Pickups for 12 string

[the fool]

whats a good pickup for 12 strings? i recently got an epiphone custom g 1275 and i'm thinking of changing the pus on the 12 string. i want a beatles, byrds kind of tone.

[Dr_simon]

I tried several of the contact mics and they were terrible !

[the fool]

?

[Dr_simon]

what part of "contact mics are bad" don't you understand ?

[Lordathestrings]

Originally posted by Dr_simon
what part of "contact mics are bad" don't you understand ? I guess it's the part that doesn't say what kind of pickups he should get :)

[the fool]

amen

[Dr_simon]

A pickup is a transducer, that moves energy from one form into another. A conventioal pickup generates electrisity by virtue of a conductive wire moving in a magnetic field. A contact mic works like a telephone.

The sort of pickup you are thinking of and a contact mic both do the same job. They catch the noise that the guitar makes and convert it into little packets of electricity that can be fed down a conductive wire.

These packets of electricity contain "information" (I'm using metaphor now..clever eh) that can be amplified by an amplifier and turned into sound by using the amplified "packets of information" -from, yes the transducer (or pick up or whatever else you want to call it) and turn it into waves of compressed gas phase molecules that are known by lay people as "sound waves" and providing you are not in a complete vacuum and have your **** down, can sound quite pleasant.

SO, armed with the above information, it is obvious that a contact mic is a form of "pickup" as it "picks up" vibrations and helps relay them to a amplifier

QED

[the fool]

?

[Lordathestrings]

LMAO @ DS! "Oops!" would have been a lot more concise. :)

Well, fool, since it should now be quite clear that you shouldn't replace your guitar's pickups with a contact microphone, you should probably consider PAF type pickups. I can recommend DiMarzio (http://www.dimarzio.com/flash.html) PAF's, I use them myself. Please look them up, and decide for yourself - unless you can work out a way to try them out first, you will have to make a "leap of faith" and buy a pair of whatever you chose.

[the fool]

do u know of any guitar that use Dimarzio PAFs so I can try it on my local music store?

[Lordathestrings]

Try phoning the stores. I don't know if any guitar maker installs DiMarzio PAF pickups at the factory.