Acoustic Pickup

[Grateful Dad]

I checked ths topics and "guitar mods" seems to fit my question the best:

Looking for advice for a good acoustic pickup with eq and volume control to use for gigging.

I don't have the money to go out and buy a new acoustic guitar with built-in pickup but I am looking to put one on my old Takamine. I want as true to the natural sound as possible. Can aftermarket pickups provide good sound or should I save for a guitar with a built-in pickup?

Is miking an option?

The band has keys, small drum set (played with brushes), another guitar (he plays electric and tends to be the loudest in the band), fiddle, and mandolin. So I need a pickup that can cut through yet not compromise the natural tone of the acoustic.

[tcsned]

GratefulDad - I play a ton of acoustic music - my Dead band does an acoustic trio with 2 guitars & upright bass, a bluegrass band, and a gypsy jazz band. I would think using an mic is an option but with an electric guitar it'll get a little hard to hear. A usable mic would likely be the more expensive solution - if you want decent sound you'll want to get a condenser mic of some sort. I use an AKG-3000B large diaphragm mic and it works great. It's pretty sensitive and will pickup everything around it. My bluegrass band uses two of these for everyone. 1 for vocals, fiddle, and harmonica, the other for all the string instruments. I also use a couple of different pickups when I need the volume. I love the Schertler pickups - The Bluestik is an under the saddle with volume and tone controls that sit discreetly on the edge of the sound hole. I can't tell you exactly how it works but Schertler calls it a condenser microphone. If it is, it is pretty darn small. It does, however, sound awesome. Good volume before feedback, very natural tone for this type of pickup. I used to use a Fishman Blender system and this is way bettter.

[strumminsix]

Honestly, it costs a chuck of change to do retrofit.

For $300 you can pickup a used Tak with it all on-board.

I have an old pickup that you need to drill into the strap hole to mount that you can have for $10 then you'll only need an EQ and tuner pedal.

[Grateful Dad]

GratefulDad - I play a ton of acoustic music - my Dead band does an acoustic trio with 2 guitars & upright bass, a bluegrass band, and a gypsy jazz band. I would think using an mic is an option but with an electric guitar it'll get a little hard to hear. A usable mic would likely be the more expensive solution - if you want decent sound you'll want to get a condenser mic of some sort. I use an AKG-3000B large diaphragm mic and it works great. It's pretty sensitive and will pickup everything around it. My bluegrass band uses two of these for everyone. 1 for vocals, fiddle, and harmonica, the other for all the string instruments. I also use a couple of different pickups when I need the volume. I love the Schertler pickups - The Bluestik is an under the saddle with volume and tone controls that sit discreetly on the edge of the sound hole. I can't tell you exactly how it works but Schertler calls it a condenser microphone. If it is, it is pretty darn small. It does, however, sound awesome. Good volume before feedback, very natural tone for this type of pickup. I used to use a Fishman Blender system and this is way bettter.

Thanks for the information! The Bluestick comes in several models, the Standard being the most economical at around $140.00. What model do you use?