DESCRIPTION:
In today's video we review two of the best acoustic guitar pickups, the Seymour Duncan SA3SC Woody SC acoustic guitar pickup and the AXL Transducer. Both products have one thing in common: they are cheap, or I should rather say inexpensive I guess, and they are or remarkable quality considering the price-tag. Also, I thoroughly tested these two acoustic pickups and I'm still surprised by how much bang I got for the buck.

Let's start with the Woody SC. I am ashamed and embarrassed, but it's a funny story. I was actually looking for an acoustic pickup for my Yamaha C40 Classical guitar. I did some research but I was totally uneducated and while the product description clearly stated that the Woody is made exclusively for guitars with steel strings, I somehow overlooked this important piece of information. Based on a number of different and independent acoustic guitar pickup reviews, I went ahead and ordered my Woody SC. However, my plan didn't really work out, for two reasons: first of all, the Woody didn't work on my Yamaha guitar, because this model obviously has nylon strings. Secondly, the product didn't even fit the soundhole. So, at this point I didn't even know that the Woody won't work with nylon strings and therefore I was only focused on the issue regarding the size -- so I cut off a little piece in the back of the accessory to make it fit on the Yamaha. Only after that, I realized that this particular pickup for acoustic guitar won't work at all on my classical instrument. Well, after that rather sobering episode I tried the Woody on my Takamine EG100, which is a Western Guitar. Thankfully, despite my manual modifications the Woody still fit perfectly on the Takamine and I was really positively surprised by the sound quality. Actually, this model is an acoustic guitar with pickup built-in, so theoretically, I wouldn't need an external one. However, the fact of the matter is, the Woody sounds better than the integrated pickup, which is quite remarkable. The lessons learned here: be aware of the different acoustic guitar pickup types. Some work on all types of guitars, others don't. Of course, in hindsight I realize what an idiot I was, but okay, you learn from your mistakes (well, hopefully). The Woody comes with a 14 foot long cable and is available for just under $40.

Now, let's talk a little bit about candidate number 2, the AXL Transducer. This could possibly be the best acoustic pickup out there. Why? Because of the ridiculously low price. For a sale price of $14, this little thing is absolutely phenomenal. By the way, did you notice I referred to the AXL as an "acoustic pickup", not "acoustic guitar pickup". There is a reason for that, because you can actually put the AXL Transducer on pretty much anything that produces a sound. Now, I will say this: if you are planning on gigging Carnegie Hall, you might want to look into more of a sophisticated acoustic guitar pickup system. However, for something that is so cheap, it's really a no brainer. The AXL is installed within a few seconds and as far as my purposes are concerned, I am more than satisfied with the quality. I know that people are complaining about the suction cup not sticking -- I absolutely have no issues with that at all. Just moisten it a little bit and then give it a firm push. If anything, I'm sometimes a little afraid that this transducer acoustic guitar microphone pickup works a little bit too well as far as the suction cup is concerned -- at times I feel it's glued to the guitar.

Okay in sum: either one of the devices is the best acoustic guitar pickup in its on category. So if you are looking for low-price but decent quality pickups for acoustic guitars, I strongly encourage you to but these two devices on your list.

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