making my Martin a acoustic/electric

jrm · Unread post by **jrm** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 11:11 am

Also another question, whats the deal with the ones that have little wires instead of actual "pick-up looking" ones like this??
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7/sid ... _id/35799/

that "little wire" is actually a little piece of metal that fits underneath your bridge. It is what measures the sound coming from the strings. This is the type I have and it works wonderfully. I'm personally not a big fan of the ones that you put across the sound-hole.

6_strings_for_life · Unread post by **6_strings_for_life** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 12:08 pm

I dont mind the piece over the sound hole.. I was told that if I get one with a wire that I will have to have a slot milled into my bridge for the wire to go into. Is this true? if it is, than no way Im not milling a slot, Id rather get one that goes over the sound hole....

Some of them like the nature II have 2 wires.. where would the other one go.. Thanks for all ur help so far!!

jrm · Unread post by **jrm** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 1:28 pm

As far as getting a slot cut... I've not heard that. What I do know is that the pickup needs to be on a smooth, clean, andlevel plane to work correctly. Therefore, it may be prudent to lightly sand the slot under the bridge (saddle) to even the surface out. In some more extreme cases it may need to be milled. I had mine installed, but when I spoke to the luthier we never talked about having anything milled. The little strip of metal is incredibly thin and sits perfectly underneath the bridge. When I take the bridge out it doesn't look like anything has been cut to accomodate the pickup addition under the bridge (saddle). I'd imagine the saddle would need to be reduced slightly in height however to keep your action the same.

As far as the second wire, I'm not completely sure where that would go. There are some pickups that have a transducer under the saddle and then another one mounted inside the guitar to pick up a signal from there, then those are blended together in the output. Perhaps that's a variation. I personally haven't seen those.

I've got Fishman pickups in all my guitars, and I must say that I love em. Even if they had to mill the slot on my guitar I would rather have that then a bar crossing the soundhole (again, jsut my preference). I like the sound they recreate better. Besides, I figure if they've already got to drill a hole to accomodate the preamp-jack section, I'd have nothing against them shaving of a tiny bit of wood to make the pickup work/sound best.

It's all up to you though! Good luck. Let us know what you intend to do!

mastermindmatthews3436 · Unread post by **mastermindmatthews3436** » Thu Feb 05, 2004 6:46 pm

i have a martin d-35 that i drilled. i just put an electronic input where the butt of the strap is and there is no preamp, just plug it in and the volume on your amp controls it, i like it a lot and i fyour worried about drilling....dont be because its not gonna do a bit of harm to it, peace

6_strings_for_life · Unread post by **6_strings_for_life** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 12:23 pm

The action is real high on my martin. I think I might take it to a shop, have the action lowered and have a pickup like the Nature II put in. How much do you think this would cost to do.. Im shure all shope are different, but just a rough estimate.

DMBFan63 · Unread post by **DMBFan63** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 12:29 pm

well it'll cost over 120, cause the nature 2 is like 110, right? so you're looking to bring in like 200 bucks when you do this just in case..

6_strings_for_life · Unread post by **6_strings_for_life** » Sat Feb 07, 2004 12:39 pm

ok sounds good... I think im gonna go with the nature II.. that seems to be a really nice setup and alot of people tell me that it makes a real nice sound. Thanks for all ur help. Im still gonna be scared as hell when that thing is at the shop. Should I take it to a authorized martin dealer?

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making my Martin a acoustic/electric

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