Virtually ran down to eBay this evening and picked up a pickup (pun TOTALLY intended).  This pickup has the mic and the piezo strip that goes under the bridge, with a slider to blend the two sources.  I'm hoping it is going to sound MUCH better than the piece of crap I just tossed in the garbage.  On a side note, I did read that the soundhole pickups (the one I disposed of) in general have the nasty characteristic of accentuating the B string, which I can indeed confirm.  What a nasty design, "yeah it works, it just sounds like the only string on your guitar is the B string, and it sounds electric".  Thanks guys, great job.

 

From my research, this design of this pickup seems to be quite popular, the blender will allow me to adjust to combine the best qualities of both pickup technologies.  Can't wait.

 

So stay tuned, I'll be hacking up my cherished 12-string very soon to put this pickup in myself.  Not recommended by any professional, but how can you get to the next level if you're not willing to sacrifice something you love (I think Hendrix said something like that, just before he torched his guitar on stage).  To stay true to the legend, I will burn my 12 if I arse it up :)

 

But if all goes well, I am going to replace the bridge nut with a nice new $20 bone one, again this is supposed to be the material of choice for bridge nuts, so we'll see what happens.  When I am done, I will post one of the following:

 

1) An MP3 of what it sounds like; OR

2) A mpeg of the fire

 

Stay tuned...