Looking for recommendations on passive pickups

Hi everyone!

I want to fit pickups into a couple of my ukuleles. I'd prefer to use passive pickups and run them through an LR Baggs Venue DI rather than use an active pickup like the 50. Most talk I've seen about pickups is either active undersaddle or passive stick on with very little mention of passive undersaddle. I don't have a preference between undersaddle and stick on, but thought it was worth considering both. I mainly play chords, so I'm looking for something with good sound when strummed rather than picked. I'm not too worried about price, but would like to keep it under $100 unless there's a good reason to spend more. I figure if the go to active pickups are $150 or so, $100 should get a very nice passive. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated!

K&K Aloha Twins are my first choice.

I have fitted Shadow SH-1110-UK passive undersaddle pickups to a couple of my own, and several fellow band members instruments. They are allegedly made in Germany and cost around £50 in the UK, which is about midway between the Chinese and American offerings. In my experience they need a little easing of the bottom of the saddle under the C string (or the addition of ultra-thin metallic tape under the others) to get the balance right, but other than that they work well. Everyone who has had one fitted is happy with it anyway!

Atrec are great and no different from the Shadow. Is it still available?

They are just Piezo transducers..you can get them here https://www.aliexpress.com/store/pr...zo-Bridge-Pickup-Cable/728625_1128405170.html

All piezo pickups are passive. They're just very weak so a preamp VERY close to the pickup is advisable. By all means fit a piezo without an onboard preamp. You just need yo have your external preamp on a short lead. As short as it can be, probably clip it on to the player if its feasible.

EDIT: is the Braggs a preamp or just a DI? You will need a preamp before sending the signal down a long cable to a desk.

I have a Venue and it's kind of spendy but I really like it. I mostly use it on my acoustic lap slide that is fitted with a Baggs Anthem PUP. It works well with the 5.0 too. When folks want a PUP in their ukes I try to talk them into the 5.0. I think it sounds the best of all I have tried so far.

My Donaldson has a K&K Twinspot pickup mounted - predated the Aloha by a bit (longer cable), but essentially the same thing. Works great through a either DI or my K&K preamp. I wouldn't hesitate to get another, of I need to amplify another uke.

Also, I use it in conjunction with a condenser mic, and blend them with my mixer. I think that gives a great sound. I'f I'm in a hurry, I just use the condenser mic, which I use for all of the ukes without pickups.