Would you install a pickup on your expensive ($3k+) mando?

[thecelloronin]

Yes. I have installed JJB pickups on just about all my instruments, except for my grandfather's 1880's German trade fiddle. I've ordered a couple custom instruments (over $3 k) with these pickups installed by the builder. I use the RedEye Fire-eye preamp.

+1 to the JJB suggestion. Every bit as good as K&K, excellent customer service, half the price...

[allenhopkins]

An instrument is a tool to make music. If your musical situation requires amplification -- and I understand that "praise musicians" often end up playing in large, loud ensembles in big church sanctuaries -- don't be afraid to modify your instrument to meet your needs.

Stand-mounted mic is the way I choose to go, but I seldom work at high volumes. A piezo or internal mic that can be mounted without drilling through the soundboard won't compromise your mandolin's esthetics, and even enlarging the end-pin hole for a jack is relatively unobtrusive.

If you buy a new instrument, you don't worry about "ruining its original historic character." As detailed above, many contemporary builders include a pickup as a matter of course, or as a routine response to a customer request.

I wouldn't modify, say, a '24 Lloyd Loar F-5 by drilling out the end-pin hole for a quarter-inch jack. Yet I'm sure there are others who have done just that. I don't criticize them for their choices -- not even for painting a parrot on the back.

[mandocrucian]

I have a McIntyre contact pickup on my F4. The way I dealt with the jack issue was to buy another generic tailpiece (rather than using the original Gibson one) and have a piece of metal tubing soldered on the end lip of the tailpiece. The female 1/4" jack is held securely and snugly in that holder. The photo below should be self explanatory. No drilling whatsoever!

Niles H.

[Trich]

I have a McIntyre contact pickup on my F4. The way I dealt with the jack issue was to buy another generic tailpiece (rather than using the original Gibson one) and have a piece of metal tubing soldered on the end lip of the tailpiece. The female 1/4" jack is held securely and snugly in that holder. The photo below should be self explanatory. No drilling whatsoever!

Niles H.

A friend of mine did a very similar setup on an old F4 actually. It works well for him. I can understand not wanting to drill out a vintage piece like that.

[Alex Orr]

I had my set-up guy install a K&K Twin in my Brentrup F5 last summer. One of the best gear decisions I ever made. I hated being forced into standing nearly stock still in front of a single mic during gigs, always concerned about making sure the sweet spot was lining up with the mic, making sure not to bump the mic, etc... It made me nervous, uncomfortable, and quite frankly, my feet would get sore sometimes. What can I say...I like to move around when I play and being feed from that mic stand has made playing out soooooo much more fun.

Just so you know though...if you do gget a pick-up installed then you will end plunging down the rabbit hole (at least to some degree) of pre-amps, boost pedals, EQ pedals, etc...

[kurth83]

...

Just so you know though...if you do get a pick-up installed then you will end plunging down the rabbit hole (at least to some degree) of pre-amps, boost pedals, EQ pedals, etc...

That's what happened to me..., except I already went down that road on guitar, so on mando it was easy, I already knew what to do. :-)

[mbruno]

For my Gibson F9 I installed a pickup when I purchased it as I play in bars often and having a mic in every case is not feasible. I do find it easier to play with a pickup too mostly because it frees me up to move around - standing still while playing for me is very difficult especially when I'm having fun That said, when possible, I'll go with a microphone every time (usually turned up enough to allow me to move a little and still be heard). It usually depends largely if I'm playing solo (in which case I use a loop, octave pedal for a bass, delay, and EQ pedals) or if I'm with a group. If I'm with a group, if 1 person is plugging in - everyone has to IMO. So it's good to have that option.

I just bought a Newson mandolin which is a big step up. While I've always been of the thought that an instrument is a tool (as has been said) and should be modified to the user rather than the user modify to the instrument - I have to say I'm torn about installing something on the Newson. I probably will install something eventually. Something to keep in mind, many Lloyd Loars have had custom mods over the years. Many have been massively overhauled - shaving the body down, changing fingerboards, etc. Adding a pickup is not all that different.

[dhergert]

... If I'm with a group, if 1 person is plugging in - everyone has to IMO. ...

Good point, I'm glad you brought it up...

And that's one of the strongest reasons that I don't add a pickup -- the tone of these instruments is much nicer through even a relatively inexpensive mic. Among mandolins, guitars, fiddles, banjos, dobros, basses and most acoustic instruments, all of them sound better when mic'ed.

So for me personally, adding a pickup is just adding a provision to allow a compromise in sound, and at the same time providing an excuse to not dynamically control the volume of the instruments being played.

IMHO, especially among less experienced players but even among some pros, pickups just contribute to amp wars.

All that said, I do have and occasionally use a pickup and amp on one of my instruments -- the bass. And that's because in a large mixed-level jam, it can't be heard otherwise.

DI'ing into a sound system or studio system can be a different story, because then one person is controlling the balances. But personally, I sill prefer the tone of instruments when they are mic'ed.

[rfd]

I am installing a pickup in my other Eastman (MD305), just because I can, and after shopping F9's (but not buying yet), it occurred to me I would worry about installing a pickup in one of those. But I am a worship musician, so a pickup is pretty much required, not to mention it allows me to taylor my sound through a pedal chain.

But the thought of drilling into a $5k+ instrument makes me queasy, I'm not sure I could bring myself to do that, but stick-on pickups like the one from Schertler could work nicely.

Not to mention that pickups like all technology go obsolete pretty fast, great mandos on the other hand improve with time.

My Eastmans on the other hand, while nice, are disposable IMHO (at 1/10th the cost), so I can drill away with no worries, and epoxy something to the soundboard and not lose any sleep.

Curious how others have dealt with this.

if electrifying is a requirement for live performances, and yer queasy about drilling a yet-to-purchase $5k mando, why are you even considering buying that mando?

OTOH, just install a baggs radius and you can have yer cake and eat it, too. a proper acoustic preamp will be mandatory.

[Charlie Bernstein]

If it is a working instrument and you need a pickup, put it in. Instead of drilling a 1/2" jack in the block, use a tapastring jack. It will go into the existing endpin hole, unless yours is with a screw. Usually at that price it will be a traditional endpin or strap button. You need a special cord, but that is no problem. I have used these in vintage and expensive instruments that I don't want to drill. I am not affiliated with tapastring, just like their product. These days pickups have come a long ways in sound and placement, and along with preamps, the sound is night and day different from the old days, didn't even have preamps then.

Mine isn't a $3k mando - it's a Red Line A5 - but I got a Tapastring jack, anyway, with a cable to fit it. Works fine, as far as I can tell. Don't know how it would sound with a quarter-inch jack, so I have no idea how it compares.

If you don't want to spring for the cable, most music stores sell adapters for cheap.

[Charlie Bernstein]

. . . the tone of these instruments is much nicer through even a relatively inexpensive mic. Among mandolins, guitars, fiddles, banjos, dobros, basses and most acoustic instruments, all of them sound better when mic'ed. . . .

Yeah, I wish I played with more people who'd put up with miked instruments. Most just don't. It's plug it in or pack it up.

My most fun group is a blues jug band. They're all happy with mics (or with nothing), so no pickup headaches when I play with them. In fact, the mando I take for jug band gigs is a Mid-Missouri that doesn't even have a pickup.

[rfd]

firstly, there is nothing at all invasive with drilling out the thick wooden tail block on a mando or guitar, and fitting in a strap jack. if properly done by a competent luthier/tech, it alone (the strap jack) will have zero effect on the tone/sound of the instrument, nor will it in any manner compromise its structural integrity.

as to the transducer itself, i hear the concern over permanent CYA gluing anything to the soundboard, internal or external. that has got to compromise tone/sound, right? having installed well over a hundred permanent transducer installations. one would think that gluing a disc or discs to the soundboard would logically have to affect tone/sound, and i agree. however, i've yet to hear live or recorded testing of before and after said installations where anyone could discern a tone/sound difference. this is for both guitars and mando's with KK, jjb, baggs and fishman.

and lastly, will permanently electrifying any acoustic instrument deflate its value? yes, it sure might! but that's an aesthetically subjective thing and not at all objective.

[almeriastrings]

Mine isn't a $3k mando - it's a Red Line A5 - but I got a Tapastring jack, anyway, with a cable to fit it. Works fine, as far as I can tell. Don't know how it would sound with a quarter-inch jack, so I have no idea how it compares.

Identical. The same. No difference.

[kurth83]

Ok, here is my install of a Schertler resocoil in an MD305 (done last Saturday), it is now exactly the same as an MD605 (of that year, that was the OEM pickup back then).

As far as the sound, I put the mic in the same spot as it is on the MD605 (that took out the guesswork), and it sounds the same, I guess I'll call that a victory.