Dean Markley Promag Gold Acoustic Guitar Sound Hole Humbucking Pickup Dual Coil

Plug in a ProMag Gold™ and watch out! You’re going to hear what pickups are all about!

The Experience

I’ve always had a thing for older guitars. The first guitar I ever bought was 16 years old, and the main reason I bought it was because we were of the same vintage—it was made the same year I was born. There’s something about an old guitar that just appeals to me. Maybe it’s the character. Maybe it’s the broken-in feel and sound. And maybe it’s just easy to imagine all the places it’s gone and all the stories it’s told.

But when I bought that first flat-top, I didn’t think about its potential historic value, or what a collector might pay for it down the road. I just thought it was cool having a guitar as old as me. I didn’t realize all that other stuff until I asked Sam, the local luthier, to install a pickup.

“How much do you want for it?” he asked, sighting down the neck of the guitar.

“Excuse me?”

“How much do you want for the guitar? I’d rather buy it than install the pickup you want. A guitar like this shouldn’t be modified. So, how much?”

“It’s not for sale.” I was a little confused. “So you won’t install the pickup?”

“Nope. I’ve got a reputation to keep, you know. If people found out that I was the one responsible for altering that guitar, I’d be ruined.”

“But I need to amplify it so I can perform,” I pleaded.

“Well, then.” Sam looked down his nose at me, as if I should have known the answer all along. “You need a Pro-Mag, so you can use a pickup without any modifications. You’ll sound great, and trust me—one day you’ll thank me for not working on that guitar.”

Years later, that old flat-top is worth a small fortune. But it’s still not for sale.

Thanks, Sam.

Dean Markley Pro-Mag pickups… worth their weight in gold. (At least they sound that way.)