DeArmond Tone Boss Soundhole Pickup (009-9208-049)

I don't normally write preview, but this little gem deserves one! I put this in an old Ibanez "lawsuit" guitar, (looks like a Martin "00" ) My first guitar, paid $25 for it back in the 70's! I drilled out the end piece hole with regular steel drill bits, the tapered kind, then finished it with the correct size. (12mm) for the jack. I recommend trying the drilling on a similar peice if wood, and mine being a laminated (plywood) top, it didn't splinter whereas thinner solid wood may just do that. If you need to, maybe real a smaller hole then carefully file it bigger, At any rate, GO SLOW! Easy to go from there and install it, comes with good tools, a gauge for positioning depth, screwdriver, and cable tie downs for the inside wire from the endpin jack to the pickup.I played it through my Peavy XR 8600 PA head and speaker, My 40 watt Traynor Tube guitar amp, and my Berringer 150 watt powered monitor speaker. Its an older laminated guitar, not bad sound, but the sound that this pickup makes is smooth, clear, no hum or buzz, and great tone! I was surprised! I used X-vive U2 wireless guitar system, which isnt exactly top of the line, but very good all the same! The guitar cable and remote jack pin doesn't go in all the way up against the guitar strap nut, but it does "lock" in and stays there. Again, great sound and tone, crisp and balanced! I didn't bother to adjust the poles at all because the balance was good. Very nice pickup!

I needed to update my 20+ year old acoustic so I could play with a PA system. This little guy sounds good. I like that it can adjust the individual string volume. The one issue is that it is difficult to put on and remove if you don't want to permanently mount it.

After installing the pickup, I played a bit on my newly amplified 1993 Johnson guitar. My wife told me that she liked the sound better than my name-brand electric guitar; I have to agree with her. I plugged it directly into my electric guitar amp without having to use an interface. It only picks up the sound from the metal strings, but not the annoying body sounds as a mic would.. Outstanding volume, and I didn’t detect any humming or other electrical interference. Right out of the box, the sound quality is excellent, especially in the high and mid tones. The pickup is a simple, well-made, precision device that should last the lifetime of the guitar.I did the end pin installation using six progressively-larger twist drill bits. The final 15/32” drill allowed the end pin recepticle to nest snuggly in its hole.The smaller-than-recommend diameter of my guitar’s sound hole prevented the pickup from being easily inserted. However, it did fit, with sufficient clearance, after removing the bottom piece of one of the end clamps. Using 3M double-stick tape I firmly attached the piece, cork pad face-up. to the inside of the L-shaped end pin hole measuring tool, which is provided with the pickup. Using the vertical leg of the “L” as a handle, I maneuvered the bottom piece beneath the the exposed screw of the clamp and gently pulled up. While continuously turning the screw, I managed to catch the threads of the of the bottom piece, thus securing the pickup to the guitar. It’s a good project for DIYers and budding luthiers.Additional info: I adjusted the length of the output jack/end pin assembly four times before I got it exactly right. Now, the output jack firmly holds the 1/4” plug. The smooth chrome barrel of the jack screws in or out on the external threads for a precise fit. If it’s just 1/32” too short, the plug won’t lock in. If it’s 1/32” too long, the outside nut can’t be tightened enough to prevent the assembly from turning. (The photos were taken when the end pin threads were a bit short, which prevented the plug from locking in.)

This pickup is excellent. It sounds warm and is very versatile considering you can plug it directly into just about any type of amp. It comes with an allen wrench to adjust the pole pieces, a small screwdriver, some stickers for the pickup to make it look nice, and some odds and ends to help with a nice, clean installation.The only problem with it is in some of the design choices. The way the input jack connects to the pickup is on the top (headstock) side of the pickup. Considering you will probably need to be placing this pickup near the top of the soundhole of your guitar, this may present a problem. It did for me. The interior bracing of my guitar prevented me from installing the pickup without some type of modification, either to the interior of the guitar or the pickup itself. (Note: You could install the pickup closer to the BOTTOM of the soundhole, but then you can't get at the pickup's volume control, which is at the BOTTOM of the pickup!). This could have been avoided completely by providing a right-angle connection between the pickup and the input jack. That's exactly what I did because I didn't want to go drilling into my guitar's innards. With the right-angle connection everything fits perfectly.

Easy installation since all the tools were included except the 12mm drill bit if you don’t already have a endpin jack hole of that size. Simple instructions. The quality was better than I expected and as good as some higher priced soundhole pickups I’ve used. Fits my 3.75in soundhole wonderfully. I have a LR Baggs m80 in a different guitar and that doesn’t fit anything under 4” which led me to this choice. I’m not disappointed at all.

Installed in an Orangewood Oliver which came with a cheap Fishman pickup system. The threaded plug jack that goes through and out the strap peg hole is about 1/8" too short so the 1/4" jack only goes in about 95%. I need to uninstall it and ream a larger hole from inside the soundbox or get a longer threaded plug and solder it to the pickups. I'm curious to hear if the vendor has seen this problem and maybe can suggest a better solution. Other than that, great sound for the money.