Best place to put an internal transducer???

MichaelHorowitz

Stringswinger wrote:

Also, I've never been able to get a good sound out of Dell Arte Bigtones, no matter what amp I run them through (I even tried one on my Dupont). Dupont's bigtones sound great as do Shelly Park Bigtones.

Shelley actually buys her bigtones from Dell Arte...so maybe it's just how she does the install.

Stringswinger

I think Shelley buys the Bigtone from Dell Arte (They are the sole importer of "genuine" Bigtones for North America according to their website) and Shelley installs them in her own bridges.

I've had two Dell Arte Bigtones and two Shelley Park Bigtones and the Shelley Park Bigtones were better balanced and had more gain.

A friend just installed a Dupont Bigtone on his Dupont (he bought the Bigtone from Djangobooks.com) and it sounds great. It is not a cheap solution to amplifying the Gypsy Jazz guitar, but it works!

Craig Bumgarner

BluesBop Harry wrote:

.... I'm taking the BT off right now and will put a new bridge on, stick the Basik under the top and wire it to the end block jack. I'll have a couple of chances to try it live next week and if I can get loud enough it's staying. I guess it's gonna be borderline but if it's close I'm considering getting a preamp to work on the feedback...we'll see...

Let us know how it goes.

Craig

BluesBop Harry

The BT's gone! Put on a new, taller bridge and the guitar acoustically now sounds a lot better, seems my BT bridge was sucking off some tone... the higher action is still comfortable and the volume is campfire jam approved

I'm still using the Basik outside... (frankly i'm a little scared to cut up the cable to do the internal wiring)
... so far so good, plenty loud with a much natural (if a little less defined) sound.
I'm using a Compact 60 with the "color" button pressed down and full mids, full treble, bass at 11 o clock, channel gain is all up and master about half way. Pretty gigable i'd say and could still turn it up some.

I'm gonna try to stick the pickup inside now... see what happens
As soon as I muster up the courage to do the wiring I'll tell you how it went... hope I don't make a mess!

BluesBop Harry

It's proving really difficult to get the Basik inside, under the top.
After a lot of tries I got it on a strut and the tone was just OK with lots of feedback.
I'll ask someone with smaller hands to help move it around as the sound can change dramatically with placement.

On the bright side I found that the Basik it's small enough to be placed (outside) ON the bridge and kept there, I tried both sides and the bass side, on the flatter part of the bridge sounds best for me. Really loud and very, very natural sounding. I'm now using putty directly over the magnet and works much better. Can't see a reason why it wouldn't work live.

So far this is the best amplified sound I've been able to get, a bit feedback prone but not that much and the tone really makes up for the inconvenience.

I'd just like to have the pickup semi-permanently attached (and out of sight preferably) so I don't have to keep sticking it on and off all the time... maybe shorten the cable and put in a jack instead of the 1/4 plug.

I'd love to hear your ideas for a plug and play install, internal or external.


Thanks!!

BluesBop Harry

Bad news folks,
I used the Basik on a gig today and it was very disappointing ... the tone of my guitar by itself was good but once the whole band was playing it turned thin and shrill. I'm just glad I hadn't done any permanent modifications.
One thing the Basik can handle well is rhythm playing with the right eq it can work OK and probably better than a BT, solo gigs could also be a good time to use this pickup.

So the Bigtone's going back, just as Marc said it's imperfect but so far is the best option I've found. It does sound kinda artificial but it's very clear at high volumes and sounds FAT. To me is the middle ground between a magnetic pickup (Stimer) and a microphone, a no hassle amplifying solution for the gigging musician.

BTW if anyone's still interested in installing a Basik inside a guitar I found out Schertler does make a Basik model wired to a Jack, it's intended for resonators but would likely work just the same on a Selmac.