Nitebob
Hi all.
Question: Can the material of the undersaddle pickup effect the tone of the guitar, unplugged?
Here's my thinking: If the transferring of the vibrations to the bridge passes through the pickup which is less dense. Thus if the pickup wasn't there and the bone had direct contact with bridge sound transferring would be better and you would get a crisper sound. Does this make any sense?
If this is so I might look at a K&K pickup system on the Cort. The pickup is quite spongy (not sure if that is normal) and so I dont play it anymore as the Ovation is much crisper.
Rgds
NB
DonRoos
You raise an interesting point that I have not considered. I have a Cort MR710 that came with an under-saddle pickup and pre-amp built in so I have not heard it without. Every sound engineer that has done a sound check on the guitar has commented on the tone so I am loath to start tinkering. Perhaps you have a lemon?
But then again, I only play unplugged at accoustic practice evenings and use it amplified for performance. If you mostly play unplugged then try removing it and see if that makes any difference.
Chocklit_Thunda
The difference is minimal. You probably wouldn't hear it. The bridge doesn't conly contact the wood on the bottom, it usually contacts on the sides as well so you still get a majority of the vibrations.
Edit: if your UST is the soft flexible type you may be losing more vibration, but usually the stock systems come with the standard hard ones.
AlanRatcliffe
Most undersaddle pickups don't make a noticeable difference if they are installed correctly. I don't like coaxial pickups(the ones covered in wire mesh) or the cheapy ceramics (covered in heat shrink tubing) - they usually don't contact saddle or bridge properly and screw up both acoustic and plugged-in tone. The harder materials like ceramics work better acoustically but tend to be brighter and more percussive plugged-in. I've always liked the single element polymer pickups, which tend to have a wider frequency response, keep the acoustic tone intact and sound good. Blend them properly with a decent internal mic and you can get really good plugged in acoustic tones.
Nitebob
Interesting development...My Ibby AEL (with the notorious B band preamp) also sounds a lot crisper than the Cort unplugged. Sprucing it up with a new set of strings today I couldn't help but sneak a peek at the pickup element. A flat metal strip. Seems to me that would transfer vibrations to the soundboard much more effective than the woven elements...
Sorry to flog a dead horse...
