Ukulele pickups and amplification

I Gig With Ukes

Abztract said:

Hi everyone, I have an all solid mahogany tenor that I am going to install a pickup in but have to decide on which pickup. The contenders are the LR baggs 5.0, the misi and a k&k aloha twin. I have a few questions if anyone can help me, has anyone got any experience with these pickups? I am particularly interested in the K&K because I have heard it has a very natural sound but the output level is important to me with it being passive as I would not always have a preamp available. Is it loud enough to just plug into an amp without the external preamp? Beyond this, any recommendations you guys have or any advice would be massively appreciated.

Click to expand...

I have the Aloha Twin in a couple of my tenors. Sounds very good directly plugged into my Roland JC-40 and my Cube Street and my Mobile AC. I use an old AD-3 if I am going direct.

I just bought a Kiwaya KS-4 soprano with the Baggs 5.0 installed. It sounds very good and has uniform output. I don't like batteries, so we will see how it works out.

I use the shortest cables I can get away with, since they affect tone if they are too long. Preamps reduce those issues.

For solo work, I think I prefer the Aloha Twin because it sounds more natural and had better dynamic response. The Baggs is more compressed and uniform. It would be better in an ensemble where more volume and presence is needed. You can hear a touch of piezo quack with the Baggs when I plug it into my amps directly, though it is FAR better than piezo units were in the past.

You can't go wrong either way really--they both are professional grade equipment.

FWIW...hope that helps