EMG ACS

The EMG ACS is an single-coil active magnetic soundhole pickup. It has a built in volume control. The only mod needed to mount the pickup is to drill out the endpin to the standard 0.5" hole required for most pickups (or you could hang the cable out the soundhole for a temporary no-mod installation). It has a good, strong output that doesn't require a high impedance input, and battery life is very good in spite of the small hearing-aid battery.

I've used one for years in a cedar-topped wild cherry and walnut Art and Luthery (Seagull's luthery school) dreadnought. I put it in myself for the cost of a drill bit. I just bought another from a Martin I recently acquired.

I achieved proper balance using light bronze acoustic strings by removing the high-E pole piece, and adjusting the other strings to balance with it. If you use electric strings, the required adjustments won't be a large, but the electric and un-amplified tone will suffer.

Lou Reed likes 'em.

I don't like piezos. Any pickup short of multiple microphones will fall far short of original acoustic tone. Anything you try will distort the sound in some way. Piezos have a harsh peak that annoys me, and string balance is hard to achieve without. Magnetic pickups sound like magnetic pickups. This isn't a bad thing, just different than the air coming off your guitar.

The pickup does a good job on attack and transients compared to something like a jazz humbucker, and the sound is about as natural as you can get with a magnetic pickup. It's very musical.

Don't laugh - it sounds really good through a cheezy 8" Crate practice amp with a spring reverb you can acquire for under $80.

I just bought another one. The pickup is hassle free, sounds good, and lets me use a Strobostomp tuner/DI. No bridge work is needed for mounting, and you can take it out and put something else in if you don't like it. It's a bit pricey at around $150, but it's very musical.

If somebody makes a better pickup, I'll buy it. I haven't found anything that comes close yet.

Same as mentioned. Pole pieces adjustable or removable.

I had an electric jack end pin put into my 1972 Gibson Dove Custom and the inside of the guitar wired for this pickup (no wood was harmed). I chose the EMG based on recommendation of my luthier and the ability to remove it or move it from guitar to guitar with each instrument set up internally with the EMG wiring. (It has it's own plug-in set-up inside the guitar). I also liked the way this pup looks on my Dove, as it is the same shape and color as the ebony bridge. Acoustic blues artist, Terry Robb, apparently uses this pickup in his performance guitars according to my luthier, who does his set-ups (and Robert Cray's, among others).

This pickup does put out a lot of high end, esp. with the unwound strings. BUT, each pole piece is removable (they screw out the top), not just adjustable, so with the first and second pole pieces removed, I find the sound fairly well balanced. I don't think the last reviewer was aware of this feature. The owners manual says to do this modification if using brass strings. I prefer it with brass or 80/20's. It's overall sound is very clear, moderately warm and more than enough output. I've had no problems with feedback. I'm playing it through a Boogie 45 watt (tube) 4X10 with the preamp gain way down and the bass up. My band plays blues/rock. I cover Keb Mo, Dylan, Toad the WS, J. Mellencamp among others with this guitar.

I'm more of an electric guy, mando too, but I thought I'd review this pup so anybody who buys it knows the pole pieces are removable and EMG intends for that to be done on the unwound strings. I think it's a good-excellent sounding pup, have had acoustic guitarists better than myself compliment my sound.

Pickup features: Active Preamp, Humbucking coil, Adjustable pole pieces.
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Seagull, SM6
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: None
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Contemporary Folk
Reason for pickup change: Needed some sort of pickup system, but loathed the sound of anything under the saddle.

Perceived output level: The active preamp on board sets out a terrifying amount of signal for an acoustic pickup. Fortunately they included an onboard volume control.
Tone: Warm on the wound strings but percing and twangy on the unwound first and second.
Sonic evaluation: My only acoustic amp is an SWR California Blond. The amp has tremendous flexibility through its enhancer and three band EQ. In addition to all that, it also has the ability to let you turn of the high frequency tweeter and only run the 12 inch speaker. Despite all of this shaping capability, the EMG still sounds like murder on the unwound strings. The brightness is clashing and irritating to the very smooth and accurate representaiton of the wound strings this pickup spits out. Despite the fact that the polepieces are adjustable, even burrying them down as deep as possible still does not balance out the sound. Very dissapointed overall. Especially compared to my other acoustic's pickup, an Fishman Rare Earth Blender. Now that is reality plugged in.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play mostly in the coffeehouse seen. I am of the opinion that a venue like that deserves accurate, smoothed out, mellow acoustic sounds. This pickup is not those things. However, when playing with a band and fighting for sonic space with the tubes screaming, this guitar is good for slicing thourhg the mix.

Comments: If someone was clever and fast enough to yank this out of my guitar, sucks to be them. I would replace it with some rare earth variant without question. The Fishman rare earth magnet is just more balanced than any other soundhole pickup I have heard. Forget about under saddle anything, that stuff is nails on a chalkboard. The one good thing about this pickup however is the way it sounds when you plug a flat top with one of these things into an electric guitar amp, especially tube, and play with the EQ. One is rewarded with one of the most convincing jazz box, super smoky, hollow body tones I have ever heard. I am guessing that that engineering bonus is an accidental quirk. This pickup is not your best option for acoustic amplification on the market, especially for the money.

Pickup features: Active
Impedence or other specs: magnetic/soundhole

Model of guitar or bass: Larrivee C-05 - Mahogany back & sides, spruce top, cutaway, 16'' lower bout, 4'' depth
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: SH 470 Triple Play Sound System
Other pickups on guitar: EMG bridge piezo
Artists using this pickup: don't know
You musical style(s): fingerstyle and strumming using 1mm flatpick with fingers.
Reason for pickup change: Not happy with Shadow - though I could do better. Things I didn't like include 1.) tendency to feedback through mic; 2.) b string not a balanced output; 3.) pole pieces not individually adjustable; 4.) overall tone too muddy, electric sounding for my taste. The EMG ACS is the answer to all these problems.

Perceived output level:
Tone: Very little feedback but sounds bright and balanced without sacrificing middle frequencies - more "natural" then piezo by itself.
Sonic evaluation: The best compromise for all venues. The adjustable pole pieces allow for a balanced output. The combination of soundhole with EMG piezo adds greater frequency range. Both pickups are run by one 9 volt battery. Stereo output using EMG Ultrajak and stereo cable goes to a BOSS AD-5 for control of each one's level and eq. I am using a Fender Acoustisonic Junior right now and I am very satisfied with this set-up. It sounds great.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Combination fingerstyle and strumming using 1mm flatpick and fingers. The adjustable pole pieces are great for this. I find I am doing more fingerpicking. I play mostly for worship with a band, and also my own songs in solo performance.

Comments: I have been playing since 1977. My first pick-up was a Martin Thinline piezo (like many other people). I tried the Shadow for about two years and liked the sound of it because of the magnetic p/u. Then I had heard good things about the EMG ACS. I have not tried many other mags except the new Fishman Rare Earth soundhole system (has a mic with it). I would definitely buy the ACS again if mine were stolen.