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kgimbal
May-09-2004, 5:02pm
I ordered and have now received and installed my new Pick-up the World pickup for my Randy Wood. This is a very thin piece of space age material that slips under the bridge, attaches to a carpenter jack, to a preamp... works really well. BUT, I'm getting quite a lot of pick noise. I rolled off the highs and boosted the low end to get a #more preferable tone; what I also got was a lot of 'whacka-whacka' type pick noise from the attack of the pick on the strings. I especially noticed this when I'd do tremolo picking....I'm still experimenting with different EQ settings and different amps to try to find the best tone without that extra percussion... last night I used a 100 watt Yorkville acoustic guitar amp. I have other stuff I'm gonna try too... Any suggestions out there? #Thanks, Kim in Chico

John Flynn
May-09-2004, 7:08pm
First, I would contact PUTW and see what they recommend. Surely they have encountered this before. If they don't have a fix, see if you can return it.

This is just MHO and I hate to even say this now that you've bought this rig, but your compaint is one I have had with bridge-mounted pickups. I had a Fishman for a long time, which is a different design, but it did the same thing. I also worry about those designs that slip under the bridge foot. The fit of the bridge to the top is so critical, I can't imagine there wouldn't be an effect. If PUTW doesn't have a solution, I would see if there is a way to mount the pickup to the top, with tape or putty or something. Experiment with the best placement. You will lose some output, but it sounds like you are using a preamp, so you can compensate. Good luck with it.

kgimbal
May-10-2004, 7:56am
Mando Johnny... With your Fishman rig, what did you do about it? As far as the design of this PUTW, I hear no reduction of sound quality of the mandolin when not plugged in... it sounds the same to me, just playing here at home...I know what you mean though, I looked at it with a pretty skeptical eye after first installing it...but it sounds fine. I'm guessing the best solution for my problem is to just go back to the microphone; I was hoping to free myself from the mic and also be able to play lighter with the band (next to the banjo player)... thanks...Kim