Amumu SP60 passive soundhole PU review

[Mark Evans]

Just a quick review for those acoustic lap steel players (I play a baritone and reg scale weissenborn-style).

One of my two Seymour Duncan mag-mic pickups mounting tabs degraded and broke … so I went on the hunt for a new pickup. The Amumu SP60 was a new item I hadn’t heard of. My interest was piqued as it was less than a third the cost… Reviews were generally positive.. I took a flyer on it.

Features: basic black, Easy to mount, a volume control, adjustable pole pieces, passive (no battery to fuss with). It sounds really good! Easy to sculpt the sound using EQ knobs on my Fishman loud box. Good sensitivity. On another forum a user observed that it bears a likeness to the Dearmond Tone Boss (which they own and like). I’m a happy camper!

I am going to mount my remaining SD mag mic into my other Weiss in the next few days to get a real tonal comparison (tho it’s a little apples and oranges).
For now… I’m having some rockin’ fun with my Pogreba and Rocky Mountain stone slide bars.

[Mark Evans]

Ok’ this is pretty casual as comparing tone is always subjective…

Amumu (passive magnetic soundhole in standard scale Lazy River Weiss (mahogany)
VS.
SD Mag-Mic (active)in Pogreba bari Weiss (mahogany).

I’m actually liking the Amumu a tad more -probably due to the passive element - I can dig into the strings a bit more, warmer, more fat. Most likely a personal style thing. The SD is much more sensitive - especially with the mic added - which can result in TOO much extraneous clicking noises (in my aging ears)… likely a function of my more rustic playing style.

Funny how these things are, dabbling in ‘really good stuff.’ Years ago, when I had some extra do-re-mi ($$), I tried out a few pricey boutique guitars (Goodall, Petros, a truly vintage Knutsen weissenborn-style). In the end, my ears preferred less expensive, perhaps more raw/rustic sounding boxes. A $5000 guitar did not make me a better player. To this day I regret selling a Harmony H-165 (purchased for $35); best funky bottle-necker I ever owned.

[Tim Toberer]

Fellow Harmony fan here. I have the Airline H-1260 and the 12 string H1270, both bought for under $200. Wonderful soulful instruments. The chunky necks build character! For fun I bought one of the modern "Silvertone" copies for $300 bucks. It has a more modern neck profile, which does make me a slightly better player. The guitar is absolutely beautiful but has some issues, nothing that can't be fixed by a skilled repairman.

I just bought my first acoustic pickup. After reading so many reviews I just got overwhelmed as usual and on impulse got a K&K mini. I haven't installed it yet, but I am looking forward to trying it out. They seem to get positive reviews. I may try out a cheap copy on one of my cheap guitars. I was really interested in the Mag Mic type pickups, but they are a bit bulky and I don't like the idea of having to change batteries in my acoustic guitar. I would bet your pickup is a rebranded Tone Boss or maybe just a copy. Is it a single or humbucker? I may have to try one of those as well. Just looked it up I see its a humbucker like the Tone Boss.

[Mark Evans]

Oh yeah
The H-165 HAD A BASEBALL BAT like neck, high action, but with a soundhole humbucker it was a delta blues machine.

The tone boss has the pretty changeable faceplates but runs about 30 bucks more