Inexpensive mando pickup?

[Paul Busman]

Hi-- I need to put a pickup into my F-style acoustic mando. This was an inexpensive knockoff (but plays very well!), and I don't want to spend much money. How is that cheap piezo stick on that StewMac carries?
Other cheap options that are easy to install? Thanks.

[EdSherry]

The Schattens sold by StewMac sound fine for the money. They're not particularly easy to retrofit to an existing instrument, as they should be fitted inside the instrument. Not a DIY project, IMHO.

If you want to amplify an instrument using an easy-to-install PU, try the "stick on" kind from Dean Markley (and others) with a permanently-attached cord that attaches to the top with removable "putty": just stick it on and plug it in.

http://www.deanmarkley.com/Pickups/ArtistTransducer.shtml

(NFI.) The downside with these is that they should be detached after every use, and you have to be careful about bumping the cable.

[John Flynn]

I have one of those stick-on, putty pickups. It's either a Pearse or a Markley. I don't use it and it's packed away somewhere. I'm not that wild about it. Two reasons: 1) attaching it, removing it, trying to make sure it doesn't come off during a performance is a hassle, and during a performance the last thing you need is more hassle. 2) I don't like the sound all that well. It's too sensitive. It seems to pick up as much body noise as it does musical tone and it feeds back pretty easily for a pizeo.

In the general price range of that Schatten, I would go with a K&K Hotspot for $36. The plug and the pizeo element can be semi-permanently mounted on the outside of the instrument and do not require alteration of the instrument or professional installation. You can also play around with the placement, using putty, before you stick the element on semi-permanently with double stick tape. K&K claims the tape is removable and will not harm the finish if you follow the instructions to remove it. Later on, you could have it reinstalled permanently on the inside by a luthier if you choose. The guy I deal with at one of the local acoustic music stores told me they are installing more K&K's that all other brands put together, and they carry several. I have a K&K twin in my octave and it sounds darn good.

[mandroid]

Schatten's utility pickup is about the size of a dime, with some plastic foam on the back.
One relatively easy location to install it would be just outside of the treble tone bar.
that would be a reasonable reach inside the F hole.

then there is reaming the tapered end button hole out to 1/2 inch
you have a nut that has too go inside the leads from the pickup soldered to the terminals on the jack

then the nut that is lying loose around the cable gets screwed onto the jack , that clamps the jack from the inside against the tail block,[so it has to go over the wires before you solder them on]
tailpiece goes back on, another nut clamps the outside , and the strap button nut goes on the outside of all that stuff.

brief generic description: , tooling up , buying all the tools to do it yourself ,
or just hiring the job out
can be priced out and compared. to see what works best for you.

:popcorn:

[MandOz]

A Dimarzio DP130BK Acoustic Pickup is approximately $US 50.00 in the USA. It is about the size and depth of three stacked quarters. Its main advantage is that the positioning of the pickup on the body gives the player the required tone. It is flexible and can be used on acoustic guitar or acoustic mandolin. Its only disadvantage is that it is affixed by a putty supplied with the pickup, I wouldn't use it without some low residue masking tape.

[Eddie Sheehy]

The Dean Markley stick-on one sucks - tends to come off randomly and the sound quality isn't great, but it certainly makes it LOUDER. I've heard good things about McIntyre and Schatten.