Uke Pickup

allUkedup

allUkedup

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I have the Mitchell MU100, the Guitar Center uke. If I'm considering putting a pickup on the uke, do you think it would be worth it?

The thing cost I think $160 and it's a great starter uke. Should I even consider a pickup or just wait until I get a better ukulele one day and maybe get an electric one.

Just looking for suggestions as sometimes I'd like to get the uke sounding louder without having to sit in front of a microphone.
 
I have a K&K Big Shot, which is an external piezo pickup. Nice thing is that if you buy it, you can remove it from the uke it's on. It's somewhat cheap comparatively, and works well. I used it on my Boulder Creek tenor originally and have also used it on the Reso-King. I would give it a look.
 
thanks for the suggestion! yeah I was hoping to find something where I didn't have to put any holes in my current uke.
 
You could make one for under $10 bucks like the one at the following link and use putty to stick it to the top of your ukulele:

http://www.ukuleleunderground.com/f...0-Electrify-your-uke-for-under-10-bucks/page2

Ukulele535.jpg


Ukulele536.jpg
 
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I bought an external pick up almost identical to ricdougs DIY one that I got for $65NZD. Bloody expensive but the quality is as good as you're going to get from an external pick up so I'm happy with what I paid. A lot less happy now after seeing how easily it could be made...
 
My solution is cheaper, easier to install (no installation whatsoever), and probably works just as well (I personally have good results with it)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Profession-...042?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item3cbba56f22

And you can use it on any stringed instrument you have (even harmonicas)

I have several acoustic electric and electric ukes, and I prefer this clip-on pickup over some of them.
The sound is quite clean and sounds like it's been amplified by mic rather than a piezo.
The main drawback is that it does pick up some tapping and bumping (as a mic would too), and that the cord length is fixed.

But hey, for something that is this easy to use and this cheap, it's great value and a very simple solution until you get a better electric in the future.
 
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hey ricdoug..could you post the link?
 
kissing said:
My solution is cheaper, easier to install (no installation whatsoever), and probably works just as well (I personally have good results with it)

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Profession-...042?pt=Guitar_Accessories&hash=item3cbba56f22

And you can use it on any stringed instrument you have (even harmonicas)

I have several acoustic electric and electric ukes, and I prefer this clip-on pickup over some of them.
The sound is quite clean and sounds like it's been amplified by mic rather than a piezo.
The main drawback is that it does pick up some tapping and bumping (as a mic would too), and that the cord length is fixed.

But hey, for something that is this easy to use and this cheap, it's great value and a very simple solution until you get a better electric in the future.
Click to expand...

kissing, where exactly would I clip that to? the headstock? that looks pretty cool, and pretty darn cheap too. can I get that and not have to alter my uke in any way?
 
allUkedup said:
kissing, where exactly would I clip that to? the headstock? that looks pretty cool, and pretty darn cheap too. can I get that and not have to alter my uke in any way?
Click to expand...

It clips onto the headstock, like you would with a clip-on tuner.
And then it just plugs into the amp.

No modification to the instrument whatsoever :)
When I first got it, I thought it was too easy to be true, but dang, this thing works!
 
I saw Lou Tullo at Hulville using one of those tonight, kissing. He had it clipped sideways on the bridge. Uncle Kiki (Johnny Pal) uses one of those on the headstock, like you. I have a Cherub pickup that is similar. You can get different tonal variations, depending on where you clip it on the uke. Ric
 
kissing said:
It clips onto the headstock, like you would with a clip-on tuner.
And then it just plugs into the amp.

No modification to the instrument whatsoever :)
When I first got it, I thought it was too easy to be true, but dang, this thing works!
Click to expand...

Kissing, will this clip on work with this?

http://www.amazon.com/Kala-Roundabout-Watt-Ukulele-Amplifier/dp/B003ZEY5KE/ref=sr_1_2?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1327180604&sr=1-2

How well do you think that clip on would actually pick up the sounds and put it through the amplifier? I'm a little hesitant because it really does seem too good to be true, not sure how it could pick up the proper sounds when clipped onto the headstock.
 
allUkedup said:
Kissing, will this clip on work with this?

http://www.amazon.com/Kala-Roundabout-Watt-Ukulele-Amplifier/dp/B003ZEY5KE/ref=sr_1_2?s=musical-instruments&ie=UTF8&qid=1327180604&sr=1-2

How well do you think that clip on would actually pick up the sounds and put it through the amplifier? I'm a little hesitant because it really does seem too good to be true, not sure how it could pick up the proper sounds when clipped onto the headstock.
Click to expand...

It should work fine on a small amp like that.
It works great for me on my Roland Microcube.

Don't expect miracles, but it does perform exceptionally well for something that costs around $5 and requires absolutely no amplification whatsoever.
I even keep it in my case of my acoustic-electrics, in case I run out of battery or the pickup malfunctions. I would have a battery-free 'backup' pickup.

If I was getting any pickup actually installed on a uke, I would not settle for less than the best quality undersaddle piezo + onboard electronics (if I want to go active). Otherwise, it just isn't worth the installation. I'm not a big fan of stick-on pickups - I hate the idea of having something make contact with the soundboard, especially if it's permanent.
 
SweetWaterBlue said:
I have not tried building my own from a Radio Shack buzzer, but somewhere I read that its frequency response is not that great. For only $5 more I installed one of the JJB Electronics' PPS-100 in my tenor and it sounds great. I did have to drill a hole for it though.
Click to expand...

Peizoelectric buzzers are very simple in design. None of them have flat frequency response. That's why it takes active electronics to tame the piezo "bark". The cost of the Radio Shack pickup is about $4 bucks total, after the initial one. The double sided foam tape takes some of the "bark" out of them, too. Ric
 
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