Re: Fishman Ellipse Blend- opinions?

Jenn wrote:
In article <TvLAg.3$rd1.1@trnddc01>,
"MBarnett" <res0p21f-UNDO-@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Easynews wrote:

Misifus wrote:
There are quite a few pickups that don't require that hole in the side. In addition to the Fishman, Baggs, B-Band, Pick-Up-The-World and K&K all make soundboard transducers that simply stick to the underside of your bridgeplate and go out through an endjack. The latter two companies, PUTW and K&K have received a lot of good reviews here.

-Raf

Thanks Raf. The advantage of the Fishman Ellipse Blend is that Martin will factory fit it and it therefore becomes part of the warranty, plus I'm sure they will do it correctly and with care rather than me having to involve a third party.
Installing a soundboard transducer won't invalidate your warranty. The problem with the hole-in-the-side preamps is that if you determine later on that you don't care for the sound of that particular pickup/preamp combination, you're stuck with (at a minimum) an unused preamp plugging an ugly hole in the side of your beloved guitar.

The beauty of soundboard transducers is that they don't require any cutting or drilling (beyond a simple endpin hole). I had my Martin dealer drill the endpin hole for my K&K pickup, and installed the K&K myself. It's completely non-invasive and removable, and sounds wonderful .... better than *any* factory-installed system I've played since purchasing my first acoustic/electric in 1973. I won't preach any more, but I'll end with this: After discovering that after-market pickup installations can out-perform most factory installations and still retain the factory warranty, I can't see any reason for me to *ever* buy a guitar with an inferior pickup system installed at the factory.

Monte

You've convinced me to give the K&K a listen Monte; thanks!



I will add my endorsement to Monte's. I have two quite different pickups in two of my guitars. Both are excellent, neither is what I would call a factory pickup. Jamie Kinscherff installed a highlander undersaddle pickup in the guitar he made for me. It is very nice, but I believe Highlanders require an installer who is very skilled in installing that brand.

The other pickup I installed myself. It's a K&K mini. I ordered the reamer and reamed the endpin hole to fit the jack. Then I followed the instructions that came with the K&K and it went easily. The K&K is very transparent and sounds quite like the guitar unamplified.

I find it hard to make a direct comparison because the two guitars are very different in sound on their own, but I am pleased with both pickups.

-Raf

--
Misifus-
Rafael Seibert
mailto:raf_seibert@xxxxxxx
blog: http://rafsrincon.blogspot.com/
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rafiii
home: http://www.rafandsioux.com
.

Relevant Pages

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  • Re: Fishman Ellipse Blend- opinions?
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    ... In addition to the Fishman, Baggs, B-Band, Pick-Up-The-World and K&K all make soundboard transducers that simply stick to the underside of your bridgeplate and go out through an endjack. ... The problem with the hole-in-the-side preamps is that if you determine later on that you don't care for the sound of that particular pickup/preamp combination, you're stuck with an unused preamp plugging an ugly hole in the side of your beloved guitar. ... I won't preach any more, but I'll end with this: After discovering that after-market pickup installations can out-perform most factory installations and still retain the factory warranty, I can't see any reason for me to *ever* buy a guitar with an inferior pickup system installed at the factory. ... but I believe Highlanders require an installer who is very skilled in installing that brand. ...
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