Sound Hole Pickup?

wrestlingmatt51

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Hi, I'm thinking about getting a pickup to mount on my sound hole or something so I can use it on multiple ukes rather than installing pickups on individual instruments. The problem is, most are designed for guitars. I was wondering if anyone uses one or has experience with this kind of pickup. I'm hoping to find something affordable but of decent quality. Thanks.
 
I have and use this external soundhole mic for my ukes that don't have a pickup. Sound quality is actually very good, and it's pretty easy to set it up in the instrument, although once it's on you definitely need to adjust your playing a bit so you don't hit something. However, like you've mentioned, since this is mainly designed for guitars, the attachment that comes with it to keep the battery pack on the back of the instrument needs some tweaking to get it to fit correcly.
 
I've played around with using temporary external pickups, but came to the conclusion that it's worth it to install a permanent undersaddle pickup for practicality.

I get a:
http://www.eyguitarmusic.com/Artec-Ukulele-Saddle-Piezo-Bridge-Pickup-PP-404U-NEW_p_181.html

and a:
http://www.eyguitarmusic.com/Chrome-Jack-Endpin-Acoustic-Guitar-Mono-14_p_165.html

Take it to the local guitar store for installation, and voila - a GREAT quality undersaddle pickup system for around $20.
These Artec undersaddle pickups perform better than most pickups you get on stock ukuleles.

On a few ukes that come with pickup already installed (such as the infamous UK-2000 and Shadow Nanoflex), I have actually replaced the undersaddle component with the Artec and experienced improvement.
 
I bought one of the Cherubs off Amazon. Less than $8 so what the heck. Picks up lots of body noise from the uke, strings, and thin unshielded cable, so it's aweful for fingerpicking, BUT you can get some really cool percussive Sounds by strumming and thumping the neck and body with your thumb and fingers. If you clip it on the corner of the headstock so the chord hangs down and doesn't touch anything you can minimize the chord noise. I'll post a sound sample when I get a chance.
 
I bought one of the Cherubs off Amazon. Less than $8 so what the heck. Picks up lots of body noise from the uke, strings, and thin unshielded cable, so it's aweful for fingerpicking, BUT you can get some really cool percussive Sounds by strumming and thumping the neck and body with your thumb and fingers. If you clip it on the corner of the headstock so the chord hangs down and doesn't touch anything you can minimize the chord noise. I'll post a sound sample when I get a chance.

Thanks, that'd be great!
 
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