First Time Pick Up User - ADVICE PLEASE!

bennyhana22

bennyhana22

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Hi guys

So, a new soprano build for me later this year will be my first journey into a uke with a pick-up.

I'm trying to decide on the best set up. Essentially, I am pretty determined to have passive undersaddle pickup - I just don't want a battery in/on my uke, so active is a no-go for me.

So far, from a bit of (uninitiated) research, my current favourite plan is:

Fishman PRO-AG0-UKE undersaddle passive

It looks like great quality, and has the 'simplicity' that is very important to me in what will be a high-end, but very non-bling build.

What do you think? Is that a good choice?

Reading around, it would seem essential to put that pick-up through a pre-amp...is it just best to get a pre-amp 'box' and then connect through to an amp, or are there good acoustic amps out there with inbuilt pre-amps? Fishman make some lovely looking pre-amp boxes and amps...!

All advice (and suggestions for alternative set-ups) greatly welcomed. NB: Don't bother asking me in what environment I intend to play! Truth is that I am having a pickup fitted, assuming that at some point I will amp it up (and so am exploring amping options too).

So, assume that I would want the uke to sound as clean and 'true' as it could, miked up through a decent quality amp.

Thanks in anticipation of the typically amazing UU advice!

Ben
x
 
Get a MISI! It's active, but recharges by being plugged into the wall. One charge lasts 8+ hours. Beats the heck out of carrying around a preamp (which I did for many years)!
 
I have a Fishman passive in one of my ukes. I don't tend to plug when I perform these days, but when I did, I ran it through an L R Baggs Gigpro, clipped to my belt. Worked a treat, with some simple EQ on the unit, and a volume control, and the 9V battery got changed once a year, whether it needed it or not! A very reliable, simple, good sounding setup.
 
Having read and been influenced by the various comments here (and probably the ads) I went with MiSi.
 
I have a K&K Aloha Twin running into a K&K XLR pre-amp, and then toa Roland AC 30, and I am happy enough with it to get the next uke with the same pick-up. It won't blow the strats off the stage, but it does give a clean acoustic tone. It's a tenor, though.
 
Thanks for the replies so far.

Hippie Guy - I know it seems a bit precious/ridiculous, but I just don't want any 'active' electronics in the uke. Don't ask me to rationalise that (since I seem to have no issue with having a passive pick in there with a wire), because I know I can't do it!! The idea of plugging in my uke to charge, is almost as bad as there being a battery in there!

Phil - Presumably, if I wanted to, I could have a cable to the pre-amp, have the pre-amp sitting on the amp, and then an output cable from pre-amp to amp, yes? i.e. I wouldn't have to have the pre-amp box 'attached' to me? Like the 'no battery' idea, that probably also sounds ridiculous! I guess what I am trying to achieve is to be plugged in and amplified, without feeling plugged in!

Anybody got any info on acoustic amps with pre-amps attached/installed?

Ben
 
Steveperrywriter said:
I have a K&K Aloha Twin running into a K&K XLR pre-amp, and then toa Roland AC 30, and I am happy enough with it to get the next uke with the same pick-up. It won't blow the strats off the stage, but it does give a clean acoustic tone. It's a tenor, though.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Steve

That K&K set up looks very nice...

So (I'm a bit of a pickup novice), is that a double Under Soundboard Transducer (UST)? If yes, how does the pick up sound with USTs compare to undersaddle pickups, in terms of clarity, volume, tone, correlation with a non-picked up sound etc? Why would one choose one of these passive set ups over another?

Ben
 
Being that you are in Great Britain, your choices will be different than here in the United States. The Carvin AG200 and AG300 have a HiZ switch on channel 1 and channel 2 to change the input characteristics to work with passive piezoelectric pickups:

http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/AG200

http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/AG300

Many other amps have a piezo input. The high impedance of the AER Compact 60-3 should be able to handle a wide range of pickups:

http://www.aer-amps.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=448&Itemid=100403&lang=en

If you ever need to plug into a P.A. system, an active DI box will probably be a must with a passive piezoelectric pickup. The MiSi pickup does not add a lot of weight to an 'ukulele, as there is no battery. Ric
 
bennyhana22 said:
Thanks, Steve

That K&K set up looks very nice...

So (I'm a bit of a pickup novice), is that a double Under Soundboard Transducer (UST)? If yes, how does the pick up sound with USTs compare to undersaddle pickups, in terms of clarity, volume, tone, correlation with a non-picked up sound etc? Why would one choose one of these passive set ups over another?

Ben
Click to expand...

Ben -- I can't offer much help in comparisons, since I have only the one. It does have two pick-ups, and in theory, this allows come some wiggle room as to bass/treble balance, but I'm not the guy who knows. What I wanted was a passive pick-up that made the uke louder but didn't kill the acoustic tone. Since this did that, I didn't look any further.
 
A good, cheap option for an external acoustic pre-amp is the Behringer ADI21. Costs about $30 and does a pretty good job of it.
 
Hippie Guy said:
Get a MISI! It's active, but recharges by being plugged into the wall. One charge lasts 8+ hours. Beats the heck out of carrying around a preamp (which I did for many years)!
Click to expand...

That's what I got on mine. I strongly recommend it. And has the most natural sound from all the samples I heard.
 
I just discussed the pickup system with Steve Grimes a few days ago. He will install the LR Baggs pickup combined with the Mi-Si rechargeable preamp in my Grimes Uke. I think it would be great !!
 
henrydu said:
I just discussed the pickup system with Steve Grimes a few days ago.
Click to expand...
Ben, read through the lines on this statement, as this is probably the best advice given so far - talk to your builder.

There's also a sticky (stickies) in Tech Talk on amplification - you should go through that as it has the amplification part you may be looking for.
 
Last edited:
Ben, yes you can put the preamp where you like, just use a longer or shorter cable(I had a short cable made up so I could wear it on my belt without lots of cable getting wrapped around my legs!). In fact, comes with a mic stand attachment.
The Behringer mentioned earlier is also a good, cheaper option. Not as solidly made, but it does the job!
 
Steveperrywriter said:
Ben -- I can't offer much help in comparisons, since I have only the one. It does have two pick-ups, and in theory, this allows come some wiggle room as to bass/treble balance, but I'm not the guy who knows. What I wanted was a passive pick-up that made the uke louder but didn't kill the acoustic tone. Since this did that, I didn't look any further.
Click to expand...

That's really helpful, thanks Steve.

I think I'm down to the K&K Aloha Twin or the Fishman passive under saddle. There seem to be quite a few options for preamp that I like the look of, so that should be a much easier decision.

Ben
 
Kekani said:
Ben, read through the lines on this statement, as this is probably the best advice given so far - talk to your builder.

There's also a sticky (stickies) in Tech Talk on amplification - you should go through that as it has the amplification part you may be looking for.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Kekani. Yes, don't worry, I will discuss is at length with my luthier (probably drive him crazy, tbh!). I just wanted to see what the collective knowledge of UU would throw into the mix! Have had some smashing advice and will definitely check out that sticky thread in Tech, thanks.

Ben
 
phil_doleman said:
Ben, yes you can put the preamp where you like, just use a longer or shorter cable(I had a short cable made up so I could wear it on my belt without lots of cable getting wrapped around my legs!). In fact, comes with a mic stand attachment.
The Behringer mentioned earlier is also a good, cheaper option. Not as solidly made, but it does the job!
Click to expand...

Thanks again, Phil.

I have seen another couple of preamps that look good too. I might go for one that is designed to be floor-standing, as it were - including ones with a stomp peddle.

Hey, Derby's not too far. I must resolve to look you up sometime in my frustrated desire to play music with other people.... :eek:(

Ben
 
Give me a shout if you're ever around! Derby Uke Club meets every other Wednesday, too, and they're very welcoming.
Oh, and if you're free on March 14th, Mike Hind is coming over from Bermuda and we're doing a gig together.
 
If you're happy with passive and want to spend under $20 whilst getting super high quality results, get one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/331379789493?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

and this too:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Acoustic-El...618?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item27b57756b2



Take it to the local luthier to install it.

I know it seems really cheap, but those Artec piezo pickups are one of those rare deals where the quality greatly exceeds the price.
They are the OEM for more expensive, brandname pickups (such as Ovation).
I install these pickups on all my ukes that come without electronics and have superb results.
I have even found them to be better than a lot of well known active systems including Fishman, B-band and Shadow Nanoflex.
In fact, on my Kala Archtop electric ukulele that came with Shadow Nanoflex, I removed the entire electronics and replaced it with the Artec. It is a far better acoustic-electric now!!



(I re-shaped the hole where the Shadow active preamp used to be)
 
I have an Artec in two of my ukes, and any difference in tone between them and the Fishman is tiny (and can easily be tweaked with the EQ on my preamp anyway).
 
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