Hi there !
I currently have a Leadbelly style large bodied Stella type ladder braced 12-string guitar, a ?Midnight Special?, by Brad Goodman.
It has a 12-string tailpiece and a floating bridge.
I would like a pickup for this guitar but as the bridge is floating, I?m not sure what sort of pickup can be installed into it.
- AND still sound good !
I guess the best approach would be some sort of pickup inside the guitar, under where the bridge is.
I don?t think a traditional piezo under the bridge saddle will ?work? ergonomically, as the bridge could move and pull at the pickup/cable, where it goes through the guitar top.
I could have the bridge permanantly glued down, I suppose !
I don?t think soundhole magnetic pickups are suitable for a 12-string guitar, as I suspect they will amplify the unwound strings more than the wound strings. Not a problem, in one sense, for magnetic pickups with adjustable polepieces, as you could lower the poles on the 1st and 2nd courses, to compensate for those strings.
However, the problem would be with the double courses where one string is wound and one is unwound. The unwound strings will dominate the amplified sound. So, for me, magnetic soundhole pickups are out of the equation, totally on a 12-string guitar.
A few years back, I did look into the LR Baggs Anthem/Lyric pickups, where a small microphone is placed directly under the bridge, inside the guitar. However, the best version of this also uses a piezo pickup under the saddle, as far as I remember, because the mic pickup isn?t great on the low end of a standard acoustic guitar, and thus needs the piezo undersaddle pickup, to beef up the bass strings.
This lack of decent bottom end with the mic pickup would thus be even less ideal for a long-scale, low-tuned guitar like mine, especially as it would need the under-saddle piezo too, which as already mentioned is probably not suited for my floating bridge guitar !
So, does anyone know a good bug type pickup that might work well mounted inside the guitar, under the bridge ??
I am nearly 6months in, on Todd Cambio?s waiting list for a 12-string Fraulini 12-string guitar. I?m pretty sure I will go for a fixed bridge for this one, with quite possibly just 6 pinsin the bridge, instead of 12.
I have seen Catfish Keith playing a Ralph Bown ?Barbecue Bob? type 12-string guitar, loaded with a Highlander undersaddle pickup. He really hits that guitar hard, and it sounded great, in the club where I heard him and I couldn?t detect any harsh piezo quack, even when playing hard on the guitar. So, I?m strongly thinking of going for a Highlander pickup in my Fraulini, when Todd builds it.
Any thoughts people ??
Many thanks in advance, for your advice !
I currently have a Leadbelly style large bodied Stella type ladder braced 12-string guitar, a ?Midnight Special?, by Brad Goodman.
It has a 12-string tailpiece and a floating bridge.
I would like a pickup for this guitar but as the bridge is floating, I?m not sure what sort of pickup can be installed into it.
- AND still sound good !
I guess the best approach would be some sort of pickup inside the guitar, under where the bridge is.
I don?t think a traditional piezo under the bridge saddle will ?work? ergonomically, as the bridge could move and pull at the pickup/cable, where it goes through the guitar top.
I could have the bridge permanantly glued down, I suppose !
I don?t think soundhole magnetic pickups are suitable for a 12-string guitar, as I suspect they will amplify the unwound strings more than the wound strings. Not a problem, in one sense, for magnetic pickups with adjustable polepieces, as you could lower the poles on the 1st and 2nd courses, to compensate for those strings.
However, the problem would be with the double courses where one string is wound and one is unwound. The unwound strings will dominate the amplified sound. So, for me, magnetic soundhole pickups are out of the equation, totally on a 12-string guitar.
A few years back, I did look into the LR Baggs Anthem/Lyric pickups, where a small microphone is placed directly under the bridge, inside the guitar. However, the best version of this also uses a piezo pickup under the saddle, as far as I remember, because the mic pickup isn?t great on the low end of a standard acoustic guitar, and thus needs the piezo undersaddle pickup, to beef up the bass strings.
This lack of decent bottom end with the mic pickup would thus be even less ideal for a long-scale, low-tuned guitar like mine, especially as it would need the under-saddle piezo too, which as already mentioned is probably not suited for my floating bridge guitar !
So, does anyone know a good bug type pickup that might work well mounted inside the guitar, under the bridge ??
I am nearly 6months in, on Todd Cambio?s waiting list for a 12-string Fraulini 12-string guitar. I?m pretty sure I will go for a fixed bridge for this one, with quite possibly just 6 pinsin the bridge, instead of 12.
I have seen Catfish Keith playing a Ralph Bown ?Barbecue Bob? type 12-string guitar, loaded with a Highlander undersaddle pickup. He really hits that guitar hard, and it sounded great, in the club where I heard him and I couldn?t detect any harsh piezo quack, even when playing hard on the guitar. So, I?m strongly thinking of going for a Highlander pickup in my Fraulini, when Todd builds it.
Any thoughts people ??
Many thanks in advance, for your advice !