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Posts: 1026
Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | I have been thinking of putting a Martin thinline pickup on my 1117 Legend in order to plug in. Currently using a mic, or a magnetic soundhole pick-up are my only options. for under $100.00 I can put a simple under saddle pick-up in. Would I gain a lot over my Lawerence soundhole pick-up? Would it effect the unplugged sound of my 1117?
Thanks for any thoughts on the matter.
Norse(don't want to do it if it's not worth the effort)man1 |
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February 2002
Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Installing undersaddle pickups can be tricky unless you have the right tools and know what your doing. Generally you need to rout the saddle slot a little deeper and if you don't get it absolutely perfect it can cause string imbalance problems. A better bet might be to ask Al to get you an Ovation Thinline pickup as used on the Celebs and some USA models. The saddle and piezo pickup are integral and is far less prone to balance problems. It won't affect the acoustic sound. Whether you'll prefer it to a mag soundhole pickup is something you'll have to decide for yourself, they both produce completely different sounds. |
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Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | Thanks for the input Paul. I like a very natural acoustic sound. The magnetic pick-ups don't seem to give that acoustic quality. However, I don't want to screw the thing up. Perhaps I'll stick with a good mic, and use a different guitar for plugging in.
This information sheds a little light on another idea I had...I was considering getting a Blueridge acoustic (big bass like a 1537 or my Legend, but a whole lot less money) and equipping it with a Martin Thinline. Maybe I should keep an eye out for a different guitar with booming bass and electronics already on board around the same money. |
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Posts: 9301
Location: south east Michigan | What about one of those Fishman pick-ups with a microphone that mount on the inside edge of the sound hole? I think they are about $100. It might be interesting to hear that combination. |
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Posts: 15678
Location: SoCal | I had a LR Baggs undersaddle p/u put in my '78 Legend, by a repair guy who knew what he was doing. It cost about $200 and made the guitar much more useful. |
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Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | Hey Slipkid,
I tried a lapel mic set on part of the inside bracing once...the problem was if I pointed it one way...too little bass, poin it the other...squelching bass drowning out everything.
I tried the lapel mic in conjunction with the soundhole pic-up...actually worked pretty good, but not very convienient.
Thanks for the input Paul, Paul, and Brad! |
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Posts: 14842
Location: NJ | Master Templeman had loaned me the use of a REALLY cool little condensor mic on a small clip-on gooseneck at last year's Jam for use on the SlotHead (not sure, but it MAY visible on some pics). Worked out really well (I thought). Y'might wanna research one of those. Needs phantom power, tho . . . |
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Posts: 1026
Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | Hey Cliff,
I have phantom power on my CA250 and my CA60 so that's cool. Any idea what kind of money we're talking for this mic? |
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Location: NJ | Temp?? . . . . . |
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Posts: 5750
Location: Scotland | Last retail price I had was around $120 I think |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | The thinline will give you the best sound both acoustically and plugged in. Getting it mounted right is the trick as Temp has said. |
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Location: Back in the Valley of the Sun Mesa Az. | So you can't just shave the saddle down, you have to hollow out the bridge in order to fit? I don't think I want to attempt that. |
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Location: Scotland | depends on the depth of the saddle slot and the amount of exposed saddle. In most cases if you attempt to take material off the base of the saddle there's not enough depth to hold the saddle upright against the string tension. The saddle tilts forward and apart from looking unsightly it causes intonation and string balance problems |
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Location: Carle Place, NY | Are the saddle slots on Ovations not as deep as other guitars? I once put a Martin Thin Line into a Taylor 410 without any problems. It was relatively easy, worked well and didn't effect the acoustic tone. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Don't know if Ovation deeper or not than others, but in either case you'll need to either deepen the slot or sand down the saddle. Unless you are very luck and there are the same number of shims in your guitar to match the thickness of the thinline. Dave |
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Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | I sanded down the saddle with a piece of fine sandpaper clamped down on to a perfectly flat piece of Corian. It took some time and patience, but it wasn't hard. The trick is to measure the height of the saddle above the bridge first and then sand the saddle slowly and fit it by trial and error until it's the correct height. |
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Putting a thinline in a Legend
