Schertler Preamp Review

[Kevin Briggs]

Hi, Everyone:

I'm very happy to write a brief but much needed review of my Schertler pickup/preamp journey tonight.

I played a gig earlier with a friend - a duo - and I tried out my new gear for the first time since having all of it. For the gig, I amplified my mandolin with a DYN-M, which I ran into a Schertler Yellow preamp, which I was able to split into a BOSE S1 s a monitor and the soundboard.

It was a great success. I've been using Schertler DYN-M pickups for about 10 years, and this is by far the best tone I've gotten for the last decade. The preamp didn't change the overall complexion of the DYN-M's tone, which is a good thing seeing as the DYN-M is a respectable reproduction of the natural tone, but the preamp did give me some boost in a few different ways, including in phantom power. I could adjust how much phantom it was putting out or something. The preamp also reduced some low end tubbiness and stabilized the mid-range, thus helping make the tone a more accurate representation of my mandolin's natural tone.

It's still a pick up, so it's ultimately not the natural tone of the instrument, but it's got the essence of the natural tone, and the preamp gives more control over what goes out into the mains. I'll add, using he S1 as a monitor with the DYN-M and the Yellow is like a dream. The S1 sounds so good. It's an expensive monitor system, but man it sounds awesome.

I'd say if you're looking for a dreamy mandolin pickup, preamp, monitor rig the DYN-M, Schertler Yellow preamp, and the Bose S1 is spiritual good. It's not a cheap trifecta, but you could pay a ton more for something else that’s good and I have hard time believing it would be a ton better.

I'll update more when I get a better understanding of everything the rig can do, especially the Yellow, as there are some interesting knobs on it that I don't understanding right now.

Shout out to Michael Horowitz at Django Books for steering me in the right direction. He was super cool and the Yellow arrived within two days. Another shout out to Sweet Water, referred to me by Cafe stallwart darylcrisp. Sweetwater was very easy to work with and had dynamite customer service.

[Br1ck]

Buying matched gear is a very good way to go, and probably worth the money. Schertler engineers know what they are doing. I have the same situation with my Dazzo guitar pickups and SunnAudio Stage 1 DI. The SunnAudio was tailored for Dazzos and the two designers worked together to optimize the tone.

[mandroid]

Yea that's true .. a pickup works on the vibrating surface its attached to, a microphone the air pressure waves coming out of it's body.

[Kevin Briggs]

Thanks, everyone:

I played with another crew of people Friday night, with a small drum set, electric bass, and an acoustic guitar with quite a bit of amplification. It was a great test, because I played with those guys the week prior without the preamp.

Let me tell you, it was a significant difference. First, the phantom power on the Schertler Yellow worked like a dream. I then lightly tweaked the gain and main volume, as well as the Recon level, which helps dry out the tone and reduce feedback. It all has a minimal effect on the overall tone of the mandolin, but the volume and clarity was very good. It was the best I'd been able to sound mixed with those guys, and the best I've ever sounded next to drums and electric bass. What's more, as I mentioned in a previous post, I was able to split the sound output to the a recording device and to the PA, which was very convenient. In that setting, I did not use the Bose for a monitor, as it really wasn't necessary.