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Joined:
October 2006
Posts: 2
| Hi
I have a Balladeer form 1977, and want to install a pickup. I need some good recommendations? What is easy to install and work well. Should I go for a Ovation original like OP-30, or go for some other pickup? |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13987
Location: Upper Left USA | Welcome!
I recently put a Schaller with a piezo stick on and all I had to do was a 3/8" bowl hole for the jack.
It was adequate and only cost about $30.
Consider this the minimalist approach. |
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Joined:
August 2006
Posts: 2804
Location: ranson,wva | may i add that the piezo that mike installed works great.....ive got a spare sick-on piezo that is external if you are interested..jason |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | Hi, Otts--
Welcome aboard. I have a 1971 Balladeer with a Fishman Matrix Natural II undersaddle pickup. Requires drilling a pilot hole through the saddle slot and a 1/4" hole for the jack. No volume controls or EQ needed, and it's a very balanced output. I've had Martin Thinlines, Dean Markley "Sweet Spots"(undersaddles), and Seymour Duncan and Dean Markley soundhole pickups, and this Fishman is the most natural, "acoustic" sounding pickup I've ever heard. With a guitar like yours, I'd try to minimize the drilling. This setup is not very invasive.
I think an OP 30 is something I wouldn't want to try myself; I'd have a luthier or experienced guitar tech do that. |
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Joined:
August 2006
Posts: 2804
Location: ranson,wva | i might have a adamas 2knob stereo preamp installed in my folklore or my balladeer by the great folk's at the 'ship..jason |
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Joined:
October 2006
Posts: 2
| Thanks for feedback. Nice to get input from some with experience before I install something. I also reed some interesting article in: http://www.acousticguitar.com/article/165/165,7096,FEATURE-1.asp
Some more questions:
-How is the sound in the Fishman Matrix Natural II or the Schaller compared to the original from Ovation?
-How is it to combine this with a preamp at a later stage is I want to?
-Any WEB address to buy original Ovation preamps from outside US? |
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Joined:
August 2005
Posts: 616
Location: cincinnati, ohio | Hey, otts--
I think the Fishman Matrix Natural II is the most acoustic-sounding pickup I've ever heard. There IS a preamp built into the jack-- you wouldn't have to add one later; it's an active pickup with a "switchjack" (when you plug in your cord, it turns on) and requires a 9 volt battery. The only thing it doesn't have is an EQ, and the response is so even and transparent, you don't really need one. I EQ the guitar through the amp or PA, and I usually just zero everything out. I've got them in a 1971 Balladeer and a 1974 Pacemaker 12-string and couldn't be happier. They sound just as good as the OP-30 in my road guitar, a CS 257 (I know, I know-- it's not USA-made, but it's a damned fine-sounding guitar, and I don't have to risk my "heirloom" Ovations playing in bars). I don't see how you could go wrong with a Fishman, plus the only alteration to the guitar is a 1/4" jack. |
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Pickup for Balladeer
