DIY - First Time Undersaddle pickup project

First off - disclaimer - I'm no luthier or woodworker.
I'm just a hobbyist who has done some tinkering with ukuleles and this is my first time actually installing pickups myself onto ukuleles that did not originally come with pickups. The only woodworking teaching I have had is some woodworking classes from back in junior highschool.

I chose to do it on cheap ukuleles (Kealoha laminate baritone and a Tom Mini ukulele), and the method I used may not be ideal from a professional sense.


Firstly, I drilled some holes.
I already had a electric power drill at home, but I did go to a hardware store to buy the drillbit which seemed to be the appropriate size I needed:





Here are the parts that I ordered on eBay.
My searches were along the lines of "Artec ukulele pickup" and "No solder guitar jack". Only because I don't have much experience with soldering, and it's not a skill that I'm eager to learn just yet.

These plug-in type connections seem to work fine though.


The Artec undersaddle unit cost me about $6.80 and the input jack about $7.80 on eBay.

I am particular about the undersaddle unit being "Artec" brand, because out of the many undersaddle units I've played around with, it is the one that gives the best results. Unless of course, you want to invest into expensive branded pickups such as Shadow, Fishman, etc. As far as I'm concerned, the Artec units are just as high quality and they are original manufacturer pickups that are used in some expensive instruments (eg: Ovation).

The drillbit I used was unfortunately not quite big enough to fit the input-jack unit, so I had to file it a bit to widen it:



Continued below:

Then I drilled another hole using a smaller drillbit on the saddle/bridge part of the ukulele and I insert the piezo unit into the hole:




It takes a bit of fiddling to get the other end of the piezo cord to come out the bigger hole, but eventually you get it (I used a paperclip to help) and you plug it onto the jack and screw the jack into place:




Of course, then the saddle needs to be sanded down to compensate for the extra height generated by the undersaddle pickup unit:




And voila! My own pickup installation for roughly $15 for parts and some basic tools most people have lying around in their house.



I have plugged it into my acoustic amp and mini-PA system, and they work superbly!


Some factors to consider are:

-Before installing the pickup, make sure that your ukulele bridge/saddle can fit the pickup unit and whether it leaves enough room for the saddle to fit into the groove.

The Tom uke's bridge groove was too shallow to fit both the Artec pickup and the saddle, so I had to use a different brand undersaddle unit that was smaller.

Thanks for sharing!!

My Pocket uke saw this and now it wants as pick up too. How is the unplugged sound for the pocket uke and is there a noticed weight difference ?

It does not change the acoustic tone on the Pocket Uke at all. The weight difference is hardly noticeable, but adding weight to the body end of this uke is beneficial anyway. Makes it less top-heavy.

What was the brand of smaller piezo unit you fitted to the Tom uke?
- I have a vintage uke that has a low bridge, and I need a low unit if I have any chance of getting a pick-up under there.

This particular generic type worked for the Tom ukulele:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/3x-Ukule...l_Instruments_Instruments&hash=item35df6e1550

Although what I had lying around was the 6-string guitar version. I clipped it with some sharp pliers to make it 4-string as instructed here:
http://oldshop.cbgitty.com/?p=26

Mine is working perfectly fine. Great tone and balanced volume between all the strings (which is actually a bit of a surprise).
It's a bit of a tight fit, but it does leave about a millimetre for the saddle to rest on top of it in the groove.



I think the ones to avoid are these type that are covered in black rubber:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ukulele-...AU_Instrument_Accessories&hash=item4d1d20b90b

And these flexible, wire types:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Guitar-P...AU_Instrument_Accessories&hash=item5d4f2e0181

I've tinkered with them for hours and could not get them to sound good or balance.

Ok, forgive me, I'm just starting to explore the world of electric amplification. So this is a passive pickup? Is that correct? And if so, you can't just plug it in to an amp and go? What else do you need? I have the mechanical skills to actually install one, but I'm not sure I have the technical skills to use one.

Rllink said:

Ok, forgive me, I'm just starting to explore the world of electric amplification. So this is a passive pickup? Is that correct? And if so, you can't just plug it in to an amp and go? What else do you need? I have the mechanical skills to actually install one, but I'm not sure I have the technical skills to use one.

Click to expand...

Yes, this is passive. Yes, you can just plug it in and go. A preamp can help with tone shaping, etc. but it is not an absolute requirement.

Rllink said:

Ok, forgive me, I'm just starting to explore the world of electric amplification. So this is a passive pickup? Is that correct? And if so, you can't just plug it in to an amp and go? What else do you need? I have the mechanical skills to actually install one, but I'm not sure I have the technical skills to use one.

Click to expand...

Indeed, these are passive pickups.
You can plug passive pickups directly into amplifiers.

An active pickup has a battery powering a pre-amp, which gives you more options in boosting the signal and adjusting the tone before it hits the amp.

A passive pickup works fine though, as amps can adjust those things anyway.


The only situation where an active pickup is advantageous is when plugging into a somewhat big PA system.
But then again, you can get even better results with a passive pickup being used with an external pre-amp or a DI Box, so that point is moot.

Thank you Jim Hanks and kissing. I thought that you could not just plug a passive pickup in and go. That is good to know. It has opened up another possibility. So another question if you please, what do you gain from having a Mi-Si active pickup if you don't have the Volume and Tone control module?

Very nicely done. I've added and replaced preamps on many of my ukes. The first one was my Lanikai quilted ash that had a poorly conceived Fishman preamp inside the sound hole that was way too awkward, so I looked around and found a Fishman Isys+ (couldn't find their Kula) that allowed me to keep the existing power supply/connector and the pickup. Worked out great.

I then added a preamp/tuner, under saddle pickup and power supply/connector to my Uku two hole, but the saddle slot was too shallow, so I had my local luthier make it work, but the amplified balance is still off a bit, which I'll correct with shims eventually.

I get all my parts from China for less than half of what they cost here, most of the time shipping is included in the price or minimal, but do take a few weeks to arrive. Only one of the dozen or so has been bad out of the box so I just stuck it away.

Nice job! I don't plug in these days, preferring to use a mic, but I've fitted quite a few (and always felt just as nervous as the first time when the drilling starts!), and agree about the quality of the Artec units, I have several ukes with that exact same system in that I've toured heavily with and never had an issue.

Rllink said:

Thank you Jim Hanks and kissing. I thought that you could not just plug a passive pickup in and go. That is good to know. It has opened up another possibility. So another question if you please, what do you gain from having a Mi-Si active pickup if you don't have the Volume and Tone control module?

Click to expand...

With the Mi Si, the signal goes through a powered preamp, but the tone and volume are permanently set to one fixed position (neutral).

In an active pickup, the "passive" piezo element connects to a powered preamp and then goes to output, whereas in a passive pickup, the piezo element connects directly to the output jack.
The preamp shapes the raw "passive" tone into something that the manufacturers believe to be more useable. Furthermore, the signal is boosted with a battery to a "standard" microphone level, rather than the actual raw electric charge generated by the piezo element reacting to the physical vibration of the string. A powered signal can travel across longer cables and can generally output a stronger signal (though it depends)

Then you have the low impedence/high impedence thing.. which starts getting technical. I'm not an expert on this area.

The important thing is they can both be plugged in, but they do behave a little differently. A passive pickup may need more fiddling with the amp controls to get the tone sounding pleasant (although this depends on the quality of the pickup too) and in some cases, need the signal amplified at a higher gain. On an instrument AMPLIFIER, it is not an issue as they are designed to take on passive pickup signals. On a PA system, a passive may need to be amplified more to get thr signal at "microphone level".

I have plenty of ukes with either type of pickups. I like them both. But when it comes to installing my own pickups, I am greatly satisfied with passives.

Neither is superior to the other type. its a matter of preference

kissing said:

With the Mi Si, the signal goes through a powered preamp, but the tone and volume are permanently set to one fixed position (neutral).

In an active pickup, the "passive" piezo element connects to a powered preamp and then goes to output, whereas in a passive pickup, the piezo element connects directly to the output jack.
The preamp shapes the raw "passive" tone into something that the manufacturers believe to be more useable. Furthermore, the signal is boosted with a battery to a "standard" microphone level, rather than the actual raw electric charge generated by the piezo element reacting to the physical vibration of the string. A powered signal can travel across longer cables and can generally output a stronger signal (though it depends)

Then you have the low impedence/high impedence thing.. which starts getting technical. I'm not an expert on this area.

The important thing is they can both be plugged in, but they do behave a little differently. A passive pickup may need more fiddling with the amp controls to get the tone sounding pleasant (although this depends on the quality of the pickup too) and in some cases, need the signal amplified at a higher gain. On an instrument AMPLIFIER, it is not an issue as they are designed to take on passive pickup signals. On a PA system, a passive may need to be amplified more to get thr signal at "microphone level".

I have plenty of ukes with either type of pickups. I like them both. But when it comes to installing my own pickups, I am greatly satisfied with passives.

Neither is superior to the other type. its a matter of preference

Click to expand...

Thanks, that makes sense with a lot of what in thought that I knew.

Great thread, thanks. I just did a gig today with my new tenor uke. It was to a bunch of seniors, some with poor hearing, and in a big hall with poor acoustics. The uke doesn't have a pickup so I'm thinking about installing one to help push the sound out at the audience in future gigs with this group.

My question is to do with the sound that I can expect by adding a passive under-saddle pickup to a standard all laminate tenor uke. Will the sound have any 'acoustic uke' quilities or will it be much like a solid body electric uke? Reason I ask is that I already have a solid body Eleuke, which is good, however I want to play my new tenor uke for this group, and amplify it without turning it into a rock-fest of sound.

My busking amp is a Vox Mini 3.

Thanks in anticipation.

Bruce

Hi Bruce, as it turns out I have installed the Artec passive onto laminate instruments, and I also own a Vox Mini 3.

Basically, the Artec pickup when installed correctly gives great results. All acoustic-electrics retain some of the acoustic resonance from the body, because the piezo picks up some vibrations from the soundboard, as well as the saddle.

It will sound more "acoustic" than the solid body Eleuke.
Not as saturated and overpowering like solidbody can be

kissing said:

Hi Bruce, as it turns out I have installed the Artec passive onto laminate instruments, and I also own a Vox Mini 3.

Basically, the Artec pickup when installed correctly gives great results. All acoustic-electrics retain some of the acoustic resonance from the body, because the piezo picks up some vibrations from the soundboard, as well as the saddle.

It will sound more "acoustic" than the solid body Eleuke.
Not as saturated and overpowering like solidbody can be

Click to expand...

Thanks, exactly what I'm hoping for. Now to do the detailed planning. The saddle slot is 3mm deep so it will probably need to be taken out another 1mm I guess. I think the Artec is 2mm thick, and 1mm of saddle in the slot doesn't sound like much. I'll be very nervous to be fanging into a brand new uke, but it will be worth it if I can get the sound I'm looking for. The gig today was my first real public gig and I gained so much from it.

Cheers,

Bruce

Alternatively, if you ordered in the parts and took it to a local luthier.. perhaps installation won't cost much? I guess ring up and ask for quotes.

something like a behringer adi21 pedal can be used as an inexpensive preamp/di. there's plenty of expensive ones too.