National Slimline vs Lace Ultra Slim

[oscar]

I am very impressed by the National Slimline pickup. If you can't use a microphone or need need a lot of volume it seems to be the choice. But retail price is $ 195. Lace offers a very similar pickup called Ultra Slim which costs $ 60 less. Has anybody had the chance to compare these two pickups?

[washboardchris]

Hi, I have tried both & think the National pick up is better( I think that the Natiional is a litte thiner & gives you a little more clearance for the strings)hoppe this helps

[twang1]

I never checked the National but I have the Lace slim on my Canova wooden reso. It sounds good but I think it depends on its position on the guitar. Before deciding where to put it the luthier slided the pick-up up and down while I was playing and the best sonic result was on the coverplate towards the neck. The coverplate was then cut and the pick-up slightly inserted. I usually use a mic but sometimes I need to plug in.
Frank

[Brad Bechtel]

The National Slimline pickup was designed by National Reso-Phonic Guitars, Inc. and Villex® Electronics, according to this link on National's website. www.villex.com doesn't show any information on the pickup (not that surprising).

[daddyslide]

Maybe you should have a look on this page:
Flatbucker

[Brad Bechtel]

The Flatbucker could certainly be a good alternative to the two pickups oscar asked about, but it's neither of those pickups.

[oscar]

Thanks for your comments. I first thought the Lace and the National might technically be the same.

But as Brad wrote: the National was designed by Villex, not by Lace.
And the National is 0.275 " tall (5.5 mm) while the Lace has 0.275 " (7 mm). These 2 mm might be very important.

I know the Flatbucker very well. It delivers a more electric sound, not as transparent and clear as the National.

I will save some money and probabely buy the National.

[idobro]

Feb 17, 2014 6:11:31 GMT washboardchris said:

Hi, I have tried both & think the National pick up is better( I think that the Natiional is a litte thiner & gives you a little more clearance for the strings)hoppe this helps

I have both Lace and National 'Slimline' pickups on Reso guitars here. I like each of them. However the Lace is more suited to acoustic playing. It is designed and balanced for use with acoustic strings, whereas the National/Vellix is apparently not. I can't find any info on the use of types of strings for it. My biscuit Reso with the Lace has bronze wound strings and therefore has a deeper, sweeter sound acoustically played, while the pickup screams when pushed through a tube amp. The Nat'l/Vellix is powerful, being a humbucker as well, but it's not as biting and due to the use of medium, 13-56, electric strings, it lacks tha bronze wound 'warmth' ...

[blueswillis]

Hi Guys!

I am new to the forum, but I read this thread when I was deciding which pickup to buy. In the end I got both so I had the chance to compare them. I also like the Slimline better, the Lace has a much more electric guitar sound. If you'd like to hear what I found here's a comparison video I made: 

[gaucho]

I have the National Slimline on a single cone and I really like it. I also have a Highlander or 2 other single cones and tho they do sound more acoustically true, the slimline is still decent. Most folks I know that use the Lace have clearance issues with it, especially with fingerpicks.

[leeophonic]

I prefer the lace in this head to head, but National has a really nice tin!!!

Also look out for Krivo pickups

Lee

[Michael Messer]

Hello blueswillis

Welcome to our forum.

The best sound to my ears was from the SM57.

Shine On
Michael

[jazzbass12]

I tried the Krivo and didn't care for the tone on my NRP. I found it overly microphone and it picked up every body movement. One of my tricones has a Slimline so, I ordered another one.

Major disappointment. The quality has really gone down hill since the 1st one I bought. The pickup was housed in a cheap piece of plastic that was all scratched after removing the tape. The original said National on it. The new ones are just a plain plastic/chrome cover.

I drilled my hole because I was doing a permanent mounting solution. As I was installing, the cover came right off removing the ground wire. I was handling with care.

In speaking with repair at Elderly instruments he informed me that the pickup is manufactured by a new manufacturer.

Very disappointed in this newer version. One would expect more for $195.

Just thought I'd share my recent experience.

Rich O

Attachments:

[andys]

I got hold of one of the FlatPup ones that Busker guitars used to promote. I got one through his website, which is a great pickup, and slim enough to sit under the strings of my current acoustic resonator which is a Busker Delta.

He makes these pickups on an ad-hoc basis in Austria, I don't know if he is producing any more, but the one I have sounds superb.

I'll post pics of it on the guitar when I get round to it, as they are so versatile you don't need to attach it that permanently anyway.

[Deleted]

I had a lace ultraslim, and the sound IMO was really poor - way too much treble, no real tone. The cheap artec pick-ups I use are better - in fact I have another on order.
TT