What kind of pickup is on my mandolin?

[zackfanning]

Hey guys, I bought a mandolin from Folk Of The Wood probably 4-5 years and they put a pickup on it. I really have no idea what kind of pickup it was due to their horrible customer service I received at the time including receiving a plastic nut rather than the bone nut that should have come on my mandolin. Anyway!

Here is a picture of my bridge with pickup attached. Is there any way to know what kind of pickup it is? If you need more info let me know. Thank you!!

-Zack

http://gallery.me.com/zackfanning/100344/IMGP2454.jpg?derivative=medium&source=web.jpg&type=medium&ver=12463173160001

[Tim2723]

Hi Zack and welcome. I can't see the pic.

[zackfanning]

hm, it shows up fine in the preview... let me try something else...

[mandroid]

Odds are favoring it's a piezoelectric type pickup .. buy a pre-amp for a piezo electric pickup.

Baggs and Fishman make several ..

.. then .. the output of that pre-amp is useful. it can then, hook up to other gear .

:popcorn:

[mrmando]

What brand of mandolin is it? Looks like a Michael Kelly, yes?

[zackfanning]

The thing that gone be started on this is that on the receipt it says feather pickup but it can't be can it? Based on the info from the McIntyre site it looks like it would all be on the interior. Thanks again...

Yes, Michael Kelly Dragonfly II.

[Tim2723]

On both of my MKs the wire from the saddle goes through the bridge then into a hole drilled just below it so that the wire doesn't show. It looks like they took the route of drilling just behind the bridge.

At any rate, Mandroid is probably right with his guess of some kind of piezo. An appropriate preamp is in order.

[zackfanning]

I am confused why it matters whether it is a Michael Kelly or not? It is not the pickup that comes with that brand because there is no barn door on it.

Is there no way to know exactly what pickup it is then? Thanks for your help!

[Mike Bunting]

Do you mean what brand is it or what type it is ? What's a barn door? I'd say tht it is piezo bridge pickup, the first brand that comes to mind is a Fishman. and you are right, the make of manolin is irrelevant.

[mandroid]

"kind" as in product Brand less clear than type, which as I say Is, pretty clearly, Piezoelectric.

It is the least expensive way to make a vibration-motion to current producing transducer.

I doubt they bought a brand name out of the US to put on their production run, it's likely also made in the same country as the rest of it , if not in-House.

[zackfanning]

So does it not matter then what brand it is? I'm more curious for in the future if I want to sell it to know exactly what pickup it is. Are there a lot of possibilities or just a couple you could name that it could possibly be? Thanks!

[Tom C]

I'd be pissed they drilled a hole in the top. Is that normal? I'd find a different pickup before I drilled a hole into the top.

[zackfanning]

Like I said, Folk Of The Wood screwed me over in more than one way. :mad:Are they even still in business?

[mandroid]

I own a Lebeda, He used a piezo-electric inlaid strip in the upper bridge-piece , similar in kind/type.
ran the wire straight down thru the lower part of the bridge, and thru the top ..
it functions OK, as expected for a piezo.

unless you are up close and looking for it, that one cannot be seen..

[amp has anticipated the nature of piezo type pickups, there is a piezo buffer that is switched in the input circuit of a channel of my Roland AC60]

[Steve Ostrander]

I believe that FOTW is still in business, last time I checked anyway.

[mrmando]

If Michael Kelly installed it, it's a Fishman. If FOTW installed it, who knows?

[gw16]

I agree - looks like a Fishman to me. The installs a bit bizarre for sure.

[Tim2723]

Like I said, Folk Of The Wood screwed me over in more than one way. :mad:Are they even still in business?

Folk of the Wood is still in business, but they are not especially well known for mandolins. They are one of the best known suppliers of dulcimers, psalteries, and other folk instruments, but frankly I don't think of them first (or at all) when talking mandolin. In fact, this is the first time I recall their name mentioned on this forum since I joined this community. Remember that dissatisfaction is a two-edged sword. They may not be best for supplying mandolins and related services, but somebody hired them for the job. Doing the homework is our own responsibility.

Unless there is some kind of recognizable marking on the pickup itself, there's little hope of us identifying it from the picture alone. If FOTW is unwilling or unable to identify the pickup, you may not get any usable answer.

[man dough nollij]

Folk of the Wood is still in business, but they are not especially well known for mandolins. They are one of the best known suppliers of dulcimers, psalteries, and other folk instruments, but frankly I don't think of them first (or at all) when talking mandolin.

Allen, I think you might be thinking of a different shop. FOTW is a shop in New Mexico that is very mando-centric. Mickey Cochrane is an accomplished player, and has published a ton of instructional material. You can see music clips of him demonstrating literally dozens and dozens of different mandolin family instruments.

I talked to them four of five years ago, and they were very informative and engaged. I think they changed their business model a couple of years ago, and they're more into selling instructional DVDs and selling instruments online. A cafe dweller said he went out of his way on a road trip to visit their shop a year or so ago, and was quite underwhelmed.

http://www.folkofthewood.com/

Edit to add: Here's Mickey noodling on a cool Weber mandocello. http://www.folkofthewood.com/page4705.htm

[zackfanning]

Thanks for the info. It was definitely installed by FOTW. On the receipt it says it is a feather pickup but can we confirm it can't possibly be that right?

Should I assume that because it is an aftermarket bridge pickup that it is an aftermarket bridge as well?

I've got a Baggs Para DI on order which hopefully whatever pickup it is, it will improve the sound, although I am not unhappy with it's current sound by any means.

FOTW was pretty popular back 5 years or so ago because they had a 100% upgrade policy which I used to trade in my first mandolin, a Kentucky. By the time I was ready to trade in the MK, they had changed ownership and discontinued the old trade in policy. Apparently I wasn't the only dissatisfied customer and they had received a lot of bad press leading to their eventual switch. Looks like these days they don't even sell instruments according to their website.

[mandolirius]

It's definitely not a McIntyre Feather. They are not bridge-imbedded. I'd guess Fishman. I've seen lots of those installed in the way yours is.

[Tim2723]

Of course! Please accept my appologies. I was thinking of Song of the Wood (SOTW); a very non-mandolin centered business.

[man dough nollij]

Of course! Please accept my appologies. I was thinking of Song of the Wood (SOTW); a very non-mandolin centered business.

Tim, sorry for mixing you up with Allen Hopkins. Don't know where I got that one-- my brain must be frozen...

(Edit to add: Maybe it's because you two are tied for the longest tag lines. Except his is the list of 273 instruments he has in his basement...)

[Tim2723]

Some times things are just too similar!! :) But if we were talking about Song of the Wood, I'd say you could get a really nice dulcimer from them! ANd besides, there are worse people than Allen to be mistaken for!