Can Anyone Recommend a Good, Inexpensive Acoustic Guitar Pickup?

[Jkendrick]

My acoustic is pretty bad. I bought it for about $100 at Guitar Center about 18 years ago and I've treated it like shit since. Ha! But I'm about to start doing some solo acoustic open mics and I need a pickup for it. I really don't want to spend much but I don't want something awful either.

This is the top rated acoustic guitar pickup on Amazon. Does anyone know anything about it? We have Amazon Prime (for diapers and shit), so it would be nice to get the free two day shipping and buy through Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/HDE-Guitar-Acoustic-Electric-Transducer/dp/B005H2007E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438873369&sr=8-1&keywords=acoustic+guitar+pickup

Thanks!

[Heady Jam Fan]

My acoustic is pretty bad. I bought it for about $100 at Guitar Center about 18 years ago and I've treated it like shit since. Ha! But I'm about to start doing some solo acoustic open mics and I need a pickup for it. I really don't want to spend much but I don't want something awful either.

This is the top rated acoustic guitar pickup on Amazon. Does anyone know anything about it? We have Amazon Prime (for diapers and shit), so it would be nice to get the free two day shipping and buy through Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/HDE-Guitar-Acoustic-Electric-Transducer/dp/B005H2007E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438873369&sr=8-1&keywords=acoustic+guitar+pickup

Thanks!

Look for a used Alvarez

[Arafel]

My acoustic is pretty bad. I bought it for about $100 at Guitar Center about 18 years ago and I've treated it like shit since. Ha! But I'm about to start doing some solo acoustic open mics and I need a pickup for it. I really don't want to spend much but I don't want something awful either.

This is the top rated acoustic guitar pickup on Amazon. Does anyone know anything about it? We have Amazon Prime (for diapers and shit), so it would be nice to get the free two day shipping and buy through Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/HDE-Guitar-Acoustic-Electric-Transducer/dp/B005H2007E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1438873369&sr=8-1&keywords=acoustic+guitar+pickup

Thanks!

Hey JK,

I know you don't wan to hear this, but it's probably best to invest a little more. Something that inexpensive will sounds really ice picky and very much like a piezo, and you'll then spend a lot of time trying to EQ it. Plus, if you get a good one now, when you upgrade you'll be able to move it over to a the new guitar.

On the inexpensive side, you might look at these:

http://www.guitarcenter.com/LR-Baggs-iBeam-Acoustic-Guitar-Pickup-102213923-i1128123.gc

http://www.guitarcenter.com/LR-Baggs-LB6-Acoustic-Guitar-Pickup-100086756-i1128129.gc


The best ones are in the $200-$300 range, and combine a piezo pickup with a microphone. If you think the coffeehouse/open mic thing is something you might do a lot of, it's probably worth investing in, because you get a much truer sound. Again, LR Baggs is pretty amazing for that:

http://www.lrbaggs.com/pickups/anthem-acoustic-guitar-pickup-and-microphone

Other companies that seem to be really popular among acoustic musicians included K&K pickups (http://elderly.com/brand/PUA_k%26k.html)  and Pick Up the World - http://www.pick-uptheworld.com/products.html

Fishman are seen preinstalled on a lot of guitar, but I don't like them as much as LR Baggs. Still the Rare Earth soundhole pickup might be worth looking at.

Finally, I highly recommend getting an external DI at some point if you can. I love my LR Baggs Para, but there are some other good ones out there too.

Good luck.

[Jkendrick]

Thanks for the input. Arafel, I had actually already ordered the cheapies when I saw your post. It definitely isn't great sounding but for the few songs I may end up playing in an open mic, it'll do. If I really enjoy the solo acoustic thing I'll obviously want to upgrade my guitar at that point and probably get an acoustic/electric.