Guitar Gear

It has been months since I purchased some new gear, and as I wait for it to arrive, I’m squirming in anticipation! 🙂 I love that feeling! It reminds me of the early days of this site when I was buying all sorts of stuff. It was like I won the lottery! I had a garage full of gear. Now… not so much, and the frequency of my purchases has slowed to a crawl. Also, for me now, finally purchasing the item was the result of months of research. Unlike those early days where I’d read a review or two or peruse some forums. I took some time with this purchase. So I have to qualify that the “anticipation” is different from when I was going on buying sprees to discover new tones. It’s still an incredible feeling because I’m looking forward to using it as it solves a real problem for me.

So how is the anticipation different? As I mentioned above, this purchase was the result of months of research before I finally pulled the trigger. So the anticipation I’m feeling is one in which I’m looking forward to validating that research. This is different from previous purchases where I was seeing if some gear would actually fit the way I play or help me define my sound. This one is more akin to a scientist coming up with a theory, performing tests to prove the theory, then waiting for the tests to complete; reasonably confident that the tests will bear out their original ideas. Contrast this to what it was like for me before and that was more like a kid who just discovered a new candy, trying it out for the first time.

Both situations deal somewhat with the unknown. But the former is a proof, the latter is pure discovery. Both are valid, but I’ll go with the former every time now. Is it maturity? Partially. It’s actually more economics, to be honest. It should’ve been that way in the first place when I was going on my buying sprees. But hindsight is 20/20 as they say, and frankly, I don’t regret a bit of it. With a limited budget to spend on gear, I’m VERY careful about what I buy. I’m doubly careful now because I don’t like to return gear. It’s not that I won’t do it, but it’s a hassle. So I take a lot of time now to make sure I’ve covered all the bases.

You must be wondering what I’m getting… 🙂 I’m getting a Seymour Duncan SA6 Mag Mic, which is a combination magnetic pickup and condenser mic for my acoustic guitar. I thought long and hard and did a lot of research on choosing a pickup after I received my beautiful Simon and Patrick acoustic from a friend who was passing it on from her uncle who died 15 years ago.

I evaluated several pickups from LR Baggs, K&K, Seymour Duncan, iSolo, and IK Multimedia. A prevailing factor – after looking at the iSolo and IK Multimedia solutions was that I didn’t want a permanent solution right away, something that I really couldn’t do with the LR Baggs and K&K.

The iSolo, which is a wireless pickup is incredible. The recordings I heard were magnificent. But the problem with that is that even though they claim a battery life of 5 hours, actual usage was more in the two-hour range. Not good. The IK Multimedia solution was also good, but it looked kind of cheap. I do a lot of gigs per year, and I need my gear to be pretty durable.

The LR Baggs and K&K pickups were also incredible. I think a prohibitive factor for me was the cost. The K&K actually was not expensive by itself, but as a simple transducer setup, I would need to purchase an external preamp. That said, a friend of mine has this setup and plugs directly into his amp. He has to crank the sound, and it sounds fine, but a preamp would be better – especially a tube pre to warm up the signal.

What I dug about the Mag Mic was that it hit all the marks for me with respect to price and performance, and I could choose to make it a permanent installation. I will probably do that in the long run in any case, but for now, I have an “out.” But on top of that, I love the fact that I get the best of both worlds: a magnetic pickup and a condenser mic that I can combine. EQ is not an issue, as I do that at either the board or my amp. I think a major factor for me was that I didn’t want to wait to use it. 🙂 I know a little impatient on my part. But as I said, economics is a factor. I have to wait another month to have the money to get it installed, and I want to gig and record with it right away. I’ll just have to make sure I take good care of it in the interim.