kissing
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 30, 2009
- Messages
- 4,370
- Reaction score
- 611
My Luna Baritone's cheap undersaddle pickup left more to be desired.
It hardly makes a tone when plugged in and is very unresponsive. Not surprising that the stock pickup is the cheapest, crappiest variety in existence.
I found this inexpensive ARTEC pickup for ukuleles upon a search on the internet. I had previously heard of this brand, somewhat well known for its guitar pickups, and they seemed like good quality. Here is where I bought mine for $12 and a bit of shipping:
http://www.eyguitarmusic.com/Artec-Ukulele-Saddle-Piezo-Bridge-Pickup-PP-404U-NEW_p_181.html
Now, I'm not a great tinkerer at all, in fact I'm more of a destroyer.
But even with my feeble skills and lack of specialised tools I was able to replace the flimsy stock piezo with the Artec one. It did require a bit of modification on my particular uke:
-The hole on the bridge where the piezo enters the body was not large enough for the new piezo, so I had to make it a bit bigger using a mini flathead screwdriver like a barbaric chisel (a needle file or power-drill/drillbits would have been ideal, but I didn't have one)
-The saddle needed to be sanded down a bit as the new piezo gave more height
-I had to trim a tiny bit of the piezo bar off the end as it was about 2mm too long to fit in the ukulele undersaddle.
These steps may not be necessary for some ukes, depending on the dimensions, etc.
After about an hour of tinkering, this project is a raving success!
The ukulele went from sounding like plugging a potato into an amp, to a professional quality tone that competes with much much more expensive pickup systems such as Fishman or Mi-Si. The tone became FAR more rich, sustaining and pleasant to play and listen to.
I suspect that the Artec pickups are the OEM for pickups that are sold far more expensively when under other brand names, such as Dean Markley.
They have shielded wiring and the actual piezo undersaddle bar is securely encased on copper(?) and a rigid metal casing.
If you're looking for a GREAT quality, affordable undersaddle piezo with mini-jack end, you gotta try this!
My only criticism is that shipping was a bit slow. It sends from Hong Kong, and it took about 2 weeks for it to arrive in Australia.
Sorry I didn't take pictures of the installation process.. I wasn't intending to make a detailed guide.
But here are some pictures of the pickups I took:
1. The original flimsy piece of trash that is stock with the UK-2000/Belcat pre-amp systems. The undersaddle part isn't even rigid! It's just a bit of wire covered in a bit of plastic which I suspect has a tiny bit of piezo inside?!
2. This is how I received the Artec pickup in a bubble wrap bag.
I even get a free mini plastic container! (which I will use as a medicine box or something):
It hardly makes a tone when plugged in and is very unresponsive. Not surprising that the stock pickup is the cheapest, crappiest variety in existence.
I found this inexpensive ARTEC pickup for ukuleles upon a search on the internet. I had previously heard of this brand, somewhat well known for its guitar pickups, and they seemed like good quality. Here is where I bought mine for $12 and a bit of shipping:
http://www.eyguitarmusic.com/Artec-Ukulele-Saddle-Piezo-Bridge-Pickup-PP-404U-NEW_p_181.html
Now, I'm not a great tinkerer at all, in fact I'm more of a destroyer.
But even with my feeble skills and lack of specialised tools I was able to replace the flimsy stock piezo with the Artec one. It did require a bit of modification on my particular uke:
-The hole on the bridge where the piezo enters the body was not large enough for the new piezo, so I had to make it a bit bigger using a mini flathead screwdriver like a barbaric chisel (a needle file or power-drill/drillbits would have been ideal, but I didn't have one)
-The saddle needed to be sanded down a bit as the new piezo gave more height
-I had to trim a tiny bit of the piezo bar off the end as it was about 2mm too long to fit in the ukulele undersaddle.
These steps may not be necessary for some ukes, depending on the dimensions, etc.
After about an hour of tinkering, this project is a raving success!
The ukulele went from sounding like plugging a potato into an amp, to a professional quality tone that competes with much much more expensive pickup systems such as Fishman or Mi-Si. The tone became FAR more rich, sustaining and pleasant to play and listen to.
I suspect that the Artec pickups are the OEM for pickups that are sold far more expensively when under other brand names, such as Dean Markley.
They have shielded wiring and the actual piezo undersaddle bar is securely encased on copper(?) and a rigid metal casing.
If you're looking for a GREAT quality, affordable undersaddle piezo with mini-jack end, you gotta try this!
My only criticism is that shipping was a bit slow. It sends from Hong Kong, and it took about 2 weeks for it to arrive in Australia.
Sorry I didn't take pictures of the installation process.. I wasn't intending to make a detailed guide.
But here are some pictures of the pickups I took:
1. The original flimsy piece of trash that is stock with the UK-2000/Belcat pre-amp systems. The undersaddle part isn't even rigid! It's just a bit of wire covered in a bit of plastic which I suspect has a tiny bit of piezo inside?!
2. This is how I received the Artec pickup in a bubble wrap bag.
I even get a free mini plastic container! (which I will use as a medicine box or something):
Last edited: