1pkg Belcat SH-85 Soundhole Pickup with Active Power Jack for Acoustic Guitar

Everything I was looking for in a simple, functional, easy to install sound hole pickup. I like the way it has sloped ends and fits right up near the end of the fretboard and I like the screw type clamping system better than the spring loaded design that fit more in the center of the sound hole.I got it to add a little boost and sustain to my Martin mahogany acoustic. I arrived quickly, was really easy to install and use. I'm running it into a Marshall MG100DFX and it sounds very good. On clean channel w/ gain pegged, it sounds just right. It even sounds good on the OD channel, or when run through a Blues Driver or distortion pedal [turned down pretty low].I haven't found it to be any more noisy than any of the other single coil pickups in my strats/tele. Any of them will produce some hum with any sort of gain. Whenever you amplify an acoustic instrument you need be aware of the tendency towards feedback ... it's a large wooden sound box that picks up external sounds and will channel that right back into the pickup. One important thing to do to reduce this is STAY BEHIND your amp. When you're positioned in front of the amp, especially close to the front = recipe for feedback.It arrived with what I believe are their best guess pole height settings: B string on the deck ... bottom E & A strings only slightly off the deck. I raised the poles for those two and depressed the high E string just a tad. I wanted full response from the bass strings since I'm running phosphor bronze strings. The two treble strings are all steel, so they respond well even with a little distance from their poles.[5/8/2017]: Note: lowering the pole pieces is pretty easy. Raising them can be quite a challenge as you typically won't have much to grab onto. In fact, if a particular pole is flush with the top, it's nearly impossible [without opening the case]. Still digging this add-on PUP ... it's more or less found a permanent home on my OOO-15M [though it can be swapped out if needed].I measured the DC resistance on this pickup and got: 3.58K. This is not the hottest pickup you'll ever find, but it performs very well for its intended purpose. And at this price point, they're practically giving it away. I did open the back and took a peek in & it's filled a little more than halfway with potting wax. Nice.Summary: A very, functional, easy to install & use sound hole pickup at the very competitive price. Recommended buy. [I may get another, just to have on hand].

First the bad: some of the representations in the listing are not completely accurate, although these are minor. The unit is not shipped from USA, but from China. Mine arrived in 11 calendar days, not 2 to 5 business days. That's still not too bad, particularly for free shipping, but it's just not what they said. The unit is not "100%" as the photos shown. The photo of the pickup installed on a guitar does not show the cord, which has to drape over the top of the instrument, but that's what I expected. I run mine up the bass side, where it's closest to the attachment point on the pickup itself, then around the back to the strap button. Two pieces of non-marking tape (not included) hold it down to the back of the guitar without noticeable change in resonance. The button connection is less than secure, but would be just fine when held down by an actual strap or a strap lock. Hint: use a rubber washer from a swing-top beer bottle. Fits perfectly.The bass and mid-range responses are not "excellent." But they are pretty good. The amplified tone is not as "soft" as a pure acoustic, but then I didn't expect it to be. There is some hum as the amplifier volume goes up. As some reviewers have noted, the unit's volume is not very loud, and dialing up the amplifier causes some distortion, particularly on the bass strings. Again, these were not really surprises, but they're also not exactly as represented.Positives: the unit installs in minutes without modification to the guitar. Although awkward, it does install without removing the strings. It freely moves between instruments, another big plus for me. For what it's worth, the unit comes with a cute little plastic box that will just fit in the accessory compartment of most hard cases.Many thanks to "rolavine" for the great tip about adjusting the individual posts. One of mine was seated all the way down, so I had to use a thin knife to gently coax it up enough to grab with pliers. But do be gentle with the adjustments.Overall, the unit sounds pretty good, particularly on my old 12-string. Given the price, this is a great alternative to buying a new wired acoustic instrument (or several). I intend to use mine at church, where all I really need is a little amplified boost over the normal acoustic sound and the voice microphones. For under $25, you can hardly go wrong. When the price dropped to $15, I bought a second one.

I was looking for an inexpensive pickup for an older acoustic. My only requirements were that it installed easily, didn't have much feedback, and did not have it's own 1/4" cable (I didn't want to have an issue with cable length). After checking on YouTube, I gave the Belcat a shot. I am very pleased that I did. Playing through different amps, I found no feedback whatsoever. There is a slight decrease I volume with the acoustic strings, but because I was going to use it exclusively for amplified performances, changing to electric strings still gave me the true acoustic sound, but with more volume. The only gripe I have is that even with trying several cables, the input jack fit very tight. Not that it is a big issue, but while on stage I need to do a balancing act with the guitar to plug in and unplug. I really want to eliminate the input jack and run the pickup wire inside the guitar to a installed 1/4" jack, but the input jack it comes with has the statement "active". I read that there is no battery anywhere, so for the cost, I can afford to try the change. All in all, I recommend this pickup to anyone with the same pickup needs I had.