Members FloridaSeagull Posted August 3, 2007 Members Posted August 3, 2007 I want to change my Seagull acoustic guitar to a acoustic electric. The guy at GC said putting a soundhole amplifier is the best thing to do but i want to install the whole electronic system. Is this a good idea? Also the people at the guitar shop said it would cost around 50bucks if my guitar doesnt need to be routed, but around 100 if it does...what does this mean??? Help please... thanks!
Members EvilTwin Posted August 3, 2007 Members Posted August 3, 2007 The guy at GC was referring to a soundhole pickup. It's the easiest method to install a pickup into an acoustic guitar, since it can clip into the soundhole and its input cord can go right from the pickup into an amp. You can run that cord through the guitar, if you wish, to the endpin. That's what he meant by "routing" the guitar. You'll have to enlarge the size of the endpin hole if you want to put a jack there. There are lots of different types of pickups you can put in an acoustic: soundhole, under-saddle, bridgeplate transducer, soundboard transducer, internal mic, etc. Search around the forum and you'll see many threads on 'em. A few popular pickups to consider: -- K&K "Pure Western" (bridgeplate transducer-type)-- L.R. Baggs M-1 (soundhole)-- Fishman Rare Earth, and Fishman Neo-D (soundhole)-- Schatten HFN (bridgeplate transducer)-- Dean Markley Sweet-Spot (under-saddle)-- Fishman Matrix (under-saddle)-- L.R. Baggs i-Beam (bridgeplate transducer)
Members FloridaSeagull Posted August 3, 2007 Author Members Posted August 3, 2007 ok thanks alot man i am looking at the bride type of pickup rather than a soundhole one becasue i find it alot easier. Does anyone else have a Seagull they have put electronics in? does it need to be routed?
Members FloridaSeagull Posted August 3, 2007 Author Members Posted August 3, 2007 to be specific i want to have the whole bass,treble, and volume settings on the outside of the guitar? What is this?
Members wraithxyz Posted August 3, 2007 Members Posted August 3, 2007 I have a Art & Lutherie that I use with a Fishman Neo-D soundhole pickup. It sounds good but having a thick cord running out of the soundhole is a real pain. I have never had a serious internal system installed so I can't help you there.
Members EvilTwin Posted August 3, 2007 Members Posted August 3, 2007 I have a Dean Markley "Sweet Spot" (which is an under-saddle piezo) in my S6+Folk. The endpin did need reamed a bit. Plus you have to drill a hole through your bridge. I'd advise letting a tech do it. If you want to have an onboard preamp (with the EQ controls built into your instrument), take it to a repairman. That is some serious guitar surgery to the side of the guitar. IMO, you can do better with an outboard preamp. Just my preference. K&K offers a thinner "vintage" jack that supposedly does not requrie any endpin reaming. You may want to check out their Web site. Their pickups are highly regarded on here, and I'm considering putting one in my 'Gull (and my Guild, too).
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted August 3, 2007 Members Posted August 3, 2007 I have a question here.... Has anyone ever permanently installed a Fishman Neo D soundhole pickup and wired it directly to an endpin jack? If so what is the procedure for this. Obviously getting the proper endpin jack and enlarging the hole for it to fit is a given but what about the soldering connection to the endpin jack? What gets soldered were? What do I do with the extra wire inside the guitar? Will I get anymore extraneous buzzing from doing this? I am seriously thinking of doing this with my Neo D and my old Yamaha. Thanks in advance OGP
Members Cripes Posted August 3, 2007 Members Posted August 3, 2007 I have a question here.... Has anyone ever permanently installed a Fishman Neo D soundhole pickup and wired it directly to an endpin jack? If so what is the procedure for this. Obviously getting the proper endpin jack and enlarging the hole for it to fit is a given but what about the soldering connection to the endpin jack? What gets soldered were? What do I do with the extra wire inside the guitar? Will I get anymore extraneous buzzing from doing this? I am seriously thinking of doing this with my Neo D and my old Yamaha. Thanks in advance OGP Yes. I went to GC and bought and end-pin jack, removed the end pin and reamed the hole for the jack. Then I cut and stripped the original cord that was attached to the Neo-D and soldered the leads, observing the original polarity, to the end-pin jack. I cut the original cord so that it would not come in contact with the inside of the guitar but gave it enough slack to hang out of sight below the soundhole. Trying to tighten the jack was a bit of a bite because my hands are too big to fit throught the soundhole. I had to get my wife to do the inside work while I cinched the outside retaining nut. Oh, I did have to heat-bend a wrench to 90 degrees so she could hold the inside jack retaining nut.
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted August 3, 2007 Members Posted August 3, 2007 Yes. I went to GC and bought and end-pin jack, removed the end pin and reamed the hole for the jack. Then I cut and stripped the original cord that was attached to the Neo-D and soldered the leads, observing the original polarity, to the end-pin jack. I cut the original cord so that it would not come in contact with the inside of the guitar but gave it enough slack to hang out of sight below the soundhole. Trying to tighten the jack was a bit of a bite because my hands are too big to fit throught the soundhole. I had to get my wife to do the inside work while I cinched the outside retaining nut. Oh, I did have to heat-bend a wrench to 90 degrees so she could hold the inside jack retaining nut. Ok..cool thanks for the instructions. It seems pretty straight forward to me. I am not so sure about the "polarity" part or the instructions. I know that there is two spots to solder the wires to on the jack but I don't know which wires from the pickup go where. How did you determine which wire went to what terminal on the jack? Also...it sounds like the type of jack you bought was kind of difficult to install...hmmm..I will have to do some google work here and look at the different types of endpin jacks. So...how did it work out for you? Did you have any trouble or did it work properly right after the installation? Was there any extra noise? Thanks again for your help Regards, OGP
Members attic Posted August 3, 2007 Members Posted August 3, 2007 a week ago or so, I've installed a Fishman Rare Earth Humbucker on my Taylor. Sounds very very very very good. No noise at all. (thank you humbucker) It's installed with a hole in my guitar. I let the shop take care of that.
Members Cripes Posted August 4, 2007 Members Posted August 4, 2007 Ok..cool thanks for the instructions. It seems pretty straight forward to me. I am not so sure about the "polarity" part or the instructions. I know that there is two spots to solder the wires to on the jack but I don't know which wires from the pickup go where. How did you determine which wire went to what terminal on the jack? Also...it sounds like the type of jack you bought was kind of difficult to install...hmmm..I will have to do some google work here and look at the different types of endpin jacks. So...how did it work out for you? Did you have any trouble or did it work properly right after the installation? Was there any extra noise? Thanks again for your help Regards, OGP If you take the plug from the Neo-D apart you will notice which wire is connected to which contact. Then, the easiest way to know which contact is the center conductor on the plug is to check it with an ohmmeter. Touch the tip of the Neo-D cord plug with one probe of the meter and find which wire solder contact indicates continuity with the other probe. The wires have different color insulation jackets so write down which color goes to which terminal. I don't remember if the Neo-D had a third (shield) conductor but I don't think it did. Then, cut the cord to the proper length leaving enough wire to stagger the lengths to match the end-pin jack solder contact stagger. I did this permanent installation on my brother's guitar. After it was done I played it for a little while and it sounded like a soundhole p/u does. To me, they are pretty good but the trebles definitely have an electric guitar quality to the sound. I guess he was happy with it. I didn't hear any griping from him about the p/u but he did gripe about the guitar. It was a Walden D2040. I tried to convince him to put in a UST instead just for the sake of the "looks" department. That Walden was a real good looking guitar but it was way too quiet. Hence the p/u.
Members eflat Posted August 4, 2007 Members Posted August 4, 2007 Great posts EvilTwin, helped me too. Here's a great site I found. . . here, actually. . . about how to install a fishman, and [if you want] how to do this through an endpin conversion - http://members.tripod.com/~banjoist/Fishman.htm
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted August 4, 2007 Members Posted August 4, 2007 I have a question here.... Has anyone ever permanently installed a Fishman Neo D soundhole pickup and wired it directly to an endpin jack? If so what is the procedure for this. Obviously getting the proper endpin jack and enlarging the hole for it to fit is a given but what about the soldering connection to the endpin jack? What gets soldered were? What do I do with the extra wire inside the guitar? Will I get anymore extraneous buzzing from doing this? I am seriously thinking of doing this with my Neo D and my old Yamaha. Thanks in advance OGP Solder a mini-male* plug to the P/U's cable and a mini-female* inline jack to the output (strap button) jack's cable...then you can just plug it in...and if you find another P/U you like better, later, it's easy to change out. * 1/8" jack/plug
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.