Pickup the World • Shoreline Music

Guitarists
Muriel Anderson
Pierre Bensusan
Howard Emerson
Jaquie Gipson
Dougie MacLean
Franco Morone
The Waybacks

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In the fall of 2001, a customer of ours suggested we give a call to Dave Enke, inventor and builder of Pickup the World pickups. I installed one in a guitar, and immediately knew that these were something special. Shoreline quickly became PUTW's #1 dealer, and we've been big fans ever since. There's one simple reason to love these pickups: There are few, if any, transducers or pickups that can reproduce the acoustic tone of a broad range of instruments as accurately as Pickup the World. We use them in our guitars and pianos, and our customers use them on banjos, harps, hammered dulcimers, mandolins, bouzoukis, didgeridoos, and more.

Given the awesome sound produced by this technology, it's surprisingly simple to install. For the standard pickup, you just adhere it to the underside of your guitar's top, and secure the endpin. It's important to remember with any of these pickups, though, that they require a good preamp. But this should be easy to do, since PUTW makes some killer preamps, and these pickups are also fully compatible with many other onboard preamp and blender systems.

Pickup the World Pickups:


Banjos, Mandos Ukuleles, Resonators	Pianos, Harps, Dulcimers, Autoharps, Drums, Basses, Didjeridoos	Archtops	Guitars, Mandos, Dulcimers, Fiddles, Bouzoukis, Ouds, Resonators, Violins, Cellos

Guitar (#27) - Before I started playing Renaissance guitars onstage, this was the pickup that went in all my acoustic guitars, and it's second only to the #54 as the pickup our customers request most often when we're installing pickups for them. It is accurate, acoustic, and airy. Paired with the right preamp, this pickup is about as good as it gets. You can hear MP3s of the guitar pickup in action on our MP3 page.

Stealth - You don't have to look around the internet very far to find rave reviews of this pickup. The Stealth undersaddle takes the same polymer film used in PUTW's contact pickups, and wraps it into a solid core that is thin like ribbon-style undersaddles, but without the sponginess found in many such pickups. It is typically wired straight to the jack for use with an external preamp like the Power Plug.

Dual Source Systems - PUTW has been wiring two-pickup systems ever since they built their first pickups, but these systems have recently found their way into the guitars of some pro players, thus rekindling interest in what have long been some of their best pickups. The #54 pairs two Guitar Pickup elements (each called a #27, you can do the math to figure out the rest) wired to one jack. Most folks order this wired mono (less headache), although a stereo configuration is also possible. The other big dual-source setup is the Dynamic Duo, which pairs the Stealth undersaddle pickup with the same #27 pickup, typically wired mono. The Dynamic Duo adds the kick from the undersaddle pickup to the air of the soundboard pickup for a great amplified tone.

Banjo/Mando/Fiddle - There's a reason Deering Banjo uses PUTW for their factory-installed electronics. It's the same reason bands like The Waybacks use PUTW pickups on their mandolins and guitars: These pickups just sound great. The pickups for these three instrument families come in kits, with mounting hardware specific to your instrument. Mandolins and violins get Carpenter jacks, and banjos get mounting kits depending on which style of banjo you play.

Piano (#30) - Like the guitar pickups but with a larger profile, this pickup is surprising in its ability to make an amplified piano come to life. The Chicago Philharmonic amplifies its pianos with these pickups for just this reason. I recently installed one on a baby grand, and compared to the clear tone of this pickup, the condenser mics we had been using sounded like they were buried under pillows. This pickup ships in a stereo configuration that puts one pickup at the treble end of the soundboard and one at the bass end, all mixed through an included Stereo Line Driver.

Preamps - PUTW's film pickups require some sort of preamp, and their own preamps come highly recommended (they're among the cleanest and hottest you can get for under $200). They don't have any EQ or other tone controls--just volume and gain--but who needs EQ when their pickups are this transparent? Each of the pictured preamps is roughly 3" x 2" x 2".


Line Driver	Stereo Line Driver	Power Plug	Power Blender

Power Plug

Power Blender - This is identical to the Power Plug, but with discrete stereo preamps and a switch that lets you choose between true stereo or blended mono out. It's perfect for dual-sourcing just about any pickups you use (except those requiring phantom power). Frankly, after playing with one of these versatile little preamps, you may find yourself wondering why you ever considered cutting a hole in the side of your guitar for a dual-source setup.

Line Driver - This uses the same preamp as the Power Plug and Stealth, but foregoes the male endpin jack plug, so you can mount it on a guitar strap, beltclip, or other convenient location. In our piano setup, we drive PUTW piano pickups with a Line Driver mounted to one of the underside braces.

Stereo Line Driver - Identical to the Line Driver, with one TRS stereo in, discrete preamps, and two separate mono outs.

Standard Pickups

Description

Price*

Guitar / #27

Soundboard pickup with jack

$100.00

Mandolin

Soundboard pickup with carpenter jack mounting kit

$115.00

Mandolin Family

Soundboard pickup with carpenter jack mounting kit

$130.00

Banjo

Head pickup with mounting kit

$105.00

Dulcimer

Soundboard pickup with jack

$100.00

Stereo Piano Kit

Two piano pickups in stereo configuration with Stereo Line Driver (included)

Stealth

Standalone Stealth undersaddle wired directly to endpin jack (no preamp)

$100.00

Dual-Source Pickups

Description

Price*

#54

Pairs two #27 guitar pickups. Mono recommended.

$150.00

Dynamic Duo

Pairs Stealth undersaddle and #27 pickups

Preamps (recommended)

Description

Price*

Power Plug

Small outboard/onboard preamp

Power Blender

Stereo Power Plug with blended mono output

Line Driver

Power Plug in a beltclip version

Stereo Line Driver

Line Driver with discrete channel preamps, separate mono outs

*All PUTW prices include free shipping anywhere in the US. CO residents add 2.9% sales tax (7.4% in La Plata county). Please see our Shipping page for additional shipping information.