DeArmond Tone Boss Pickup

I was looking for a reliable and simple solution to amplify my Guild acoustic for playing old time blues and roots music. The sound I wanted was that gritty tone you hear in early Lightnin Hopkins or Jimmy Reed records.
I play this guitar through a small pedal board and into my HK Era acoustic amp, or sometimes through a Quilter Soundblock US, straight into a PA feed.
…… This is a low output pickup which suited my needs for acoustic work with minimal feedback. It is not going to capture the pure acoustic tones that some may want, but it offers many advantages over piezo or microphone systems, and got very close to the sounds that I wanted
Installing was super easy….no need for a tech guy. I actually cut off the wire from the strap button type input, and simply soldered the bare wires to a standard input socket to the side of my guitar.
For the money, this is a very useful product. It may not suit the purist audiophiles chasing acoustic tone, but for my sort of music, it’s a great , simple and maintenance free solution. Well worth considering.

A good pick up overall.
Pros :
- Great build quality, it feels solid and well build. Even the box inspires trust
- Tools in the box
- Nice touch to be able to adjust each poles,
- Nice touch to have different stickers to match your guitar style

Cons:
-Stickers : be careful - if not in the correct position, well... too late. That sticker is gone. You can't hope to peel it back and adjust it correctly. It happened to me, slightly off centre ...I couldn't peel it back.
- Woodworking required. Drilling a hole for the jack pin
but also the mini jack has a straight plug. It's a small jack but once the pickup is in the soundhole, the mini jack presses against the neck wood inside! I meticulously filed/carved a little channel in the wood inside (invisible, I haven't damaged the guitar) so the jack plug sits straight and doesn't bend, and doesn't presses too much on the wood inside. But honestly, no one should have to do this. An angled mini jack would solve this pickle, a pretty simple fix in my opinion.
If you are not handy with drilling or working with wood, ask someone but that could be a deterrent, beyond the hardware itself (which is good by the way), installation could turn into a bad experience if not aware of the potential woodwork.

Overall, in terms of sound and quality, it's a good magnetic pickup, with a bit of a "twangy" sound. Good for blues or country, a bit too thin for my strumming but I kept it anyway, I even installed it permanently in a Yamaha, so I have that backup guitar and it's nice.
But be aware of some potential wood working and if you are not sure either ask someone or don't get that one.

I have tried many different magnetic pickups for acoustic guitars. I much prefer passive pu's, no hassle with batteries, less that can go wrong in a live situation. I have settled on a different (but similar) humbucker pickup on all my other guitars, and was looking for something cheaper for a cheaper, take anywhere guitar so I got this one. I am very pleasantly surprised by it. It sounds brighter and definitely more electric than the one I am usually playing with, but that is no bad thing.
It really has given this, lately neglected, guitar a new lease of life, I play it now daily again and it is great fun through an acoustic amp.
As I said, the sound is more electric, so great for slide, stumming and soloing, for finger-picking it could maybe feel a bit too electric, but for the right song, it sounds fab.
Also, it does have the adjustable pole-pieces (an absolute must on any pickup for me as I play with different string types and gages) and can be adjusted to sound very even across all strings.
The only slight peculiarity is the plug, which is on the opposite side to the plugs on all other pickups (the neck-side of the guitar once mounted) and it is a 2.5mm plug, also different to all the others. AND it is a straight, not angled plug, so check out whether it fits into your guitar and there isn't a brace in the way. If so, you may have to solder an angled plug.
Other than that, highly recommended, particulary for the price!