Anyone recognise this BarcusBerry?

[flatt]

I've got this old BB - I guess it's 70's or thereabouts? It sort-of worked the last time I did a quick lash-up job with a jack-plug and some clips!

Any views on this? Will it sound any good - I mean, if it's working properly? It has two screw holes ... where could I put it on a F-mandolin?

I guess it would have to go through some kind of piezo booster?

Just wondering if anyone has any views on this old thing; it might be rubbish compared with what's around now...

[barney 59]

I had one of those. Probably still do but I don't know where.I stuck it to the top of the mandolin by the bridge where it sounded best to me and I stuck it on with some substance that was somewhere between clay and a rubber kneeding eraser-- there was a box attached that ran on a 9volt battery. I thought the whole deal was just peachy considering it replaced the transponder I had made from on old stereo cartridge. When I didn't need it,which was most of the time I just peeled it off, it left no mark.

[mandroid]

can only suggest where to put it ... try attaching it to the bridge.

.. and you probably will want a preamp, seems common for Piezo pickups

BB's Hot Dot's were even smaller..

[jim_n_virginia]

I had a hot dot way back when I probably still have it somewhere tucked away in a box in storage.

It has two screw holes in the pickup but I most DEF wouldn't recommend putting two screws into your mandolin. Go to the hardware store and get some Blue Tack putty and stick it on like that.

[mandroid]

I find 'Blue tack' at Office supply stores , FWIW, there's white too.
Quite useful for putting notes up on painted concrete walls .

[Ray(T)]

Its a second generation one dating from around 1974/5. The original ones were slightly smaller, made of black plastic and, by todays prices, were incredibly expensive.

They have a ridiculously high impedance and the so-called pre-amp you could buy to go with them wasn't actually a pre-amp. My local music shop allowed me to take one home to try and we took it to bits. As we say in this part of the world, "there was n'owt in it" my electrical guru reckoned it was a FET buffer - don't ask me to explain the technicalities but, apparently a Field Effect Transistor can be used to widen the impedance of an input allowing a high impedance socket intended to be used for electric guitar to be used for the very high impedance of the Barcus Berry.

You need to remember that, in those days, acoustic amps designed for piezzo pickups hadn't been invented and that was the best you could do. It may well work with a modern amp or at least it should sound better than it did originally. Where to put it is largely a matter of experimentation. Expect it to sound weedy and thin.
Ray

....and yes, I still have it!

[flatt]

"Expect it to sound weedy and thin".

That's what I feared .......

Hearing that Sam Bush uses a Hot-Dot somewhere on 'Hoss, I thought I may have struck gold with this - but obviously not!

"weedy and thin" I can do without!

But thanks for all the feedback everyone

[mandroid]

From reading other's posts, over the years , I surmise Sam B uses the piezo dot for the monitors
, a less critical sound quality , and a mini condenser microphone for the house out to the paying customers.