
This link maybe of use to you :
http://www.paulvernonchester.com/Aco...tarPickups.htm

[ajoten]

Yoix! I couldn't face paying twice the cost of the guitar just for the pickup!

[ICBM]

I would make a custom pickup mount and fit a Strat pickup or similar - EMG would be good if you want more of a pure hi-fi type tone, although you'll need somewhere to put the battery... or maybe a Lace Sensor or something.

Two pieces of perspex cut so they're bigger across than the soundhole (just in width, not to block it completely), with a Strat-pickup-sized hole in both. If you use stiff enough pickup springs (or rubber tubing) you probably won't need any other means of tightening it onto the top.

[ajoten]

Interesting, that very thought occurred to me this morning (well, not the perspex idea) - I have a single-coil size rails humbucker lying around that I could use. However, I'm completely in the dark about wiring it up to a jack socket as it has 4 wires for coil tapping purposes.

I was thinking of cobbling something out of these as the wood finish might be more appropriate.

[ICBM]

Interesting, that very thought occurred to me this morning (well, not the perspex idea) - I have a single-coil size rails humbucker lying around that I could use. However, I'm completely in the dark about wiring it up to a jack socket as it has 4 wires for coil tapping purposes.

I was thinking of cobbling something out of these as the wood finish might be more appropriate.

That should work.

What pickup is it? Four conductors gives you several options, but how to wire it depends on the manufacturer's colour codes and they all seem to be on a quest to use as many different combinations of the usual standard four colours as possible!

For an acoustic guitar - even if you want it to sound a bit more 'electric' - I'd wire the two coils in parallel rather than the traditional electric-guitar series... that will give a cleaner, clearer tone.

For example, if the pickup is a Duncan, connect the black and red wires to the hot connection on the jack, and the white, green and bare wires to ground.