electric amplilfication

[usher]

hi has any one used a guitar under the bridge tranducer pick up on an acoustic mandolin and with what results http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mandosmiley.gif

[craigw]

Usher, try a McIntyre Feather p/u. It's peel and stick and adheres under the sound board beneath the bridge. I don't use them on mandolins but I have one in use on a Martin D-18V and it is very acoustic sounding. Check out First Quality Music Supply on-line catalog.

[krishna]

Usher , if you tried to do this with like, a Fishman thinline pickup, two things would happen. One , the pickup would break. It's meant to go in a flat saddle slot under a flat bridge, so bending it to the shape of the top would kill it. They break very easy...none of those type are flexable at all. The second thing would be that you leave a trough right in the top of your mando from were the now broken pickup was pushed strait into the top. I've seen no-name piezo mando bridges selling for 60 $ American.BUT you then have to buy a preamp. They don't work anything close to good wityout one. But you could proably get one used off a guitar geek,or used at a guitar store....Is this what you had in mind...???Kerry

[wsun]

you have to build your own bridge, with a guitar-type saddle and saddle slot. it does work very well, and i think the under saddle transducers are superior to the contact ones that attach to the sound board.

when i do it i put the wire through the top under one of the bridge feet--many people would probably find this unacceptable--you can have the wire come out the back of the bridge, like the Fishman M-100 (which is worth checking out if you dont want to do it yourself).

you also need a place for the preamp/jack, and the battery if its active, and nearly all of them are these days.
i make my end blocks wide enough that i can install the jack through the block, next to the tail piece. you can also use a Carpenter jack that mounts externally to the side. as for the battery, on my flat tops i mount them to the heel block, accessible through the soundhole--with an f-hole instrument you may have to have the battery in an external battery pack on your strap, or something...

here's my set up on a flat top, disassembled (if the pic loads). hope this helps

[wsun]

sorry
i cant figure out how to attach my pic.
ive posted it at

http://www.sunmandolins.com/pickup11.html

there's no link, so you have to type it in the address bar.

[Rob Grant]

wsun,

Which brand of undersaddle transducer (guitar?) are you using on your mandos? Do you happen to know if there are any limitations with saddle thickness? Do these transducers tend to have "sweet spots" along their length?

I'm curious about your setup because I have several mandolin customers that are interested in "bugs"(pickups).

Rob,FarOutNorthQueensland,Oz.

[krishna]

Usher,we are waiting for you to get back to us here. Were are you? Wsun, it seems like a huge amount of trouble for not much gain.There was a guy in my hometown building this type of pickup. Personaly, I disliked it. I could see why you would be doing this if (as it looks from the pic) you have only small neck angle...The drilling the hole through the top just for asthetics also seems...kind of extreem? I don't mean to offend, and anyway Usher has'nt even posted back to tell us what he's talking about. Maybe he's on holidays...Kerry

[wsun]

rob grant,
i use the fishman matrix natural 1, though any guitar transducer will do--the matrix is relativley inexpensive and very reliable. there are no sweet spots provided that the surfaces of the saddle slot and the bottom of the saddle are perfectly flat. if it's unbalnced, it's because there is a high or low spot somewhere.
if you meant saddle width, the transducers come in at least 2 different widths, you just want it to fill the saddle slot without touching the sides or getting pinched. if you meant saddle height, i dont know of any limitations...

krishna,
i'm not sure what you mean by "not much gain"? surely a pickup in an instrument that previously had no pickup is a substantial gain...
no offense taken regarding the hole in the top. the truth in the matter is it doesnt really matter--if it were a customer's f-5, i would never do it, but they're my instruments that i'm building and the tiny 1/16 hole really makes no difference performance-wise.
by the way, i make my own bridges anyway--maybe this is what you were getting at about "huge amount of trouble"...

i had installed dozens of these pickups in guitars before i ever built a mando, and when it came time to amplify a mando this seemed like a workable solution given the pickups available today--i definitely stand by my position that the active undersaddle pickups are superior to the contact pickups.
thanks for all the question and keep 'em coming

[usher]

hi every one thankyou for the many replies to my problem concrning tranducers and the mandolin. i must be honest i suppose the fisherman tranducer is built for the job but i have access to some second hand guitar tranducer pick ups so its a cost affective exercise. fortunatelt my sound board is spruce and flat. it is a freshman mandolin buit in scot land. i wish to use it at an electric guitar club. i do have other mandolins with the basic pick ups incorporasted in the instrument but i am for ever experimenting with sound affects on audiences. the bridge on the freshman is the coventional adjustable one used on most ordinary mandolinsi use the instrument as a solo projedt and compete for attention against would be heavy mental and classic rock players and need to leave some impression inspite of their impact. but for the moment i am interested in what ways i can produce an interesting amplified sound thanks to you all Usher