The Baldock Passive Pickup

[esslewis]

I have one of these in my Tacoma M1E and I wonder if anyone (a) knows anything pro or con about this brand of pickups (aside from being in my mando, I've never heard of 'em!) and (b) has anyone ever swapped out this stock pickup for something else, and if so, what options might there be for doing so?

Thanks! :mandosmiley:

[John Flynn]

The listing for Tacoma Mandolins on eMando.com says that they are "...available with a built-in contact-style pickup designed by a Gruhn Guitars technician. Just append an "E" to the model name to designate an electric." If that is the pickup you have, that would seem to be a good pedigree. Tacoma could probably tell you for sure based on the serial #. My guess is that it would be some kind of custom made pizeo spot.

As for replacing it, if I had the instrument, I would first ask myself, "What do I not like about the current pickup?" and "What can I afford and how much hassle do I want to put up with changing the pickup?" Then, if there is something you don't like about the current pickup, I would first think about what could be done with a microphone, or adding an external preamp, like an LR Baggs. That might get you the sound you want with a lot less hassle. But I would imagine the next step up would be a internal mount Schertler DYN-M. It really depends on what you are playing, in what environment and the sound you want.

[Tim2723]

I can't add too much to John's concise answer except to say that the transducer world seems to be full of supposedly 'no-name' pickups that turn out to be designed by some of the best in the business. They just don't carry recognizable brand names. As he said, first ask yourself what you don't like about it and go from there. I'm not familiar with that pickup either, but there's a good chance you have a real gem. At very least you shouldn't assume that swapping it out will be an automatic improvement.

[esslewis]

Thanks, guys. I'm not necessarily unhappy with what I have -- in fact, I'm pretty happy with it, but just fairly unaware of how what I have fits in to the context of what's out there in similar pickups, etc. as well as wondering about background info on this pickup. But John, that does ring a bell about this pickup having some connection to Gruhn -- I remember, now, hearing that somewhere before (maybe even on the Tacoma website some time back). And yes, from what I've seen so far, that Schertler seems to be the Cadillac way to go, if a change was to be made. Thanks again....