RubberSoul54321

My band are going through some personnel issues at the moment so the singer and I have decided to go out and do some acoustic gigs to keep the flame burning. My acoustic is just that, no preamp. So I needto fit a pickup of some ddescription but I don't want to mess with the guitar's body. I've been looking around at soundhole pups as well as soundboard transducers but I really don't know which way to go. I don't want to spend much cos I'm not sure how this adventure is going to go. Cheap and cheerful and maintaining the guitar's natural tone as much as possible. Any advice gratefully received. Thanks.

__________________
"I didn't mean to kill nobody ... I just meant to shoot the sonofabitch in the head. Him dying was between him and the Lord." RL Burnside.

"I won't waste my love on a nation" BRMC

My Band, RedEye:

http://redeyeband.weebly.com/

Bikewer

Stick-on piezo pickups are admirably cheap and can sound decent; you may need to experiment with placement. They are somewhat fragile.. Just being stuck on and with the cord just hanging off the pickup.
Soundhole pickups range from reasonably cheap to quite expensive for the upper-end Baggs and Fishman items.
They are easy... Most of the cheaper ones are just magnetic pickups like you'd find on an electric, and they make your guitar sound rather like a hollowbody electric. That may not be bad, but it may not be what you're looking for either.
The best are the internally mounted piezo jobs like the K & K models or the hybrid types that have both a piezo and a microphone feeding into a balance box.
Nice sound but rather expensive.

RubberSoul54321

I like the idea of the last option but it's more than I want to spend for what might be a short term thing. I already have a hollow electric so maybe not much point in the magnetic ones. I might just buy a SBT and give it a go.

__________________
"I didn't mean to kill nobody ... I just meant to shoot the sonofabitch in the head. Him dying was between him and the Lord." RL Burnside.

"I won't waste my love on a nation" BRMC

My Band, RedEye:

http://redeyeband.weebly.com/

Peaceful1

I have a fishman RareEarth in-hole pickup, and I LOVE it. I didn't want to spend much originally, but then I just ended up spending the $160 and I don't regret a penny of it. If you're looking to record, it's worth it to spend a bit more of what you want. Quality. Playing on a low quality pickup/amp will give you low satisfaction with your sound, after all, You play because you enjoy the sound.

Peter Lynne

This is just a personal preference, but have you considered just buying a microphone or two for your guitar instead of adding a pup? In my opinion it sounds a lot nicer and less "toy-ish".

RubberSoul54321

Yep I've thought about micing up but I've been told this isn't the best solution. Remember I want a cheap solution because this is hopefully a short term thing.

__________________
"I didn't mean to kill nobody ... I just meant to shoot the sonofabitch in the head. Him dying was between him and the Lord." RL Burnside.

"I won't waste my love on a nation" BRMC

My Band, RedEye:

http://redeyeband.weebly.com/

Emster 23

If you want to go really cheap, go to GFS and get an undersaddle pickup and an endpin preamp jack. No eq cuts into body. No control either, but what they heck, put an eq stompbox nearby. Or somewhat similar, but more money, LR Baggs has some with thumbwheel that sticks on near the soundhole for volume control. But not super cheap like GFS.