Pickups and an amp

[thecelticmandolin]

I've been playing my acoustic for a while now and I love the sound but it's very quiet.I was wondering if anyone knew of a nice,fairly cheap pickup with a decent acoustic amp. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[mandroid]

Stick on a generic Piezo and a Pignose, or Roland Cube?

good or just louder sound..

Or consider a small passive mixer with a microphone and a headphone capability. for your preamps, then you
could use your computer's powered speaker too, instead of buying a dedicated amp.

you are still playing at home?, as context was not mentioned.

The acoustic version is stand right in front of a window or
wall or other hard surface and the sound reflects back at you.

Well ploughed ground ... More stuff in the abundant past discussions... archived, and search-able. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sleepy.gif

[John Bertotti]

Funny, I never thought to try my pignose. Now I will have to mic it and try. Thanks

[Rick Cadger]

I've ditched pickups. I was never happy with the sound.

I now use a Shure PG81 (very inexpensive) instrument mic into a Marshall AS50D. The amp has line and DI out so I can shape the sound at the Marshall and then shove the output through the PA at larger gigs.

Also, it has a couple of channels so our banjo player can plug into the other channel on the combo. Very handy - especially as it gives me control over his volume!

The PG81 isn't the best mic in the world, but it is really pretty good for the price, and works better for me than an SM57. It has surprisingly good rejection of noise from the sides, and I don't play in front of a drummer! Also, it's good to be able to vary volume and dynamic by physically moving on and off the mic rather than tweaking slides or knobs as I had to with a pickup.

[thecelticmandolin]

Thanks for all the help guys and,for the moment, I am just playing at my house but I'll be playing a talent show soon and during a play so I need a no buzz sound one but with all your help I should be able to find one
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