a lot of sound hole pickups offer interior wiring with an endpin jack

 

Would you prefer underbridge mic (acoustic) or undersaddle piezzo ? Or a combo ?

 

I guess I don't want to butcher the guitar. At most a end pin drill out for jack. Volume and Tone rollers would be nice also.

 

The LR Baggs Lyrique mounts under the bridge plate inside the guitar. Controls mount discreetly in the sound hole. Need to drill a hole for output jack.

 

The best is the L.R. Baggs Anthem. I don't know if you want to pay that much, though.

 

I had a Schatten Pickup installed in my Martin 0015. The only change to the guitar is the end pin drill for the jack. I got the passive one. They've been making pickups for 25 years and the best part of it is, they are based out of Waterloo, Ontario. I'm very happy with this one I got.

HFN Series For Steel String Guitars

 

The K & K Pure Mini is highly regarded.

There are fancier versions, with built in mics, that definitely have a broader range of tone (for more money, of course).

I think any of these contact pickups sound much better with an acoustic pre-amp, to handle the high Z and take away some of the natural 'brittleness' of the sound. IMO.

 

If you're sitting or standing at a mic. the best pickup for getting the natural sound of the guitar is a microphone attached to the mic stand. Of course, if you're moving around, that won't work.

 

I think you should make your mind whether you want mic or piezzo :
you could listen to some videos on the tube.

I used mics as K&K and LRBaggs and piezzos also made by these co. as well as combos.
All these needed only a hole for the jack.
I did not know thw Schatten, but I guess it is worth a try.

There is also a mic you clip at the rosace (iRig, with its AmpliTube software for iPhone/iPad.

 

Any suggestions what is good and a cheap price point.

Very difficult to satisfy that request.

K&K Pure Mini is not too expensive, and it is good enough for a lot of touring pros. It works quite well plugged directly into an amp or DI, although any pickup system benefits greatly from a well matched processing chain (preamp/eq/compressor/etc.).

 

K&K Pure Mini

I have one in my Taylor.
I've been researching various preamp DI's, but I'm getting used to dialing it in alright on my amp.

 

K&K

 

Good and cheap you say? That takes out a lot of contenders. I would highly recommend, the Schatten HFN. I have recently installed the passive model in one of my guitars and it sounds awesome. Crazy easy to install and rather cheap - especially - if you buy from Cosmo in Toronto. They are some $30 cheaper than MFR there and they offer free shipping. Mine was like $114 all in. K&K and/or LR Baggs will cost you a LOT more than that.

Schatten also offers the pick up with a volume knob or, volume and tone if you must have those. As mentioned above, they are a Canadian outfit out of Waterloo so that is a big plus for me. Buy Canadian, Shop Canadian, Travel Canadian as much as possible, I say. Anyway, good luck and let us know how you make out.

 

K&K with a Red-Eye preamp pedal

 

If you're sitting or standing at a mic. the best pickup for getting the natural sound of the guitar is a microphone attached to the mic stand. Of course, if you're moving around, that won't work.

Yes I was watching a tape from 15 years ago . Had a blue grass band on it. Looked like they were all using mic's and stands.

 

The LR Baggs Lyrique mounts under the bridge plate inside the guitar. Controls mount discreetly in the soundhole. Need to drill a hole for output jack.

The Anthem SL is exactly the same price as the Lyric, $289. It adds an under saddle piezo (which we all hate, but is a necessary evil in loud bands). You preset the microphone (Lyric) and piezo balance with a set screw, and then have a master volume to control overall output. The piezo, which is a fixed output at 250 Hz, handles the low register, the microphone the highs (where piezos suck and sound like a constipated duck). So, you preset the microphone output, while the piezo remains fixed.

The next level up, the full Anthem rig, is $150 more, and all that money is simply to have a blend knob for the UST/microphone balance. If you set the SL balance up correctly, you don't need to re-blend. I installed 3 last month...clients are happy! I have a Lyric in my HD 28, and with an EQ cut at 500 Hz and a wee boost at 100 Hz, it sounds exactly like the unplugged guitar.

Will at La Grange Guitar Workshops (FB)

 

I think you should make your mind whether you want mic or piezzo :
you could listen to some videos on the tube.

I used mics as K&K and LRBaggs and piezzos also made by these co. as well as combos.
All these needed only a hole for the jack.
I did not know thw Schatten, but I guess it is worth a try.

There is also a mic you clip at the rosace (iRig, with its AmpliTube software for iPhone/iPad.

Wow sure does get complicated. It is cheap guitar so not much sense putting a expensive pup system in it. I guess I will be looking at the passive $100 systems. Thanx for the input.

 

Could be worse. You could be jones'in for a Bigsby ........

 

 

go active rather than passive (or you'll end up buying a preamp/booster anyway)

side mount (not tail stock pin) the output jack ... or straps never fit properly afterwards.

remove whole unit and plug the jack hole you made with a std cheapie when you move the unit to a better guitar.

 

or straps never fit properly afterwards.

 

just one more adaptation in life ... whatever happened to just "plug and play" ?

 

cheap guitar , and filling in a small hole (with a cheap jack plug)
unit gets moved to the better one later and you can do the end block then