Pickup for acoustic archtop with bronze strings?

[gitman]

My GAS was acting up again .... an acoustic archtop guitar is coming my way shortly and this time around I plan on setting it up with bronze strings (Bosset Soft Brass medium gauge) and figuring out a stage-worthy method
to properly amplify this. I want to use it in trad. swing band settings but also for gigs without percussion and no other harmony instrument. My question to you is this :
Besides using a mic in front of the guitar (or attached to the rim like a DPA or Neumann) is there a suitable floating pickup that will work with bronze strings and deliver a quasi-acoustic sound ? AFAIK most of the usual suspects among the floaters are optimized to work with nickel-wound strings since most players want the classic electric-archtop sound .... A bronze-wound string will not generate the same current in the pickup's magnetic window like a steel or nickel-wound string does but maybe there are models out there which are better suited ? Thanks for your input !

[Mick-7]

My GAS was acting up again .... an acoustic archtop guitar is coming my way shortly and this time around I plan on setting it up with bronze strings (Bosset Soft Brass medium gauge) and figuring out a stage-worthy method to properly amplify this.

There are round-wound acoustic guitar strings that aren't bronze, for example, I've got a set of these on my acoustic-electric (with piezo pickups), they sound fine -- Martin Retro Monel Acoustic Guitar Strings | zZounds

I tried various bronze strings on it, the sound quality was mediocre, for the reason you mentioned I think.

[pcjazz]

The original and repro deArmonds work very well with bronze strings, better than the Krivo in my experience.

[andrew]

The Duneland Labs "Bronzeville" pickup is designed to work with bronze strings (hence the name). It's what Ken Parker used on his archtops. It's a single coil pickup that includes a separate hum-cancelling dummy coil of sorts.

[Cavalier]

I use 2 K&K pickups mounted inside under the foot area of each side of the bridge, one treble, one bass. A Big Twin works well. The sound is very natural,.the guitar sound louder. At high volumes a preamp with a notch filter can be handy for feedback. The cool thing is you can play with strings materials all you like. With a endpin jack it is completely stock.looking. For max volume and tone the pickups should be glued in with super glue gel. Some guitars might respond better with smaller transducers like the regular Twin, so play around before you do the glue, check locations etc... Years ago K&K suggested mounting pickups just inside the F holes but the tone is much better towards the bridge.

[Stringswinger]

The original and repro deArmonds work very well with bronze strings, better than the Krivo in my experience.

This is what I use on my Vintage D'Angelicos that I string with 80/20 strings. I have a couple of Krivos, but the DeArmonds are the best IME.

[gitman]

The Duneland Labs "Bronzeville" pickup as demonstrated by Bruce Forman with a Ken Parker guitar sounds very convincing indeed... The original DeArmond pups are great and I've had a few over the years but the prices are just way too inflated now so I'm not in that game anymore. Once I have that new archtop and a pickup in the house I will let you all know and hear !

[garybaldy]

There are round-wound acoustic guitar strings that aren't bronze, for example, I've got a set of these on my acoustic-electric (with piezo pickups), they sound fine -- Martin Retro Monel Acoustic Guitar Strings | zZounds

I tried various bronze strings on it, the sound quality was mediocre, for the reason you mentioned I think.

I thought bronze would be ok with piezos and the problem was bronze with magnetic pickups.
I use monels with a js style pickup.

[GuyBoden]

I use D'Addario Phosphor Bronze strings with a floating P90 pickup, I don't have any problems, but you need to setup the pickup pole pieces for string volume balance. They work with magnetic pickups because D'Addario Phosphor Bronze strings have a "high-carbon steel core".

[MarkA]

If I am not using a mic for my L-5 (with bronze strings) I use an Ischell contact mic, available through Djangobooks.com or directly from Ischell in France.

[omphalopsychos]

DeArmond.

The Philippe Bosset strings have stronger ferromagnetic properties than any acoustic strings I have used, including Monel sets. They also show a stronger magnetic response than other bronze strings. This makes them particularly well suited for use with magnetic pickups. You made a great choice in strings, as they are my favorite acoustic set. It’s important to remember that terms such as Monel, nickel bronze, and zebra refer only to the winding material. The Bosset strings appear to use thicker steel cores, and for that reason I have never had difficulty balancing their volume when using magnetic pickups.

[58flame]

RC1000 or RC1100 will work fine.

[Rickco]

KA 12 pole

[gitman]

The afore mentioned Duneland pickup costs a whooping $ 475.00 whereas the KA models less than half... I will check out the Bosset strings on my Trenier Jazz Special which has a KA singlecoil pup installed - that guitar has a strong acoustic tone even with my usual choice of Sadowsky or Thomastik nickel-wound strings and then I'll have a better idea which route to go down.

[Mick-7]

I thought bronze would be ok with piezos and the problem was bronze with magnetic pickups. I use monels with a js style pickup.

You may be right, could be just that the strings I tried were unappealing to me. It's hard to generalize, the percentage of bronze vs. steel in bronze strings varies.

[KirkP]

For bronze wound strings, I’d choose a pickup with adjustable pole pieces unless you find a pickup that is specifically designed for bronze (most aren’t). Otherwise there is a risk that the unwound strings will overpower the wound ones. That’s why I chose a DeArmond RC1100 (reissue) rather than the RC1000–I wanted to be able adjust for either material.

[Christian Miller]

My GAS was acting up again .... an acoustic archtop guitar is coming my way shortly and this time around I plan on setting it up with bronze strings (Bosset Soft Brass medium gauge) and figuring out a stage-worthy method
to properly amplify this. I want to use it in trad. swing band settings but also for gigs without percussion and no other harmony instrument. My question to you is this :
Besides using a mic in front of the guitar (or attached to the rim like a DPA or Neumann) is there a suitable floating pickup that will work with bronze strings and deliver a quasi-acoustic sound ? AFAIK most of the usual suspects among the floaters are optimized to work with nickel-wound strings since most players want the classic electric-archtop sound .... A bronze-wound string will not generate the same current in the pickup's magnetic window like a steel or nickel-wound string does but maybe there are models out there which are better suited ? Thanks for your input !

I use 80/20 bronzes with a Krivo Djangobucker. Works great. I’m certain he’ll build you something to your exact specifications.


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[MiniMerckx.22]

When you come to your senses, throw on a set of Martin Retro Monel strings and all will be forgotten.

[Christian Miller]

When you come to your senses, throw on a set of Martin Retro Monel strings and all will be forgotten.

Been there done that. Prefer 80/20s


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[Stringswinger]

Been there done that. Prefer 80/20s


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+1

On a purely acoustic archtop guitar, 80/20's give me the best sound. I have tried pure nickel, Phosphor Bronze, Monel and silk and steel, and none gives me the superb sound of the 80/20's.