Fender fm62 - upgrade or not ?

[Chippster]

I've got a Fender - FM62E i think is the model. It looks kind of like a high end Rigel, or a Fender Strat, with radiused edges and a hollow body. It's a good playing mandolin and i like the feel. I often wonder how it would sound with a nicer bridge, as i've heard the Shadow brand bridge is not exactly high end. Any thoughts ?

[mandroid]

upgrade or swap?

Define what "nicer' means to you, looks, or the sound you have compared?

I can speak of what I see . offer mechanics overview.

Those 62's have a Piezo-electric signal lead that passes from the bridge top where the strip is inlaid,
thru the base of the bridge and thru the top.
swapping a different piezo pickup brand for that one will not have the wire in the same location
where it exits the top of the bridge piece.

what to do with the need for another hole ?
or do you swap upper sections and route the signal wire thru the original base?
or have a custom modified base with a wire route back to where the wire run is now?

someone else on this list posted his addition of a Magnetic pickup at the end
of the fingerboard, sacrificing the highest frets few use.

that would give you 2 different type sounds to blend.

then the 2 knobs can each be Volume for their source.

TRS [stereo]jack, 3 conductors , will keep them separate.
Y cables are made to split to 2 mono TR signals.

My Fender FM61 was made around magnetic type pickups , and on it
a single coil to stacked humbucker swap was made.

And have another mandolin which has an in-bridge piezo. not thrilled with its sound.
[stick the DynM Schertler on instead, when needed.]

[suggesting pickup type a significant difference not brand of same type]

Or you could add another Piezo pickup under the soundboard to
listen to the sound of the top and the body of the instrument.

combining the 2 pickup types [or locations]of sounds could be a nice thing..

IMHO http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif just a thought..

[Mandosaxon]

I posted earlier but it must have gone to cyber limbo.I also have that model and like the strat feel.I have replaced the tuners,nut,dyed and scooped the fretboard,replaced the tailpiece with a Weber w/the built in armrest(celtic style).The biggest improvement in tone and especially volume was by removing the volume and tone pots to go straight to the output jack. The signal is still hot enough to drive my amp. I sometimes use a Baggs Gigpro inline for remote adjustments but it really isn't needed.I also made sure of good contact on the bottom of the saddle to the top of the piezo element. As for the two holes in the instruments face I added two black grommets that I also use for harmonic suppression before the tailpiece.

[Chippster]

So, did removing the volume and tone pots help the mando's sound electrically? I'm already running it into an ART tube pre before it goes to the board. It sounds like what you're saying is the 'quality' of the shadow is not a problem ... it is a piezo and all piezos are pretty much the same. If i undampen the top by removing the pots, that should help the top vibrate better and give the piezo more energy to send?

[thistle3585]

I would guess, based on my experience with imports, is that it would sound better with quality 500K audio pots. Typically, imports have 250K pots. The fact that he removed the pots to get better tone only makes me feel more confident that replacing the pots would be a better option. I'll throw a couple pots in your gig bag when I ship it Monday.