Eastwood Mandocaster - bad string level balance

[Digital Larry]

I just got this yesterday. The A strings are louder than the G or D strings and the E strings are way softer than all the rest. So I doubt this can be solved by simply tilting the treble edge of the the pickup closer to the strings as the A strings will get louder than they already are.

I saw a UK vendor offering replacement electric mando pickups,

http://www.almuse.co.uk/mandolin_pic...ndocaster.html

of course promising "better string balance" but I'd like to reassure myself about this through other people's experiences if at all possible before I drop cash and time and effort on replacing anything.

a) Anyone share my perceptions about string balance issues on the Eastwood Mandocaster?

b) Anyone have experiences good or bad with after market pickups from Almuse?

[Chris Daniels]

A very recent and very similar discussion at the link below, with a very analogue mandolin as well. Plenty of good info to start your research:

https://www.mandolincafe.com/forum/s...I-need-to-know

C.

[Digital Larry]

Well OK, it is a common experience then. Sigh. I had considered the Airline mandola but opted for the mandolin as I already play mandolin and figured it would be one less thing to learn. I also looked at the Godin A8 which appears to use piezo pickups rather than magnetic, but that's about 2.5x the price.

I think I'll see if the existing pickups could be adjusted at all. Assuming the pole pieces are cylindrical magnets in a plastic bobbin I might be able to push them in or out to affect the balance.

[Chris Daniels]

Well OK, it is a common experience then. Sigh. I had considered the Airline mandola but opted for the mandolin as I already play mandolin and figured it would be one less thing to learn. I also looked at the Godin A8 which appears to use piezo pickups rather than magnetic, but that's about 2.5x the price.

I think I'll see if the existing pickups could be adjusted at all. Assuming the pole pieces are cylindrical magnets in a plastic bobbin I might be able to push them in or out to affect the balance.

Don't get discouraged, there's lots to love about electric mando. As I and others mentioned in the previous thread, playing around with pickup height, different strings, and a good eq will get you much of the way there. Almuse pickups are near-universal faves that should be on your radar once you're really digging being plugged in but you should be able to very much enjoy what you've got right now.

C.

[Verne Andru]

Try experimenting with different string gauges. The reason some are stronger/weaker than others is because there is more metal in the string. The winding on a string doesn't cause a magnetic field, but the core inside the winding does so you want to get that in balance. For example you will get a stronger signal out of your E string but going up in gauge like to an 11 or 12 and you can weaken the A by using a lighter gauge. As long as you have enough tension to stay in tune, you'll be fine.

[Roger Moss]

Take a look at the individual magnets. If they are slotted like a screw head, you can use a screwdriver to raise and lower them.

[Digital Larry]

The pickups on the Eastwood have covers so I can't tell what's under there without taking the whole thing apart. I played it a bit more and will admit that I'm pretty sensitive to the differences but I have played the acoustic for many years and know what these tunes sound like and it's just jarring to have the notes jump out and disappear the way they do. Playing a first position F chord with the open A is pretty unnerving. Playing an F at the 3rd fret 5-3-3-5 worked better as one can use left hand muting naturally to control things.

Seems like the guy at Almuse knows what he is doing, suggesting use of both different magnet strengths and adjustable pole pieces. Looks like he has built a number of really nice models as well. I don't know about the rest of you but I came up playing mandolin after hearing David Grisman and seeing his band play many times in the late 1970s through the 80s. I learned some bluegrass and Celtic and Grisman tunes and used it as a rhythm instrument when playing folky rock stuff with others. Then I heard David Swarbrick and finally Fairport Convention whence I became a bit of a fanatic.

I owned a Mandobird 4 and it just did not make sense to me. It did not feel like a mandolin to me and although the chord voicings were obviously the same, I didn't like it and sold it. I don't like the sound of distorted mandolin whether 4 or 8 string. I also play guitar and bass and I have no trouble with distorted electric guitar. I just want the mandolin to retain its nature.

So maybe I'll see what can be done with what I have in hand, but I feel like Almuse understands the problem. If only I could find a YouTube video, it would seal the deal. Off to look now!

[OneChordTrick]

I have a Harley Benton - it was my thread that Chris linked to above - which I think is essentially the same. I got some improvement by adjusting the stock pickup height by turning the screws above and below the pickup. Assuming yours has got the same pickup the individual poles are not adjustable.

In the end I fitted an Almuse pickup and am very pleased with the results.

I’ve just been down a similar journey so check out my recent threads. Lots of helpful information there but, other than first asking the question I can claim no credit for that, credit is due to the members here!

[pops1]

Take some small washers and stick them to the top of the pickup under the E string. They should stick to the magnet, but you can also tape them. Now you can get you E string closer and lower the pickup to balance the A string out. Keep the washers small so they are about the size of the pole piece. You could also cut off a piece of steel rod in small slices and use that. It doesn't look like the pole pieces are adjustable so this may help. Should you decide to take the pickup apart take the A string pole piece completely out CAREFULLY. I have a friend that does this to his guitars to balance the hot B string. Taking the pole piece out you won't need the washers.

[EdHanrahan]

... Seems like the guy at Almuse knows what he is doing ...

FWIW (as I haven't yet sprung for an electric) Almuse scores consistently high comments from the Cafe folks that know.

[AlpineDave]

I had the identical problem with my Mandocaster. I ordered the Almuse pickups and did the change out--not too difficult if you go slowly and carefully, and don't over-solder. It fixed the muted E string issue, especially as it is easy to tilt the Almuse pickups closer to the E string. I should have also upgraded the pots, as someone here recommended, but maybe I'll get to that some other time. While I was at it, I also changed out the tuners to Gotoh's, which are a pleasure to use.

As an aside, I recently had to have the nut replaced. During a gig, I pulled a Dunlop textured pic out from between the strings, where I like to store it, and the textured surface caught on the G string, which in turn tore the corner off the nut. It must have been weak to begin with. I had to play out the rest of the night with one G string. I had the nut replacement done professionally.

[Digital Larry]

Thanks, I just bit the bullet on the full upgrade from Almuse. Sometimes I think "ah I can solder that myself", which I can, but failing eyesight and a tendency to drink too much coffee has made that more difficult in recent years. Also, starting about 20 years ago I began placing a value on my spare time of $100/hour, at which point I stopped doing things like selling trinkets on eBay.

Much as I enjoy the concept of tinkering I have to remind myself that I really bought this thing to play it, not work on it with the hopes that some holy grail tone improvement would magically inspire me to do much more than I'm already doing - which is trying to record for posterity some of the tunes and songs I've written over the years. Mind you, the upgrade I'm doing falls short of holy grail into the realm of the purely practical.

[PTB]

Would it be possible to take out the pickups, turn them 180degrees and put them in again?

[Verne Andru]

Would it be possible to take out the pickups, turn them 180degrees and put them in again?

Sure, but I don't think that's not going to accomplish much. On these cheap instruments the pickup pole pieces are all the same. It isn't until you get into the customs like Almuse that they vary the height/etc. of the pole pieces to compensate for string gauges.

[Ray(T)]

2 1/2 year pld thread! Almuse is the way to go; I assume they’ll be able to produce the right size pickup. They made me one for my Mandostrat. Ordered it and had it in my hands within a couple of days and it took longer to replace the strings than it did to fit it.

[steve in tampa]

This one:

https://www.seymourduncan.com/single...quity-mandolin