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Adding an aux pickup


Aiken Drum

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Sure will, and, if you put the SBT in the right place, it'll sound remarkably natural. I use a JJB, wired in parallel to my guitars' UST, and place it just behind the Low E and A strings, so try that spot, starting out, then move it a tiny bit until you find the "sweet spot", if my location isn't exactly what you want to hear.

Basically, you get the direct sound of the bridge saddle mixed w/ the SBT's sound from the wood a millisecond later. Put a jack on the SBT, plug it into the preamp, run it out the soundhole, and touch the SBT to the bridge and around until you find the spot that, when added to the UST's signal, gives you the sound you like, then mount the SBT inside, exactly there. thumb.gif

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Quote Originally Posted by DeepEnd View Post
As Terry Allen Hall said, most any SBT should work. Personally I'd recommend one with multiple transducers for a more balanced sound. You might lose some highs from impedance/capacitance mismatching but it's doubtful you'll hear it.
When I first experimented w/ the idea of mixing the signals of a UST w/ that from SBTs, I started w/ 3 JJBs (one between and behind the Low E and A, one between and behind the D and G, and one between and behind the B and High E), but found that it tended to make the guitar feedback at relatively lower volume levels. Then I tried eliminating the center JJB, and that helped a lot, but going with just the single unit between and behind the Low E and A has worked best for me. The UST gives off the highs and upper mids and the "immediacy", while the SBT added a decent bottom and low mds and a "woodyness" to the signal.

OTOH, as I wire the two p/us passively, then plug into my Baggs PADI, rather than in internal preamp, it may work a little differently with his mkII preamp, which is why I suggested trying different spots near where I put it, to see if there's a better location, due to electronic differences.

Also, if he uses a SBT other than a JJB or K&K (which, sonically, are virtually identical), that may make some differences of note...I've only tried those two, plus the Dean Markley Artist transducer, the Barcus-Berry Insider (hard to get) and home-made ones I've made from piezo discs (which sound pretty good, but are more delicate when installing, plus they're larger, so can be difficult to get into the right spot, internally, due to braces sometimes being in the way), so that choice may well make a difference, as well. Or not.

Hopefully, Aiken Drum'll share with us what he finds out, because mixing two sonic sources can really give you a great acoustic instrument sound.
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Thanks all for the grat replies.

Terry, I understand conceptually what needs to happen. I don't know if you've seen the backside of one of these MKII preamps, but it has an aux input that takes (I think) a 1/8 inch jack. Would I just clip off whatever is on the end of the SBT wire and install one of thoese? How hard is that to do?

I did just order one of the little condenser mics that's made to work with this preamp. I was worried about feedback, though. I'll let you know how it works.

The under saddle piezo just sounds so....fake! I can't stand it. So, last night I just ran the output into a little behringer acoustic guitar modeler and blended the guitars sound with the model until it sounded decent.

--Aik

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Quote Originally Posted by Aiken Drum View Post
Thanks all for the grat replies.

Terry, I understand conceptually what needs to happen. I don't know if you've seen the backside of one of these MKII preamps, but it has an aux input that takes (I think) a 1/8 inch jack. Would I just clip off whatever is on the end of the SBT wire and install one of thoese? How hard is that to do?

Yeah, the MKII takes a 1/8" plug. Just ask Jesse at JJB to put a 1/8" plug on the cable, instead of a 1/4" jack, before he sends it...he's a great guy, very accomodating!

A single JJB SBT is $15. http://jjb-electronics.com/PPS-100.html


I did just order one of the little condenser mics that's made to work with this preamp. I was worried about feedback, though. I'll let you know how it works.

The under saddle piezo just sounds so....fake! I can't stand it. So, last night I just ran the output into a little behringer acoustic guitar modeler and blended the guitars sound with the model until it sounded decent.

--Aik
I think you'll be pleased with how your guitar will sound afterwards.
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Quote Originally Posted by Terry Allan Hall View Post
I think you'll be pleased with how your guitar will sound afterwards.
Thanks for the advice Terry. I had forgotten about jjb, so I got in contact with them and it sounds like they have just the thing for me. My current plan is to get them to make me a pickup with 2 20mm pads and a 3.5mm jack. Since I just really hate the sound of my piezo, I think I'll unplug that fromthe main input and either plug it into the aux or just leave it out. Then I'll plug the jjb SBT into the "piezo" input on my preamp. That's the only input that goes through the onboard eq. I still have the condenser mic on order, too, so I can plug that into the aux and just leave the crappy piezo unattached. I know that that might be an issue if I'm playing in high volume situations, but I usually just play with a church band so it's not really that loud of an environment.

--Aik
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Quote Originally Posted by Aiken Drum View Post
Thanks for the advice Terry. I had forgotten about jjb, so I got in contact with them and it sounds like they have just the thing for me. My current plan is to get them to make me a pickup with 2 20mm pads and a 3.5mm jack. Since I just really hate the sound of my piezo, I think I'll unplug that fromthe main input and either plug it into the aux or just leave it out. Then I'll plug the jjb SBT into the "piezo" input on my preamp. That's the only input that goes through the onboard eq. I still have the condenser mic on order, too, so I can plug that into the aux and just leave the crappy piezo unattached. I know that that might be an issue if I'm playing in high volume situations, but I usually just play with a church band so it's not really that loud of an environment.

--Aik
Give a try and see if it works for you...if the volume isn't an issue, it'll likely sound great.
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I suspect any change will be an improvement. I have not heard good things about Alvarez electronics. If you're going to use the SBT's exclusively, plan on getting a feedback buster for the soundhole. Anyway, let us know how everything turns out.

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