Pure Western Mini (glued onto a Martin bridgeplate)
The Pure Western is a transducer system only. It does not include a battery or on-board electronics. Don't be fooled by the sound of some competitors' "thin sounding" passive systems--the Pure Systems are definitely different. They sound full and rich and have sufficient output to drive most amps and PA systems directly!
The Pure Western is a passive system for steel string guitar, with three pickup heads and an endpin jack. It comes with a mounting jig which makes installation a breeze, detailed instructions and glue included.
Two Pure Western models are available:
- Pure Western Mini - We recommend the Pure Western Mini pickups for all acoustic guitars as a first choice. Direct installation with superglue is required for optimum performance but the system is still removable without damaging the guitar (you may damage the pickup though). It is almost as powerful (about 80%) as its bigger brother the Pure Western Standard. This pickup system will fit ANY steel string acoustic guitar! It features super balanced, flat sound transmission, warm woody tone without any quack and superior dynamic range all over the guitar's frequency spectrum. This pickup won the silver medal in the 2006 worldwide readers' poll of Acoustic Guitar Magazine. Even with the Pure Mini's slightly lower output compared to the Pure Western Standard, it is still louder than any other passive pickup on the market!
- Pure Western Standard - for removable installation - We recommend this pickup system with larger transducer heads if a removable installation is desired or for personal preference. It has a little more output than the Mini pickup, features extra strong bass response, pronounced midrange and it has a tad stronger high end. This is why we find it a great choice for 12 string guitars, too, with their heavier tops and bridges. With direct superglue installation, the Pure Western Standard has sufficient output to plug directly into a PA system. The removable installation provides about the same output level as the Pure Western Mini with direct superglue installation. Please check for the bridge plate size of your guitar before you order.
Click here for an original size diagram of the Pure Western Standard Size.
Pure Western Standard Size - with removable mounting option
Advantages of the Pure Western Systems: The special Pure surface transducers transmit a significant portion of the soundboard because they are not as close to the strings as an undersaddle pickup. An undersaddle pickup mostly amplifies the sound made by the guitar strings. There will not be much difference in sound if you play a cheap $ 50.00 guitar or a handcrafted $ 5,000.00 instrument. With the Pure Western pickups, not only are each of the three transducers designed to pick up a specific string pair, but they also "listen" to the sound of your soundboard. The transducer elements are not under pressure and therefore do NOT sound percussive or harsh or quacky no matter if you play hard or soft. The Pure Western reproduces all strings nicely balanced. Undersaddle pickups often have problems with string-to-string balance. The Pure Western sounds great just in passive mode! Unlike undersaddle pickups which passively often sound thin and trebled-only, the passive Pure Western puts out a nicely balanced, warm, full range signal.
How safe are the Pure Western Systems with feedback? Due to the location on the bridge plate under the bridge, feedback resistance is comparable to undersaddle transducers, though the under-the-saddle pickups still have the edge here. Technically, a pickup installed in or on the bridge plate is a lot less likely to feedback than one which is attached to the open sound board. The 1/8" (or less) thin sound board can act like a diaphragm and vibrate along with loud sound-signals from speaker cabinets. This is the kind of booming low end feedback you experience on an acoustic guitar. The thicker bridge area is a lot harder to be set into vibration from an outside source simply because of its mass. In our tests with both steel string and classic guitars equipped with an undersaddle pickup plus the Pure Western or Pure Classic, we were able to achieve almost the same gain-before-feedback with both systems, but of course an under-saddle pickup with their very "direct" and string driven tone cuts better through a loud mix.
Pure Western systems are now available with the "Vintage Jack." Fits any standard 1/4 inch endpin hole, no drilling, no soldering required. The standard Brass Vintage Jack will add $80 (not discountable) to the pickup price. Other exotic wood styles are available at extra cost, please CALL to special-order a Vintage Jack pickup system.
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Pure Western Mini Manual (1 MB)
Pure Western Standard Manual (170 KB)