Pondoro
Well-known member
I'm thinking of a stick-type. feel free to lobby for steel strings or nylon, I have not decided yet. (I know they require different types of pickups - I'd like to hear your stories of success and/or failure.)
What pickup do people like for an electric-only uke?
- Thread starter Pondoro
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rickmorgan2003
Well-known member
For magnetic coil you really only have the choice of Almuse pickups.
Or you can wind your own. Almuse's were designed for mandolins but they make a uke one now. The use rare earth mags under each pole which isn't traditional but works. They have a lot of punch but to me they are a bit to bright and lack the warmth of a uke. You will never make a steel string uke sound like a nylon one. I wind my own and use alnico 2 mags.
Less punch but warmer with nice clear tones. If you go nylon there are dozens of peizo styles to choose from. They do a great job of keeping the sound more like an acoustic. You need a preamp hookup for those which may or may not involve cutting a cavity out on the upper bout.
Or you can wind your own. Almuse's were designed for mandolins but they make a uke one now. The use rare earth mags under each pole which isn't traditional but works. They have a lot of punch but to me they are a bit to bright and lack the warmth of a uke. You will never make a steel string uke sound like a nylon one. I wind my own and use alnico 2 mags. Less punch but warmer with nice clear tones. If you go nylon there are dozens of peizo styles to choose from. They do a great job of keeping the sound more like an acoustic. You need a preamp hookup for those which may or may not involve cutting a cavity out on the upper bout.
Rick Turner
Well-known member
For steel strings, why not use half of a P-Bass pickup? You can get them pretty inexpensively.
For amplifying my Compass Rose ukes, we generally use a customized D-TAR Timberline pickup with the preamp mounted on board, but with an external battery box so as not to add too much additional weight to the instrument. It's an expensive solution, but I've not heard better.
For amplifying my Compass Rose ukes, we generally use a customized D-TAR Timberline pickup with the preamp mounted on board, but with an external battery box so as not to add too much additional weight to the instrument. It's an expensive solution, but I've not heard better.
Brad Bordessa
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External batteries??? As in, hooked on your belt? Or like a TRS cable with phantom power?
Consider me intrigued.
Rick Turner
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TRS stereo cable...signal down the "tip", 18 volt power up the "ring". Tons of headroom. Sounds like...well, like the uke.
Brad Bordessa
Well-known member
So is there an actual "battery box" that is providing the powered signal? I'd love to hear more (or see pictures!) of this solution. I've always heard good things about the D-tar and no-batteries-inside-the-uke is always a good thing. Mahalo, BB
fromthee2me
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Hi Pondoro,
I have a slotted headstock Kala tenor with a Mi-si unit in it which was fitted by MGM who I bought it from. The unit performs well + is tidy but when the capacitor starts to loose its charge (16 hrs) it seems as if the instrument goes out of tune. Not a problem as it only takes 30 seconds to charge that capacitor again. The unit is part of the endpin with its circuitry attached to the endpin.
The disadvantage (my opinion) is that you have no tone or volume control, unless you buy an La Briggs kind of mixer unit, that you clip on your belt or a music stand, or you set your amp up the way you want it. Invariably when making music with others one has to balance all the instruments so everyone can hear each other and their instrument.
In my Bruko I have a K&K unit, a passive unit, again with no controls, but it does not need batteries or being recharged. An external mixer unit does the rest for me, and works to my satisfaction. These units I understand are stuck internally in a strategic spot. One has to youtube that to see who has manged to film that inside the uke, or maybe there is an HTML page with a well drawn diagram somewhere. I hope it helps and you get good results.
I have a slotted headstock Kala tenor with a Mi-si unit in it which was fitted by MGM who I bought it from. The unit performs well + is tidy but when the capacitor starts to loose its charge (16 hrs) it seems as if the instrument goes out of tune. Not a problem as it only takes 30 seconds to charge that capacitor again. The unit is part of the endpin with its circuitry attached to the endpin.
The disadvantage (my opinion) is that you have no tone or volume control, unless you buy an La Briggs kind of mixer unit, that you clip on your belt or a music stand, or you set your amp up the way you want it. Invariably when making music with others one has to balance all the instruments so everyone can hear each other and their instrument.
In my Bruko I have a K&K unit, a passive unit, again with no controls, but it does not need batteries or being recharged. An external mixer unit does the rest for me, and works to my satisfaction. These units I understand are stuck internally in a strategic spot. One has to youtube that to see who has manged to film that inside the uke, or maybe there is an HTML page with a well drawn diagram somewhere. I hope it helps and you get good results.
This solution never crossed my mind. I have been designing a semi-hollow, and really do not feel the urge to wind my own. The front runner, thus far, has been a Dimarzio blade style - which seems to work for John Mann (Manndolins). Allow me to walk down the P-Bass divided by two road and see where it brings me.
Thanks for the idea... it seems so obvious now.
rickmorgan2003
Well-known member
check out spring spacing though- I think p-bass pickups run 55mm center to center of poles and ukes tend to run closer to 40mm.
I'm looking at the details now.... We'll see where it takes me.
thistle3585
Well-known member
Obviously a fan of Almuse, but not of split P Bass pickups. Just personal preference. I used to use a Bartolini split P until I realized that the bars in the pickup were off center because they were designed to cover two strings. What happened is that it left one string uncovered. For the money spent on a Bass pickup or a DiMarzio then you might as well get an Almuse. The DiMarzio's are a great picjup. I've also had good luck with the Lil' puncher from GFS if you are looking for a "hotter" tone. Its a Tele neck pickup but is also a humbucker.
Wish I had the funds for Rick's setup. That is probably you best option all around.
Wish I had the funds for Rick's setup. That is probably you best option all around.
resoman
Well-known member
Some of the cigar box guys are winding their own pickups for the 4 string cbg's. You might check with Cigar Box Nation as there are a few on there that sell there. Don't know the string spacing off hand but it may be too wide for the ukes. One of the guys, Ted Crocker has a website where you can see the stuff. Most of the cbg's have 1 1/2" necks. http://tedcrocker.com/stonehenge.html
I am still leaning towards the Dimarzio ... Or another blade type. That should give me a bit more leeway on placement without worrying about pole spacing.
I am actually planning on making this a hybrid (as if I am not far enough off the rails as it is.) I was wrestling with bridge design, and since I don't really have the tools to machine what I would want from metal, I have decided to go with a wood/bone bridge/saddle.... which then led me to contemplating the Hamer Duotone.... and eventually the addition of a piezo below the saddle.... ultimately arriving at the hybrid.
.... May God have mercy on my soul…
Rick Turner
Well-known member
I built a whole industry (nearly...) making brass guitar and bass hardware using woodworking equipment...table saw, band saw, belt sanders, drill press, files, rasps, and buffers. Then graduated to a milling machine, making patterns for foundry work, etc. All that brass hardware in the 1970s started with what we were doing at Alembic.
Timbuck
Well-known member
I also do quite a bit of metalwork with woodworking machinary..and the reverse.. wood work with metal machinary..it's all down to speeds and feeds.
Rick Turner
Well-known member
I'm with Ken on this. I do uke bridge saddle slots on my vertical mill with the head tilted 7 degrees to get the back angle for the saddle. It works wonderfully.
I also still make some brass parts for my electric guitars and basses using the mill, but I saw the stock to length either on my table saw with a thin kerf carbide blade or on a band saw with a metal cutting blade...lots of teeth.
I also still make some brass parts for my electric guitars and basses using the mill, but I saw the stock to length either on my table saw with a thin kerf carbide blade or on a band saw with a metal cutting blade...lots of teeth.
Thanks, Ken and Rick, I will consider my options. Of course, it's all academic until I move into the new house later this summer. All of my tools (plus the tools I inherited from my father) are in storage, for the time being.
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