open mic night/gig advice

Afternoon all I have been pondering this for a while and was after your views and input. If I was to start playing with a singer who had percussion ie a shakers on pubs and small venues. Firstly would it be beneficial to have a tenor uke? Secondly would a tenor with a pick up be essential or could o get away without one? My next bout of uas relies upon your views. I really want a red cedar mainland tenor but cannot get one with a pick up in the UK. So was looking at alternative tenor with pick up mainly the kala mahogany tenor electric both are similar in price 200-230 pounds. What do you all think? Rae



www.youtube.com/raecarter82

Sorry I forgot to add I also have a digital 8 track so that is another plus towards the pickup

In my opinion, uke size and "playing out" in pubs and such are two completely different issues.

The pickup would be very useful. Playing the uke into a mic can be difficult and quite limiting to the player's movement. A uke of any size you feel comfortable with that has a pickup would be my suggestion.

What size do you currently play? Have you tried other sizes and developed a preference?

Are there no Mainlands with pickups available in the UK? Or just not the red cedar tenor? Mainland is aquiring a wickedly positive reputation here on UU. I've not read a bad word about them....

This seems to be more about playing out and implies that you are going to play amplified. If you're going to play in pubs you will definitely want to be heard among the people drinking/eating/talking.

What are you going to play through? Amp? PA? House PA?

Unless you are going to rely on house PA systems (and the people who run them) you're going to have to buy some amplification system, either amp or small PA. You're likely going to want something that will enable you to optimize your sound together, like one of the many small PA systems available.

There are pros and cons to both approaches. . . and stuff you'll need, cords, DI box for you if you're going to use a transducer pickup, mic(s). . . There are lots of questions and considerations and, if you don't have any experience with sound reinforcement, you're not really going to know what you're doing and why. A small PA is the most flexible for solo/duo. You usually get 2 speakers which will help you fill a room with decent sound and some options.

I have this, perfect for solo guitar/uke/vocal It cost me about $600.00US, plenty loud, good sound, and options.
http://www.yamaha.com/yamahavgn/CDA/ContentDetail/ModelSeriesDetail.html?CNTID=36692

Here's Carvin, mail order, good value, lots of folks swear by them.
http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/group.php?cid=10
http://www.carvinguitars.com/products/group.php?cid=101

Peavey, also good value, lots of folks use 'em
http://www.peavey.com/products/browse.cfm/action/list/cat/398/begin/1/PViSeries.cfm
http://www.peavey.com/products/speakers.cfm

So, while you may be thinking about a new uke, and the pickup is an important consideration, you should really think about amplification. As far as what size uke, doesn't really matter. Play what you like.

Hi Mailman thanks for the response. I currently have a kala asmc concert. i love it for its strumming, it has a lovely mellow tone with worth browns installed. the problem is i have been playing a month now and feel i am missing out on the little extra room a tenor has for picking and solo pieces. I have played this style on acoustic guitar for 15years and find the concert a little limited when trying to play technical things. On the other note i emailed mike hoosierhiver and he said that eagle music is the exclusive uk distributor and they only have a few concerts and a red cedar tenor. I like the idea of having the kala asm-tec the tenor cutaway with electrics and putting aquilas on to give it a different sound but similar look to my current kala? In reality im all a quandry!

Thanks Scottie i have some experience gigging acoustically on guitar and found running my guitar through my zoom mrs8 8 track enables me to control the sound issues before it goes through the house pa. i have a feedback buster in my guitar and i believe these are possible to get for uke if i really need one. My 8 track also has a number of features to alter the eq etc if i need too? I really dont feel i would have a problem getting the sound ok in a pub it was more on the practicality of the instrument?

So it functions like a DI box then?

Yes scottie it is

Are we all agreeing that an electric is going to be most helpful to me

Far be it from me to discourage someone from buying a new uke, but... I think your current instrument would be perfectly fine for an open mic type of thing. Certainly fine for testing the waters. Just walk up, slap a microphone in front of it, and away you go.

It's a rare pickup that sounds as good and as "natural" as an acoustically-miked instrument. There's a reason that people almost always use mics and not pickups when recording acoustic instruments in a studio setting. The main advantage of pickups is control of the sound (feedback, bleed-through, etc.) in a live setting, and the ability to roam around on stage. But I don't think any of that would be too much of an issue for you in this case.

JJ

Thanks jj much obliged so that's a tick in the mainland red cedar tenor box if I branch out and get another one

I play a bunch of open mics and don't have a pick-up. As long as there's an "open mic" for you to use, you'll be fine.

deach is right. most open mics have enough equipment there to get most people set up to perform.

I NEED to own a mainland tenor! That's what your saying isn't it

If you're playing on an open stage you usually play thru the house PA. At least that's the case in the irish pub where I play every Sunday. The first time I played I just put one of the mics in front of the ukulele. This wasn't fun. You have to keep the distance to the mic, which is very difficult when you're singing at the same time. The mics in the pub are made for singing, not for amplifying an acoustic instrument.

Then I installed a shadow piezo under the bridge. This made it easier, I could just plug in the cable. However, the sound that came out of the speakers was not what the uke sounds unplugged. Very hard, lots of treble. At an open stage you don't have the time to do a sound check, so no chance to fix the sound. You also have to set the gain of the PA very high when using a passive transducer. The guy who runs the stage was not delighted about that.

When I bought my Koaloha pineapple soprano a month ago I decided to go for a microphone solution. Before the stage I glue an AKG C 411 L next to the bridge (you can easily remove it afterwards). The mini XLR goes into a AKG B 29 L preamp, where you can plug in the mic cable from the PA.

That's the perfect solution. I can plug in quickly when I go on stage, the uke sounds very natural, the signal is strong enough for the PA, I can put it on any of my ukes, everybody is happy Will cost you about 200 bucks.