I'm having a Loprinzi concert cedar/rosewood ukulele built. I'd like to have a pick-up added to the build. MiSi or passive pick-up like a K&K? I don't want to mess with a battery. I currently have an iRig acoustic system and a Blackstar Fly amp.
Thoughts, opinions, etc. welcomed. Thanks.
I'm having a Loprinzi concert cedar/rosewood ukulele built. I'd like to have a pick-up added to the build. MiSi or passive pick-up like a K&K? I don't want to mess with a battery. I currently have an iRig acoustic system and a Blackstar Fly amp.
Thoughts, opinions, etc. welcomed. Thanks.
In a couple hours when I'm off work, I'm swinging by Dusty Strings (local Seattle strings shop) and picking up my Pono (tenor) that was installed with an LR baggs active pick up. I will compare the sound to the iRig acoustic pick up that I have sitting at home as well; I'm assuming the newly installed pickup will sound better, comparing the costs:
150 (+90 install) - LR baggs
100 - iRig
Anyways, I'm excited to test out the sound tonight and will report back with the results.
In a couple hours when I'm off work, I'm swinging by Dusty Strings (local Seattle strings shop) and picking up my Pono (tenor) that was installed with an LR baggs active pick up. I will compare the sound to the iRig acoustic pick up that I have sitting at home as well; I'm assuming the newly installed pickup will sound better, comparing the costs:
150 (+90 install) - LR baggs
100 - iRig
Anyways, I'm excited to test out the sound tonight and will report back with the results.
Yes. I'm looking forward to using the a pick-up with/without the iRig. Having the iRig would allow me to choose a passive pick-up. However, the MiSi seems to be well regarded as an active pick-up and I could still add the iRig.
My understanding is that a simple passive pickup is OK if you are using a D.I.
An active pickup is better if you want to plug straight into an amp.
I installed a MiSi in my Pono and I love it. I do not use an amp very often, and having to track down a non-dead battery seems to be a challenge when I suddenly NEED to plug in, so the MiSi is great for that.
seeing this thread, I feel like I might be having a deja vu somehow...
yes, Mi-Si, has a capacitor inside that a 60 dec charge will give about 16 hrs of play time. Comes with charger, and can also use a 9v batt if charger is lost too, same 60 sec charge and 16 hrs play time...
Only requires holes for pickup ribbon (2) and endpin jack (1)
just make sure to remove the amp cable from the endpin jack, otherwise it will run down the power cell flat overnight, as insertion of the plug into the jack acts as the ON-SWITCH for the preamp
so, YES, pickup, Mi-Si yes, hmmm. doo eet! you weel lyke eet
I have a Misi in my Griffin, L.R. Baggs in my Pono Steel bari and a K&K Twin spot in my Chennell archtop bari.
I like the Misi as it just takes plugging in to charge the system and can play with out a preamp. I like the Baggs for its volume control but don't like the hassle of having to reach inside to fumble around changing the battery. The K&K is great on my archtop to get a good jazzy sound. It does play without a preamp but sounds much better using one. It doesn't have a volume control; yet. I just bought their volume control that plugs into the K&K and attaches to either the sound hole or in my case the side soundport. The K&K transducers attach under the bridge so there's no changes in the string height like there is with a under saddle ribbon type pu. Course a good luthier should be able to adjust the height of the strings.The Chennell has f holes so is kind of a challenge to position a volume control in the f hole correctly to be able to adjust it.
As for sound; too me they all sound about the same as the sound can be controlled thru the amp or preamp. The Misi is the easiest to use as far not having a battery.
Booli is the sound man and always gives good advice.
I have a Misi in my Griffin, L.R. Baggs in my Pono Steel bari and a K&K Twin spot in my Chennell archtop bari.
I like the Misi as it just takes plugging in to charge the system and can play with out a preamp. I like the Baggs for its volume control but don't like the hassle of having to reach inside to fumble around changing the battery. The K&K is great on my archtop to get a good jazzy sound. It does play without a preamp but sounds much better using one. It doesn't have a volume control; yet. I just bought their volume control that plugs into the K&K and attaches to either the sound hole or in my case the side soundport. The K&K transducers attach under the bridge so there's no changes in the string height like there is with a under saddle ribbon type pu. Course a good luthier should be able to adjust the height of the strings.The Chennell has f holes so is kind of a challenge to position a volume control in the f hole correctly to be able to adjust it.
As for sound; too me they all sound about the same as the sound can be controlled thru the amp or preamp. The Misi is the easiest to use as far not having a battery.
Booli is the sound man and always gives good advice.
Thanks for the nod, but remember the Mi-Si ALSO has an internal preamp, which is powered by a super-capacitor, and as such is an active pickup and does not require and external preamp in order to be used with standard equipment, since the built-in preamp has an output at the endpin jack that has already corrected for any impedance mismatch. This means that you are all good to go, unless you want to tweak the tone, and for that any standard amp controls or guitar pedal equalizer, such as the $25 Behringer G-EQ will provide this function.
Also for cable runs longer than 15 ft, you would do well to use something like either a DI box or $29 Behringer ADI-21, both of which output to balanced XLR connections, which will function to cancel hum, ground loops and reject EMI/RF interference for longer cable runs. The ADI-21 ALSO has tone controls and a mid-freq setting that will allow you to notch out any frequency that is creating feedback. You can also get a cheap DI box from Behringer or Pyle for as low as $10 on Amazon.
Thanks for the info everyone. I have a good handle on the basics thanks to reading Booli's amp/pre-amp threads. Since I have the iRig already, I've got the pre-amp part covered for a passive pick-up. People's experiences with sound & function are the things I'm looking for. Is the MiSi superior to a K&K in sound reproduction? Or is it more of a convenience thing with the MiSi? I'm not sure how often I'll play plugged in, but since I'm having a ukulele built, I want to add all the little bells & whistles.
Thanks for the info everyone. I have a good handle on the basics thanks to reading Booli's amp/pre-amp threads. Since I have the iRig already, I've got the pre-amp part covered for a passive pick-up. People's experiences with sound & function are the things I'm looking for. Is the MiSi superior to a K&K in sound reproduction? Or is it more of a convenience thing with the MiSi? I'm not sure how often I'll play plugged in, but since I'm having a ukulele built, I want to add all the little bells & whistles.
I have an iRig acoustic stage, 4 tenor ukes with LR Baggs 5.0 pick ups and I had a Pono baritone with Misi, but no K&K experience. Which are best can be a personal thing. Mya Moe only offered K&K pick ups installed in their ukes, I guess they thought those were best. Misi and LR Baggs share the same piezo strip but the internal pre amp is different. Andrew from HMS likes both the Misi and LR Baggs as the two best, he does sell K&K. The K&K sound reproduction is different then the Misi which i thought sounded very good and natural in my Pono baritone. If I was to make a recommendation it would be Misi. It will pair very well with your iRig.
Thanks DownUpDave. I did watch the HMS pick-up comparison video, and thought the MiSi and the K&K both sounded good, just a bit different. There's a definite price difference, so I wanted to make sure there weren't other factors to consider in making my choice. Donna @ Loprinzi is busy with TBUG this week, but I'll see if she has a recommendation one way or the other.
I’ve had K&K pickups in guitars and Ukes. They’re bulletproof, reproduce sound well, are not expensive and don’t have feedback problems. The thing is IMO is that you really need a preamp in your instrument/amp chain.
Having said that, all my current Ukes have MISI’s installed.
