Cheapest, easiest, best acoustic guitar pickup?

I have Baggs Element pickups in two of my acoustics. They cost around $150 and I had them installed (I forget what the installation charge was). Anyway I've been very satisfied with the results, having owned these two guitars for years now.

I tried the cheaper Markley product but had issues with my pick dragging over the thing. That could be a "me" issue instead of the product though.

The Baggs makes sense if your guitar is say, in the $800-and-above price range--you figure that the addition of a Baggs pickup enhances the value of the guitar somewhat.

But on a less expensive guitar--say something in the $400-$500 range--adding a $150 pickup may not be worth it.

Check out the Markley. It's popular, which says to me that the problem I had with it was due to my clumsiness, not a product defect. The Markley costs around $50 at a GC and you can take it on and off yourself.

May want to try a Seymour Duncan Woody. Readily available, very affordable and good sounding pop-in/pop-out as needed unit.

The only pop-ins I've personally used are the Dean Markley and SD units. Both serve the purpose well. They don't sound as good as modern piezo systems by guys like Fishman and L.R. Baggs, but they are definitely ultra convenient, unobtrusive/reversible (you will need a guy like me to install a modern piezo system, and it will involve instrument modifications), and pop-ins are literally a fraction of even a decent piezo package.

Yep, I have a '73 Gibson Hummingbird that's next on the neck reset slate.

quote:

---

TheFretShack

---

Only 37 posts. I assume you own a shop and saw some business here.

I also assume you are in BR, hence too far away to take any of my Houston area $$$



Thanks for you input thus far. I am in no way interested in drilling into my guitar in any way. It's just a Blue Ridge, but I swear to my ignorant ear it sounds like a D-28.

Certainly close to not justify the extra $2500.

That guitar hit the jackpot with me. It will lead a coddled life. especially for a sub $1000 guitar.

quote:

---

73 Gibson Hummingbird that's next on the neck reset slate.

---

Sounds pricey. No pressure.

That's my birth year guitar. Would love a birth year guitar. But they are pricey. Not pre 68' Brazilian rosewood pricey, but pricey.

quote:

---

Those Blueridge guitars are getting some respect these days.

---

I found mind at GC for $399. Had no intent of spending 400 bones that day, but I almost bought one a few years back. It's a BR-160. Looked great. Sounded huge in their room. I started digging. They had a D28 vintage 1982 (I believe) that I played and a new HD-28 that I played also to compare. I thought it held its own. AT LEAST. And the neck is very thin and playable. It also came with the case and was 10 years old and looked pristine. Just couldn't leave it there. But I did. Got online and couldn't find one anywhere for less than $500-600. New were 750-900. I ran back and strummed the same guitars and bought it.

One day I hope to be a better player than it is a guitar, but I may have to live to a ripe old age.

I felt like I got one over on big mean old Guitar Center. I ask, did I??

Before I'd recommend cutting up any guitar to install electric guts, I'd recommend buying one of the many guitars on the market that ALREADY has nice guts installed. You can get A/Es now in pretty much all market price points, and even the "cheap" guitars have decent electric packages that will perform the task well.

The only real disadvantage to pop-in pickups is the cable dangling off the front face of the guitar. If you plan to perform live with one or even just move around with one, run the cable around the butt strap pin so it won't either trip you up or you rip the pickup out of the guitar from your foot getting knotted in the cable. Trust me on this haha.

Thanks for the kind words. I only have a few dozen posts because I only jump in on guitar repair/mod/tech questions and only if I have good info, insight or some takeaway to offer someone. Yep, I have a repair shop and yes, there is a marketing opportunity here. Emphasis on "opportunity" because I haven't had a client yet who told me they came to me as a result of this forum LOL In the meantime, I enjoy helping folks out so it's all good.

I could eat some serious bandwidth on neck resets, Auggie. Let's just say they should be considered on a case-by-case basis because they are labor intensive and subsequently not cheap. Viable candidates are generally decades-old prestige/upper-end instruments and/or instruments with a heirloom/nostalgia component that exceeds market value (ex., my first nice acoustic, my deceased Grandpa's old flattop). And in any case, after all other possible less intrusive, less intensive and less $$$$$ solutions have been explored.

Cheapest and easiest...that would be a Dean Markley