Electric pickups - worth it?

Ahab

Hey guys,

Been a while since I last posted but have been want to hear what your thoughts are on the use of Stimer style pickups in general. I've never owned one but have been toying with the idea of getting one and I have seen one second hand at a good price.

I know they are very popular in France but you don't see the Dutch guys using them so much. If I want an electric sound I would just use my es175 and I can get a pretty good sound a la late Django if I get all my amp settings right. When using the Selmac I use a pro 70 and an AER which I have no problems with. I just wonder if there slightly a gimmick or are they really an essential part of the GJ guitarists toolkit.

Any thoughts would be welcome!

PapsPier

The sound is not the same as an es175. And there is no absolute worth it or not, it depends on you and your projects: what sound you are looking for and what kind of music you want to play?
I dont know who you call the Dutch guys but the Rosenberg trio has recorded a whole CD with the Peche a la mouche pickup for example

Scoredog

essential if you play a noisy club...not needed otherwise, but some like the sound.

Jim Kaznosky

It's worth it if you play loud gigs where you are going to be up against your speaker and there is the potential to feedback. It isn't exactly an ideal sound to use for every gig, but it is a good tool to have.

Mandobart

NFI on my part, but I have used JJB pickups in about 15 instruments; violins, violas, mandolins, OM's, mandocelli, guitars and an upright bass. I like the twin head PPS 200. If you are hesitant to solder up a jack you can use the prestige 220 that already has an endpin jack.

I mount the twin heads inside, on the soundboard under the bridge feet contact points. A lot of people superglue them in, but I like to use blu-tak putty. This allows you to move them around to get the optimum sound, and dampens some of the piezo harshness. On a petite bouche it can be hard accessing the inside thru the sound hole. Also the jack installation will require drilling through the tailblock; something not everyone wants to do. For me the pros are: inexpensive, does not alter the acoustic sound, fairly easy install, sounds good, can be easilly removed or replaced later, don't have to fiddle around with a soundhole pickup, very clean look (no visible wire, pickup, etc.). With any piezo (which has a high ~ 10 Mohm output impedance) you have to match whatever you're plugging into. A high-Z input on an acoustic amp, good pre-amp or DI are needed to achieve that and prevent the tinny "piezo quack".