Re: Pickup or microphone?
Originally Posted by
Consecon
Tell us about the venues that you expect to play.
In my experience a noisy bar room calls for a piezo pickup. It's simpler to manage feedback free sound levels in that loud environment.
In a quiet auditorium a piezo pickup will reveal everything about how you handle your mandolin. E.g. Strap squeaks, finger drags and not so clean fretting.
Perfect statement and covers my experience of thirty years of gigging in various setting. Great advice all over the place here.
So I tried many ways: pickup, pickup/mic-dual source, attached mic, external mic. I ended up where I once started: A condenser mic on a boom stand.
Mandolin amplifies much easer than guitar, so in 90 % of my gigs it works for me.
Reasonable priced mics with great results: Shure SM81 used (condenser), Beyerdynamic M 201TG (dynamic)
Clip-on mics: John Bartlett mandolin mic (extraordinary sound), DPA 4061 used (extraordinary sound)
Pickup/Preamp: JJB pickup, Behringer ADI21 preamp
Ellis F5 Special Deluxe custom
Anton Krutz F5
Lawrence Smart H 5 Mandola
Gibson K 2 Mandocello
Northfield mahogany arch top Octave Mandolin
guitars, banjo, dobro, weissenborn, pedal steel, fretless bass, upright bass
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