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D holes with magnetic pickup question
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Can anyone share their playing experiences with using a D hole with a Stimer type pickup (Peche, Kleio etc). Specifically , does it get in the way of your right hand/pick. Is you right hand playing position compromised. Also most players choose to mount the pickup close to the fingerboard. On a D hole this is not possible. Is the sound less than ideal with the pickup mounted so far back on a D hole or is it not noticeable enough to be an issue?
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This question comes up all the time. Somebody needs to make a universal solution.
Hi Buco
I finished your book recommendation ,The practice of practice. I enjoyed it and picked up some helpful tips, thanks. Are you the very same Buco mentioned in the book who played gypsy jazz with the author or is that just a coincidence?
According to the yellow pages gypsy jazz directory I'm it. Yes Jon is a friend, we used to play in a band together. Then working wives took us both away from Chicago. I used to mention our friendship when the book just came out and I'd recommend it on the forum. But today it's doing more than fine on its own so I stopped.
A friend with a D hole is considering removing the extension and mounting DeArmond Rhythm Chief.
So is that because he doesn't like the sound from the pickup mounted at the rear or the pickup gets in the way or both?
Both. He can deal with it clipping at the bridge side of the hole to mount but would rather have it on the opposite side to stay clear from the picking hand plus he figures it would sound warmer and nicer. I think he has Peche or something in that family but he's leaning towards getting DeArmond and mount it using their side rail bracket.
I used to play a D hole - a long scale, Barault - and could not really find any acceptable place for the magnetic pickup. The Peche has a different clip for the back of the hole (straight part of the D) but like you said the sound is not as good there and it kind of gets in the way for the picking hand too. Also got the feeling that having that much weight hanging on that part of the top could make the acoustic sound suffer.
The solution is to use an oval hole guitar.. 😋
Looks like Tchavolo has some kind of clip system for the Stimer with his D hole Barault.
There might be a problem with the DeArmind in that it's quite a thick pickup and it has a very narrow coverage of the strings. Also the mounting arm isn't great in terms of it's ability to hold the pickup level and the angle it presents the pickup to the strings. I've had both versions - one with adjustable pole pieces and one without - and I had to make a new mounting arm for both as the supplied one snapped when I tried to adjust the angle. The supplied arm seems to be a cast affair so I switched to a solid brass rod. The pickup is about 8 or 9 mm thick and on my Altamira oval hole it ended up choking off the strings at the upper end of the fretboard and if I mounted it further back it interfered with my picking.
Also, the string balance isn't great - even the one with adjustable pole pieces.
I've just finished refurbishing an old Takeharu gypsy guitar from 1973 and have installed a mini humbucker - cost about $20 - on a mounting plate at the end of the fingerboard. This was possible as I had put a new fingerboard on the guitar without the little extension common on D holes. I never venture that far up the neck so I don't miss it. To be honest the sound of the mini humbucker competes well with my Klio 47 and at a 12th of the price it's a no brainer.
Tchavolo is using the pickup made by the guys who originally made stimers. Can’t remember how to spell it yeves guen or something like that. There mounting system looks brilliant and I’ve seen a lot of players using it. The pickup is held in place by magnets so the ease of taking it off and on is second to none. However the mount for the pickup is permanently glued in under the soundhole and will be visible when not using a pickup.
Sorry got it wrong. The mount can easily be removed. The only thing thats permanent is a couple of tabs that hold the mount either side of the soundhole. They are hidden under the top.