Bob Shane was totally against any kind of internal microphone or pick-up system for acoustic guitars. In fact, when we were recording "By Special Request" George brought in his D-45 (I believe it was) that was set up with the Fishman blender system. He had the engineer set up a mic in front of the guitar and then he ran the Fishman system to two separate tracks. When Bob realized what was happening he hit the roof. He would not allow even this Martin-approved pick-up to be used in the studio, let alone on stage! I've tried several different pick-ups over the years and I've never been totally satisfied with the results. Most everything I've used has produced a kind of "Ovation" sound that I hate. The closest I've come to a true acoustic amplification via an internal mic is called "The Guitar Mic" which was developed by my friend Peter Anderson in California. Basically it's an active condenser mic attached to an end-pin jack. The mic sits inside the guitar near the tail end back from the bridge. I've had good luck with this in my mandolin, ukulele, a banjo and my Mossman guitar. I have one each installed in my Yamaha 6-string and 12-string, but I'm not happy with the tone I get from either of those. I have to use an external EQ to remove most of the 1K, as I have a very predominant "B" string in both of those instruments. Without the drastic EQ they sound very nasally. I've left my HD-28 unamplified for the moment, although a local luthier told me about a new Fishman system with which he is very impressed. If I decide to try that in my Martin I'll report back on the results.
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