Official Luthiers Forum!

I have a potential client who refuses to be steered away from a side mounted volume/eq control panel. I'm not fond of cutting anything but soundholes into my instruments. However, if I can't talk him into the K&K beltclip preamp/control box, then (sigh) a commission's a commission. My question to those of you who have experience with onboard controls is this: which would you recommend and which would you not recommend?

Thanks.

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michael propsom
www.propsomguitars.com

Anybody? (tap tap) Is this mike on?

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michael propsom
www.propsomguitars.com

Save an offcut of the side wood to make patches for the holes later if it ever comes back to you?

I do hate cutting holes, but I also can appreciate the convenience of the knobs, where you can clearly see what position they're currently in, and don't have to feel around for them like in-soundhole controls.

If you are happy to cut a hole in the side and call it a soundhole, what's the difference with putting a hole in there for a preamp?
Re-enforce around the hole from the inside and there's no big problem as far as I can see. Thousands of commercial built guitars have had side mounted pre amps installed and the box hasn't fallen apart and there's no adverse effect on tone. I recently finished two builds that the customers wanted onboard preamps (didn't want to be groping around adjusting knobs on the belt clip style mounted & definitely not floor on a poorly lit stage environment!), ended up using the LR Baggs Stage Pro Element systems in both. Good sound reproduction (as close as you're gonna get with piezo UST's!)from the Element & also the benefit of an inbuilt tuner. The only criticism I would have was that the volume slider is a little small & close to the edge of the unit on one side & the notch adjustment on the other so you have to make a concerted effort to adjust it (rather than it being an automatic/natural adjustment) without disturbing the notch filter frequency.
http://www.oliver-guitars.com/Current-builds.html

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Nick Oliver

http://www.oliver-guitars.com

http://www.allparts.com/Piezo-Preamp-wi ... 13-000.htm

This preamp from Allparts is minimally invasive and can go on the shoulder next to the neck.

I used to like the Fishman sidemount preamps, but they've jacked up the price and cheapened the components enugh tha I don't want them, they rattle and make noises internally now.

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Old growth, shmold growth!

Thanks both for the info. By the way, Nick I actually do not cut holes in the sides of my guitars and call them soundholes (or soundports). I only go in for the traditional hole in the top. However, I will look into the Baggs setup you mentioned. The only Baggs pickups I had experience with in the past were probably 15+ years ago, and those suckers were really "quacky". I imagine that they've improved considerably over the years.

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michael propsom
www.propsomguitars.com

Apologies Michael, I misinterpreted your OP Thought you meant a soundport instead of the usual dirty great hole in the top known as the soundhole I should thoroughly read before I comment!
I was pleased with the LR Baggs as far as my past experiences of Piezo's go, with the main amp's EQ settings fairly flat (a 'tweak' of bass) & the preamp's flat, I thought the sound was a fair representation of the un amplified sound & with everything close to flat to begin with, the sound was able to be shaped either side (either more bass or more trebles) as prefered by the end user.

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Nick Oliver

http://www.oliver-guitars.com

FWIW,
+1 for Baggs pu's. I've put in a lot, though I hate cutting holes in the side of perfectly good guitars.
I steer people to the Imix no cut. The AST is trebly, the Ust is bassy, the mix knob functions
as an EQ (kinda)...
I tell people that with the staggering advances in technology happening these days, a side mount preamplifier is a guaranteed obsolescence in tomorrow's world, requiring a permanent instrument mod. A SH wheel deal is removable, replaceable, and upgradeable.
Plus, sound guys hate guys that are always messing with their diddly knobs on stage, because sound guys can't do their job if other people are always trying to do their job for them.
Though it must be said, on occasion it's nice to be able to do the sound guy's job when s(he) clearly can't!

I saw a review in an Acoustic magazine for a wireless preamp. Its basically a small remote control, instead of a bulky preamp set into the sides. It all charges up to give about 4 hours of play time, but im pretty sure the charge time is very short, a matter of minutes possibly. I'll dig up the magazine and let you know who manufactures it. I'm sure there will be similar products too from other manufacturers.

Tom

Well, I dodged the bullet on this one. I convinced my potential client that a K&K pure western mini and belt clip preamp combo is the way to go. Now, he just has to convince himself he can afford one of my instruments.

Thanks again to all who contributed information. It will help when I inevitably encounter the customer who insists I perforate my side.

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michael propsom
www.propsomguitars.com

The fact that these various units become obsolete so quickly now is the real problem here.
It would be wise for the manufacturers to come up with a standard opening size (much like how the jack hole opening is the same as it's been for twenty years) for the side monted preamps.
This would encourage people both to upgrade their units (no mods on the guitar) and luthiers to choose that unit to install with an eye toward the future.
a result, I always choose the "in soundhole" type of pre-amps for my own guitars.

Excellent idea, David. But we all know it's never gonna happen.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Tom:

I think you might have seen an ad for one of the Mi Si products:

http://mi-si.com/products/

Their "Align" preamp looks interesting also. I still don't like the idea of cutting holes in guitars but I admit that I can see the utility for those who perform a good bit.

Jay