need a pickup?

[jim_n_virginia]

OK I've had it with playing into a mic. I am looking around for a way to install a pickup on my mandolin.

My problem.... I have a cast custom Weber tailpiece that has a solid built in strap button and I want to keep it as I have never seen another exactly like it. So no endpin jack.

Also I have a traditional Brekke bridge that I love and want to keep so I cannot replace it with one of the Fishman bridge pickups.

Any suggestions? I tried a Dean Markley stick on transducer and it was a piece of junk! Sounded terrible and lasted about 5 gigs before it developed a crackling short where the wire goes into the pickup and with no way to take it apart it was then junk. Wasted $45.00 on that.

I know about Shertler transducer but I am leery about heavey usage with one.

Would like to find something not TOO obtrusive and distracting but something that sounds good.

Thanks in advance for and suggestions!

[Klaus Wutscher]

What kind of band are you playing with? I have the Schertler and it sounds great unless you have to play at very high volume. I´ve been using it for some 50- 60 gigs and never had a problem. They are quite sturdy and not nearly as fragile as they might appear. I´ll have a piezo installed soon, however because volume can be an issue in my band

[glauber]

How about K&K (http://www.kksound.com/mandolintwin.html)? Anyone tried those? They look interesting.

[jim_n_virginia]

I looked at the Schertler and I am concerned about the wire going into the pickup. What if after a while from cable movement shorts develop and crackling can be heard?

I wish i could just get something internal and not see anything but like I said I can't put an endpin jack on and that leaves wires coming out of the F-holes and I really don't like that either.

I am hoping maybe someone knows about a pickup I have never heard of or something.

And K&K I am actually looking at the Twin mandolin transducers. Supposedly you can take everything off and only use it when you want to amplify but that means leaving two bits (three if you count the carpenter jack) of velcrow stuck to your instrument.

Has anyone used a K&K twin mandolin pickup?

Anyone know of any other pickup systems I might be able to use with the limitations I have on my mandolin? (no end pin jack and no piezo in the bridge)

[jim_n_virginia]

What kind of band are you playing with? I have the Schertler and it sounds great unless you have to play at very high volume.
Right now I am playing as part of a bluegrass duo here and there but am in the beginning stages of a bluegrass band so will need volume soon. This is one of the reason's I need a pickup. Coffe house gigs and jams at the Mall you can sit in a chair and mic up but with a band I want to plug and play.

[Lefty&French]

About questions and answers...
http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin....t=23040 (http://www.mandolincafe.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=12;t=23040)

[Stillpicking]

I got a Shadow pickup a few years ago and it works great!

It is a stick on pickup but is small and black so it doesn't show up if you stick it close to the bridge which is where I put mine when I use it.

Has a very small volumn control but I was pluggged into a board so I just set it in the middle and worked the levels at the board.

The only draw back is that the gray putty leaves a little of itself on the place where you stick it but I just take a bit of polish and a cloth and polish it off after I am done using it. I have a webber tailpiece that I did not want to mess with so I went with the Shadow.

[Igor The Cat]

i use K&Ks, there great! if you dont need to remove it you could get a twin big spot

-Igor THe Cat
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blues.gif

[Mike Bunting]

AKG C411

[mandroid]

For the DynM; I put the extra pickup cable [its kevlar reinforced by the way]
and the XLR mic cable end its plugged into, in my vest pocket, and zip the pocket closed. if it gets summer hot , ill need a cooler vest, maybe go for the Ed Norton look.
[ref: old TV, jackie Gleason show for the history deprived]
Pow Zoom http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif


C-Dyn-M is the installed version of the Schertler contact microphone pickup.
Breedlove is one builder that fits this as an option, presumably, before the back goes on.

[Don Christy]

I think Pete Stiles (The Meat Purveyors) has a great sound live and on CD. Here what he told me he uses:

"I use a Fishman stick-on sound board transducer pickup made for a classical guitar and run it through a DOD gain pedal (to boost up for solos) and a Baggs Para-acoustic D.I. Finding the sweet spot for the pickup took a little trial and error."

Pete plays a Silver Angel
Don

[Andy Morton]

I use the Fishman model stick on made for classical guitar also and run it through an ART Tube Preamp (like the Baggs, but with tubes) and it works well. #Putty not a problem to the finish. And with the preamp, the sound is strong and quackiness is way down. #

I got this because I didn't want to "invade" my mando (Triggs A) with a permanent pickup.

Andy M
Madison, WI

[Dr. Jazz]

K & K. We tested a bunch one day on a friends Heiden. he bought the K&K and had it installed. He uses it with the LR Baggs Para DI with tremendous results. You could easily fit it, run the wire out the F-hole and into a Carpenter Jack. No drilling.
The K & K is the only pick-up I've ever installed in any of my guitars in over 30 years of playing. One went into my Laskin and another went into my 1936 Epiphone Emperor.
<http://www.swinggeezers.com/me.jpg> They sound like guitars.

[Michael Wolf]

Today I bought a single spot soundboard transducer (piezo) from a music discount here in Germany. It is made by Shadow, but they put their name on it and that way the price is less than the half than the same product with the original name on it. I tried it on several instruments and compared it with the AKG C411 on archtop mando and with the Carlos bridge transducer (similar to the Highlander) on my Flamenco guitar. It is hard to believe, but I found it better sounding than both. Neither has it that midranginess of the AKG, nor the piezo-click of the Carlos and it could be loud. Running through my AER I don't need an expensive preamp like the most bridge PUs. This thing costs 12,-Euro (Carlos PU 300,-Euro, AKG 100,-Euro). I think it is a similar concept than the K&K. This is a hard exprience, after buying several very expensive PUs and always being unsatisfied (even with the most expensive, the Schertler). All concepts have their pros and cons and if you wouldn't know about the price and prestige differences, I wouldn't wonder, if one would put this cheap PU in the same class as it's expensive and prized colleagues.

Cheers
Michael

[Aran]

Hi folks, I just recently got a shadow pick up that I'm supposed to drill hole to fit properly. (that's not going to happen)
Anyway I am trying out sticking it with tape to the outside which is quite good. I wonder if anyone can advise to the optimum place on a mandolin to place a pickup???

Another question, I now know that a preamp is required. Which one???http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Aran]

Hello again!!
I have just been recommended a BOSS EQ pedal instead of a preamp by one of the music shops here. Does anyone have any opinions about using one of these pedals instead of a preamp?
Cheers Aran

[steve in tampa]

I have one. It is good for an EQ. They tend to distort when you move the gain up. Get a real pre amp w/ a 3band EQ with sweepable midrange.

These 4 are on my short list:

http://www.samedaymusic.com/product--BBEAM

http://www.samedaymusic.com/product--TCHPMDI

http://www.pedalgeek.com/cgi-bin....-cm3bpp (http://www.pedalgeek.com/cgi-bin/new_shop.cgi?config=&uid=GBwJsQAA1116353407&command=link--cm3bpp)

http://www.atomicguitars.com/jd10/ap10page.html

[Aran]

Cheers Steve. Thanks for the good advice!

[siren_20]

Another really great sounding pickup is the Pick Up The World pickup... it's a film element that sits between the bridge and the top.