Looking for some advise on a pickup for a mandolin. I play in an Irish/Rock band and mic my mando and banjo. Works OK for the banjo but I'd like a hotter signal to the board for the mandolin. I am not a techie or equiptment junkie. Looking for something simple and not too expensive. I plan to mix a pickup and mic signal. I use a shure 57 with a 28 Gibson A-jr. Any thoughts on the BARCUS BERRY OUTSIDER PICKUP or similar approach. Not really looking to alter the mandolin much. Thanks- Mike
Mike Plunkett
Hey, Mike. We must be traveling in a semi-parallel universe. I have a '51 F12. I started with a Fishman bridge with a pickup it in. I hated that, because it had this ugly wire, and the mini jack attached to the strap button with a bracket that was always causing the rear of the tailpiece to come loose. I went to a Behringer condenser mic, but that doesn't cut it in small, noisy performance places. The McIntyre MF200 Featherlite ($110) might do the job, but it would require putting a jack in the strap button assembly, which A) I don't especially want to do because I don't want holes drilled in my mando; and B) might not work because of the somewhat funky tailpiece assembly Gibson put on this mandolin. I'm thinking of giving the Fishman another chance, and buying a new pickguard (preserving the original) and glueing (& hiding) the mini jack and most of the cord beneath it. I'll know in a week or so if that works. Good luck. MR
MCINTRYE DOES make a pickup with carpenter jack, and they do custom work for fair prices.
Pardon my ignorance, but what's a carpenter jack? MR
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks