To plug or not to plug

For anyone recording at home or even in the studio and for those of us who favor weirder or totally acoustic instruments, this is the device that can save lots of time either in performance or recording. Just stick on and go. The rosin will leave a trace behind on darker colored instruments, which can be removed with guitar polish. And, in live performance, you'll have to stay close to your amp to monitor volume. But this little do-dad does the trick!

Fantastic inexpensive little pick up

Want to amplify you nylon string guitar? Or your non electric acoustic guitar.This passive pick up does what it is supposed to do and well. You can use this with or without a preamp . I recommend using one (better impedience match) I recommend the Fishman Pro EQ II. I use this and go from there into a Fender 212R awsome sound. Take it one step further and tie in your chain a Fishman Aura 16 and you will take any guitar a mediocre or even cheap guitar and make it sound like well take your pick with the Aura 16. But back to the pick up. Just find the sweet spot use a little putty and your playing, Amplified and nicely. Another pre amp choice and less pricey is the Presonus Tube Pre. If you have a series of stomp boxes this work well too. I have used this in many configurations and it hasn't let me down. Last and certainly not least if you are using a mic to amplify your guitar cool now use this as a supplement and now your mic doesn't have to be so hot. Less feed back issues, less unwanted stage noise etc. I am currently using this on an older Yamaha nylon string guitar and it picks up the full spectrum of sound. Not to boomy and not to brilliant just right. Best $39 I have spent musically...

This Is A Great Value!

The Artist XM transducer Works like a champ. I needed something quick for my F-Style Mandolin as we were rolling a mandolin sound into the worship team for a Christmas Eve service. I ordered on a Friday and had the transducer the following Monday ... with standard shipping! The sound through our church's house system was great. The mounting adhesive allowed me to quickly find my mandolin's 'sweet spot' and the standard female 1/4" jack housing that attaches to the strap button stays in place. This is a great value!

A simple, inexpensive solution for a variety of instruments

I've just used it once so far, on a concert-scale uke. It attached firmly with just a small portion of the included adhesive; after the concert, it detached easily enough. It left a bit of residue that required some patience to remove -- but nothing lasting or problematic.

As for the sound, I had only a few minutes for soundcheck and only used this pickup for one tune, but the recordings made from the house all sound pretty darned good for a $40 accessory. For this amount of money, and for something that fits easily in your instrument bag, you can't go wrong.

Not Too Bad In Right Application

The sound of this pickup is as good as most basic acoustic guitars (<$600), and at around 50 bucks it's great - that's why I rated it so high. A quick solution in a pinch, long term you should spring for an internal device. If you expect it to sound like a mic'd guitar you'll be very disappointed (seems like the best combine the two).

I actually bought it for live work on a cello. I mic the cello but I often can't get enough into the mix due to stage noise/volume - so I use both. The pickup gives the player the pitch cues she needs (monitor w/o feedback) and gives me the presence I need to get the cello to fit into the louder sections. It's terrible by itself - period, just use a pinch. (I use an active Radial DB to get it to the console)

Great sounding pickup...

This little pickup has a great sound once you find your acoustic instrument's sweet spot. I use the Artist XM together with two Behringer C2s overhead for recording a Dusty Strings D550 hammered dulcimer. The transducer's best position for me was about two inches below the sound hole (you have to slide the pickup under the strings which is almost impossible when the putty adhesive is new and tacky, and then press it down with the eraser end of a pencil between the strings.)

The Artist XM transducer is passive, so plugging directly into your mixer may not produce good results, depending on the quality of your mixer's mic pres, which you'll have to crank up high. Plugging into a tube preamp, however, gives the Artist XM both the boost it needs, plus very natural warmth!