An Acoustic Guitarists Dream
Product: Seymour
Duncan SA-1 Tube Acoustic Pickup
Price Range: £60 -£80 including p+p
Product Rating: 9.5/10
Seymour Duncan are well known for the creation of Electric
guitar pickups that can produce both clean sounds, to the punky and aggressive tones.
On the other hand they are also known for their natural woody series of
Acoustic pickups that you just chuck in the sound hole. I’ve personally had a
chance to hear the use of this woody series and I feel it lacks the natural
push that you want from your guitar. However what I have noticed is that the
one’s I have heard used, you can immediately tell that the performer is using a
removable pickup. Admittedly they are great for picking and give you a great
pluck that you want and shows off the natural treble brilliantly, but I still
feel that you want it to sound like a purpose build Electro-Acoustic. Another
negative I feel needs to be pointed out is how prone to feedback they are if misused,
making them impractical for stage use as you have no immediate control over volume.
Personally I know that a lot of acoustic guitarists have
that one perfect sounding acoustic guitar, but there’s one problem! How do I
get this great sound amplified through speakers without it sounding half
hearted through a SM58? Which as we all know, when you put the microphone too
close to the sound hold, 9 times out of 10, you’re going to get feedback or
some form of hiss. Also, I want to do it without breaking the bank! Thus, I
bring you the Seymour Duncan SA-1 Tube Acoustic Pickup. At a mere £67 on GAK.co.uk
with about £6 postage, you’re getting a steal for what you get.
So what’s so good about it? First thing you notice about
this pickup is it is so much more aesthetically pleasing than the boring woody
series, unless that’s what you’re into of course, but in this modern era, we’re
all after style aren’t we! Secondly it’s heavier than it looks, but not too
heavy, showing they haven’t skimped on quality in this product. One thing that
surprised me was its flexible and adjustable legs which allow you to lower
either side of the pickup to allow more treble or bass to be picked up depending
on your style, or even drop the pickup a fair distance away from the strings to
allow more natural acoustics of the guitar, but less response from the strings,
giving you the best of both worlds. One
thing to note is that they do deceive you on one count of their advertising. It
is not the easier pickup to fit in your guitar, it is a “two hand bend your
finger in a weird way and flick that onto their” job, but it’s worth the
trouble getting it in. Another great thing is that unlike some of the woody
series it features a ¼ Jack output with lasso you can hook onto your strap
button, allowing you to use your high quality long length leads as opposed to
being limited to movement like the other pickups do. Something that might give
you problems is the thin lead that hangs out of the sound hole from the pickup
once in place. Unless you are going to drill a hole in your favourite guitar,
you are going to tape it down and it won’t cause you problems anymore.
I’d probably go as far as to say this pickup rivals some of
the more expensive one’s you’ve seen your heroes use. It gives a brilliant
response to any of your playing styles from finger picking to strumming and
produces an impressive natural tone which near enough amplifies the exact sound
of your guitar. A word of warning though, chances are if you are using an awful
acoustic guitar, it won’t make it sound like a Taylor. Another thing I had
wondered was whether this pickup would give the same quality response to a 12
string acoustic. Guess what? It does! It gives a great natural sound that you
would want to amplify, maybe not to the same quality that it sounds
unamplified, but near enough.
Showing extremely brilliant feedback resistance it is
unbelievable how great this is for live performances as well. Once again
though, it’s all about your equipment as well, if you run it through an awful
P.A System or Amplifier, chances are it’s going to sound awful. I’ve had it run
through both Electric and Acoustic Amps, and the results remain the same, amazing
and consistent tone. Notice I used the words ‘feedback resistant’, this does
not mean you won’t ever get feedback. Although I’ve never had feedback with
this product, it’s not impossible. This is where my favourite feature that is
currently exclusive to this pickup in the Seymour Duncan range comes in: The
easy access volume control. If you were to receive some form of feedback, you
can easily control your volume straight from the pickup, unlike other pickups.
This feature is also great if you feel like your audience is getting a little
bit louder or quieter, you can whack the volume up or down a notch to suit the
venue.
In conclusion, this masterpiece coming from the Duncan range
creates impressive sound, is a beautiful piece of gear and is worth the money,
and I’d recommend anyone who wishes to buy a removable pickup to give the SA-1
a try and see what you think. Better than any old SM58 makeshift setup any day!
By Ashley Howell (ACH Music Reviews) 29/01/2012
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