Gretsch Deltoluxe sound hole pickup - Dearmond Reissue Rhythm Chief 1000?!

[Cri75!]

Hi to all,
I am a beginner and I do not have a guitar with a magnetic pickup.
I have two acoustic flat top that I would like to use for jazz playing; this is mainly for two reasons: 1.75 wide nut and 2 1/4 string spacing at the bridge.
So, I looked for a soundhole magnetic pickup. I started to check humbuckers but one of my two acoustic guitars has a small soundhole and the ones I found, do not fit.... casually I found the Gretsch Deltoluxe.
On the Gretsch pages I have found that it is a Dearmond reissue Rhythm Chief 1000.
I can have a pleasant "Jazzy dark tone" high on the neck, not so on the firsts frets; but I am at the beginning of my journey, so I think that I will keep it and work on my finger technique.


I start this thread to ask if you have some opinions or experiences with this pickup.
I would like to hear some opinion from someone more advanced in the guitar jazz journey than me.
Have a good day

[Doctor Jeff]

That looks interesting…seriously I’ve not heard of it before. Reviews on Amazon are generally good.

I have a Fishman in-hole pickup for my acoustic. It sounds pretty decent. (And is quite cheap.) As always, depends on the sound you’re going for, but I enjoy playing jazz on smaller flattops, and with the right setup it sounds pretty nice.

https://www.stewmac.com/electronics/...CABEgJUJ_D_BwE

I’d be surprised if it wouldn’t fit in the sound hole of your guitar, but who knows.

[citizenk74]

Hi to all,
I am a beginner and I do not have a guitar with a magnetic pickup.
I have two acoustic flat top that I would like to use for jazz playing; this is mainly for two reasons: 1.75 wide nut and 2 1/4 string spacing at the bridge.
So, I looked for a soundhole magnetic pickup. I started to check humbuckers but one of my two acoustic guitars has a small soundhole and the ones I found, do not fit.... casually I found the Gretsch Deltoluxe.
On the Gretsch pages I have found that it is a Dearmond reissue Rhythm Chief 1000.
I can have a pleasant "Jazzy dark tone" high on the neck, not so on the firsts frets; but I am at the beginning of my journey, so I think that I will keep it and work on my finger technique.


I start this thread to ask if you have some opinions or experiences with this pickup.
I would like to hear some opinion from someone more advanced in the guitar jazz journey than me.
Have a good day

[Cri75!]

Thanks :-)
Ok


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[Cri75!]

That looks interesting…seriously I’ve not heard of it before. Reviews on Amazon are generally good.

I have a Fishman in-hole pickup for my acoustic. It sounds pretty decent. (And is quite cheap.) As always, depends on the sound you’re going for, but I enjoy playing jazz on smaller flattops, and with the right setup it sounds pretty nice.

https://www.stewmac.com/electronics/...CABEgJUJ_D_BwE

I’d be surprised if it wouldn’t fit in the sound hole of your guitar, but who knows.

Hi, I checked your pickup before to find the Deltoluxe, but they say: “Fits in soundholes as small as 3-7/8" (98.5 mm) diameter” .
I have a Sigma 000 m18 that has 3 ~13/16 (~97 mm) of soundhole diameter. I have a Guild P-240 memoir that has ~3 9/16 (~91mm).

I need to improve my technique before to tell more about the tone, but for sure, looks pretty:





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[mr. beaumont]

Weak High E. Terrible pickup, imho.

Try the Lawrence soundhole pickup. Terrible acoustic sound, but very passable jazz tone.

[Thallishman]

Hi, I checked your pickup before to find the Deltoluxe, but they say: “Fits in soundholes as small as 3-7/8" (98.5 mm) diameter” .
I have a Sigma 000 m18 that has 3 ~13/16 (~97 mm) of soundhole diameter. I have a Guild P-240 memoir that has ~3 9/16 (~91mm).

How do you like this setup? Any chance you could do an sounddemo of this pickup for some jazz comping? I checked youtube, the pickup sounds nice and round. But only blues demos available online. I reckon it doesnt sound exactly like an rhythm chief 1000, but might be good enough or pleasantly different

[DawgBone]

How do you like this setup? Any chance you could do an sounddemo of this pickup for some jazz comping? I checked youtube, the pickup sounds nice and round. But only blues demos available online. I reckon it doesnt sound exactly like an rhythm chief 1000, but might be good enough or pleasantly different

My wife has a deltoluxe on a Martin D-18. It sounds real good IMO. Better than the best Fishman and L.R Baggs pickups she has had and she has had many. Prior to that the humbucking fishman was my favorite. It is also a very good pickup but more money and more headache to install. One feature I liked is you don't have to drill the guitar for the delta if you don't want to, it just clamps into the soundhole and the wire runs back to your strap area. I don't know what a Rhythm chief sounds like but I do think you could use the deltoluxe for jazz playing. It's reasonably clear and articulate. Like all acoustic pickups, it doesn't sound like an actual acoustic guitar but I found it as or more natural than the rest. It's affordable enough and definitely easy enough to install where if you decide it sucks you can just send it back unless you are trying to put it on an f-hole guitar. That might complicate things.

[pauln]

Weak High E. Terrible pickup, imho.

Try the Lawrence soundhole pickup. Terrible acoustic sound, but very passable jazz tone.

Just wanted to say, you sounded great!

[KirkP]

The Guild/DeArmond Tone Boss is a magnetic sound hole pickup. The adjustable pole pieces are a nice feature if you’re concerned about string-to-string balance. It’s not marketed as a reissue of earlier pickups, but I’ve tried one and it did sound good.

<DeArmond Tone Boss | Guild Guitars>

Edit: I actually have one, but it’s on an old Ovation guitar that needs some setup work so I haven’t used it much. I fooled around with it last night. I think it’s a stacked humbucking design. It looks and sounds like a single coil pickup. It sounds similar to a Stratocaster neck pickup—bright, but also with lots of bass. With no EQ to a PA it gives you a bright sound something like you’d expect from a condenser mic (to the extent a pure magnetic pickup can accomplish that). But like a Strat pickup, I think it can sound warm and “jazzy” through the right amp with judicious EQ adjustments.

It sounds good enough to convince me I should finish setting up the guitar. After changing to heavier strings, making truss rod & action adjustments, and dialing in the pole pieces I think I’ll have a use for it.

[RJVB]

Try the Lawrence soundhole pickup. Terrible acoustic sound, but very passable jazz tone.

You mean it destroys the acoustic voice of the guitar?

[mr. beaumont]

You mean it destroys the acoustic voice of the guitar?

No, just that it sounds nothing like an acoustic guitar (the sound from the pickup)

[RJVB]

No, just that it sounds nothing like an acoustic guitar (the sound from the pickup)

Well, doh...

[Thallishman]

The Guild/DeArmond Tone Boss is a magnetic sound hole pickup. The adjustable pole pieces are a nice feature if you’re concerned about string-to-string balance. It’s not marketed as a reissue of earlier pickups, but I’ve tried one and it did sound good.

<DeArmond Tone Boss | Guild Guitars>

Edit: I actually have one, but it’s on an old Ovation guitar that needs some setup work so I haven’t used it much. I fooled around with it last night. I think it’s a stacked humbucking design. It looks and sounds like a single coil pickup. It sounds similar to a Stratocaster neck pickup—bright, but also with lots of bass. With no EQ to a PA it gives you a bright sound something like you’d expect from a condenser mic (to the extent a pure magnetic pickup can accomplish that). But like a Strat pickup, I think it can sound warm and “jazzy” through the right amp with judicious EQ adjustments.

It sounds good enough to convince me I should finish setting up the guitar. After changing to heavier strings, making truss rod & action adjustments, and dialing in the pole pieces I think I’ll have a use for it.

From this example i think its pasiable as an jazz pickup aswell.

EDIT: jazz sounds bits start at 3:10 and 5:41.
though personally i would prefer the rounder gretsch deltoluxe sound. The toneboss sounds quite defined to my ears.

[KirkP]

From this example i think its pasiable as an jazz pickup aswell.

EDIT: jazz sounds bits start at 3:10 and 5:41.
though personally i would prefer the rounder gretsch deltoluxe sound. The toneboss sounds quite defined to my ears.

Yesterday I did a quick demo of the DeArmond Tone Boss on an old Ovation Baladeer 1111-4, bronze strings, and a Twin Reverb amp modeler. The pickup is a bright low-gain design, but with the treble rolled off I kind of like it. I’ll try a couple of duo sessions with it next week.

[Thallishman]

Great demo! very nice tone&playing