While we’re all obsessed with electric guitars and all the things they can do, there’s still something about acoustic guitars that’s so appealing. Sure, with any decent electric guitar, an amp, and a set of pedals, you’ll have a lot of expressive freedom. But still, no matter the expensive effects or amps, you won’t even be able to get that acoustic guitar tone.
However, somewhat of a downside of acoustic guitars is that you need to mic them up if you want to get heard in live settings, or if you want to record something in the studio. But there’s still a solution – you can just get a piezo pickup and electronics and turn your guitar into an acoustic-electric instrument. This way, you can either just play them through the piezo pickup, or you can combine and blend it in with microphones in the mix. Add some effects, and the sky is the limit.
Of course, piezo or any other pickups for acoustic guitars won’t even truly replicate the tone of acoustic guitars as good as microphones. However, they still have a wonderful tone and can open up new possibilities for acoustic guitar players. With all this said, we figured we could look more into the matter and bring you the list of the best guitar pickups for acoustic guitars. After some consideration, we narrowed the list down and came up with this.
K&K Sound Pure Mini
So we figured we could start things off with a simple and small, yet a very effective pickup. It’s not that difficult to install it, and you’ll just need to drill one hole for the output jack. You also need to know that this is a passive pickup, so you’ll need a preamp if you want to enhance the tone. Mixers also have integrated preamps, and you can use an acoustic guitar amp. With a specialized amp, you’ll be able to make some wonderful and very convincing acoustic guitar tones.
Fishman Matrix Infinity
When there’s a talk about pickups, Fishman is an unavoidable brand. Whatever is the genre, and no matter the type of guitar you’re playing, Fishman pickups do wonders to your tone. And their Matrix Infinity is a pickup and preamp system unlike any other you’ll find in the world of guitar. It takes some effort to install it, but you’ll get a very rich tone that captures your guitar’s natural resonance. It is an active preamp, so you’ll have to use a 9-volt battery in order to make it work. But tone-wise, it’s without any doubts one of the best pickups you can find these days.
Fishman Rare Earth Humbucker
Of course, it’s impossible not to mention at least another product by Fishman on a list of the best pickups for acoustic guitars. But here we have something a little different. While we’re used to seeing contact or “under the saddle” piezo pickups for acoustic guitars, Rare Earth by Fishman is a magnetic pickup, just like the one you’ll find on any standard electric guitar. It’s mounted on an acoustic guitar’s soundhole and serves as any other humbucker you’ll find out there. This is one of the best solutions if you want to make your instrument sound like a conventional electric guitar. On the other hand, the pickup was made to still show some of the characteristics of an acoustic instrument. Overall, it has quite a diverse use and it sounds awesome. You just can’t go wrong with it.
Amumu NEO-SP30
Amumu is not as big and as famous as some other brands, but they still do a great job at making some great acoustic guitar pickups. For this list, we have their NEO-SP30. And once again, this is a passive magnetic pickup that’s fitted on the soundhole. But what’s interesting is that it has solid beech wood as a cover, which impacts its tone and smoothens it up a little. This way, the pickup gets a more realistic resonant acoustic guitar tone. The pickup also comes with a cable that goes straight from it and to an amp or a PA system or any other device. So there are no modifications here that you have to do to your guitar. In addition, it’s pretty affordable as well, especially when you take its sound quality into consideration.
LR Baggs iBeam
Now we have another active pickup and preamp system, this time by LR Baggs. This is their iBeam piezo pickup that goes under the saddle or the so-called “bridge plate.” It’s not that difficult to install, although you’ll need to make a small hole for the system’s output to get things going. But overall, this is a great sounding pickup with a unique tone. Thanks to its FET-based preamp, you’ll get some really warm and natural tones. It’s a very diverse one and comes in handy for pretty much any genre that you need.
LR Baggs Anthem
But if you’re more of a fan of some more high-end stuff, then LR Baggs’ Anthem is a good solution. What’s very interesting here is that this is a just a simple piezo pickup but a so-called “Tru-Mic” one. It’s basically a small microphone that captures all the finest qualities of your guitar. It’s fitted inside the guitar and there’s a control unit that also goes inside the body, but it’s placed right near the soundhole. There’s a so-called “mix” control that lets you blend in between the augmented mic and the full-range pickup. Yes, it’s not exactly the cheapest one, but it’s arguably the best solution for acoustic guitars.
CloudVocal iSolo Wireless
Lastly, we’d also mention something for the fans of wireless stuff. The pickup system in question is made by CloudVocal, and it’s called iSolo Wireless. Now, this is not just a simple pickup system. It’s fitted on the soundhole and it also comes with a USB receiver. You just connect the receiver to your computer or any other device that you use for recording or sound processing and amplification, turn it on, and start playing.
