Agh! So Excited! But also need some help.

Hokay so im wicked pumped. My friend and I started this band company, where we play children Birthdays and such. Well we started putting some flyers out last week and yesterday I got a call from this pizza shop who wants us to play at their restaurant! They are gonna advertise for us putting it in the newspaper and their flyers and such. Im so excited! Now back to reality, question for you guys, Should i be playing my uke electrified in a public place like that. It seats up to 100 people and she says she plans it being pretty full. Other instruments that are gonna be played along with my uke are guitar and piano and our voices of course. Will my uke be heard? Should i look into a uke with a pickup? Cuase college is running me dry and im kinda sorta pretty poor. Are the kinds of pickups u can add to a regular uke good? and I dont wana put one in my self i would defiantly break something if they are good where can you get them installed? Thanks! Ah Excited again! lol

you can never have more than one `ukulele so you won't be caught off guard. i think in the meantime, you should search for Hippie guy's posts abt using a mic. i think many are a part of the p/u threads.

It can also depend on who's doing sound there as well. In most cases I would expect that any sounddude worth their beans would be able to mic you and your ukulele adequately.
A pickup might be a good thing to consider, & you might not actually need a full on amp if you don't already have one. You might be able to DI straight into the board and the soundperson could mix it from there.

But then you never know until you try stuff what's going to work. It's a first gig. There's going to be a learning curve and it will be what it will be.



I also have to add that I read your first sentence and thought New Englander before I glanced over to upper right corner. "Wicked" is always a give away...

hahaha guilty as charged...I always get crap for saying wicked (i go to college in the south) but yeah im not sure bout the sound guy thing. I didnt really explain this its my fault. I dont think we are gonna have a sound guy unless we bring one. Which we could i have a good friend that does that. But what im not sure is if it should be all acoustic or not. Will we be heard over the 100 people eating and conversing?

smgold101 said:

Hokay so im wicked pumped. My friend and I started this band company, where we play children Birthdays and such. Well we started putting some flyers out last week and yesterday I got a call from this pizza shop who wants us to play at their restaurant! They are gonna advertise for us putting it in the newspaper and their flyers and such. Im so excited! Now back to reality, question for you guys, Should i be playing my uke electrified in a public place like that. It seats up to 100 people and she says she plans it being pretty full. Other instruments that are gonna be played along with my uke are guitar and piano and our voices of course. Will my uke be heard? Should i look into a uke with a pickup? Cuase college is running me dry and im kinda sorta pretty poor. Are the kinds of pickups u can add to a regular uke good? and I dont wana put one in my self i would defiantly break something if they are good where can you get them installed? Thanks! Ah Excited again! lol

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Get a uke with a pickup and get it fast. You have to get the strings completely settled before the gig. Performing on stage leaves two main options... an acoustic/electric uke or a good condenser mic with a stand (or two) that holds both mics for the instrument and vocals or talking with the audience.

Pippin said:

Get a uke with a pickup and get it fast. You have to get the strings completely settled before the gig. Performing on stage leaves two main options... an acoustic/electric uke or a good condenser mic with a stand (or two) that holds both mics for the instrument and vocals or talking with the audience.

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See the problem is i dont have money to afford a uke with a pick-up. Thats why i was wondering about the external ones or the kind i can have installed since im guessing thats cheaper

smgold101 said:

See the problem is i dont have money to afford a uke with a pick-up. Thats why i was wondering about the external ones or the kind i can have installed since im guessing thats cheaper

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Most `ukulele are built without pickups. Except solid bodies, and Ovations (but they're plastic, so they don't count, not really anyway). Basically, they're add-ons, any way you look at it.

Think about what you're going to do, and where you're going to do it - 100 people, with other instruments, and voices. I'm going to take a guess that you've already done a sound check (in the garage, or other) to see where the sound stands without an audience, yes? To mic an `ukulele in that setting, your instrument should be really kick ass, and project like its nobody's business. A cheap instrument won't cut it, although an Ovation would fit right in, plugged in of course.

As for pickups, $150 - $200 for a good active undersaddle transducer (UST) installed should be about right. Of course if you want a really good pickup, D-Tar's are fairly pricey. You could get cheaper pickups, and SBT's. The UST's usually fit well for players that need to "cut through" other instruments (sounds about where you're going to be).

Or, you could probably get a passive UST installed for about a dime, but you may need to get an external pre-amp, especially if you don't have a good sound guy, or good instrument.

One more thing - are you singing? If you are, it may be difficult to hold the instrument in the right position to the mic, all night long, AND sing at the same time. Of course, have you tried simply playing in the same position all night long, up to a mic?

Personally, drop a dime on a passive UST, and hope for the best. You can always drop another bill and a half on a Baggs Para Acoustic DI afterwords if the PA and passive aren't enough.

Good luck on the gig(s)!

-Aaron

Your acoustic uke won't be heard over 100 people talking and eating. Its going to have to be miced or you'll need a pickup. I don't have any experience with stick on pickups myself, so I can't make any reccomendations, but I know they're out there. But if you can't find one, you're going to have to mic it to be heard past the front row.

My reccomendation is to save up and get a uke with a proper pickup. If you're going to be gigging, it'll be a good investment anyway.

Alright thanks guys for the advice. Looks like i will have to sell some personal possessions and just shell out for a uke since from what it sounded like to get a pickup and have it installed is already over 100 bucks.

I used a Dean Markely stick on pick-up this past Sunday at the Pac Rim Festival here in Sac and it worked fine. I will though get a uke with a pick-up built in soon. And I'm pretty sure you'll need to have a mic for your gig. Good luck and enjoy yourself. That's the main thing. You'll find out a lot about yourself and your talent.:nana:

congrats on the gig, be sure to let us know how everything turns out!