My (great) experience with a JJB pickup

[Steve L]

For all the folks contemplating a pickup for their mandos, I wanted to pass along my experience with my new JJB. I wanted something I could switch around from one mando to another, so the external "Marcato" with the carpenter's jack was my choice. The comparable product from K&K was a hundred dollars more than the $69.99 I paid which included shipping.

There's a drop down menu on the JJB site where you can select from the violin and the viola/mando sized mounting hardware. I missed this and mistakenly ordered the violin size. Jessie noticed my email address had the word "mando" in it and wrote to make sure I got what I wanted. That's how dialed in this guy is! He changed the order to the correct size and shipped it a couple of hours later. Ordered on Tuesday, arrived on Saturday. A+ customer service as far as I'm concerned.

The unit arrived well protected in bubble wrap with some blue tack putty and a little wrench to adjust the barrels on the mount. Not being the sharpest knife in the draw, assembling the mount with the chin-rest like mount was a close to a problem as I had.
In minutes I was downstairs at my small pa system for a test.

I tried it first on my Breedlove KF placing the pickups in a couple of spots before settling in near the f holes. Wow! It sounded great with plenty of gain, no preamp, and I was really able to get a lot of gain without feedback in a very small, enclosed room standing very close to the speakers. I just scooped the mids out on the board and it was very natural with just a bit of reverb added.

I switched it over (in no time) to my Mid Mo M2 finding just behind the feet of the bridge gave me the best results. Again, it was almost like playing into a mic with lots of gain and no feedback or noise.

We were recording a band rehearsal last night for an acoustic Led Zeppelin project I'm involved in. We rehearse in a band members recording studio and when I arrived he was setting up a nice Beyer ribbon mic for me. I showed him the pickup and told him I'd like to hear it through the board. I'm sure he ran it through some really good gear, but he went into the control room while I was playing and came out a few minutes later and started putting the Beyer away. "We're going with that', Doug said. It sounds just like the mando!". Listening to the playback, I couldn't be happier with the sound and the value and service make this tough to beat. I've got tenor banjos, bouzoukis and guitars that need pickups in the weeks and months to come and I know where I'm getting my stuff! I really recommend you consider JJB Electronics if you're thinking about a pickup for your instruments.

[adamkavanagh]

Noticed that there were no replies yet. Glad you had such a great experience!
Don't you love customer care like that?

[mandolirius]

Missed this when first posted. Nice to get a review on this product. Thanks.

[Tim2723]

I missed this one too, sorry. It seemed to go to Page Two pretty quickly. Great to hear such a good experience and thanks for the report.

[Londy]

I have been looking for a portable solution as well. Looks like you can't beat the price either. I checked out the JJB website and the sound clips were very good. One video from a live performance in a bar like setting proves it I think.

[Steve L]

I just bought another for a guitar.

[Bill Lemerise]

This is potentially great news, but one question...will the jack/clamp open enough to fit on a flat octave?

[Steve L]

I doubt it, but there's another option. This is the one I just ordered.

http://www.jjb-electronics.com/EXT-100.html

[coletrickle]

Anyone ever compared the JJB with the Baggs external mando pickup?

[Mandobart]

You all have seen many of my posts praising Jessie and his products at JJB. I have NFI, but after buying and installing something like 15 sets of pickups from him in fiddles (use the smaller size head), mandolins, mandola, OM's, mandocello, guitars, upright bass, etc. over the past four years I totally swear by JJB if a piezo pickup is what you want. Can't beat the price, quality or service.

[Steve L]

Mandobart, your posts were a big factor in my choosing JJBs.

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

I have NFI as well, but just want to post a link directly to the 'Marcato' since I had a tough time finding it on the site and instead resort to google:

http://www.jjb-electronics.com/The_Marcato.html

I haven't needed a pick up for a while, but I was always interested in the K&K External but wanted something more affordable (not that K&K was unreasonable). I am really glad to see that they released something like this.

Quick question: How is the pickup stuck to the top of the mandolin? Do they provide some kind of putty to do that, or did you come up with a different solution?

[mandolirius]

I have NFI as well, but just want to post a link directly to the 'Marcato' since I had a tough time finding it on the site and instead resort to google:

http://www.jjb-electronics.com/The_Marcato.html

I haven't needed a pick up for a while, but I was always interested in the K&K External but wanted something more affordable (not that K&K was unreasonable). I am really glad to see that they released something like this.

Quick question: How is the pickup stuck to the top of the mandolin? Do they provide some kind of putty to do that, or did you come up with a different solution?

The site is a bit messed up. They really need to separate the mandolin and violin pickups into two different headings. The way it is now is needlessly confusing.

[eadg145]

This is a pretty intriguing thread. If these work as you all say, it seems like a good thing to have sitting in one's gear bag. I have one use question for you users: It being a piezo pickup, do you need to have an impedance-matching preamp paired with it for good sound? What are y'all using?

Thanks

[Steve L]

They supply 2 thin smears of blue poster putty that you can get anywhere that sells stationery stuff. The piezos haven't moved since I put them on. I haven't gigged with it yet, but when I tested it I ran it straight into a mixer with no preamp and had plenty of volume and very good sound quality.

[Mandobart]

This is potentially great news, but one question...will the jack/clamp open enough to fit on a flat octave?

You can purchase longer turnbuckles to accommodate deeper bodies here. The 39 mm fit a 2" deep OM of mine. I also have an arm rest Steve Bell made for me with 63 mm barrels on my mandocello; not sure where he got them.

This is a pretty intriguing thread. If these work as you all say, it seems like a good thing to have sitting in one's gear bag. I have one use question for you users: It being a piezo pickup, do you need to have an impedance-matching preamp paired with it for good sound? What are y'all using?

Thanks

I've found that depending on what I'm plugging into I may or may not need a pre-amp. I currently use the K&K Pure preamp and works great whether I plug straight into a PA or run through an amp.

I also use the blu-tak putty for mounting my JJB's internally against the soundboard under the bridge feet contact points. They've been holding for many years.

[Paul Busman]

I have JJBs in two mandos and like them a lot.
But more importantly-- we gotta hear that acoustic Zeppelin!

[JimKo]

Coletrickle, I had been using the JJB and bought a Baggs external to try out. To me, the Baggs picked up too much sound. I heard lots of pick noise and noise every time something touched the top surface. I tried EQing it out but didn't like the results. I know it sounds funny to complain that something worked too well but I sold the Baggs, kept the JJB, and am happy with it. By the way the person I sold the Baggs too has a much lighter touch than me and is happy with it. Jim

[markie3334]

You all have seen many of my posts praising Jessie and his products at JJB. I have NFI, but after buying and installing something like 15 sets of pickups from him in fiddles (use the smaller size head), mandolins, mandola, OM's, mandocello, guitars, upright bass, etc. over the past four years I totally swear by JJB if a piezo pickup is what you want. Can't beat the price, quality or service.

Mandobart: I have a TC octave mandolin and was wondering which JJB pickup worked in the OM installs you did; was it difficult? I've install internal pickups on regular mandolins, so I'm somewhat familiar with the process. Also, were you able to route the 1/4 jack through the tailpiece. Thanks

[Mandobart]

Hi Markie - I've used the standard 20 mm PPS-200 on nearly everything, including two OM's, a 12-string and a mandocello. Works fine for these larger-bodied instruments. On fiddles with less interior working room I've used 15 mm PPS-200's. I like to place the piezo's internal, as close as I can get to directly under the bridge feet. Bass bars, sound posts, bracing etc. impact where it actually ends up.

For the output jack I've used both the "switchjack" type and the screw-in (comes in chrome or gold) type jacks. On a mando with small f-holes or a fiddle, there's no room to get the switchjack inside the instrument, so I use the screw-in type. Just have to solder it up and screw in the jack before mounting the p'ups (or the wires get all twisted up).

I've done a few different things with the jack mounting. In most cases I've had to drill the tailpiece to use the screw-in jack. Since the switchcraft has a smaller OD that actually comes out of the instrument I haven't always had to drill any metal for that install. If I have to drill the tailpiece I always remove it from the instrument first and use a step drill bit. On my mandola I installed the switch jack just below and to the right of the tailpiece, so it was still supported by the tail block wood but I didn't need to drill any metal.

The links I've included are just to illustrate what I'm talking about; although I've used many of these products I have no financial interest or connection to any of these companies.

[mandolinplucker]

I recently bought a cheap Recording king parlor guitar . it was a $130 factory second. I just wanted something to throw in the camper. It has a solid spruce top and a bone but and saddle and after I did a little set up work I was astonished. It is a great little guitar. Since I got it ,a few weeks ago my martin and my Gibson has sat in their cases. I liked it so much I put a pickup in it. It was a JJB with three piezos. I love it . if I want a little percussive taps on the top to sound through the amp it does but it does not pick up finger or pick noises. I haven't tried it with an acoustic amp but through my Deluxe reverb and blues Jr it sounds acoustic without a preamp. I will get one soon for one of my mandolins. I forgot who makes it but there is a little black box that plugs into the input on the instrument and the cable to the amp plugs into it and it has a volume knob on the box. I don't need a bunch of knobs to have to fool with volume control is enough .

[Terry Allan Hall]

Jesse is a great guy and superb businessman.

[Mandobart]

... I forgot who makes it but there is a little black box that plugs into the input on the instrument and the cable to the amp plugs into it and it has a volume knob on the box. I don't need a bunch of knobs to have to fool with volume control is enough .

I think you're thinking of the Schatten BB-03 Blackbox. Never tried one but there have been threads here on the cafe about it.

The Taylor V-cable is another option, which I also haven't tried.

[mandolinplucker]

Yep, that is the one. The shatten. The Taylor V is expensive and if either end gets shorted or open you lose the whole thing. The black box isn't as small and slick looking but more durable and practical IMO.

[terrygh1949]

I have just ordered a JJB pickup for my mando. I've been on quite a search for a good solution and, just only from the reviews I'll bet I've got a winner. If this proves to be a workable unit I'll be quite satisfied for the price paid and, what you get= win win! I'll post again after I use it.