Replacement Pickup for GME-4

So I bought a Gold Tone GME-4 electric mandolin a while ago off of craigslist. It's fun to fool around with, but the stock pick-up is quite weak, especially the E string. It was especially hard to drive volume-triggered effects, like an envelope follower.

I had searched around for replacements and finally, following advice found here, contacted Tom at Moongazer about a replacement from Almuse. There was an uncovered Tele-style neck pickup listed on the site, and mention that a covered version was available. He now has placed a link on their page for a covered neck-pickup. There is a $10 up charge for the covered version.

I'll let you know about the conversion as soon as it arrives.

Graham

So the pickup arrived today and I put it in...What a difference! It's a true single coil, unlike the stacked "humbucker" that's the stock pickup on the Gold Tone. The almuse is louder, much more definition and...there's an e-string! It really has an even output.

Attachment 104543

Looking at this picture you can compare the magnets. The Almuse (bottom pickup) has graduated magnets for each pole. Note the difference between the E string (on the left) and the G string. With the cover it's an easy drop in replacement that maintains the original look

Attachment 104544

I just spent some time playing it through a Fender Blues Junior and it is a serious improvement. Much more responsive, it drives effects well (even the envelop follower, with the e-string!) really a lot more fun to play. Thanks to Almuse and Moongazer!

Graham

Congratulations. Almuse and Moongazer certainly seem like the places to go for electric upgrades.

Thanks Graham, glad you like it.....perhaps I ought to think about adding that one to my range ;)

Nice. Glad you like the improvement.

Don't forget that, while a bit wider, you can also use Stratocaster and Telecaster pickups with emando's. Once you go there you open up a whole ton of options with more competitive pricing. I replaced the single-coils in my Fender 5-string with a couple rail humbuckers and now can go from country twang down to serious rock and roll, almost metal. And I use a Lace resonator guitar pickup on my Paris Swing [my avatar] and it works great. I don't find the extra width an issue at all.

So glad to hear you were able to upgrade. My GME-4 is also weak on the e string.

Which model did you get? How difficult is the installation? Soldering involved?

Thx!