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PIckup The World?
aaooeeie
BostonNew
Hi all - anyone using the Pickup The World (https://pickup.world) under-the-bridge compression pickups? I have an f-hole instrument so clip-to-the-soundhole pickups are out, and I just hate the idea of using putty. I've found little discussion of these on this board (one meh mention from a long time ago) and one review of using it on an archtop on youtube (loves it). Any experience with it?
Thanks!
Aaron
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I know it’s not what you asked, but at Django in June there was an amplification session, and one of the systems we got to see was the Yamahiko: https://yamahiko.info/product/guitar/
You have to buy it directly from Japan and it’s expensive, but it’s very well designed, it’s easily installed and removed on any style of guitar, and it sounds great. I really liked the way it deals with the output jack, which is a problem with my current Ischell system.
Of course, other alternatives are welcome. That Yamahiko is interesting and I'm surprised that the vibration at the very edge of the soundboard is...sufficient? Representative? The corner, the kerfing - seems like it'd be way less mobile than the rest of the wood. But apparently not!
I noticed this morning that Meyers Pickups, which are microphones, now has a clamps-to-the-guitar option, which seems better than the suction-cup version.
Just wondering, you're ok with clamping a big thing to your guitar but not some putty? I was at the DIJ amplification thing. I learned a lot, but I have to say that all the piezo options sounded to some greater or lesser degree "unnatural" and "piezo-ee". I liked the Djangobucker most of all. It doesn't sound like an mik'd gypsy guitar, obviously, but it's a nice, quality sound.
For me, I don't like the look of wires coming off guitars at all (be they Djangobuckers or Piezos or anything else). I had a Djangobucker wired the way I'm wiring my humbucker thing for a while, not sure how it would work with an F hole guitar.
Antoine Boyer seems to be using this for all (??) his guitars, I don't know too much about it. Looks cool, he has demos it seems:
https://nvtone.com/
It's mostly not really trusting that putty won't leave residue. The pick-up-the-world carpenter-jack-mounted 1/4" jack looks fine to me (and could probably be soldered onto any pickup). I'm not that concerned about the look, though the Meyers clamp solution does seem like overkill. They make a version of their mic with a carpenter jack for small instruments - I've seen longer barrels that could turn that into a guitar solution, maybe.
I actually, ended up buying one of the Yamahiko pickups. Works really well.
To my ear, the demos on the Yamahiko site sound clangy. I suppose some of that might be the voice of the cutaway guitar in the videos, but even the D-35 sounded thin to me.
I wonder whether the optimal solution for getting an acoustic-like sound from an amplified Selmer-style (and maybe most guitars) will turn out to be something like a ToneDexter signal-shaping rig. I've heard a couple of these products in live environments (though not GJ gigs) and thought the results more satisfactory than anything short of a high-quality microphone in front of the guitar and a really good tech at the sound board.
Not a cheap solution, though, and it still required a pickup on the guitar to supply the input signal. So maybe just a really good mike after all, and pray for a sound guy with decent ears. . . .
Pick up the world website doesn't have any pictures or audio samples of how these look and sound on a guitar. Hard to search them too, you get results for Ford pickups or general guitar pickups.
I'm sure it sounds fine and I'm sure it's not as good as the good mic.
I used to use a Myers mic but I went for a built-in Manouche mic because I wanted to be able to plug and play. But then I got an IR pedal from NUX because it was cheap and I wanted to try that stuff. And then fell into a rabbit hole of impulse response models. Along the way ended up with a board with an EQ, a preamp and NUX IR. A couple of days ago I was thinking I really like the sound I get but then I thought how much it reminds of the sound I was getting with the Myers mic. The irony, lol. Unfortunately I sold the Myers mic.
Apparently the PUTW designs were done by the guy who runs this company now: https://opentosourcesensors.com/ - But no sound samples there either.
So your Meyers experience - I've seen them described as "feedback resistant." Better than any other mic system?
That stuff is super confusing, it's kinda overwhelming.
Myers was the first and only microphone I used for a long time so I can't really say how much more resistant to feedback it is. I was always able to get enough volume out of it. However that was only possible with the a preamp that had notch filter and phase control. Without it, forget it, it would howl.
By the way I don't recall ever reading about a guitar finish being damaged in any way from a putty. I still use Krivo pickups occasionally, with the putty. It takes a minute to put it on because I knead it until it warms up a little and sticks well. Then once you take it off, it takes a few thumb passes to scrub off tiny pieces but that's it.
I had a PUTW several years ago that I used on an archtop. It sounded ok but seemed lacking, maybe a bit thin, I went on to the ischell, which I liked much better and continue to use on archtops and my gj guitar. I still like the sound of a mic a bit better and most often use an Audio Technica 831b on a small gooseneck suspended over the treble side of the top between the bridge and rim. My luthier made a couple of mounts for the ischell jack that attach to the tailpiece. I’ve used them on several guitars without difficulty. Good luck!