Schertler Bluestick

Pickup features: Active
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Aria 556
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: No
Other pickups on guitar: No
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Classic
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Hight
Tone: Muddy and compressed: need a lot of equalization
Sonic evaluation: AER acoustic Cube

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Finger Style, classic music

Comments: Is better of undersaddle piezo but far of mic. I chek for K&K, B-Band AST and Baggs iBeam

Pickup features: Bluestick + on board preamp/vol control
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Martin 000 longscale
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: None
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock Folk
Reason for pickup change: Search a quiet pickup regarding feedback problems on stage.

Perceived output level: Louder than piezo (plug direct in sound system without DI !!)
Tone: Quiet the same as accoustic tone of the guitar
Sonic evaluation: Very impressive compared to piezo systems we used. No feedback on stage use, our sound guy likes it too !
Good sounding. Allow to work from a fullrange sound (free to equalize from a clear sound).

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Verry sensitive (when well installed)

Comments: No other acoustic pickup can be compared to this system. A great comfort for the musician. The sound is near the acoustic one.

Pickup features: active preamp with volume control
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: LC2
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change: I want to change it

Perceived output level: the gain is standard as with any preamped model, plenty of output
Tone: tone was not really accurate to the pickup a bit pingy and unbalanced
Sonic evaluation: I use a riverra acoustic amplifier

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play fingerstyle jazz and a couple jumps into irish music and some country

Comments: The pickup like all undersaddle pickups is in the wrong place, i went to take the pickup out and see they have drilled a big hole in the center of the bridge which really pisses me off because it's so sad that my nice cedar top and bridge have a hole that i will have to have my luthier fill. I read the review saying that if you flatten the saddle it will be more accurate, This is NOT TRUE!!!, My luthier is a bit falbergasted as he said he just can't make the thing balance out, so removal is the option here. UNDERSADDLES SUCK. but i love the guitar cedar and walnut. Way to go gibson

Pickup features:
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: goodall
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): finger style (jazz)
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: the best acoustic pick-up on the market
Tone: very very balanced
Sonic evaluation: sounds exactly like the guitar

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: jazz, blues,classical, rock,

Comments: if u look at all the submissions there either 10 out of 10...or 1 out of ten. THIS IS BECAUSE, TO MANY ASSHOLES THINK THEY NO WHAT THERE DOING,WHEN INSTALLING THIS PICK-UP!!.... the saddle has to be completly flat, or it will be out of balance. to correct this, you need a rotor to smooth flat the saddle slot. make sure they have the tools to do this, if not phone thepodium.com for there advice. people this is a really nice pick-up system.

Pickup features: preamp, volume control
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Martin 000
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: martin thinline
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): fingerstyle jazz
Reason for pickup change: luthier said this was supposed to be the hot ticket. NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Perceived output level: output is standard fare
Tone: string balance is again an issue, Undersaddle doesn't work!!!!!!!
Sonic evaluation: This thing is a piece of shit!!! I have a great rig, para D.I. and a p.a. system.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: NONE

Comments: I am having the hole plugged under the saddle and removing this thing. My luthier blushed, he said he won't be installing anymore of these. They have all the same characteristics of undersaddle pickups. It SUCKS!!!!!! My luthier has installed, He says, over 400 pickup systems and is competent and says the thing acts like every other undersaddle pickup and doesn't work well with bone saddles.

Pickup features: Undersaddle subminiature condenser microphone
Impedence or other specs: Low impedance

Model of guitar or bass: Collings, Bourgeois, Henderson
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: None
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Bluegrass, Country, Rock, Jazz, Fingerstyle
Reason for pickup change: I wanted a pickup that gave a natural sound, and I didn't want to use blenders and loads of other outboard gear. I listened to all other products, but didn't like any until I heard the Bluestick at a major festival.

Perceived output level: The pickup has more than twice the output level as other pickups I've tried.
Tone: The pickup accurately reproduced the tone of every guitar I've used them in. The rosewood guitars sounded like rosewood guitars. The mahogany guitars sounded like Mahogany guitars. The Bluestick has reproduced the sound of the guitars I've installed them in. The installation is critical for the Bluestick. I've found that if the sound was less than flattering after I installed it, it was the installation's problem and not the pickup. After correcting installation errors, every Bluestick I've installed has sounded like the guitar it was installed in. The Bluestick is extremely sensitive and accurate.
Sonic evaluation: I bought the Bluestick because I wanted to plug straight into a DI and go straight to the board. I didn't want to carry extra outboard gear (blenders, eqs, etc). The Bluestick has sounded like my guitar in every instance (in fact, most of the time people have commented that they thought I was playing into a microphone and not plugged in). When I have used an amp, I just plugged directly into a powered speaker (no eq,) and the Bluestick sounded just like my guitar...I could never do this with any other pickup I tried.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play Bluegrass, Folk, Country, Jazz, Rock, Fingerstyle, and Slack Key. The Bluestick works well for all of them. This is the only pickup I've found that would let me compete with loud electric guitar amps.

Comments: If it were lost or stolen, I would replace it. I've been playing guitar for more than 25 years. I love the fact that it sounds like my guitar, and that I can get to the gig plug in and tell the sound man to set the channel flat, turn it up and go eat lunch. I also like the fact that the Bluestick lets me play my guitar like I would if it were not plugged in..I didn't have to change my style to fit the pickup. I've found the sound and I'm not searching further. This pickup is a fantastic value, not only for the sound, but because it is complete...don't need extra gear to try and dial in the sound because its all there.

Pickup features: under saddle acoustic guitar pickup, a microphone
Impedence or other specs: tiny condenser mic with preamp and volume control

Model of guitar or bass: Martin D-42
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: Scott Fore, National Flatpicking Champion (among others)
You musical style(s): Fingerstyle Jazz (Latin, Blues, Funk, Jazz)
Reason for pickup change: Adding a pickup for the first time on this ax, and decided upon the Bluestick after a lot of reasearch. I also decided to have it professionally installed.

Perceived output level: Reproduces the guitar's exact sound. It's as good as the best microphone, but less prone to microphonic feedback, but the low strings will still "tale off" as would be expected with any pickup on a big body guitar.
Tone: Full and well balanced across all strings with rich lows and brilliant highs.
Sonic evaluation: At the luthier's, we put it through a top quality acoustic amp with phase reversal and that helped low string resonance feedback, and made it stay rich in tone while still plenty loud. dono't recall the brand of amp. At home I use two Roland keyboard amps from a Zoom 8080 and because of the rig's requirements to also reproduce suynth sounds, I have the highs boosted on the amps (about 3 o'clock on the trble control) and I needed to roll that off in the Zoom to get a "natural sound from the acoustic guitar. I need to do that overall, for all the guitars and settings I run through this rig. The Bluestick is every bit as rich as anything I use, better than my Takamin CD-132SC with a digital preamp and far better than my Washburn D17CE WR Timber Ridge. I'd compare it favorably to my Godin Multiac Jazz with the RMC bridge pickup for overall fatness and brilliance. It would be nice to have some onboard tone control, but not necessary when setting the stomp box for various applications.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play fingerstyle, mostly jazz, and yet I can see this pickup being just a good overall device where the NATURAL sound of the guitar is desired. You must start with a good sounding guitar, and that's what you'll get.

Comments: If it were lost or stolen, I'd be devastated, this IS a Martin D-42!!! But yes, I'd replace it. I've been playing about 45 years, and I'm 58. I have 5 guitars currently; Gibson Custom Shop Les Paul Elegant, Godin Multiac Jazz, Takamine CD-132SC classical, Wahsburn D17CE WR Timber Ridge, and this new Martin D-42. I've been a professional musician for over 35 years. I have a complete digital recording studio in my home, running Logic Audio Platinum on a Mac beige G3 and two video monitors. I run over 2,000 total watts of audio monitoring if I need it. (I usually listen to 950W just "idling" through Klispch monitor speakers.) I have 2 Roland synths and various outboard gear and a Yamaha O1v with mLAN into the Mac via Firewire and two Mackie SR1530 speakers. The Schertler Bluestick does what they advertise, nothing more, nothing less. I recommend it highly, but it MUST be installed by an experienced professional craftsman. Mine was and that assures it's correctly done. Pay the extra, it's worth it and the shop can get it cheaper than you can. You'll be able to hear it used by me soon at http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/305/zeek_duff.html

Pickup features: preamp and volume control
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Dove artist
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Schertler
Other pickups on guitar: Dimarzio
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): I play folk Rock stuff and needed something a little more balanced
Reason for pickup change: The pickup was harsh and i wanted something a little smoother and more balanced

Perceived output level: The level of the output was dependent on the volume control
Tone: The tone was very harsh to me, i don't like messing much with e.q.
Sonic evaluation: The pickup was not balanced at all and i found that it wasn't allowing some of the strings a voice, not much signal at some of the strings.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Folk Rock

Comments: No, i would let it go gladly. The Dimarzio Dp139 is a much better choice.

Pickup features: active
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: dove artist
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): country
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level:
Tone: very harsh sounding
Sonic evaluation: when i purchased the guitar, 3 strings were not equal in volume to the others, these were the middle strings. The dealer told me the saddle was not flat, so he flattened it, it was better but the G string is still off the mark and the others are not up to par either. We opted to take the thing out and he gave me a better deal but was blushing.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I had heard good things but my ears aren't lying i wouldn't use this pickup for any reason whatsoever

Comments: I would never buy one

Pickup features: active preamp with volume control
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: L-200
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: K&K Trinity System
Artists using this pickup: Emmy Lou Harris
You musical style(s): Fingerstyle, jazz, rock
Reason for pickup change: Pickup doesn't sound remotely like the guitar, no balance to strings and sounds worse than a fishman

Perceived output level: The level was fine as much gain as you would ever need
Tone: Tone was typical undersaddle, pingy and unrealistic
Sonic evaluation: I have an acoustic image amplifier as well as a full blown p.a.
The thing sounds nothing like the guitar it came from the factory and the e and b strings were not audible, they say it doesn't need the same attention as the piezo under saddle because the pickup is in the acoustic chamber and doesn't rely on even pressure, bull crap the thing has all the apparent problems of undersaddle pickups and sounds just as bad.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play fingerstyle and singer songwriter stuff. I think that this pickup is trash

Comments: This pickup is horrible. I took it out and replaced it with the K&K Trinity which blew it away and anyone who has heard the two pickups together came away with the same conclusion, it is just another undersaddle pickup. Gold plating a piece of crap doesn't change anything, it's still crap