Gear Review – The Seymour Duncan Mag Mic system for acoustic guitar
For Pierre Journel
Published on 2017-06-16
The Mag Mic system from Seymour Duncan is a solution that is seen more and more often in the instruments of pro musicians. So recently Adam Miller came to the Backstage showroom for a Guitar in Hand interview with his guitar made by the luthier Jeff Traugott which is equipped with this system, same for Shai Sebbag who has mounted a Mag Mic on his Taylor in addition to the native system. In short, the Guitar Channel had to investigate this product in greater depth.
As its name suggests the system offers both a humbucker that will pick up the vibrations of the strings as does a standard electric guitar pickup and a microphone that picks up the sound of the guitar's body. A potentiometer allows you to dose from 0 to 100% the amount of microphone you want to add to the humbucker signal. A second knob adjusts the overall volume.
View from the top of the microphone, you can see the two knobs for control:
View from the bottom of the microphone, you can see the microphone capsule on the left side of the case (next to the MK1 label). The 12v indication marks the place where it is possible to mount legs to install an N type 12v battery:
View on the side of the microphone, on the left the wheel for the general volume, on the right the wheel for dosing the microphone:
The complete system:
Review setup
After a temporary installation done in a few seconds of the Mag Mic in the sound hole of my Martin 000 15-SM, I plugged the jack into the Apollo Twin Universal Audio interface to record the audio. For a more permanent installation it is necessary to stick a piece of Velcro (provided) in the guitar to attach the box of the battery 9v.
Video review
Audio podcast version of the review:
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What I enjoyed the most
- Great sound quality
- Sound of the humbucker
- Very fast to install temporary for a quick recording
- Possible to install permanently or semi-permanently
What I enjoyed the least
- As it is an active system, you need a battery
Conclusion
Those who have tried to capture the sound of an acoustic guitar know that it is a very difficult art to master, that is why the Mag Mic brings a very attractive solution since it proposes in a very compact package to have two sources: one via the humbucker and the other via the microphone.
The result is excellent! The humbucker alone transcribes the sound of the acoustic guitar very well. We do not have the impression to play on an electric, we arrive rather to a sound archtop kind of sounf which is really beautiful. When the integrated microphone is gradually added, then the brightness and the depth coming from the acoustic part are added.
The advantage of such a system is that if you are going to play on stage or in rehearsal at high volume, the magnetic microphone will bring you a very convincing sound without any problem of feedback.
Congratulations to Seymour Duncan who offers with this Mag Mic a very successful solution for about US$ 200 .
Until the next gear review, keep playing the guitar!
Pierre.
