External pick-up

mangouker

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Searched around a bit and could find any recomendations for a good external pick-up. Im playing a gig and ill need to be amplified. Any recomendations for a good external pick-up? there are a bunch on ebay, but i dont want to buy one and have it be a bust.
 
Are you playing with a band or just by yourself?

What's been working really well for me in the Ukulele Orchestra (following a recommendation on the subject by Howlin' Hobbit a while back) is a large diaphragm condenser mic (running through an ART mic pre-amp that I already had to provide the phantom power. Though most mixing boards should be have phantom power) I got a good ebay deal on a Joe Meek JM37dp package a while back that I really have no complaints about.

Since it's got a pretty wide pattern I can actually set it up about a foot and a half away and use it for voice, uke and pick up the harmony vocals that the person sitting next to me does. It does a really nice job and doesn't sound half bad for being a pretty cheap as far as condensers go.
 
If you can handle drilling a small hole for an endpin/jack, I would suggest installing a K&K pickup on the inside under the bridge. Only $120 installed. I use this for gigs and it works perfectly. Dusty Strings in Seattle uses this set up on all their amped ukes. The sound is great and feedback is not really an issue. I would suggest adding a preamp eventually though.
 
thanks ill take that into considerartion, but will it work well if i moving around alot?

Well, we play sitting down so it's not really an issue, but it is a microphone so you'll need to be in front of it. You have room to wiggle around. A condenser going to generally have a fairly wide pattern, but it's going to be decidedly less effective if you're running laps around the stage.
 
mealfrog41,

I'm allergic to piezo "quack."

How does your K & K do in this regard?
Thank you.
 
mealfrog41,

I'm allergic to piezo "quack."

How does your K & K do in this regard?
Thank you.

Well I think the external preamp I use probably helps dampen that, but I think the "quack" is more common for under the saddle type of piezos right? Mine is actually inside the soundhole under the bridge, not under the saddle.. I like to take the high end down, and beef up the mid for a warmer tone. It gets rid of that tinny, plinky kind of sound. I'm not sure if any this answered your question, but I hope it helps.
 
If you are comfortable with it... [URL="http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8560]This[/URL] has worked out well for many others in the past...
 
I've used a Dean Markley Artist Transducer for a few gigs and it sounded fine. Not great, but good enough for $30 and no modifications to the instrument. Works better with tape (clear of course!).

Also consider a microphone, as shown in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRG8EgZ6d5c
 
mealfrog41,

I'm allergic to piezo "quack."

How does your K & K do in this regard?
Thank you.

I love how if some random person dropped onto this page and saw that post, they'ed be like........wtf is up with these ukulele players.....


but all of us uke players know what that means ahaha.
 
In all honesty, I think you're better off with an internal pickup. This MiSi is absolute killer for the price. The reason I list it from Mainland is because the price is great and I think Mike installs for free. However and guitar tech can put this one in very easily. The preamp uses a supercapacitor instead of a battery. It charges in 60 seconds, last for hours on a charge and never needs replacing. Well not it your lifetime anyway.

Transducers work best under pressure, so mounting them under the bridge will give you a very intimate and clean sound. The stick ons tend to sound "distant". If you're moving around at all, I don't recommend a mic.
 
I use a John Pearse "bug" like this one. It is a little too sensitive when moving about a lot but OK if you are sitting or standing still. The sound reproduction is quite "true" though.
 
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