Schertler Basik or DYN-G ?

Matthias Lenz

Hi folks,

next week I´ll get my first selmerstyle guitar (Gitane Dg255) and also a Schertler Unico amp to amplify it. I decided to go with a Schertler pickup as well, but am wondering if the Basik oder DYN-G will be the better choice ?

What I´m looking for :

- most natural and warm sound (regardless of mics, of course)
- flexibility for use on both selmerstyle and flattop acoustic guitars

The sound is most important to me. Reaching VERY high volume is not too important, because for that I´ll use a PA and the amp as a monitor. My guess is that the DYN-G will be better, but I´d like to hear opinions from people who have used both of these pickups. Any comments ?

Bob Holo

I've heard strong proponents of both of those mics - but generally when people describe why they like them - it tends to be that people like the liveliness and edge of the basik. I've never heard it referred to as a 'warm' pickup. I've heard a few people say that they like the 'fullness' of the dyn. I guess a person could interpret 'fullness' as warmth.

Personally I think that the placement of both of these mics can vary the tone so much that I don't comment about their tone other than to say that I've tried both and liked them both, but I never felt motivated to buy either because my taste in amps tends more toward old tube Gibson / Fender amps and the Schertlers seem to be somewhat voiced for their amps. I'm sure if you're getting their amp, either pickup will sound good - but expect to spend some time finding the right placement.

BluesBop Harry

I haven't tried the DYN but I own a Basik and I think it's a cool pickup.
I've read the Basik's better for gypsy style guitars and the DYN is more versatile, either one will probably sound great if you have the Unico.
Check out this tread from a while back
Good luck!

djangology

a BigTone pickup kicks the most ass with a Unico, in my opinion. Its just my own personal opinion though. I have a Dyn-G and a BigTone and the bigtone is definitely my favorite now although I used the Dyn-G for years before I had the bigtone.

The problem is that a DuPont bigtone is a "tight fit" on a Gitane-255. The bigtone fits much better on the Cigano CJ-10.

So, my conclusion is to get the Dyn-G and use it for a few years and try a bigtone later. I think the Basick is wierd sounding, personally, but one of my friends prefers it to his Dyn-G.

Matthias Lenz

Thanks to all of you for your replies.

I know it can be hard to make recommendations on choice of equipment. But today the problem got solved, because my local dealer was finally generous enough to order both the pickups for me. I can try them out for a whole week and then decide which one to buy 8) Lucky me !!!

But again, thanks for your replies, and if anyone´s interested I´ll make a comparison review once I´m through with the test.

Best wishes,
Matthias

Matthias Lenz

Well... :? quite some time has passed, but nevertheless here´s the final result :

I went for the Dyn-G, as it was obviously doing a better job in reproducing the guitar´s natural sound. More like a microphone, whereas the Basik has a lot more "pickup" character, altering the sound in a special way. I agree, it doesn´t sound bad either and seems to fit the selmac sound, but after all I wanted to get as natural as possible, and the Dyn-G does that for me.

It´s been said before (see Michael Horowitz´s pickup/amp review), but I feel like mentioning it again : the benefits of this "natural" sound can become problems once you reach a certain volume level. The pickup works best at low to medium volume settings (which I prefer over playing loud). For getting loud you need a different solution.

Tell you more about it in another 2 years :oops:

thrip

I have a DYN-G for the quiet gigs and a Miller for the loud gigs, and you can swap them as the evening gets rowdier. Perfect!