Neck pickup for a Flattop F-Hole Acoustic

D

DayDecco

New member
Greetings all,

I've got an acoustic F-Hole guitar that's just begging for a magnetic pickup. I'd like to turn it into a hybrid. It already has a piezo system in place and, initially, I thought I'd go with floating pickups + pickguard controls and jack, like those commonly used in archtops. The thing is that, since it's a flattop, there just isn't enough clearance to do so.

I'm not completely opposed to do some drilling, but what do you all think is the least invasive option I have for a system like that? I'm considering surface mounts, but I might be missing something...

A side note: the piezo system jack is separate from the strap pin, so there's a good candidate for the second jack right there, if there's no way around it.

Here's a picture of the victim:

ezgif-7-a7d8bef9af49.jpg

Thanks!
 
id think you might be able to fit a thin neck mount pup on there maybe? how thick is the fretboard at the end of the neck on the outside where its thinnest?
 
Yeah, I'd think one of the fingerboard-mounted pickups should work. SD doesn't have anything like that in regular production. The S6 requires a pickguard for mounting.
 
Whoa....cool guitar!

I don't know what would go in there. Could you shave the back off a Duncan Woody and mount it on there?

Are you willing to drill a little, or a lot?

Let me ask this - why Magnetic? Because you are looking to do neck Jazz tones? Have you considered an internal microphone? Not a neck pickup, but will totally pick up the internal sound of the guitar....there are more or less expensive expensive versions of this.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/de...0bgrdsmSWQL9kKhMYMsaAnTMEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
 
Thanks for the input, everyone.

Jeremy, I measured the fretboard at .300, maybe a hair less. In the current setup, the total clearance from the low E to the top of the guitar is .375. I'll take a look at the neck mounts and see if there's anything that fits.

Aceman: Thanks! That's a Phoenix PJ90. It's a Brazilian brand that imports stuff from Asia and slaps their name on them. They're hit or miss, but that one turned out alright. Mine's actually tobacco burst, but I didn't have a photo handy. The guitar is beautiful, but the headstock is as chintzy as it gets. The mic is a good idea, but, initially, I was going for that early jazz/blues sound from when people just grabbed their Gibson L-series acoustics and put an electric pickup on it. Jazzy, but with a slight edge - in the vincinity of Charlie Christian or Django Reinhart, maybe. It's just what feels right for this guitar. I'll check how the mic sound, though. It might steer me in a different direction.

ICTGoober, your mention of the Lace Sensor gave me the idea of looking into Cigar Box pickups as well. This might be thin enough, but I still have to find videos of people who used it in a six-string context: Wickedbucker
 
I have a inside the guitar mic + piezo in my Yamaha Classical - it can get some wicked cool tones.
 
Can you fit an 11mm pickup under the strings?

https://shadowelectronics.com/products/sh-az-48

Shadow-pickup-electric-AZ-48-main.jpg
 
yes, me too. if that specific one doesnt fit, im guessing there is one that will
 
You could probably find a used Gretsch G100 pickup for pennies on eBay or Reverb. Or something from a used Gibson/Epiphone Howard Roberts.
 
Thanks for all the suggestions! You guys are great!

That Bill Lawrence A400 looks good. I'll probably go with that. I'll resurrect this thread once I'm done to show you the results.
 
Lollar makes a Johnny Smith pickup with height of 12 mm.
Please always mind the distance of the mounting brakets in relation to the width of the fingerboard end. Lollar has 52mm like every Johnny Smith pickup. Gibson cuts deep groves into the side of the fingerboard to get a flush surface after installation.
 
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