CactusWren
Well-known member
...because it sounds bad.
There is something rotten in the state of UkeMark--the piezo pickup. It is a habit, a thing, a device, that threatens to steal from this beautiful instrument its primary advantage, its major strength, which is its sweet, charming tone. Because you see, the best ukulele, the Moorest Betterest uKamaKoaPineappleSundayKanileLE ever created will sound, plugged in, will sound worse than any run-of-the-mill import mic'ed up with a $50 USB mic or SM57.
I have spent most of my online time on classical guitar and flamenco guitar forums. I have never even heard a single participant in said forums upload a single thing with a pickup, at least not willingly. Such a thing is simply not done. A quick A-B between a mic'ed guitar and a pickerup'ed guitar quickly shows why. A similar test with a uke will prove that, as a uke is basically a tiny classical or flamenco guitar, the same principle applies.
Yes, I know that Jake and Herb Jr and Brittni and James and all the other young players, even Byron and Benny are "doing it". I am a bit mystified by that myself. You do not see serious players of CG or flamenco playing concerts with pickups. Gigs, yes--in the real world, a pickup is a necessity. But when you are on stage and have some ability to control sound levels, things change, and a using a pickup becomes an unnecessary degradation.
Because even when Jake and James and Brittni play with pickups live, it doesn't sound good. Again, a simple A-B test proves it. No pickup has yet been created that can do more than crudely emulate the beautiful sound of an acoustic ukulele.
Look, I love Jake. What a cool dude. But his instrument sounds about 32% of how good it should sound, simply because of pickup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gJJ3aDif5A
Listen to how bad it sounds when he strums. Not listen to how good you sound when you strum your uke. No, you aren't imagining it, you really do sound better. Let's stop inflicting piezo strumming on the world!
To sum up: If you are gigging often in noisy rooms with terrible acoustics, jet-plane levels of conversation, on noisy stages with drums and bands, by all means, plug that sucker in. But if you are primarily playing at your house or with buddies, save some money and improve the world and do not install a pickup!
That is all.
There is something rotten in the state of UkeMark--the piezo pickup. It is a habit, a thing, a device, that threatens to steal from this beautiful instrument its primary advantage, its major strength, which is its sweet, charming tone. Because you see, the best ukulele, the Moorest Betterest uKamaKoaPineappleSundayKanileLE ever created will sound, plugged in, will sound worse than any run-of-the-mill import mic'ed up with a $50 USB mic or SM57.
I have spent most of my online time on classical guitar and flamenco guitar forums. I have never even heard a single participant in said forums upload a single thing with a pickup, at least not willingly. Such a thing is simply not done. A quick A-B between a mic'ed guitar and a pickerup'ed guitar quickly shows why. A similar test with a uke will prove that, as a uke is basically a tiny classical or flamenco guitar, the same principle applies.
Yes, I know that Jake and Herb Jr and Brittni and James and all the other young players, even Byron and Benny are "doing it". I am a bit mystified by that myself. You do not see serious players of CG or flamenco playing concerts with pickups. Gigs, yes--in the real world, a pickup is a necessity. But when you are on stage and have some ability to control sound levels, things change, and a using a pickup becomes an unnecessary degradation.
Because even when Jake and James and Brittni play with pickups live, it doesn't sound good. Again, a simple A-B test proves it. No pickup has yet been created that can do more than crudely emulate the beautiful sound of an acoustic ukulele.
Look, I love Jake. What a cool dude. But his instrument sounds about 32% of how good it should sound, simply because of pickup:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gJJ3aDif5A
Listen to how bad it sounds when he strums. Not listen to how good you sound when you strum your uke. No, you aren't imagining it, you really do sound better. Let's stop inflicting piezo strumming on the world!
To sum up: If you are gigging often in noisy rooms with terrible acoustics, jet-plane levels of conversation, on noisy stages with drums and bands, by all means, plug that sucker in. But if you are primarily playing at your house or with buddies, save some money and improve the world and do not install a pickup!
That is all.