Electrified my Ohana Vita!

kissing

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I had this Mahalo active pickup (costs $35 AUD) installed on my Ohana Vita!
Though for what I paid for it, it was no surprise that I got some issues with it.

For one, there was that dull rattling sound when played acoustically, and the overall acoustic sound seemed to have gotten softer. I noticed that the people who set it up (local guitar repairer) hadn't tied up the inside wires very well. They zip-tied it to a sticky-block that was stuck on the soundboard, and was causing rattling.

So I took matters into my own hand. After lots of messing around, I managed to snip off the zip tie with scissors (which was kinda risky, since I might have snipped the wires!), and removed the sticky block that was on the soundboard by wedging it with a guitar pick. The acoustic sound drastically improved, but there was still some rattling. So I got one of those thin wires covered in plastic that you use to tie headphone cords, and tied it up. The rattling was gone, and the acoustic sound was returned to its former glory :D (though I was annoyed that I had to go through this trouble myself).

The other issue is that the pickup volume is uneven between the strings. The two middle strings sound nice and loud, but the outer strings (G and A) sound softer, and this was quite bothersome. The guy at the shop said that he did the best he could, but he said that if I bring it in again he could experiment with it more.

He suggested upgrading just the transducer part that goes under the saddle, and I think I might go with that option. If this fixes up the amplified sound issue, I think I'll be pretty happy. Its been very neatly set up, and the pickup unit matches the uke wood quite well :D
And most of all, it was quite cheap! (Shadow active pickup systems cost a fortune here! Even more expensive than a whole new uke that comes with it built-in!)
 
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