Magnetic Soundhole Pickup Comparison | SD Mag Mic | SUNRISE | K&K Double Helix | Acoustic Pickups

A sound comparison between the Seymour Duncan Mag Mic, Sunrise and K&K Double Helix magnetic soundhole acoustic guitar pickups.
If you are considering buying one of these great pickups, I hope this video makes your decision easier!

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Waylon McPherson Guitar

My Originals Project Whiskey Soho

My Day Job "McPherson Stompboxes NZ"

0:00 Intro
1:50 Raw Audio
3:11 Test 1
5:41 Test 2
8:09 Test 3
9:16 Test 4
11:03 Test 5
14:10 Overdrive Test
16:53 Conclusion
20:39 Test 1 No EQ
23:10 Test 2 No EQ
25:38 Test 3 No EQ
26:45 Test 4 No EQ
28:32 Test 5 No EQ

@seymourduncan
@kksoundinc

#acousticguitar #pickup #magnetic

[WaylonMcPhersonGuitar]

Had a blast making this video! If you are considering buying one of these great pickups, I hope this video makes your decision easier

[happyasmongoose]

Great great video, thank you. I’m a nerd about this stuff, and this is satisfying to see. I have Mag Mics in two stage guitars currently, and it’s the dusting of the mic I can add on that one that makes all the difference for me. Great work thnx.

[nathanweekes]

Impressive video. I loved that you covered different styles of playing and you played the same thing on each pickup. Sunrise, no question. I purchased and installed three!

[retrodig]

Wonderful playing, thanks! I'm curious to know the song titles.

I'd love to hear the comparison between these pickups and the LR Baggs M1 and/or M80.

[Thallishman]

Thank you so much for making this video. I really demonstrates the pickups when. Being able to hear the differences with different playings styles(tests) really helps. Its great that you included processed and unprocessed sounds! Curious, are there any soundhole pickups you would recomand for jazz?(even outside the ones in this video)

[gorilkamil]

That’s what I call a review. Very detailed, objective. Long enough to hear all the subtle differences between that 3 pickups . Beautiful guitar playing. Thanks a lot Waylon you’re the man 👏 🙏

[gorilkamil]

After this video I bought SD mag mic. Omg what a pickup. I’m in love with it. I can’t play on the stage without my Seymour Duncan anymore. Amazing !

[blufordbirdsong]

man they all sound great. I came for the sunrise, but I think the Duncan may have a slight edge. K & K was nice in gloss mode, didn't sound as good in the steam mode to my ears. Felt like maybe the sunrise was the most accurate, but the duncan had just a touch more bass which I liked. Probably come down to price and availability for me. The sunrise is sometimes hard to get in the states. I know Billy Strings uses the double helix, but I think he also has a transducer in his rig. He has a great live sound. Thanks

[ArisGerontakis]

I have been looking for a video that showcased EXACTLY what you did! Excellent work! Hugely underrated view count, in my opinion. I’m about to purchase the Mag Mic for my acoustic, mainly for its versatility with the mic and full sound.

I expected the “Steam” mode of the Helix to perform better with overdrive, probably due to its low pass filter. But it didn’t necessarily sound much better than the rest of the pickups, which have more treble!

I would LOVE to know your opinion on which pickup makes an acoustic sound more like an electric (mostly for solo purposes, quite likely with distortion and other effects) in a live setting. I’m going to look for such a video in your channel right now, but if you haven’t made one, I think it’s a brilliant idea for content, as I haven’t found ANYTHING on YouTube that fully covers the subject. I mean there are a few videos on distortion for acoustic guitar, but nothing really deals with magnetic sound hole pickups, which are probably the way to go when looking into this.

Anyways, sorry for the long and excited comment, I’m an instant fan, I’d love to know your thoughts!

Aris

[TLMuse]

As someone who used to do acoustic guitar amplification workshops, I especially appreciated your remarks about how much the player hears the acoustic sound, and that this can lead one astray in evaluating a pickup or setting up a stage mix—what the player hears isn't what the audience hears. For me, even with significant experience, I was only able to dial in a good audience sound by using a looper to record my signal and then play it back without me actually playing and having my impression influenced by the acoustic sound (and not just the acoustic *sound*, but also the feel of the guitar vibrating against me). If you have a good sound person, it's probably best to just trust them to get the FOH sound right. Alas, on acoustic circuits, we don't always have experience people handling sound. If you have to dial in a live acoustic guitar sound yourself, a looper is your friend! —Tom

[adamberk]

Thank you for the video. So well done. You mentioned you had other pickups in your setup as well. Do you use them in tandem with the Mag Mic? Do you think these are the best option when looking for a natural sounding pickup that captures the sound of your guitar?

[billyhellmaker]

I own the SD pickup but watched the vid to see the new KK. I was surprised to have liked the pickup I already own better than the others - SCORE.
Great vid!

[jacobschmid]

Hi Waylon, do you find the mag mic to have a lower signal to noise ratio since it’s active? How does the noise level compare to the K&K? I’ve been loving the K&K, but I’m wondering if there’s something even quieter out there when it comes to noise.

[LegsON]

Brilliant review, thank you so much for this. I stick to Fishman Rare Earth Mic Blend myself.

[jerrypalmer]

I have a magmic...Its really nice...and its a mono signal, which is easy playing live as you don't need a stereo preamp....My other guitars have sunrise with either an internal microphone, or a K&K pickup....for sure a little more complicated and expensive...But I tell everyone, you pay for the pickups once, you will have them probably the rest of your life...I'v had my all my sunrise pickups over 35 years, yes 35 years, and they are great !!! We will see with the magmic...it sure sounds great !

[cchavez]

I thought the Seymour and the K&K were going to walk away with the win but, the more percussive that the demos got, the Sunrise started to excel to my ears! Thank you!

[DonAlderOfficial]

I've used the mag mic for years and it's great i combination with other pickups but phase issues might occur depending on the pickup. The mag mic also has the mic so u can easily dial in for percussive effects. I've been bugging them to add a phase switch which the Dimarzio Angel has as well as the double helix

[Rollaway]

Thanks for doing the comparison. I could see no wire with the SD Mag Mic. Did you plug that directly into the preamp on your Cole Clark or something?

[cfire]

That K&k is very impressive…sounds quite good…actually they all sound great too me.

[donnerrusk]

Bought KnK...theres alot of 60cycle hum on mine (dimarzio black angel is dead quiet....no one mentions this