Pickup placement on a National RM-1

[Mandolingreg]

Howdy, pickers
question for y'all. I play a national mando and have been pretty steadfast in mic-ing it for sonic's sake, but alas have a new band demanding LOUD! (www.thegrasstronauts.com)
after much research & worry, ive decided to pop a transducer in it (k&k twin spot for now!)- ordered and in the mail.
my question is: where would you mount the discs? My gut says one on the unserside of the biscuit and one opposite on the back. I don't know how the signals blend and am worried about a volume difference between the two transducers. Other thoughts included opposing sides of the bottom of the wooden resonator ring? One on the "top" one on back?
as always, yer thoughts are much appreciated!

[Larry S Sherman]

I would suggest using the hotplate instead.



Larry

[Michael Eck]

The Hot Plate is the best way to go.

K & K does make a specific resonator guitar pickup. You might to contact them and see if they have suggestions for using it on an RM-1.

[Marty Jacobson]

You could try the K&K opposite the biscuit. If it doesn't work you can always use it on another instrument. Just place both transducers underneath each side of the saddle and see what you get, then try moving them around if you're not getting what you want. For a quick mockup, putting them on top of the biscuit would probably work, too.
The back of a National is built for rigidity, so a transducer on the back will give you a pretty anemic signal.
But a transducer designed for biscuit-bridge instruments will probably be easier to install and work better.

[mandroid]

I recall seeing ones where the pickup is in the Biscuit bridge. a Piezo inlaid, I expect.

The Hotplate , just replacing the coverplate seems straightforward.

Don't for get your on stage earplugs ..

[Shelagh Moore]

I've placed K&Ks directly on the biscuit of a previous instrument I had with good results. With my RM-1 now I use a clip-on condenser on those occasions I need to amplify it. The hotplate is certainly nice but is $350.

[Mandolingreg]

Thanks, y'all.
i looked into the hotplate- I might just be a stubborn ol' hoss, but the magnetic p/u scares me. Im pretty in love with the tone of my hand cannon, so anything other than a condenser on a stand makes me wag my finger
plus, I already shelled out the modest $48 (ebay) for the k&k.

In regards to the reso-specific p/u's, got lots of direct feedback from dobro pickers who advised against a solo transducer on the biscuit- stressing that you get great string/pitch sound, but not much character...plus w/ k&k's you put a finish screw in yer biscuit!- this lead me to my inclination towards the dual p/u. One on the biscuit seems an easy choice, but wondering where I could put the other to add some character to the sound.
I dig the back is just a thick slab of mahogony, but its vibrating quite a bit, still plus reflecting all those intense waves from an analog speaker cone chunking 'g' chords at it!... Im also thinking maybe topside of the cone on the wooden resonator ring... In any event, ill have it roughly saturday and will post back how it goes! (but man, im hoping to get it right the first time to avoid de/restringsembely! Yikes!)