For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play mainly folk, but can range quite a bit when experimenting. I'd say I can get as near as practicable to a natural acoustic sound with this pickup, which is exactly what I need for my style of music.
I have been playing since I was 10 y.o. That's 28 years now.
The only thing I dislike about it, is that the preamp was designed to fit on a very specific part of the guitar. That means I had to have the area where the old preamp was positioned patched up. Doesn't look too good. But heh, my old guitar has always been admired for its rustic look.
I have played guitars with fishman saddle pickups. I'd say the overall sound compares favourably with them. Pretty much on a par. The saddle pickup by itself sounds a little more trebly than I'd like, but that can always be fixed with a good bit of EQ at the preamp stage.
If there's anything I wished it had, I wished it had more EQ controls. A mid-sweep would be useful. But you can't have everything I guess.
I'm quite satisfied with this system.
The only thing I'm a bit concerned about, is the fact that it was so unbelievably, almost disturbingly cheap. I think it retails for around US$100 in the States, about Au$150 here in Aus. Only time will tell whether the electronics on it is really reliable stuff I guess.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value
Submitted by: Chris Dewin <thatguy@wintergreen.in>