What is the BEST Acoustic Pickup? // The Ultimate Shootout

There is a stupid amount of acoustic pickups out there and picking the right one out can be confusing. I've demo'd a ton of guitar pickups over the last few years - piezo, contact, mics, magnetic, etc. and so this video is a summary of everything I've learned. While undersaddle piezos notoriously sound bad, for the person playing on very loud stages, this is a good option. For those on quiet stages, we have built in instrument mics. For those that need something in the middle but still require a good sound, there are contact piezo mics. For the lead guitarist or someone who needs a very full and rich sound, magnetic.

Pickups:

▶️ *Highlights*
0:00 - Intro
0:59 - 4 Types of Pickups
1:37 - Undersaddle Piezo
2:57 - Thoughts On External Preamps
3:35 - Martin Gold Thinline Plus
4:08 - Contact Mic / Pickup
5:03 - K&K Pure Mini
5:48 - JourneyTek EP001k
6:51 - Cling On Pickup
8:36 - On-Instrument Mics
9:31 - Myers Pickup
11:00 - Cloudvocal iSolo
12:39 - Magnetic Pickups
14:16 - Fishman Rare Earth
14:51 - My Thoughts

#AcousticGuitar #AcousticPickup #AcousticDemo
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Hi! My name is Alex Price. I’m a professional musician based out of Pittsburgh, USA. I make a living between touring, performing on cruise ships, and while I’m home, teaching. Check out my new uploads every Tuesday and Saturday for gear demos, lessons, and performance clips.

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[AlexPriceMusician]

Here are a few links to read more / listen to demos of each of the pickups I've mentioned in this video:

[alessandroformenti]

After many many years, I've solved my problems keeping some instruments (which I love and record with) pickup free, while on stage I use other instruments built with that purpose.

[davestagner]

The two best solutions I’ve far are a Schertler A6 mag+mic, and a combination of a Schatten HFN with their Artist 2 preamp and a magnetic (Dimarzio Angel in this case). I have a good demo video of the Schatten/Dimarzio combo compared with a studio mic, which also has the Schatten by itself and the Dimarzio by itself. For real-world live performance, I prefer this to the Schertler… the mag/mic sounds great, but it’s easy to turn into nasty, high-pitched mic feedback. The Schatten HFN is a bridge transducer like the K&K, but it’s much easier to attach, and imho sounds noticeably more natural - the K&K can get a little woofy, the Schatten is airier and more mic-like. At any rate, I think dual pickup systems are the way to go! I have yet to hear a single pickup that strikes the right balance between clarity, naturalness, feedback resistance, and cutting through a full band mix.

[viktorviktor]

Really happy with my LR Baggs anthem SL

[picksalot]

For Nylon String guitar, I've had excellent results getting a very natural sound using a single Piezo Contact Pickup. It is mounted under the soundboard behind the bridge using double sided tape. The problem with it is that the guitar acts like a giant microphone, so it's practical in only quiet environments.

I had an under saddle Piezo on an Acoustic Electric, and it had the typical thin, quacky tone associated with that type of pickup. It died, and I removed it.

I have an LR Baggs iBeam Active pickup in an acoustic guitar. It is a Piezo/body sensing pickup which attaches to the underside of the soundboard with double sided tape. I used to run it through a Baggs Para Acoustic DI, but now I just plug directly into my HX Stomp. The pickup is pretty good, but I don't love it.

[matrixInvader]

great video man, by far the most helpful I've seen. Think you sold me on the rare earth. Cheers from Gulfport!

[Mr.Goldbar]

The best solution if you ask me is a blend of as many elements as possible, especially with different EQ for each or a stereo system. Magnetic for lows, Undersaddle and mic for mids and highs, and blend that with a condenser/contact. That's something I did in fact notice about precussive guitar players like Mike Dawes and Marcin for example

Out of the pickups in this video the K&K is my favorite, the magnetic and the cling on are my least favorite. However I've heard so many undersaddles that are better than the one in this video, especially some with preamps that have more controls and on the side of the guitar rather than in the inside of the soundhole.

[pastorkev]

One cool option if you don't want to modify your guitar is a KNA SG-1 I run mine into a Nux MG30 with a IR, preamp, EQ and Compressor minimally and it's phenomenal. Sadly it doesn't work in my newest guitar, but for most acoustics it's great.

[grobros]

I really like the sound of your favorite (Fishman Rare Earth Mag / Mic combo). Thanks for the excellent demonstrations, comparisons, and explanations, as usual.

I have to posit my experiences, though: I have a Takamine G-Series. I know many guitarists say they do not like the sound of piezo under saddles; but nearly everywhere I play, whether through my sound equipment or others’ gear, people always say, “Man, that guitar sounds good!” I think it underscores what you said about piezo pickups: They are not the most realistic, but they sound really good in context, and are so easy to accommodate.

[russstrough]

Double X0 and Double X2. Humbucker/microphone, lithium internal battery dirt cheap, sounds great and I've tried almost all you've mentioned. X2 has effects and a vibrating transducer for unplugged. Even has a phase switch, great to fight feedback. Yes the installation does dampen the top some. Both have 3 band eq.

[neilmchardy]

I found great success for quieter gigs, was to use an Amazon condenser lapel mic attached just inside the sound hole behind the fretboard. Like all mics it was a bit prone to feedback but had a very genuine and clear sound. For the £7 it cost me I was very impressed.
PS. I found the idea on another pickup review website, really surprised with the results.

[Brianemersonpt]

After gigging for years with undersaddle piezos with & without mic blended in I finally discovered the Taylor ES2 and it’s my system of choice. Highly feedback resistant, very sensitive and much truer sounding than undersaddle alone.

We are lucky to have so many great systems on the market, we each can choose which system sounds best to our ear and serves our purposes best.

[throwarockatme]

Alex, thank you so much for this! It’s one of the best pickup comparisons I’ve come across. I’ve rewatched it numerous times now, and finally concluded that I agree about the Fishman rare earth mic blend. I ended up picking one up and couldn’t be happier with it! Sounds great on every guitar I’ve put it on.

Thanks again and take care!

[DucaTambasco]

I know it is a little out of topic, but what a beautiful play at 10:32... lovely!

[LPKJFHIS]

Just wanted to say thanks for putting this together. For what it’s worth, I gigged for years with the baggs anthem using a feedback buster in my Ibanez. We had a loud drummer, but we got by with little feedback issues. Worst case scenario, I could have adjusted the balance to a tad bit less mic and more under saddle, but I never had to. Cheers!

[paulheartsongs]

Nice playing, man. Thanks for sharing your experience. 😊

[SweetBabyJamesOfficial]

Dude, fantastic job. Great video, very helpful, well thought out and organized, plus I dig your screen presence/persona. Keep it up!

[michaelyolch]

After years of Fishmans in all my guitars, a world-class luthier turned me on to K&K and I've never looked back. The BIG reason is that the K&K performs flawlessly with ALTERNATE tunings. This is a BIG deal...because every pickup just can't do that. Besides alternate tunings, I feel that the K&K perfectly reproduces the guitar as I hear it in my ear when played acoustically.

[MashaT]

If that Martin is the same as the Fishman Sonitone, then I agree. Best Piezo out there. It sounds as close to the real acoustic tone in the room as it’s gonna get.

[MustafaAldhaheri]

I have installed a K&K pure mini in my Taylor 214DLX and it sounded much more real that Taylor’s ES 1, and the sound was full and bass was so much that I have to add a low cut to make it usable. The trick in this pickup is the used glue and make sure to use it with an impedance of 1Mega ohms (Hi-Z)

IMO This is the most NATURAL/ TRANSPARENT acoustic pickup, but it is a feedback sensitive like you mentioned and this is the only drawback