The Final (blogspot) Post

We have a new website!!!  

In fact, I'd be very surprised if you are here reading this anyhow, the new site should be well integrated with all the search engines by now and the new blog is there.  Go to the new blog here.  Go to the new website here.

Have a good time!

-Ryan

Affordable and Toneful

SINGLE SOURCE PICKUP SYSTEMS

 

We had an article on dual source acoustic pickup systems in the recent past.  (You can read that previous article here.) Problem is, dual source systems can be pricey.  Today we're going to talk about our favorite single source pickups, which are more affordable and still have excellent tone. (Note: installation price can vary depending on the pickup type and your guitar, it's condition, and the potential need for setup adjustments to make the pickup function properly.) 

The first pickup is something is a brand new system from L.R. Baggs.  It's called the Lyric Mic System.   The engineers over at L.R. Baggs have taken the Tru Mic technology they developed for the dual-source Anthem pickup, and now they've designed a special preamp and EQ to create a single-source, mic only system that is highly resistant to feedback.  This pickup is excellent at reproducing the natural voice of your guitar. It's a little less expensive than the Anthem SL, and the installation is much easier. Our first shipment of these has now arrived and we can get your install done in a day. Pickup Price: $199    

  
 


The next pickup is a alternative type of under-saddle transducer; it has a completely different element type and preamp than we're used to seeing. The B-Band systems, from Finland, has a rounder tone than the typical piezo.  The system featured here is the A1.2 with volume control.  The element itself is made of a different material than your standard Fishman-style piezo or even the L.R. Baggs braided transducers. This different type of under-saddle transducer, combined with their proprietary preamp, produce a softer overall EQ response. It comes with a mini control, mounted just inside the soundhole, so you can adjust your volume easily.  This system is also a great value and sounds great in pretty much any guitar.  
Pickup Price: $95 

The final systems to discuss represent a more custom approach.  These are single source elements inside a guitar, without any internal preamp or battery. We call them passive systems. (The above pickups are all active, as they rely on a 9V battery to power their internal preamps.) The following types of pickups require an external preamp, which is an additional cost. A simple pedal-style preamp can be as little as $50, while professional preamps easily run well into the hundreds, if not many hundreds.


A good general under-saddle pickup like the Fishman Matrix element (shown above) will sound great with almost any kind of preamp.  But for a more profession example of this style pickup, we recommend the K&K Pure Mini bridge-plate transducer. The K&K is technically 3 transducers, but they all sum to one mono signal, so we refer to it as a single source system. Using these component-based pickups enables you to choose from a wide variety (in price and quality) of preamps to use outside the guitar.  The K&K usually sounds best when you pair it with their specific preamp, while a simple under-saddle transducer can sound good with many different types of preamps, and even  with just a small boost or EQ pedal. These pickups range from $70-$100.   

Bring in your guitar to chat about which system is best for you and your budget.  Call in advance if you want to schedule an appointment with Adam or Ryan to talk about the details of individual systems.  

Luthier Discussion Workshop

Inside the Luthier's World

Guitar Repair expert Adam Frumhoff will discuss different  parts of the guitar and their role in the production of sound. Come learn about how guitar builders shape the sound of their instruments during the build process, and what can be done in the repair shop to alter and increase your instrument's tone. Topics of conversation will include bracing and internal structure, wood types, finishes, saddle and nut materials, and even different types of glue.  Other topics such as humidity and care will also be discussed.  Join us this Sunday, February 24th in the Custom Sound Instruments repair shop for this informative seminar. We have limited space for this workshop. Please call or come by the store to RSVP.

 

 

ONE-DAY-ONLY SALE ! ! !

This Friday, February 15th, we're having a 20% OFF Store-Wide Super Sale. We'll be open until 7:00pm... the day after Valentines Day.  There will be additional instruments and amps with blow-out discounts up to 1/2 OFF! 
 

Favored Acoustic Pickups

The Magic of Dual Source Systems

                         
What is a dual-source pickup system?  Glad you asked! A dual source pickup is simply two different pickups inside your guitar, configured and mixed to produce one blended signal of tonal awesomeness.  The blending of the two signals can be done automatically with an internal preamp. However, more advanced systems allow the player to mix the signals manually and get the exact blend desired.  I have three units I'd like to share with you.  

We'll start with what is currently my top pick.  L.R. Baggs is in the habit of redefining the world of acoustic amplification, and two of their systems are featured in this discussion.  My favorite is the Anthem System, which combines an under-saddle transducer (often referred to as a piezo pickup) and a specialized microphone attached to the bridge plate.  The unique aspect of the Anthem is the microphone, coined "Tru-Mic Technology," this is not your ordinary mini-microphone. This mic is extremely resistant to feedback, and the system in general is excellent at reproducing the natural voice of your instrument. The Anthem comes in two configurations-- one gives the user an additional control to blend the transducer and mic signals manually.  The simpler version (called the Anthem SL) handles the blending for you and has a volume control.  $219 - $299 plus installation.

 

The next pickup is completely unique in its signal sourcing.  The L.R. Baggs M80 soundhole pickup is unlike any other soundhole pickup design.  The primary signal source is produced from a magnetic pickup, (like other soundhole pickups and electric guitar pickups.)  The metal strings disturb and vibrate a magnetic field in order to produce electrical current in a coil of wire. But the second signal source is where things get interesting.  The M80 is constructed to sense the vibrations of the guitar top through the mounting wings, which clamp down on the soundhole edge.  This gives the pickup a microphone-like quality, blending the magnetic signal with the vibrations of your guitar.  This pickup is excellent at louder stage volumes.  $249 plus installation.

 


A traditional favorite of mine is the Fishman Ellipse blend system, based on the famous Fishman Matrix.  I especially favor two things about this pickup.  The microphone is directional-- you can move it to find the "sweet spot" in the guitar-- meaning you can "tune" the microphone for best placement. 

I also prefer the sound of the Fishman transducer in most guitars-- especially considering the Fishman transducer doesn't change the acoustic tone of your guitar as much as the Baggs transducer.  I've been installing this pickup for the better part of a decade, and the only complaints come from musicians who are playing at loud stage volumes. At lower and moderate sound levels, this pickup is the way to go... fingerstyle players, hint, hint...

Guitar Surgery Article

A Formidable Challenge:
  Side Reconstruction on a Taylor 814c

(Click images for larger view.)

by Ryan Elewaut

A customer in Sedona emailed me out of the blue last year. He included an eBay link and asked my opinion, "Is this fixable?"  He wanted to buy this guitar, but only if it could be restored-- and he needed a fairly solid quote to gauge whether or not this was a good investment. I looked carefully at all the pics posted on the eBay auction, and pondered for awhile. 

This was not an easy estimate. I   thought through the procedure with only these pictures to guide me, and proposed an estimate. The customer and I decided yes, it was worth it and I was up for the challenge.  My estimate was reasonable enough to allow the customer to cross his fingers and buy the guitar online, knowing the investment in the repair would still net him a great value for such an instrument.  Keep in mind, this expensive guitar was flawless and like new, except for the huge broken hole at the cutaway.

The story was that someone had bought this guitar in about 2007 and shortly thereafter, dropped a dumbbell on the cutaway area, straight down on the side.  The guitar was then put in a closet and forgotten about. I imagine the sickening feeling in the original owner's stomach lead him to simply hide the reminder of such a tragedy.

 
The customer who bought it on eBay after consulting with me had it shipped directly to the shop.  It quickly became one of those jobs you put on the bench just to stare at it for long periods of time- multiple times- before the work even begins.  I already had a general idea about the approach from the pics, but now I had to really detail the procedure in my mind before starting; there were so many different breaks and cracks, inside and out, including internal bracing and top and back seams. 

It was also nice to find some of the puzzle pieces rattling around inside the guitar. I decided to glue most of the fracture with CA glue (cyanoacrylate, high grade super glue,) which has the advantage of drying fast and buffing like lacquer.  The CA glue can also be used to topcoat an area, like a finish. I was able to gently force the wood back into place as I glued different parts, attempting to do so in the opposite order from how it compressed and fractured. I also used standard wood glue for a few areas, such as the back/side separation at the binding, and the internal reinforcement.

 

I knew before starting that the inside would need to be reinforced-- I just wasn't sure of the best way to go about it.  After slowly piecing everything back together, light could be seen passing through the cracked area.  I found black burlap material at the fabric store, saturated it in wood glue, and then pasted it inside of the cutaway area.  This was done twice, creating two rigid layers to protect the fragile area. Any and all pin- holes were filled and buffed, and made invisible by the dark burlap cast inside.

After a lot of fine sanding, scraping, and buffing, the finished job looked excellent. The customer and myself were both surprised and pleased by the result.    

 

I set it up with a compensated bone saddle and installed an L.R. Baggs Anthem acoustic pickup system as well.  It sounded absolutely amazing and played the same.  I was very happy to bring this guitar back to life.

Hey! It's almost like a new 814ce now, but for half the price when all was said an done!
  

It's Starting to get DRY!

Like humans, guitars need hydration too.  Fall can get pretty dry in Flagstaff. We're coming into the season of cracked instruments from lack of humidity, especially once those heaters get going at night.  Here's what you need to know to keep you instrument playing and sounding good:

Hydrate your instrument and if possible keep it in it's case!  The more stable of an environment you can maintain for your guitar, the happier it will be. If you have a nice instrument, I highly recommend humidification.  Buy a humidifier or make one. Get into the habit of maintaining your humidifiers. My favorite guitar humidifier is the Oasis because of it's regulated output-- it's not a sponge based unit. It sits inside the guitar body suspended by the strings. You must keep your guitar in it's case for humidifiers like this to work properly.

If you can't stand the idea of keeping your guitar in it's case, then get a room humidifier and keep it in the corner with your instrument on a stand. It's best to also get a hydrometer when doing this, so you can monitor the area where your instrument lives.

Remember, you want to keep your instrument at about 40% relative humidity. Bring in your guitar for a free humidity assessment or a humidifier demonstration.

~ R.E.

Check out the before and after on a clean rewire in a Jackson PJ bass.  I ripped out this old active system and replaced with a nice passive set of Duncan Quarter Pounders.

Click for a larger view.

Before:

After:

Social Media BS

I just got done figuring out which ways I want all the social media crap to coordinate for the store.  I don't care if I sound old, but all this stuff is a pain in the ass.  There might be a website change soon, but a lot of the current static sight has been updated, refined, and completed.  I'm seriously hoping to start the blog back up... this has been said before.  But now that I have some of this figured out now, I can see how the blog can interact with the rest of it as well.  I'm also going to go through old posts and delete irrelevant blogs like old seminar dates and other announcements that aren't interesting. Here we go...

Guitar Surgery Reports

I also wanted to let you know I have a huge backlog of repair articles and reports on some really intensive repairs from this past year. Here's a quick look at one of the recent restorations from the CSI guitar hospital. You can see more pics from the GICU here on our Facebook.

Humidity Discussion

What happens to a guitar when it's dried out?

Here's one example.

The critical geometry is completely affected. Setting up the guitar is difficult. In addition to this, the entire structure of the instrument is under abnormal tension. There are many different pieces of wood glued together inside a guitar, different types of wood, with grain lines pointing in all different directions; when these various components of the instrument dry out, they contract in different directions and to varying degrees of subtlety. This creates undo tension throughout the structure of the instrument and it therefore doesn't play the same, and it doesn't sound the same either.

It's true that not all guitars or like instruments need the be humidified to prevent cracks or "visible" damage. However, when someone brings me a guitar that is dried out, even if they are happy enough with it's playability, the damage is visible to me.

I've also seen many older instrument that have been dry for a long time. Some say the guitar has been "acclimated." Rarely is a guitar properly "acclimated," and some guitars refuse to "acclimate." Some of the older instruments don't show much extreme trauma, but none are in pristine condition. Most have had crack repairs and other work done to remedy the effects of being turned into guitar-jerky.

Keep in mind, a guitar with the correct geometry, kept at the right humidity, plays and sounds the best. Too much humidity makes the guitar play and sound horrible as well. However, too little humidity is generally more detrimental to the structural integrity of the instrument. And besides, you will never have a problem with excessive humidity if you live in northern Arizona. So get a humidifier already!

My next post will discuss how to properly humidify your instrument.

Humidity Warning

I've removed the blog-hydrometer for now because the humidity in your home is nowhere near the humidity outside. Your indoor humidity is much, much lower than outside. Any and all heaters (some more than others) dry out the air in your house. At the store we've had to get out extra humidifiers to keep the humidity in the acoustic room at a high enough level.

So, check those humidifiers. Think about supplementing your case humidifier with a room humidifier. Remember, we live in one of the most arid climates in the US. The effects of this environment on wooden instruments should not be underestimated.

Next week I'll write more about the specifics of what happens to instruments and the adverse effects of extremely low humidity levels like we have here in norther Arizona. If you need more info about keeping your instrument properly humidified, contact me at the store or by email.

FlagView of the Day

Flagstaff, not too long ago... before the snow.


FlagView is back. I've decided, however, not to attempt a FlagView post (almost) every day as I once hoped to do. This will help with maintaining my sanity as I attempt to try, once again, maintaining a (somewhat) consistent blog.

eBay Offerings

We've been offering a lot of bargains and special items on eBay recently. I want to have at least a couple items up for auction every week. These bargains can be bought at the store for the Buy-It-Now price, or you may enter a bid at the store if you like.

Click here to view our eBay page. Click on Items for Sale on the left, under our logo, to view current auctions.

FlagView of the Day

The Orpheum theater, downtown Flagstaff. Many good shows come through this venue.

Solstice Concert Recap

The concert last Friday was awesome. Thanks to everyone who came out and to the bands Ink Child and Mokshya for playing. We're going to do this more often through the summer.

Pro Deal CoOp

We have officially started the Custom Sound Pro Deal CoOp... a cooperative special ordering program that gets you insider pricing on everything from strings & accessories to pickups & effects. We highly encourage comparing the prices offered through the ordering CoOp with other online stores. The prices you get by collaborating with us on orders will exceed your expectations. Keep reading for some basics and what to expect.


How it works:

The program is designed as a special ordering email system. You pay an annual membership of $35 and are immediately enrolled into a special, private email list. We never share your information with anyone. At that time, we will start sending emails informing you of our ordering schedule, letting you know what products are being ordered and details as to available wholesale prices.

For example, if you compare our CoOp prices to "online prices" (musicians friend, guitar center, music 123, etc.) you will get deals that are 23% lower, on average, through the CoOp. This means that a $160 order will save you more than the annual membership cost, if you compare that same order to the prices of a typical online store.

Local Flagstaffonians can come in the store, if they prefer, to order and pay for the program. If you live out of town you can call or communicate exclusively through email and paypal. Call us at 928-779-1000 or email us to get started...

I'll update this post in the next day or two with a printable, detailed one-sheet on the program. Give us a call or send an email (csiflag@gmail.com) if you would like more information immediately.

-- Ryan Elewaut

FlagView of the Day

Downtown Flagstaff.

The Weatherford Hotel & Charley's Bar.











-- Ryan Elewaut

Freakishly Good

Just thought I might make mention of Mr. Danny Gatton while I have a minute here. The only thing I can say about this guy, when ever he comes up in conversation... WOW! A true virtuoso. If you've never heard of Danny Gatton, this is a must watch. People like this are on a different level. Gatton is a perfect example of what I call an elite level of musicianship. This is what's achieved when extreme technical proficiency constantly connects with the soul of the musician. The instrument becomes a mere extension of the player's mind, body and spirit. Rest in peace Danny.



-- Ryan Elewaut

CustomCasters

We are now building CustomCaster electric guitars. These are solid body, bolt-on-neck style guitars designed to your specification, exclusively by Custom Sound Instruments. We have a couple demo models available to try at the store, but all instruments are built to order. The purpose of a "built to order" guitar is to fine tune all aspects of the instrument to fit your exact needs.

Buying a CustomCaster is different than buying an ordinary guitar. When people buy guitars they are usually fitting themselves to an instrument. When we build a guitar with the musician, we are fitting the instrument to you the player. We spend a fair amount of time sitting down with you (or exchanging emails) just to spec out the options and figure out exactly what kind of guitar you want... pickups, tuners, strings, neck style, body, electric modifications... the list goes on and on. Often, people don't realize the amount of variables that can be tweaked to make a truly customized instrument... one that suits your tonal palate, fits perfectly in your hands, and one that looks unique and speaks to your personality.

We have compared our demo models to similar "mass-produced" instruments... and frankly, there's no comparison. We'll put these guitars up against any main stream bolt-on style guitar, anytime. And the prices will surprise you. In most cases we can build a much better guitar for about the same price, if not less, than say a USA Fender. And better yet, it'll be absolutely one of a kind.



-- Ryan Elewaut