Guitar Pickup Guitto - Guitar Soundhole Double Pickup for Classic Acoustic Guitar GGP-01

Works great, still on original battery after extensive use. Now installing my second GGP-01. Negative reviews generally based on incorrect assumptions. OK, it is a bit misleading when the ad says "no need to drill holes" they mean no need to expand the size of the soundhole, as you often must do with the regular S.H.P.'s which span the diameter. This one just clips in on the side. My Fischman required annoying resizing of the soundhole and has no provision for running the cable through a hole at the bottom of the guitar body. Now you can certainly loop the connecting wire through the sound hole if you absolutely don't want to drill into your guitar but the basic design is predicated on the presumption that you will drill as follows: (1) take out the end pin on the bottom of the guitar where you loop your guitar strap; resize it to accept the pickup output jack (female jack). That is a bit of a pain, I used increasingly larger drill bits Ideally you would finish with a round file. Be careful not to drill too large of a hole or splinter or crack the wood. It is not difficult if you take your time and use your head. (2) You also should drill a tiny hole (2.5 mm afaik) on the bridge and then you put the "piezo pickup", which looks like a wire (OK, it IS a wire) underneath the saddle (the little bone or fake bone plastic deal that your strings run over). String tension or ideally the grip of the bridge on your saddle then hold the "piezonpickup" in place; the male jack on the end plugs into the clip on main portion of the pickup. Now it is also possible to skip this step (2) entirely and if your run the wiring out of the soundhole you can test the "microphone" part of this pickup without drilling. Then you can decide whether or not to drill your guitar. Now I will not drill my vintage Ibanez lawsuit Concord acoustic, but I have no problem drilling out most of my Asian production line acoustic guitars. This MAY work on some larger ukeles if and only if the arc of the buckle can be fitted. Maybe bass or baritones but don't take my speculation for it...if you make a ukelele out of a small parlor guitar maybe that would work. I have not tried this on parlor or concert size guitars but probably would work. I have it installed on the next size larger guitars and presumably the buckle will clip onto a wide range of sound hole sizes. I suppose it would be possible to tweak the curvature of a sound hole on a smaller guitar or ukelele but any such experiment would be at your own risk. The sound is surprisingly good generally as used on my Roland STREET and similar battery powered guitars.I have another pickup of different make and design which has little cylindrical metallic microphones plugged into the main body of the pickup, which uses the diameter-spanning style, but I prefer the Giotto because you don't have to worry about the little microphones getting lost - this is mainly a guitar microphone with a bonus piezo - which is ideal for nylon string guitars which don't work with magnetic pickups such as you probably have on your acoustic electric steel strings. Nothing will approximate a studio-quality instrument mike up close in a proper acoustic environment. .But this Giotto does not pick up a lot of background noise at all and feedback, while occasionally an issue, is quite managable. The main drawback to this item is that if you are a klutz or have a very nice vintage guitar you might mess up, installation is not entirely idiot-proof But if you are handy with drill, files and screwdrivers, or are willing to pay a moderately competent shop to install, this pickup is pretty decent for the price point. I am a third generation musician jack of all trades master of none no warranty or guarantee that my views can be relied upon please consult your luthier and weigh all of the published reviews. There are good Youtube videos helping with installation please check them out and proceed carefully with your installation.

Just as easy to install as stated. Looks great and professional. The sound is pretty good but for some reason when play gets hard with speed seems sound gets a little muffled. The price was right and possible most people would be happy or not notice. Boyd Stubbe, Malaga Guitar, in home sales and repair, retired.

This is a winner winner chciken dinner. I test these inexpensive pickups using REW to measure the frequency response comparing them to a calibrated microphone. If it matches the microphone pickup, that's a good thing. This one does that. To get that reporduction I had to turn the microphone all the way off (it's not really off, it's just the lowest it can go). I turne the tone all the way off and I have the volume at just 25%. That setting works like the bees knees. Since these stting are low, you will need to increase the gain on your amp or peramp. That's no big deal, it's a setting. The result is elctrically amplified acoustic guitar sound without the quack if you know what I mean. Even $200-$400 units by big named brands cannot do that. I have this on a Martin. One little note: if you are live gigging, you will have to cover the sound hole up with a D'Addario Accessories Screeching Halt Acoustic Guitar Soundhole Cover. That microphone at its lowest setting picke up everything. Give her a shot.

Just got this two days ago. When I received it, the preamp and accompanying parts were all loose in the box, including the two batteries(should have been 4). I thought maybe it was a return, but since nothing appeared broken, I went ahead and installed it. It sounds great! I may but another, but I hope the packaging is better next time. Installation is easy, as long as you have a drill.

I'm astounded by the quality sound and construction of this guitar pickup unit. This pickup made an old Ovation Celebrity sound good enough to go directly into my recording interface. If it can make that guitar sound good, imagine what it can do for yours. A word of warning: BEFORE purchasing ANY sound hole pickup; FIRST;measure the size of your guitar's sound hole and compare that to the size of the pickup to make sure it will fit. Second; reach inside the guitar's sound hole and check to see if there is internal bracing around the sound hole that would obstruct the pickup's mounting clip. If so; you'll have to decide if the obstructing brace can be modified to permit the clip attachment (or else choose a different style pickup). Lastly; this pickup includes an under-the-saddle piezo pickup that requires a hole in the bridge in order for its wire to connect to the sound hole unit. If your guitar is not already configured for an under-the-saddle pickup, know that you must have that hole through the bridge, and that placing that under-the-saddle piezo will raise your string height. (If there is a shim already installed under the guitar's saddle, just remove it and use the piezo in its place). Those modification issues do not make this pickup system a "bad pickup"; they are just the kind of things a person encounters making any "mods" to a guitar. Know your guitar BEFORE you modify it!

The sound is a huge step up from my previous SA-1 sound hole pick up. It sound much more real and really makes the picked up sound acoustic (as opposed to an electric). You have to drill a couple of holes if you wan the full integration but it is well worth the effort. The quality of the unit is good. Just hope it'll last. Note, if you intend to use the output jack as strap holder, you'll likely need to enlarge the strap hole a little so it doesn't pop off. A good purchase in my books.

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