M1A and 12 string

[John Dunigan]

Hi there,

How well does the M1A work with 12 strings?

I have a sunrise and am considering the M!A and trying to figure out which will work better in the 6 and which the 12.

Thanks!

John

[Bryan McManus]

Great question!

With a standard 6-string acoustic guitar, the portion of steel string inside the winding of the wound strings is actually thinner than the high-E string. That's why, with pickups like the M1 and M1Active, the four pole pieces in the low-E through G positions are longer and stick out from the top of the pickup cover. The B string is the thickest and has the strongest effect on the magnetic field, so its pole piece is shortest. The high E is in between.

That being said, with a 12-string guitar the unwound octave strings can have a greater impact on the magnetic field and be sensed more strongly by the pickup. It can mean a brighter, more jangly and chorused sound and a bit less of the fundamental note from the wound string. The lower the pole pieces are set relative to the strings, the less noticeable that phenomenon should be but you may not be able to escape it unless you blend the M1 and another pickup together, either an under-saddle or contact transducer.