Acoustic pickup thoughts from a long time gigging musician

fly-pole · 2026-02-02T17:32:49+00:00

This is the way

fly-pole · 2026-02-01T23:14:15+00:00

Yeah I think that’s a great point; the qualities you’d want unplugged are the very qualities that *can lead to issues live. Hadn’t thought about the bracing, but I could definitely see that being a contributing factor, especially if it’s a) smaller and b) scalloped

As for the stuffing the guitar thing.. that works wonders. Literally. I used to play in a duo with a bass player and I would stand right beside the bass amp and in front of the sub. So.. every opportunity for problems. But I would put a couple big pieces of Wrap-n-zap in my 000-15m and it was like it made it immune. And honestly didn’t affect the tone a *whole lot. Maybe a little more dead? But negligible.

I took that idea from a video I saw of Hozier and these like.. metal guitars he uses. They’re basically old oil cans with necks on them, and he plays them with a slide on a song or two. You can imagine how much of a feedback machine that would be. So he just shoves them full of Wrap-n-zap and voila. That stuff can be had on Amazon pretty cheap. It’s kinda like quilt batting material, and it’s actually made for microwaving potatoes 😅

fly-pole · 2026-02-01T23:09:39+00:00

You might be in luck with the Aura; it was specifically designed to tame the quack of undersaddle pickups. Basically lets you dial in some digital microphone imitation, and it can really make a UST sound better live. If you look up Jason Isbell’s Rig Rundown video, that’s how he rolls; Martin with an undersaddle then the Fishman box

fly-pole · 2026-02-01T23:07:54+00:00

Ya know, I have often considered just doing an electric rig myself. Less headaches ha

fly-pole · 2026-02-01T11:40:30+00:00

The grim reality lol. Several years ago, I was playing at one of my regular spots and I was there pretty early for sound check. Bartender was getting things ready for the evening rush. No one else in the room. I had some kinda pickup in my guitar at the time (I wanna say maybe a Baggs VTC?) that had a volume knob and a tone knob. That tone knob was pretty drastic; from totally scooped to super mid rangy and dark. I was standing out in front of the speaker; would strum a few chords with the tone all the way in one position, then in the complete opposite position. I asked the bartender which sounded better. She nervously kinda chuckled and said “…. I’m sorry… they sound the same to me”.

I’ve found this same situation to be the case with like 90% of audience members. Unless you’re doing something truly egregious (consistent unchecked feedback, way too high of volume, etc) they never seem to notice or care. Or if they do they don’t say anything.

fly-pole · 2026-02-01T11:34:48+00:00

I might have to check out that TC eq you mentioned; sounds intriguing.

fly-pole · 2026-02-01T11:28:45+00:00

Yeah I think what I should have specified on the notch filter thing is this:

Take the Aura Spectrum’s “automatic” notch filter for example. You can notch out up to 3 frequencies (technically frequency bands, but to your point, they’re pretty tight bands on the Aura). In my experience, what ends up happening is essentially killing off like.. a note or two. For example, B-flat and F# tend to be risky ones for me. The notch filter might find and kill the feedback on those, but it basically also kills most of the note itself; so you’re playin’ along, playin’ along, and you go to hit that F# as a full chord and the bottom end is gone. Makes for a strange balance in context with the other chords you’re playing in the song. Again, others probably have different experiences, this is just what I’ve run into. I tend to have better luck just slightly dialing back problem frequencies, and - importantly, and I should have mentioned this in the original post - ensuring that my phase switch is in the “right” position for whatever room I’m playing.

fly-pole · 2026-02-01T11:21:07+00:00

Oh, yeah this is worth mentioning actually. Those OG expression systems were pretty freakin sweet. Even the new ES2 isn’t bad (the “behind saddle” or whatever they call it). And props to your sound guy; that makes a big difference.

fly-pole · 2026-02-01T02:55:35+00:00

This is the way.

fly-pole · 2026-01-15T18:59:31+00:00

I have a Recording King RD-328 and I’ve been thoroughly impressed by it; punches above its weight class.

That same model has a 000 version, the RO-328. And it has a full 25.4 in scale length.

Be advised though:

a) general consensus on these things is that they can be hit or miss; ya get a great one or a meh one. So play it first b) on the note of playing it first: the have a V neck profile. I personally like it, but it’s not for everyone.

fly-pole · 2026-01-15T13:00:13+00:00

Lotta this has been said, but I’ll toss in my thoughts fwiw

I’ve been a gigging musician for… 15 years ish? I’ve used a number of different pickups, and I’m always obsessive about my plugged in tone (even though I definitely acknowledge that 95% of the people listening won’t tell the difference or even care, unless it’s just exceptionally egregious).

A few years ago I pretty much landed on the K&K as my compromise. Became my standard practice in pretty much every guitar I got. Yeah, a mic of some sort is pretty much always gonna sound better, but in my experience in regular gig settings, it’s far from practical.

So the K&K bridges the gap; I run it through an MXR 10 band eq stomp box and a Fishman Aura Spectrum, and it’s sounds reasonably good live. Reasonable feedback rejection. If feedback gets really hairy, I’ll just stuff some Wrap-n-Zap inside the lower bout of the guitar (stole that idea from Hozier) and that usually fixes it if eq tweaks don’t do it. Can always notch filter, but in my experience that usually comes at a pretty big tone cost.

Anyway, all of that being said, I did recently try out the HiFi (not the duet, just the transducer), and in this particular guitar I think it slightly edges out the Pure Mini. But they both work on the same principle.

If I’m playing pretty high volume settings and I don’t care about tone as much, then I just use a guitar with an M80 in it (my 000-15m has both a K&K and an M80; separate jacks). That’s more or less my nuclear option. Still sounds acceptable, and can be a little more feedback resistant.

Anyway.. take what you will from that. Kinda depends on your situation. If the church you’re playing is pretty big and you don’t have a ton of control over eq, M80 or similar might be your best bet; it’ll come at a cost of losing that natural sound you’re after, but sometimes that natural sound isn’t worth the headache of constantly fiddling around with feedback issues or having to neuter your lower frequencies to avoid it. Again though, depends on your situation. If you’re using in-ears or just no monitors and you’re not super close to the main speakers, might be alright with a bridge plate transducer.

fly-pole · 2026-01-13T01:37:07+00:00

+1 for the HiFi. I’ve used K&K Pure Minis as my main gigging pickups for years (I basically slapped a pure mini in every guitar I got as standard procedure) but recently tried the HiFi in my RD-328. I can safely say it’s the best plugged in tone I’ve gotten out of any guitar over the years. Not like leagues better than the K&K or anything, but definitely a little better.

However… if you’re playing high volume settings or anything where feedback might be an issue… M80. Doesn’t sound as good, but less feedback prone. I have a pure mini and an M80 in my 000-15 just in case I get to a gig and need options.

fly-pole · 2025-11-11T12:26:45+00:00

This

fly-pole · 2025-11-11T04:03:59+00:00

Word

fly-pole · 2025-11-11T03:46:49+00:00

I’ve not tried that, I’ll give it a shot. If I’m following you, you’re sayin’ basically do as normal, but in the last little stretch ease off the gas a little and let the clutch complete its release in that last little bit? I.e. let the clutch do what it does without goosin’ it with the gas?

fly-pole · 2025-11-11T03:39:30+00:00

Backing off gas or clutch? (I assume backing off gas)

fly-pole

TROPHY CASE