Trinity College OM - questions, comments, concerns ...

[RIFyffer]

Hi all, first post here.
I've poked a bit to see if I could find some answers, but as yet to no avail, hence this post.

I bought my TC OM about a year ago. It was my first mando of any kind. I'm enjoying it, and it will probably be a while before I outgrow it and will want to upgrade. I've been a guitar player for most of my life (I'm 48 now) and had only dabbled in mandolin. Bought the OM to play with my celtic band, with the intent to use it as a melody instrument as well as backing. I did the setup myself (it was pretty easy) and I have some general questions for folks with experience with this or similar beasties.

First thing I noticed was that the tailpiece seems super cheap and too flexible, and the weirdest part for me is that the strap button is not in the center of the depth of the body. That makes strap placement weird for me, and I tend to put the strap over only my head and *not over and behind my right shoulder* like I would with the guitar. When I do that, because of where the strap button is, the mando tilts funny.
Anyone ever replace the tailpiece so that the button is centered on the body?

In gigs, I've been miking the mando, but that's my vocal mic, so I have to keep moving it. It's time for a pickup. I'm looking at some of the piezo contact pickups out there, and I like the JJB PPS-200 http://www.jjb-electronics.com/PPS-200.html but I'm looking at how it's installed, and I don't see how it would be possible with the TC OM. Because of the small round sound hole, I don't see how I'd ever be able to get the transducers installed in the proper location beneath the bridge. How in the world would anyone do that? I suppose the answer is that they don't and I have to actually get a saddle pickup (thinline) which means of course that I need a whole new saddle/bridge setup, which also means I'm talking way more $$ than I want to spend. I was hoping to do this myself.

I'm sure I'll have more questions, but don't want this to be a tl;dr post.

TIA!

[JH Murray]

I put a strap button on the treble side of the heel of my TC Octave. So now it sits balanced. I've never had an issue with the button placement or the tailpiece.

[multidon]

Well, mine is a Fender which is a clone of the Trinity College, Korean made version. It came with a built in factory pickup, which is an undersaddle with side mounted controls. It works just fine. But it is not a pickup that I would recommend as a retrofit. It would entail a great deal of work and you would have to drill a hole in your top and cut a hole in your side.

The most commonly recommended pickup here is the K and K Twin Spot. Very similar to what you are looking at. If that's the type of pick up you want, I'm sure you could jury rig an installation tool out of coat hanger wire or something to deal with the small soundhole. And if you are doing permanent installation, you will have to drill a hole in the bottom end block to install an endpin jack. This is far superior to the side jack mount shown for the JJB. Since your jack doubles as your end pin/strap button, you can mount it more centered for better balance. And before you mount the jack, you could put your stiff wire installation tool through the hole and look through the sound hole to maneuver the pickups into their positions. .

Another option would be to go with a top mounted pickup like a Dean Markely Artist or similar. They do surprisingly well when run through a pre amp, and aren't expensive. They generally mount to the top with adhesive putty that should not mark up your top.

As for the tailpiece, they are flimsy. You could easily replace it with a cast tailpiece. The least expensive is probably the Ashton Bailey, at 50 to 60 dollars. There are much more expensive ones of course. The screw holes would probably not line up, so you have to be prepared to do the toothpick and wood glue plug trick, then drill new holes. If you do the StrapJack for your new pickup, of course you have to pre plan everything to make sure the new tailpiece and new endpin jack do not bump into each other. That could be a real problem. Measure twice but drill once. If you don't use the strap jack, then you could install a standard guitar strap button wherever you please. The hole in the middle of your tail piece would just be empty. So what? You're correct that the strap button should not be there on an OM. Remember, those tailpiece are designed for mandolins, and the end pin would be in the right place in that case.

You could always buy the parts you need and pay a professional luthier to install everything for you. Easy jobs for an experienced person and should not cost that much, relatively speaking.

[Mandobart]

If you've ever searched JJB here you probably ran across a post of mine. I have NFI but I've found them to be great in every application I've done - fiddle, mandolin, mandola, OM, mandocello, banjo, upright bass, even guitar.

I use an s-type violin soundpost setter and inspection mirror to maneuver the heads in place, one under each bridge foot. I hold the heads in place with blue tack putty. If you can you get your hand inside the body it sure helps, but it isn't necessary. I couldn't fit in my 21" oval hole OM, but I was able to install the pickup heads.

[RIFyffer]

Thanks, all for the thoughtful replies!
Great information to sift through, and I will do so (when I have a few more moments).
One of my concerns that wasn't addressed in replies so far was about the bridge: The movable saddle-less bridge sits in appropriate spot on the top, of course, but what is there on the underside to support the pickups? I have looked online for a cutaway view of the interior of the TC OM, but to no avail. Is there any sort of soundboard to reinforce that area of the top? Will there be braces in the way?
Thanks!

[Mandobart]

One of my concerns that wasn't addressed in replies so far was about the bridge: The movable saddle-less bridge sits in appropriate spot on the top, of course, but what is there on the underside to support the pickups? I have looked online for a cutaway view of the interior of the TC OM, but to no avail. Is there any sort of soundboard to reinforce that area of the top? Will there be braces in the way?
Thanks!

So maybe you didn't catch my soundpost setter, inspection mirror and blutak putty post above (#4)? Now most people superglue the piezo heads in, but I like how the putty tames the harshness, holds well and is completely removable. Yes often there are tone bars or braces that preclude mounting directly under the bridge foot contact point. I adapt - that's what we do...

[foldedpath]

How loud does your band play (stage volume), and are you able to keep feedback under control at your gigs?

There is another option besides an installed pickup: a clip-on mini condenser mic. That's what I use on all my instruments, including mandolin and octave mandolin. Here's what it looks like on my Weber octave mandolin:



That's a DPA 4099 with a very easy to use mounting system, but you can also get less expensive mics like the Audio Technica Pro 35. With an oval hole OM you might prefer a mounting placement on the upper left bout, north of the soundhole.

Plug it into the PA system with the included XLR cable adapter (needs phantom power) and you're good to go. Sounds just like your instrument, with the advantage that it needs no installation. If you upgrade your OM in the future, just transfer it to the new instrument.

The only real downside compared to a pickup is that you have to attach and detach it at the gig (not that difficult), and it has a few less decibels of feedback rejection compared to a pickup. If your band and whoever is running your PA knows how to deal with it, it's not a problem.

[steve V. johnson]

Don sez, "... the tailpiece seems super cheap and too flexible ..."

I agree. I've replaced several TC tailpieces with Allen cast tps and found it to be a very easy and happy upgrade. In some
cases (usually on very new instruments) the cast tailpiece changes the sound of the instrument a little, and the owners were
happy with that. But sound isn't a primary reason.

Enjoy,
stv

[RIFyffer]

Don sez, "... the tailpiece seems super cheap and too flexible ..."

I agree. I've replaced several TC tailpieces with Allen cast tps and found it to be a very easy and happy upgrade. In some
cases (usually on very new instruments) the cast tailpiece changes the sound of the instrument a little, and the owners were
happy with that. But sound isn't a primary reason.

Enjoy,
stv

With these cast tailpieces, are they still set to standard mandolin depth for the location of the strap button? Or are there TPs that have varying sizes that would be more appropriate for the TC OM?

Or do I just have to deal with an off-center button location? Either that, or don't use the endpin on the tailpiece, and use the jack, in a newly drilled hole, and of course, exercise care that the new jack doesn't interfere with the new tailpiece. So much to worry about!

Also, $85 for the Allen TP for OM/Zouk. Ouch. But overall not too bad. http://www.allenguitar.com/tpcs_rs-1.htm

Thanks again, all for your thoughful replies! :D