Cheap Pickup for a Cheap 'Ukulele

Ahnko Honu · Aug 13, 2009

I bought a cheap Skylark/Northern clone baritone 'ukulele. I like it but it is a tad on the quiet side so I want to install a cheap eBay piezo pickup so I can plug into my Danelectro Honeytone amp. They have listed kits in 3 sizes 3 Khz, 4.6 Khz, and 6 Khz. Which one should I get? Mahalo!

cornfedgroove · Aug 13, 2009

man dont bother wasting your money if you have or can borrow a soldering iron.

go spend 1.99 on a piezo element at radio shack and 1.99 on 2 audio jacks...they come in packs of 2. Crack the plastic case, pull out and solder up the element to the jack using basic wire.......bam, pickup.

dave g · Aug 13, 2009

cornfedgroove said:
man dont bother wasting your money if you have or can borrow a soldering iron.

go spend 1.99 on a piezo element at radio shack and 1.99 on 2 audio jacks...they come in packs of 2. Crack the plastic case, pull out and solder up the element to the jack using basic wire.......bam, pickup.

A bit more detail: http://www.wsukes.com/electric/electric.html

Uncle Rod Higuchi · Aug 13, 2009

That's a great instruction link!

How simple can you get? Aside from the actual drilling of the hole in the Uke!

Otherwise, wonderful info.

thanks for sharing it!

Ahnko Honu · Aug 13, 2009

I just looked at the triple sound holes in my "Doane Clone" and the biggest one in the center is about 7/8" in diameter. Do the Radio Shack Piezos come that small?

Ahnko Honu · Aug 13, 2009

dave g said:
A bit more detail: http://www.wsukes.com/electric/electric.html

Mahalo Dave, you da man! I remember reading your info before. My problem is the size of the sound hole.

cornfedgroove · Aug 13, 2009

they do have smaller ones with different specs...I think more expensive though. I know you can buy a set of 10 or so for a few bucks off ebay, they are about the size of a dime.

If you are talking about a cheap uke...honestly I would just drill the hole if you got room to maneuver through the sound hole. If you drill it and install it permanent, take it out of the black plastic.

RonS · Aug 13, 2009

Thanks Dave for the link.

I see WaverlyStreet has a video that shows what it sounds like, but I was wondering if you tried this yourself. If so what is your opinion on the sound?

Captain_Lovehandles · Aug 13, 2009

Psssst... Dave IS Waverly Street. I did it to my Oscar Schmidt using the WS instructions. Very easy to install. A little more difficult to make it sound good through an amp, IMHO. And I have a very good acoustic amp. My opinion is that cheap pickup + cheap uke = cheap sound.

casetone2514 · Aug 13, 2009

cornfedgroove said:
man dont bother wasting your money if you have or can borrow a soldering iron.

go spend 1.99 on a piezo element at radio shack and 1.99 on 2 audio jacks...they come in packs of 2. Crack the plastic case, pull out and solder up the element to the jack using basic wire.......bam, pickup.

Don't even bother with the solder - insulation tape is all that's holding mine together and it's very robust.

Ahnko Honu · Aug 13, 2009

RonS said:
Thanks Dave for the link.

I see WaverlyStreet has a video that shows what it sounds like, but I was wondering if you tried this yourself. If so what is your opinion on the sound?

I own that very same 'ukulele my Waverly Street #51, and she sounds great though I only have a Danelectro Honeytone amp, usually play her unplugged.

cornfedgroove · Aug 13, 2009

never tried tape...if it works it works.

I do alot of them for resale, so I always solder

piezos pickups sound just like the instrument, only louder...amplified, you can of course adjust the tone, so thats always great. Piezos can be sensitive if you like to crank volume...you can get feedback if you're sitting too close, but i've never had a problem.

Ahnko Honu · Aug 13, 2009

I gather that the best place to install the pickup is closest to the first string under the bridge. As seen in the picture of my "Doane Clone" 'ukulele the sound hole is tiny, and far away from the bridge. How critical is the distance from the bridge? Also I read to glue the pickup on with epoxy, and also to double stick tape the pickup on. What works best? Mahalo for all the input.

Ahnko Honu · Aug 13, 2009

cornfedgroove said:
never tried tape...if it works it works.

I do alot of them for resale, so I always solder

piezos pickups sound just like the instrument, only louder...amplified, you can of course adjust the tone, so thats always great. Piezos can be sensitive if you like to crank volume...you can get feedback if you're sitting too close, but i've never had a problem.

How does the size and Khz rating of the piezo effect sound quality? Is bigger better? Will a small diameter piezo that can fits through the sound hole still have decent sound quality?

RonS · Aug 13, 2009

Captain_Lovehandles said:
Psssst... Dave IS Waverly Street.

LOL - I guess he did try it

I did it to my Oscar Schmidt using the WS instructions. Very easy to install. A little more difficult to make it sound good through an amp, IMHO. And I have a very good acoustic amp. My opinion is that cheap pickup + cheap uke = cheap sound.

I was wondering about that myself.
I guess you get what you pay for.

But if a person doesn't want to pay more for the pickup than they paid for thier uke, this should be a viable option.

Thanks

cornfedgroove · Aug 13, 2009

Most people I know try to put it on the bass side of the bridge since its already a small, high pitch kinda instrument...but to each his own, and at the end of the day, you will have adjustments on your amp. I tend to go for the bass side though to balance the sound transmission.

man i never paid much attn to the spec ratings...they all will produce the same sound since all they're doing is translating the vibrations from the wood into the amp. Smaller diameter piezos do produce less volume, but not so much that it should even be an issue.

in all fairness though, I'm just a hack...I imagine the specs may affect something somewhere, but to what extent...i have never noticed anything.

Captain_Lovehandles · Aug 13, 2009

It is indeed a decent option.

cornfedgroove · Aug 13, 2009

its a great option...in fact unless its a custom or expensive uke, its really the best option. You can do it for about $3.50 on your own...or you can spend $35 on a dean markley stick on pickup that is exactly the same thing with a pretty wood enclosure (which you can also do on your own in 5 minutes with scrap wood) and shielded cable (which you wont need cuz you got the jack)

Ahnko Honu · Aug 14, 2009

cornfedgroove said:
If you drill it and install it permanent, take it out of the black plastic.

Do you recall what the diameter of the piezo is after removing from the plastic casing? Thanks!

ricdoug · Aug 14, 2009

Any of the piezoelectric buzzers Radio Shack sells will work, regardless of their size. Dave's method is awesome. I've installed several dozen of them that way and they all work great and have plenty of quality output for any amp! Check out this thread:

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8560

Cheap Pickup for a Cheap 'Ukulele

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