McIntyre SGT

Pickup features: Piezo, active
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Guild F 30
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: nobody you would know
You musical style(s): country folk, blues
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Very low on it's own, you need a preamp
Tone: Very natural, little coloration. It really sounds like a mini mic rather than a bridge pickup or something.
Sonic evaluation: I've had this for a good half a year or so, I feel comfortable enough with the pickup now to post a review. This is a contact pickup that attaches to the underside of the body near the saddle with a bit of putty that comes w/the kit. What I liked about this pickup is that the only modification I had to make to my Guild was to have the end pin hole enlarged to fit the 1/4" jack. No drilling or holes for on board preamps, nice! I first tried running it straight to the board then PA, the output is low so I was having to really crank up the gain which was not pleasant. It's a piezo, so it picks up the strings and the sound of the body, it can get very bassy. To be honest, I wasn't kinda dissapointed with this pickup. Then, this is key, I ran it through an L.R. Baggs Gig Pro preamp. Unbelievable the difference it made. This pickup is outstanding now, it really sounds like a finely mic'd acoustic coming through the PA. I never really liked that un-natural bridge pickup sound, and avoided putting a pickup on my guitar for years. I am even able to record direct with this combo, I just adjust the input a bit on the vocal mic (Rode NT 1, it's great running through an ART Tube MP) to get the right amount of bleed through from the acoustic and that's all I need. I got the Gig Pro at a clearence sale for $70, the pickup for a bit more and I can't think of a better combination for under $150.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play exclusively with my fingers, think early Paul Simon or Ron Sexsmith. I haven't tried this with a pic, the F 30 is an auditoriom sized guitar so it doesn't sound that great with a pic anyway. McIntyre makes two version of this pickup, on for dreadnought and jumbos and one for small body guitars. This pickup is meant for small body guitars, and it really shows in it's sound.

Comments: If this pickup was stolen that would mean my guitar had been stolen also, I'd be devestated and hard pressed to find a replacement that sounds as good as what I have now. I've been playing for about 6 years now, gone through a few guitars and pickups. I realy think I've found my "sound" now w/this pickup preamp combination, as cheesy as that sounds. I think the best features of the pickup are the price, the ease of installation, and the natural sound it produces. I think you could really go even further shaping the sound of the pickup with eq and fx if you wanted to but that doesn't interest me. If youre looking for an affordable great sounding natural pickup I would highly recomend this set up. The only problem some people might have witht this is the fact that you'll need an outboard preamp for volume and tone controls. Whats nice is I've played in several places and not really had to make any adjustments.