passive and active pickup on one preamp - damn Sound

Hi everybody,

i have a Little question and i hope someone can give me a hint. Okay, my current statues. I am on stage with two Ukuleles. A „Normal“ Uke with a Mi-Si Trio active Pickup inside and an eUke with a passive Piezo Pickup. Both ukes goes into a Fishman Platinum Pro EQ. In the most cases i use a delay and a Reverb from mooer. That’s all.
From the Fishman I go over xlr out to the PA or at home into my interface.
The sound over the interface is absolutely great. Both ukes has their own sound with the same fishman settings. Really great.
If we have a gig and if a technician is on Bord, the sound is great, too.

Unfortunately the last gigs we didn’t have a technician and my euke sounds like a e guitar without a preamp (if you go direct into the mixer). Very very thin. I checked everything but I didn’t found out what happened. So I didn’t play the euke.

Can someone give me a hint what I can do? I like to have the control about my sound and I don’t want to use Amps, I like to give someone a xlr cable and the rest comes from me. Need I change my preamp?

Thank you for your help.

Can you explain the difference in your setup between having a sound guy or not in a little more detail? I'm not understanding why it would have to be different if you're running into the board either way. Just keep using the XLR out if that's what sounds good.

Brad Bordessa said:

Can you explain the difference in your setup between having a sound guy or not in a little more detail? I'm not understanding why it would have to be different if you're running into the board either way. Just keep using the XLR out if that's what sounds good.

Click to expand...

I only use the XLR out. I don’t know really why it sounds so different. The only one thing I know is, that the Sound Guy has two Profiles for me on his mixing desk. If intake my other Uke and switch, he will change it.

It sounds like you need a separate EQ for each instrument. A few options are outlined below:

1) A two-channel preamplifier with separate EQs for each channel (roughly $1000 new). Pedalboard "friendly" options include the Orange 2-channel preamps (there's an acoustic model) and the Grace Design FELiX. Rack-mounted options include the Pendulum SPS-1.

2) A 2-channel DI box with either a shared or assignable EQ section ($300ish). The two predominant options here are the Radial PZ-Pre and the Headway EDB-2. The two models are quite different from one another, but the key difference for your application is that the PZ-Pre shares its EQ section with both inputs while the EDB-2 contains a single EQ section that can be assigned to either input channel. If you use the PZ-Pre, you could either use one output and reset the EQ section when you change instruments or use the multiple outputs (possibly in combination with additional mute switches and FX pedals) to "switch" between the two instruments. In the latter case, you'd set the two input channels to blend then send two of the outputs to separate channels on the mixer, EQ one channel at the preamp and the mixer, and if necessary, use the additional mute switches to silence whichever input isn't in current use. With the EDB-2, you could simply assign the EQ to one channel, EQ the other channel at the mixer, then use the preamp to tweak the sound for the assigned channel. While the EDB-2 offers a somewhat simpler solution, the PZ-Pre has more precise notch filter and is more transparent overall. Either option requires somewhat specialized power, so that's something to keep in mind if you use a pedalboard.

3) A pair of conventional DI boxes, each with its own EQ section ($200ish). Depending on your rig and needs, this might complicate your signal chain significantly.

FWIW, I use a PZ-Pre. When a sound tech is available, I send one or two of the outputs to FOH and one of the post-EQ outputs to the stage monitors (the PZ-Pre provides *versatile* output options); when a sound tech is unavailable, I send one post-EQ output to the mixer, the other post-EQ output to the monitors, and reset the EQ as needed. If I were you, I'd A/B the PZ-Pre against the EDB-2 before you decide on the best solution for your own rig.

Oh, thank you. That sounds like a good way for me. I will take a Look at the Radial.
Two DI Boxes sounds too complicated.

I will check and give feedback.

Thank you