PICKUPS, AMPS & PREAMPS

I have tried many different pickups over the years and have settled on a few types that I would most recommend (You'll see from the list below that I really like LR Baggs stuff!). I also offer a fitting service for guitars other than my own, please contact me for advice and for complete price list. The prices below are all for fitting to any guitar, see my Prices page for cost when fitted at the time of making to one of my guitars.

Whilst I mainly supply pickups fitted, I am happy to sell mail order as well. I am not currently set up to take payment online so please contact me and arrange to send a cheque made payable to 'N. Benjamin'or do a direct bank transfer. Most pickups are available within two weeks but some special orders or out of stock items may take longer, I will advise you of this when an order is taken.

All the systems listed below are based around an internal preamp generally built in to the endpin socket for minimal impact on the guitar unless otherwise stated.

LR Baggs Element Active System - undersaddle pickup with internal preamp - easy, invisible amplification

Bagg's latest undersaddle pickup is now my first recommendation for invisible amplification of your beloved acoustic guitar. It captures the same warmth and presence of the well established Baggs 'Ribbon' pickup but with greater transparency and a larger dynamic range; giving a more open 'acoustic' tone with a clear top end and deep bass. Included is an optional volume control which mounts invisibly just inside the soundhole. I've now fitted loads of these and would heartily recommend this system for it's combination of unobtrusiveness, simple reliability and the fact that it is the best undersaddle I've ever used.

Some further gentle EQing from the Baggs Para DI unit can help to yield exceptionally realistic stage sounds compared to any other undersaddle pickup.

Element Active System: £110 inc P&P within UK. (UK RRP £120)
Element Active System including fitting: from £160.
Element Active System including fitting and Baggs Para-Acoustic DI EQ box: from £320.

Recommended EQ settings: mid cut at about 1.4kHz and mild cut to treble above 5kHz plus notch at 200-250Hz for more resonant guitars.

See lower down the page for the new iMix system which combines the Element with an iBeam contact pickup and the Dual Source Element which combines it with an internal mic.

LR Baggs M1 and M1 Active - magnetic soundhole pickup with soundboard sensing - deep, robust, feedback resistant tone

The M1 appears on first inspection to be a magnetic soundhole pickup much like any other, but it isn't. Part of it's secret is a beautifully elegant way of sensing soundboard vibration as well as the normal picking up of the strings like other magnetic units. It does this by allowing the two coils within it to vibrate relative to one another in a controlled way, producing a very balanced and totally non-boomy microphonic effect as well as the magnetic string sensing from the same device. This means wonderful simplicity; no blending of the two parts required. But the best part, with or without the vibration sensor aspect, is that this is the best magnetic sound I've ever heard. Forget the thick and wooly or thin and brash sound of other magnetics: this pickup is clear, sweet and deep, incredibly responsive and dynamic, with no detectable compression of the sound when hit hard. Finally a pickup which is as much fun to play through as the guitar you put it in!

The M1 boasts adjustable pole pieces for each string, allowing very exact string to string balance adjustments and also quite dramatic tonal adjustments. When the pole pieces are set further away from the strings the microphonic part of the sound is heard more, giving the pickup a brighter more transparent quality. As you move all the pole pieces nearer the strings a much fuller tone starts to develop with big fat trebles and a very deep punchy bass that can rock the foundations like no other pickup! This great sensitivity to the exact height the pole pieces are set means that you can really fine tune this pickup for you own taste and playing style.

The M1 has all the benefits of most magnetics including high feedback resistance, which combined with it's great sensitivity makes it an ideal pickup for solo fingerstyle players, it also sounds fantastic strummed and flatpicked (some mid cutting EQ at about 900Hz benefits for these styles), making it one of the best ways to be heard in a loud band with minimum hassle and maximum tone. Combine it with a Baggs Para DI EQ box for the most flexible, reliable and straight-forward pro quality system available.

A new active version of the M1 with built in preamp and mini integral volume control powered by a watch battery (1000 hours life) is now available. The M1 Active has increased output and is compatible with any outboard equipment (please note the original passive version does not work well straight into a desk line input and needs either an active DI box, acoustic amp or preamp, such as the Para DI or Gigpro, to work at it's best).

M1: £165 inc. P&P in UK (RRP £185), fairly easy to fit yourself, especially if you already have a half inch hole for an endpin socket.
M1 fitted: £180
M1 plus Baggs 'Para-Acoustic DI' EQ unit, inc. UK P&P; £325, all you'll ever need!
M1 plus Baggs 'Para-Acoustic DI' EQ unit and fitting: £350. Includes a full setting up and run through of how to get the best of the combination.
M1 Active: £200 inc. P&P in UK (RRP £230)
M1 Active fitted: £215

Recommended EQ settings: mid cut at about 800-1000Hz plus mild treble cut above 5kHz for brighter PAs.

LR Baggs iBeam - internal bridgeplate mounting contact pickup with internal preamp - rich, realistic flat-picked tone or easy home recording for all styles

An internally mounted contact/microphonic pickup which has had mixed reviews, some people love it, some people hate it. For me this pickup does some things no other pickup can but works best in certain situations and not all guitars but probably correct fitting is the most crucial factor. The iBeam is almost too true, picking up all an instruments natural resonances; what most people need is actually a slightly flattened out version of their guitar sound when amplified in order to get more apparent clear power or to cut through other instruments. However the great strength of the the iBeam is it's ability to produce an absolutely believable strummed and flat-picked sound that really does sound like an acoustic guitar, which no other system quite manages. The iBeam is far more dynamic than most undersaddle pickups:- it won't compress the sound giving the quacky tone that undersaddles are know for when hit too hard.

I would highly recommend using the LR Baggs 'Para-Acoustic DI' EQ box or D-Tar 'Equinox' with this system (see below), since it picks up a guitar's natural resonances fairly strongly, when you've EQ'ed carefully though, a fantastically real sound is very possible.

The iBeam is also available combined with the Element in the new iMix system which is perhaps where it really comes in to its own, see below.

The iBeam is also an ideal pickup for easy home recording where volume levels are not an issue and the simple mono iBeam active system is perhaps most suited to this task combined with some lower volume level live work.

iBeam Active: £160 inc P&P in UK (RRP £180)
iBeam Active fitted: £190
iBeam Active fitted and Baggs Para-Acoustic DI EQ box: £350. The ultimate Bluegrass player's live setup or home recording made easy.
iBeam Active fitted and D-Tar Equinox parametric EQ unit: £375. Ultimate control for even the most resonant guitar.

EQ settings will vary quite alot for different guitars but on average: reasonably strong low mid notch cut at 200-250Hz and upper mid cut at about 1-1.4kHz.

LR Baggs iMix System - ultimate versatility for a broad range of styles - warm and rich dynamic tone - one of my favourites!

The 'iMix' internal system combines the iBeam with an Element undersaddle pickup (see top of page). Blending is via two small controls mounted invisibly just inside the soundhole or offboard, and this system has possibly the widest tonal possibilities of any available, and all without any large holes in your guitar. The internally mounted preamp has adjustable gain and midrange controls for each pickup and a bass roll-off control for the more resonant iBeam, allowing you to preset a great sound without the need for an expensive off-board blending unit.

Combine the direct, deep and bright sound of the Element undersaddle with the warm, rich, lively microphonic iBeam for an ideal mix of solid stage sound and dynamic realism. This system sounds fantastic strummed as well as fingerstyle. Output is switchable mono or stereo giving the option of two separate sources for recording or off board blending.

iMix internal system: £260 inc P&P within UK (RRP £295)
iMix including fitting: £350 (includes full setting up of the EQ presets on the mini internal blender)
iMix including fitting and Para DI EQ unit: £510

Similar EQ settings to the iBeam recommended.

LR Baggs Dual Source Systems - strong robust stage sound with microphonic detail ideal for percussive players

Baggs original internally fitting pickup and mic blending system has now been updated with the more unobtrusive blend controls used on the iMix system. The Dual Source is now available with an Element or the original Ribbon undersaddle combined with Bagg's internal mic. The mic is unique in its combination of foam block suspension and mounting position on the inside of a guitar's back rather than using the more common gooseneck mounting style soundhole positioning of most internal mics. In my experiance the Baggs mic gives a much more even and less boxy sounding tone than any other type of internal mic and the variable bass control included on the Dual Source preamp makes it very easy to set up a good sound. It is also possible to combine an M1 (passive) with a mic using this system and blending can be purely on-board via the soundhole controls or it can be switched into stereo mode for off- board blending.

Dual Source system (Element or Ribbon): £ inc P&P within UK (RRP £ )
Dual Source system (Element or Ribbon) including fitting: from £335
Dual Source system with M1 including fitting: £490

Recommended EQ settings: upper mid cut at about 1.6kHz and treble cut above 5kHz.

As used by Newton Faulkner in all his Benjamin guitars (Ribbon version).

Other LR Baggs pickups
Baggs make a huge range of excellent pickups with very high quality preamps. If you want controls on the outside of the instrument, Baggs have a large range to suit all requirements, all with great sound. Ask for details.

K&K
I have recently been experimenting with K&K 'Pure' pickups. They are very simple passive (no built in preamp) three head piezo disc contact pickup system which superglues (removably) to the bridgeplate inside the guitar. Thomas Leeb first asked me to fit this pickup to the 'Percussion' guitar prototype for him and I was very surprised at the tone and feedback resistance. To get the best results a reasonably strong mid cut at about 800-1200Hz is required but when you have done this every other part of the sound seems very good. Feedback resistance is at least as good as an undersaddle pickup and probably as good as a magnetic. The tone is dynamic and warm with very little bass boom or harshness in the treble. I would recommend using an offboard preamp such as the Baggs Para DI to perform the mid cut and ensure good tone: even though the output is very high a good buffer preamp always improves things. I have a guitar in my workshop with this pickup fitted if anyone would like to try it out before buying.

K&K Pure Western Small Head including fitting: £120.
Same with Baggs endpin preamp (This has a mild mid cut built in so a Para DI will be less necessary): £180.
Same with Para DI: £280

Highlander
I can supply and fit all Highlander acoustic guitar products, contact me for prices.

Headway
Headway produce some really good piezo undersaddle pickups here in the UK which include some of the best piezo preamps available, all class-A for maximum headroom and minimum distortion with a hi-fi inspired enriching circuit in some models which helps remove any brittleness from the sound and gives a valve like quality. Definitely one of the best undersaddle systems I've tried for harder players because of it's pleasant sound when pushed to the limits, can affect the acoustic tone of some guitars a little more than other pickups, however, so probably best for a pure stage guitar.

Fishman Rarearth
Fishman Rarearth pickups, originally designed by ace luthier Mike Vanden, are based around a magnetic soundhole pickup in single coil or humbucking (recommended) configuration, with the option of an internal mic built in to the Rarearth Blend model. These are very easy to use and reliable pickups and great if you like a warm meaty sound with the option of a very natural edge from the mic in the Blend version.

*SECONDHAND RAREARTH BLEND* £175.

Other Brands
I can also supply and fit many other brands including; B-band, EMG, Ashworth, Seymour Duncan and D-tar. I'm also happy to source and fit brands harder to find in the UK such as; Schertler, PUTW etc etc, although you may have to wait a little while for them to arrive!

AMPLIFICATION

Headway Shire King SK120 & SK60

The new Headway Shire King acoustic amps have recently been developed by John at Headway pickups and here's the quote I gave John after trying them:

"The Headway Shire King 120 is, without doubt, the best acoustic amp I have tried. The combination of plenty of sweet, clean power and the extremely comprehensive whilst very intuitive to use EQ make it stand out above all the other amps I've tried. The natural tone of the Shire King 120 is warm, deep and clear, a great boon for more sterile sounding pickups, whilst the powerful 5 band EQ allows you to very easily and precisely drop down the fullness for a very clear, deep, transparent tone if you are using a meatier toned pickup. The addition of a very nicely thought out notch filter makes using this amp as a close stage monitor a doddle. This amp has every feature I would have included if I'd designed it myself!

The Headway Shire King 60, the smaller, simpler, more portable little brother to the 120 shares its great natural warmth with only a slightly less deep tone due to the smaller cabinet. Superficially this amp seems very similar to many of its competitors but the difference is in the tone. Most other amps of this size produce a compressed and coloured tone whilst the Shire King 60 is very dynamic and clean but without a hint of sterility. This amp knocks spots off the current market leader!"

The Shire King amps make fantastic performance tone shapers as well as the more obvious uses of stage monitoring and pub gigs for the SK120 and rehersals and home practice for the SK60. I'd personally consider using one of these as an extension of a live tone in the manner of an electric guitarist, mainly because it would be pretty hard to mess up the warm, sweet sound coming out of one of these, even for the most uninterested soundman! Both amps can also double as blenders for stereo systems with the SK120 even having a stereo input so if you're thinking of buying an amp, plus EQ unit, plus blender, don't, buy one of these!

Both; Two channels, Alesis reverb and effects, DI and line outputs etc, powered mic input on second channel, carry bag.

SK120 120 watts output
Channel 1; input gain, 5 band EQ, two types of passive pickup input, one passive magnetic input, one active pickup input, stereo input.
Channel 2; input gain, 3 band EQ, active pickup input, powered XLR mic input (also accessible via stereo input).
Master; output volume, effects selection, channel pan and level, notch filter with variable Q control (best set up notch I've heard).

SK60 60 watts output
Channel 1; input gain,3 band EQ, two types of passive pickup input (which can work fine with active pickups if gain control is kept low).
Channel 2; input gain, 3 band EQ, general pickup input, powered XLR mic input.
Master; output volume, effects selection and level.

SK120 including postage within UK £595 (RRP £649.95)
SK60 including postage within UK £425 (RRP £469.95)

Pictures are both of SK120, SK60 looks very similar but is about 2/3 the size.

OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICES

A good pickup is only the start of a good sound. I would recommend an onboard preamp of some description with any pickup (all the above include one unless stated) but further EQing may well be necessary to suit the room or PA being used and dial out the biases of the particular pickup's tonal colouration. The best sounds I've heard are usually by players who are in control of their own sound and really only leave the sound person to set levels. This control needn't cost an arm and a leg or fill a small van and here are some devices I would recommend plus blenders for stereo pickup systems. These are all available directly from Benjamin Guitars.

LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI (Para-DI); a great EQ/preamp/DI in a small rugged box, 5 band EQ including notch filter etc. This is the best sounding and best value unit on the market and if you're serious about performing successfully on stage you shouldn't gig without one.
£175 inc P&P within UK (RRP £195).

LR Baggs Mixpro; a very good belt mountable blender with adjustable low end cut for the mic or contact pickup channel and the same master EQ as the Gigpro. A great blender for people who want one sound set up and don't want to fiddle with it too much during a gig. I offer a set up service for this blender to suit the guitar and pickups you are using.
£155 inc P&P within UK (RRP £175)

D-Tar Equinox; a three band fully parametric EQ unit with twin notch filters. This unit takes a bit of getting used to if you aren't familiar with how a proper parametric EQ works (with frequency, bandwidth and boost/cut controls on each band), but is well worth the effort if you need to amplify a particularly resonant guitar at higher volumes. If you've tried everything else with no success, then this is the solution This unit replaces and updates the position held by the discontinued Raven-Labs 'True Blue EQ'.
£195 inc. P&P within UK (RRP £209)

D-Tar Solstice; two channel blender unit which is very similar to the also discontinued Raven blender, with three band EQ for each channel plus phase switches etc.
£240 inc. P&P within UK (RRP £269)

Highlander Pro Acoustic Mix DI (PAMDI); a fantastic new blender/EQ unit from Highlander, two channels with fully tunable 4 band EQ in a graphic slider format on each channel to absolutely home in on boom and feedback without having to resort to separate blender and EQ units and all in a box that will fit inside the pocket of most guitar cases. This has to be the best thing since sliced bread, used by Stuart Ryan, Newton Faulkner and Thomas Leeb!
£425 inc P&P within UK. (RRP $800)