need some advice on a guitar-related present...

Hello all you musical peoples...

I need somebody to point me in the right direction on guitar accessories. My husband plays, and is just getting back into it after a several-year hiatus: I want to encourage him as much as possible.

I'm looking for something that will record sound from an acoustic guitar (he has a gorgeous Martin his dad gave him, and would never think of replacing it with an acoustic-electric or anything else) and feed it, probably through an amp of some sort, into a computer as a wav or mp3 file. I'm not looking into software or an amp (or whatever that middleman would be) just yet; I don't know if a mike like that even exists. I could swear I saw something like it once - a little thingy that fit under the strings, or in the chamber, or somewhere - but I apparently don't know the right words to search by, 'cause I'm coming up with zilch.

Then I thought: hey, I find everything else I need to know on AW...


Can anyone tell me if such a thing exists, and whether or not they're ridiculously expensive? Or, if they don't/are, what other gifts would be great for a lapsed guitarist?

Awesome. I knew I wasn't using the right terms...

Thanks peoples!

Thanks III!

We're already set to go with the soundcard (he's a tech, so he's got all sorts of wonderful gadgets). I'm thinking maybe a relatively cheap pickup to start with, and if he wants to keep going with it we can get a nicer, more Martin-friendly one later ...I figure if I get him the equipment he'll be more likely to stick with it, knowing we've got a little cash invested in it. We'll see if that works. What do you think?

Also a quick question re: that JamLab item...

Is something like that only meant for electric guitars? It doesn't mention plugging in an acoustic pickup, but I'm too ignorant to know whether it would be the same thing.

I'm excited. It's been a few years since I felt like I had a present he'd really get excited about, and that involved a creative endeavor. He's been so work-focused lately.