Re: Do you play out? What pickup/pre-amp etc. do you use?
For years - decades, really - for my late lamented F-12 I used two Barcus-Berry Hot Dots, one in each foot of the bridge (luthier cut a groove just deep enough and covered them over with a veneer), the wires went into the f-holes and out through a stereo 1/4" tailpin jack. I used an Arion 9-band EQ w/ gain pedal as preamp, into a Yamaha REX50 effects unit, most of the time using a distortion/reverb combo setting - reverb for sustain and warmth, distortion for "fattening" - and that was fine. Since I had my "sound" all set, I could run it dry through a PA and not worry about tweaking it much, and just play. When I was playing in a jug band, I'd mix that with my Shure SM 58 - the combination of piezo and mike signals pleased the band leader, who called it "the magic sound" - and I'd lean into the mike for solos. I did get a Fishman M-100 about five years ago, having heard good things about them and thinking the technology had evolved and it was time for an upgrade, but I didn't like the sound - too acoustic-sounding to my ears, and in retrospect I was probably just too used to what I had been using.
After it was stolen, I got a 1935 A-00 which I just miked through my SM 58. Eventually I got a 1917 A which had a much fuller sound, still miking it. I got a Fishman M-100, again through a 1/4" tailpin jack, and somehow it sounded just right with this instrument. The signal was so much stronger than what I had been used to that I kept turning down the gizmos, eventually stopped using the REX50, and finally even the pre-amp, as my channel on the PA was running at about .3! Maybe I got a good one, maybe the instrument is that powerful, I don't really know. So I've switched that rig over to the 1916 H-2 mandola, which has the same B-B Hot Dots setup, and sounds really awful compared to the mandolin, without the effects. I did have to drastically reduce the reverb, though, as it's pretty boomy. I am probably going to get another Fishman bridge for it, and leave the REX50 with the MandoBird, where it belongs.
After seeing what people have been saying about Schertlers I thought I'd check them out, but whoo-ee! That's too much. I'm happy with the Fishman; 'twill do for now.
But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. - Dennis Miller
Furthering Mandolin Consciousness
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