Finger "thud" on amplified uke

buddhuu

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Hi all,

Every pickup I ever tried on a mandolin or ukulele gives the same problem, namely an annoying thud when finger or pick hits the string. Ages ago I borrowed a little EQ gizmo from a friend which sorted it right out. As I recall it gave a cut at about 75 or 80 Hz.

Is anyone familiar with the thudding thing? And does anyone know of a fix?

My playing is not heavy handed, so the solution is likely to be hardware based!

Anyone know of an inexpensive EQ that might do the trick? I looked at the guitar and bass guitar EQ pedals from Behringer but I'm not sure if either cuts quite the right frequency range...

Guitar version: http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/behringer-eq-700/68385

Bass version: http://www.guitarampkeyboard.com/en/behringer-beq-700/68553

Any of youz geeks know enough about this stuff to give me a clue?

Thanks very much.
 
i dont know about those equalizers. but as far as the finger thud goes, and from your description, its sounds like what ive heard before on some of my ukulele. since the undersaddle pickups are so sensitive to vibration, especially on the strings, its going to pick up every little noise you make. the only suggestion i can make is to get something along the lines of an LRBaggs Para Acoustic DI and adjust the freqs to your liking. this little unit, though $160, has done wonders to the nastiest sounding acoustic/electric instruments ive owned when plugged in through the amp. both guitar and ukulele.
 
Thanks for that.

I sort of wonder if that'd do the trick. I have a DI/preamp that's kind of similar to the Baggs, and I have used a Baggs in the past.

Certainly my current DI preamp doesn't cut the thud, despite fiddling with the fequencies on it.

Like I say, the thing that did the trick before gave an EQ cut specifically somewhere around 75 or 80 hz. Kind of below the range where there was actual music signal information, but right on the money when it came to filtering the finger/pick attack thud.

It's pretty annoying.
 
hmmm... is it more of a bassy thud? or a high pitched *schck!* sound. sorry, its hard to spell sounds. 80hz is pretty low right? so now i think i may be thinking of a different sound.

do you have any decent music stores in your area that would carry an EQ pedal like that? all i can say now is to just try before you buy. when you find that awesome piece of equipment, let us know before word gets out on how it does the trick and they jack up the prices.
 
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