We've recorded sound clips of each of the pickups through a number of amps. To download all 35 clips, click here (23.1 MB Zip file). You can download the individual clips throughout the article.
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Back in the day, when dinosaurs roamed Woodstock, soundhole pickups were the only choice for the acoustic guitarist who wanted to plug in. They were born bulky, soundboard- squashing and utterly artificial sounding, but recent innovations have transformed them, making them a terrific choice for the gigging guitarist who wants high feedback resistance and natural sound. We rounded up seven to test in the $150-plus range, six active and one passive: the L.R. Baggs M1 and M1 Active, the Shadow NanoMAG, the Duncan MagMic, the EMG ACS, and the Fishman Humbucking and Blend System.
Signal Chain
We installed all these pickups (non-permanently and one at a time) into Pat’s Larivee D60 guitar strung with D’Addario EXP26 Phosphor Bronze (Custom Light) strings. Because we wanted to hear how they’d respond through different amp configurations, we routed everything through a Road Rage Pro Gear TBEL in order to quickly switch between the five amps. We recorded with two ECM800 omni-directional room mics, into an Aphex 207D digital mic pre, into an RME Fireface interface to hard disc using Samplitude V8 software.
Amp Rich
We chose a small arsenal of acoustic amps. Pat brought his old standby AER Compact 60, and Gayla chose her trusty L.R. Baggs Core 1. From the current review stash at PG, we also chose the Bose L1 Compact, the Genz Benz Shenandoah Compak 300, and the Fishman SoloAmp—a broad spectrum of potential sounds.
The Method
We are not rocket scientists; we’re guitar players. This wasn’t the most scientifically pure test ever designed, but we heard what we set out to hear. Pat played the same basic series of licks with each pickup through each amp, going through the series in the same order every time: Bose, AER, Fishman SoloAmp, Genz Benz, Baggs Core 1.
Shadow NanoMAG
The smallest of our batch of review pickups— a mere 6mm thick and 5mm high—the NanoMag actually installs via sticky tape at the end of the fingerboard, keeping it entirely out of the way. It requires a flat-ended fretboard. It’s extremely light, though the Endpin Preamp does require a 9V battery. The NanoMAG offers a standard Velcro-mounted battery case. Information on battery life was not provided in our package.
After installation, we tapped the pickup and the body to see if there was any body response, and for this pickup there was none. Then Pat strummed a G chord: the balance was good, you could really hear every string clearly, and none seemed any hotter than any of the others, although Gayla felt that the demarcation between the wound and unwound strings was slightly abrupt. It sounded good through all the amps, if a little crystalline in the highs. It would make an excellent companion with an undersaddle or soundboard pickup, in addition to being viable on its own.
Street $177
shadow-electronics.com
EMG ACS
This pickup looks a lot bigger than it really is. It has a pretty big footprint but doesn’t go very deep into the guitar body. It’s surprisingly light at 3.5 ounces, so soundboard muting was minimal. EMG includes wrenches for easy installation and pole adjustment. The internal preamp requires a 9V battery, and EMG provides a Velcro-mounted black battery bag. Information on battery life was not included in our package.
We found it to be nicely balanced, although the wound and unwound strings do sound very different—the unwound strings were maybe just a hair hotter, but clearly different. According to their website that’s to be expected with Phosphor Bronze strings, and can be compensated for by removing the pole piece for the B string altogether, and lowering the pole for the E string below the pickup face to taste. Even so, we thought it sounded pretty damn good: powerful, dead quiet and very well balanced.
Street $150
emgpickups.com