impossible pickup?

woodamand

Here is my dilemma: I am crazy about the acoustic sound of my guitar. At the same time, I want to have a pickup in, not on, the guitar. And I love the late sounding Django electric tone.
I though about buying a Krivo Nuevo but: even though it says it mounts in seconds, I hate the idea of putting putty or anything else on the top of the guitar. I have had let us say not optimal results with putty.
So: is there some other system that I am not aware of that would not be over the sound hole that could still get a tone like I am wishing for?

guitarmike

What do you mean by "had not optimal result with putty" ?

I have a Lace sensor magnetic pickup on my guitar for about 3 years now
and I used a very small quantity of "putty" ( blue) Never removed it.
Also, to get the Django "electric sound" you need a small tube amp at
almost max volume. just before it distort too much.
A pickup like a Stimer or Pêche à la mouche" is quite ideal for that too.

Bones

Schertler, the putty doesn't hurt the finish at all. Note that the putty only goes around the perimeter of the pickup. The center of the pickup should touch the top of the guitar with no putty in between.

Buco

Magnetic sound with a pickup or something else mounted internally? I don't think it exists.
There was a modeler of some sort mentioned somewhat recently around here, that's the only thing I can think of.

What was the problem with the putty?

Buco

Something like this is what I was thinking
http://audiosprockets.com
It came up on the forum some time ago.

woodamand

I tried and failed using putty on my Harmony archtop, drove me crazy. I finally had to make a surface mount out of plastic, glue the pickup to the mount and screw the mount to the surface of the guitar. It looks good now, ok, but what a pain!
If I didn't think it would hurt the tone, I might want to opt for something like they did on the Gibson J-160E:
https://reverb.com/item/3291508-gibson-j-160e-cherry-sunburst-1974-s256?gclid=CL78o8-bydACFQ5Efgod7SMO_A&pla=1
Note how the pickup does not block the tone hole, therefore does not affect the acoustic volume. Of course the ends of the fretboard have to be squared off to do this. I winder why I have never seen a setup like this, straight from the luthier?

Buco

I don't know about archtops but I doubt you'd have problems using the putty with your JWC. I've been using the same two tiny balls of blue putty since I got my Krivo. I just have to kneed it for a few seconds to get them warm and tacky every time I'm using the pickup. Then to get it to stick I use the twisting motion to work in to the top.
It holds very firmly, so much so that I'm afraid to pull straight up when I'm done, instead I twist it again to remove the pickup.

spatzo

Hi all! I don't know if it might be of interest to you but a friend of mine recently added two rather long solded rods (moreless 5cm) perpendicularly on the back side of his Stimer ST48 after eliminating the two ufficial metal screw towers and placing a spiece of felt on the back side of the mike. Then he simply asked his luthier to practice two very small holes in the piece of wood supporting the harmonic table (on the neck side of the hole). By the way he is now able to set and unset very quickly his Stimer according to his necessities just fitting the rods in the inside holes throught the oval hole and letting the felted back side of the micro in contact with the harmonic table as a delicate plier. The guitar is perfectly protected and the Stimer is always stable placed in a firm and ideal position with the B string cutting exactly in the middle the S letter of the word Stimer.
It is important to be able to unset easily the Stimer as it takes out a lot of sound when the guitar has to be played purely acoustic

Bones

Never had any issues with my Schertler pickup and the putty that comes with it. Like Buco said, I've only used the same little pea size blob over and over. Keep it clean and grease free and it will last a long time and sticks just fine. Doesn't damage the finish.

woodamand

spatzo wrote: »

Hi all! I don't know if it might be of interest to you but a friend of mine recently added two rather long solded rods (moreless 5cm) perpendicularly on the back side of his Stimer ST48 after eliminating the two ufficial metal screw towers and placing a spiece of felt on the back side of the mike. Then he simply asked his luthier to practice two very small holes in the piece of wood supporting the harmonic table (on the neck side of the hole). By the way he is now able to set and unset very quickly his Stimer according to his necessities just fitting the rods in the inside holes throught the oval hole and letting the felted back side of the micro in contact with the harmonic table as a delicate plier. The guitar is perfectly protected and the Stimer is always stable placed in a firm and ideal position with the B string cutting exactly in the middle the S letter of the word Stimer.
It is important to be able to unset easily the Stimer as it takes out a lot of sound when the guitar has to be played purely acoustic

Do you by chance have a photo of this, I can't really picture what is going on. Tia

spatzo

Hi Woodamand! Unfortunately no photos but I gives something like that...