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looking for a cheap pick up for my daily strummer.
What would you suggest?

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

I've installed quite a few K&K Pure Minis. No complaints, one guy keeps coming back with another guitar from his collection. Seymour Duncan Woodie is a decent pop in sound hole pickup.

Dave, I've got some cheap piezo units that come with adhesive pads and a molded plug at the end of the cable. If you wanna try one, I'll just send one to you. They get a decent tone, but you'll have to experiment with placement to get the tone that works for you.

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

Thanks Chris, I’m using a home made piezo. Looking to move up a little from that.

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

I’m a big fan of the Schatten Designs HFN Passive. I think they sound a bit better than the K&K, are lighter, and are easier to install and remove if so desired. Probably fairly comparable price wise…

https://schatten-pickups.myshopify.com/products/hfn

That’s CAD pricing…

I think the JJB 330 is really hard to beat for sound and value for money.
https://www.jjb-electronics.com/prestige-330.html

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The name catgut is confusing. There are two explanations for the mix up.

Catgut is an abbreviation of the word cattle gut. Gut strings are made from sheep or goat intestines, in the past even from horse, mule or donkey intestines.

Otherwise it could be from the word kitgut or kitstring. Kit meant fiddle, not kitten.

Dave—

What does the signal path look like after it leaves the guitar, and in what types of settings are you playing the guitar when you use the pickup? And are you a strummer, finger picks, bare fingers, or combo of the above type of player? And are you just playing, or playing and singing? And do you stand (using a strap) or stay seated? I think all of these things matter when trying to pin down what to recommend.

I have to agree with Mr. Parker here... some additional information would be useful, as an informed recommendation for pickup and pre-amp is usually tied to the guitar itself, use case, and a players' expectations and style of play.

By way of example, we often suggested the K&K Pure or JJB knock-off as a lower-cost pickup option, but qualified that recommendation with '...for a benign venue; for a responsive guitar; to be avoided for an overtly percussive style of play.' Where those caveats attached, we would suggest other options, such as a Sunrise-style soundhole-mounted magnetic pickup, which is seemingly the base model F-150 work truck of low-cost dreadnaught amplification.

Finally, the difference between delight and disappointment is often tied to the players' prior experience with and expectations related to onboard pickups and pre-amps. I've seen the gentlemen all but refuse to install a K&K Pure for a plywood vacation home guitar where they knew that customer's other guitars were equipped with robust, full-featured, quite flexible systems such as the Hi-Fi Duet or other higher-end custom systems.

I apologize for not providing more information.
I’m a closet picker, bare fingers strumming and finger style I’m always setting, probably fall over if I tried standing and playing.
Signal runs through an old Audio Buddy into garage band. Guitar to Audio Buddy via Lekato wireless then hard wired to laptop 1/4” plug to USB at the laptop.
I want to monitor my progress on new songs and lay down backing tracks to play with.
A old friend wants me to him accompany at a local open mic that is small, maybe a dozen people listening.

THANKS

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Say what you do, Do what you say.

jjb-electronics.com is the one then. 330 Prestige is what I've been using.

My recommendation (given your needs): use a microphone, not a pickup. For when you are home, the microphone is going to sound way better than any budget pickup. For the small venue in which you will be playing, with no drums or electric guitars or basses, the mic will give you plenty of gain before feedback, and again, it will sound way better than any budget pickup. A small diaphragm condenser mic will be a great choice for acoustic guitar, and your Audio Buddy will provide both phantom power and reasonable gain.

I think that, ever since the late 1970s, acoustic guitarists have been prone to think they need pickups in a number of settings where a mic is a better choice. If you are sharing the stage with drums, electric guitars, an electric bass, etc., yeah, you need a pickup. If you are in a rowdy environment, you might need a pickup. Playing in a quiet environment either alone or in a small acoustic ensemble? You will sound better through a microphone. That’s my opinion, anyway.

+1 for Don’s opinion.