DeArmond Rhythm Chief

Pickup features: Single Coil, Passive, I could be wrong...
Impedence or other specs: Not sure

Model of guitar or bass: 1959 Guild A-50 Archtop
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: N/A
Other pickups on guitar: N/A
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Blues, Swing, Jump
Reason for pickup change: Wanted a way to turn my archtop acoustics into archtop electrics without modifying the guitar.

Perceived output level: Okay... I realize this is essentially an acoustic guitar pickup, but it's not your standard acoustic guitar pickup. Rather than exactly reproducing the sound of your acoustic, it kind of makes them electric, which is why I have decided to put them in the electric pickups section. I would liken them to the floating pickups you find on the Epiphone Emperor Regent, for example. Output level is not too hot, not too cool.. Kind of like the third pickup Goldilocks would have tried and said "Mmmm.. Just right"
Tone: Very well balanced across the tonal spectrum, sort of a PAF feel but not quite as high-output.
Sonic evaluation: OKAY! Here's where I get to go crazy. This is not a "microphone" as the name may imply, it's a pickup for acoustic archtops, and it's 30 or 40 years old so darned if I know the inner workings of the beast. All I can say it, this is clearly a superior sounding pickup. Here's how it works. There are three basic pieces. One clips between the bridge and tailpiece which serves as an anchor for the unit, and also houses a volume control and the output socket. (Some models have a tone control as well; mine does not). This is fastened to a metal bar that runs under the pickguard (or under the strings if you have no pickguard). The pickup itself is mounted on this metal bar. The not only holds the pickup, but allows you to slide the pickup along the bar, to whatever position you want, from neck to bridge. The back of the pickup has some sort of felt to avoid scratching the finish and reduce pickup vibration and feedback. The sound is tremendous. My Guild is the main archtop I use with this pickup, and through a Deluxe Reverb or an old Gibson amp the sound is remarkably jazz-boxy... crank it up and it gets a really nice warm overdriven tone, back it off and you're in rhythm heaven. I also use it with any old archtop acoustic I come across. I own a bunch of cheapies too, because this pickup has the uncanny ability to turn a Kay archtop into a Gibson wannabe. Honest. The only thing is, there needs to be decent enough clearance between the guitar body and strings for the pickup to fit in there, and it's comparatively thick as far as pickups go.
Here's a neat trick though, and I don't know how many DeArmond owners have tried this one: I also clipped this pickup between the bridge and stop tailpiece on an old Zephyr Deluxe Regent, and slid the DeArmond close to the factory neck pickup. I then used the output of the Zephyr to my Deluxe Reverb, and the output of the DeArmond to a Blackface Super. Instant sort-of stereo! It's the coolest thing... 2 different tones, 2 different amps, 2 different pickups... It's pretty sweet, if you can get past having 2 cords hanging off your guitar..

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play blues/swing/jump. It's the perfect pickup. I wouldn't really use it for the bridge position, but then again, I rarely use that position anyway.

Comments: This is truly irreplaceable. DeArmond's out of business. These pickups run in the 150-200 dollar range now. I would not hesitate to spend the dough if mine were lost or stolen; I LOVE this thing. The only problem with it (and it's minor) is that the output of the pickup is not a standard 1/4 inch female, it's some sort of bizarre screw-on deal. Anyhow, I have the original cable which has gotten a bit old, so I went to the local electronics store and built a screw-on connector-to-1/4" female connector. I leave this attached to the pickup, and this allows me to use standard 1/4" male to 1/4" male guitar cable.
I wish mine had a tone control... I'm looking for one that does. The thing with this pickup... It makes you look at every archtop acoustic you see and say "hmmm.... that thing would sound GREAT with the DeArmond...." So I also need another one just to compensate for the amount of guitars. :-)
I started with just the Guild (which I bought with the pickup attached) and the stable is growing...and growing.