PickUp help

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scobey

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Hi Everyone,

After a bit of help and advice. I recently decided to turn my uke into an electric one and after a bit of searching around i decided to buy the Mi-Si MS-ATU. I really liked the fact that i wouldn't have to change the battery and could just charge it up in 60 seconds.

Now i'm from the UK and so there isn't that much in the way of choice of places to buy but i eventually found a place and ordered one.

It's just arrived but isn't what i was expecting. From all the pics/reviews i've seen it should come with an under saddle pickup, like the pic below.

412424cbc29044a29a5ee7beddc1d627.jpg


But is instead of coming with the under saddle pickup, it looks instead like this.

5f447e7d.jpg

Now i'm no expert when it comes to things like this but do you think this is just their new model for 2012 or something else. There's nothing on the packaging to say what model it is and after looking on Mi-Si's website this product isn't on there.

Any help would be gratefully received.
 
its probably a transducer pickup instead of a under saddle. if you want to know how to install it, i think theres some helpful videos there.
 
I don't know about the trans. one, but I have two under-saddle ones in a Mainland tenor and concert and couldn't be happier. Good luck.
 
I agree, that looks like a "transducer" type of pickup.
Does it have self-adhesive sticky backing on one side?

It looks similar to ones I used on some of my ukes ten years ago (made by Fishman, I think) that were intended for acoustic guitars.
I've had good luck with them, you stick them inside the uke, usually under the bridge, without disturbing the saddle.

Were you intending to do the work yourself or use a luthier?
 
Last edited:
I've seen several high-end ukes with "stick on" transducers. K&K's are still a popular choice among many uke makers. May give you a "truer" acoustic tone than the under saddle. Lots of folks here can give you more info than I can.
 
Thanks for the replies.

Unfortunately there isn't any adhesive on the transducer. Any suggestions on the best thing to use to stick it?
 
Looks like you didn't get what you thought you ordered! Southern Ukulele has the one that you expected & in fact, what everybody on UU would expect when you order a Mi-Si.

http://www.southernukulelestore.co.uk/Product/543/MiSi-MS-ATU-Acoustic-Trio-Ukulele-Transducer-Pickup-and-Preamp-rechargable

You CAN order JUST the jack portion of the unit (Mi-Si calls it the simple jack) & then put on your own element or transducer as it appears this seller has done. And, if the transducer is what you wanted & it came w/installation instructions OR you have a luthier to install it, it might sound good. But, bottom line is that you seem to have NOT gotten what you ordered.

A note, in some ways, a stick on transducer is a bit harder to install than an undersaddle, IMO, as getting it placed through the soundhole of a uke is a bit of challenge!
 
Just use a dot of super glue to attach the transducer to the underside of the sound board, (very easy).

Also, I use a chopstick or wood dowel to insert through the end of the ukulele to bring the jack through the hole. Test fit the jack and make sure the transducer line is long enough to attach it where you want it before glueing it on.

A Transducer is a lot simpler install than an under saddle pickup because you don't have to drill a hole in the bridge or sand the saddle down.
 
Last edited:
Gmoney said:
Looks like you didn't get what you thought you ordered! Southern Ukulele has the one that you expected & in fact, what everybody on UU would expect when you order a Mi-Si.

http://www.southernukulelestore.co.uk/Product/543/MiSi-MS-ATU-Acoustic-Trio-Ukulele-Transducer-Pickup-and-Preamp-rechargable
Click to expand...

The funny thing is, Southern Ukulele is where i originally ordered it from.

I'm going to send them an email and see wht they say. the fact i can't find an Mi-Si with a soundboard tranducer on the web says to me that they have done exactly what you've said and they have stuck their own transducer to the simple jack.
 
I love my Mi Si under bridge pickup...but just noticed on both my Tenors with
a wound low G....that the wound string is MUCH lower in volume that rest of strings.
Anyone else notice this issue?
 
Update:

Right, i spoke to Rob from SUS who, in his own words, was completely baffled. He had never seen a MiSi pickup like the one they sent me.

He said that as they run out of stock they just order more in and don't bother opening any boxes to check when they come in. They recently had a new batch of what they thought were normal UST MiSi pickups and i was the first person to get one of them.

They've now checked the rest of the boxes and they are all the same. Rob said that they haven't had anything from MiSi to tell them of any changes to products so he was a bit unsure of whether these are just new versions of the MiSi or something else.

After looking on the MiSi website it looks like they've taken the soundboard pickup from the mandolin/violin range and put in the normal uke/guitar jack. Possibly a new pickup for 2012???

Rob's going to speak with his MiSi distributor and see if they know anymore.
 
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Wow...that's interesting. I have a couple of tenors with UST MiSi (trio) pickups and love them but I've got a couple of ukes that I was planning on putting K&K soundboard pickups in because I don't want an UST on them.

Looks like maybe MiSi is still an option...

BTW, somebody mentioned a chopstick for guiding a endpin jack into place when they have to be installed from insided (as the MiSi obviously does). That's a good idea but I like a 1/4" plug on a short length of cable. Push it though the jack mounting hole from the outside and let gravity feed it down to near the sound hole. Plug the plug into the endpin jack and then pull the assembly back through the jack mounting hole. The jack grips the plug quite firmly so you almost have to try to pull it off. I have never dropped an endpin jack using this method.

John
 
OldePhart said:
Wow...that's interesting. I have a couple of tenors with UST MiSi (trio) pickups and love them but I've got a couple of ukes that I was planning on putting K&K soundboard pickups in because I don't want an UST on them.

Looks like maybe MiSi is still an option...
Click to expand...


Rob managed to find one web site that sells them.

MiSi SMTB-U

Might be worth giving to your local store for them to try and source one if you're interested.
 
OldePhart said:
Wow...that's interesting. I have a couple of tenors with UST MiSi (trio) pickups and love them but I've got a couple of ukes that I was planning on putting K&K soundboard pickups in because I don't want an UST on them.

Looks like maybe MiSi is still an option...

BTW, somebody mentioned a chopstick for guiding a endpin jack into place when they have to be installed from insided (as the MiSi obviously does). That's a good idea but I like a 1/4" plug on a short length of cable. Push it though the jack mounting hole from the outside and let gravity feed it down to near the sound hole. Plug the plug into the endpin jack and then pull the assembly back through the jack mounting hole. The jack grips the plug quite firmly so you almost have to try to pull it off. I have never dropped an endpin jack using this method.

John
Click to expand...

Ditto on your installation method John, using a cable is by far the simplest and most effective way to install the jack pin.
If you are interested in transducer pick ups btw you would be hard pushed to beat the JJB Electronic pick ups http://www.jjb-electronics.com/
I've fitted them to both my Martin bari and Ohana SK38 soprano. you'll have to swap out their jack for a switchcraft type end pin jack though.
That said their price point still make these excellent pick ups with crystal clear sound reproduction.
I'm more than very impressed with them!!
cheers
Gary
 
scobey said:
Rob managed to find one web site that sells them.

MiSi SMTB-U

Might be worth giving to your local store for them to try and source one if you're interested.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I couldn't find them on the Mi-Si site but I did notice that they look exactly like the pickups designed for the mandolin and violin. I wonder if what's happening is that a couple of suppliers are ordering the mandolin or violin pickups and just taking the carpenter jacks out of the set...

That would certainly work.
 
G Hill said:
Ditto on your installation method John, using a cable is by far the simplest and most effective way to install the jack pin.
If you are interested in transducer pick ups btw you would be hard pushed to beat the JJB Electronic pick ups http://www.jjb-electronics.com/
I've fitted them to both my Martin bari and Ohana SK38 soprano. you'll have to swap out their jack for a switchcraft type end pin jack though.
That said their price point still make these excellent pick ups with crystal clear sound reproduction.
I'm more than very impressed with them!!
cheers
Gary
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll check those out. I also liked the PUTW pickup in a guitar years ago so I've given some thought to that, as well.

John
 
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