experimentjon
Well-known member
TL;DR?: Just watch the video.
EDIT: See Post #77 for update...and another fun video!
I just picked up an Analysis Plus Yellow Oval cable today and tried it out on my Kanilea Aldrine Model. Prior to this, I had only plugged the uke into my Roland Cube 30 electric guitar amp through a $10 Hosa cable for about 30 seconds, just to test that it worked. It worked. No further questions since I don't really play plugged in often anyway. Embarrassingly, this is basically how I test all of my ukes with pickups...through a noisy guitar amp (often still on the guitar British amp model settings) with a cheap guitar cable.
So today, eager to try my new AP cable (much hyped by Jake Shimabukuro), I bought out my proper Roland AC60 Acoustic amp. Here's the full setup:
Kanilea AG Tenor with Kanilea's in-house active pickup. Only modifications: D'Addario T2 strings & Martin Ebony/Abalone bridge pins.
Analysis Plus Yellow Oval 10ft, Angle 1/4" (silent) to Straight 1/4" (silent)
Roland AC60 Amp
I took a quick video on my phone to summarize what happens.... (Click the picture below to watch the video.)
SPOILER BELOW
THIS UKULELE PLAYS FM 97.5 HAWAII'S COUNTRY RADIO NON STOP.
Here's a quick Q&A:
What Pickup is in the Aldrine Model?
The Kanilea active pickup (often marketed under the name "Pegpals") is installed in the Aldrine model. In his video introducing the ukulele, he says "I think the pickup itself is like $500 bucks." That's not exactly accurate, and I think Kanilea charges somewhere in the ~$200 range for it...which is not cheap...but not quite $500.
So what is really inside? I took a look, and it turns out they are actually just using some undersaddle transducer wired to an Artec EPP active preamp. And I suspect this is the problem. It is a relatively inexpensive kit that can be found on Aliexpress (Chinese Amazon-like site) for $33. I suspect the total cost of parts is under $40. <LINK>
How do you know the Kanilea pickup is the problem?
Like any science experiement, I also ran a few control scenarios to test my hypothesis that the Kanilea pickup is the problem:
Amp nothing plugged in: no noise
Amp with cable plugged in; no ukulele: no noise
Then I tried different instruments
Kanilea Slothead Tenor w/ Fishman Matrix Infinity: beautiful silent tone
Kanilea K-4 Custom Tenor w/ Pegpals Pickup: LOT of noise...but no country music (you can't really tell from the cell-phone video, but it's one of the nosiest pickups I have ever heard...well second noisiest.)
KoAloha Sceptre Tenor w/ Fishman Matrix Infinity: beautiful silent tone
KoAloha Pineapple Sunday w/ Fishman Matrix Infinity: beautiful silent tone
Aldrine Model through cheap cable: country music albeit with a worse signal...guess I wasn't paying attention during my original test.
I think that's enough evidence to isolate the problem to the Kanilea in-house pickup.
Is it just that spot in the room?
No. I can move around and it will only get worse--or better, depending on how you look at it, because the signal actually gets clearer right in about the center of the room. Lifting it off the bed just makes the instrument a better antenna.
Can you change the station?
No; the Gilbert tuners do not allow me to change stations. Fail.
Where did you buy your Kanileas?
The offending instruments with the Kanilea pickup were purchased on the secondary market in like-new condition from the Marketplace here (Aldrine Model) and Craigslist (Custom K4). But I don't think buying on the secondary market caused these fundamental pickup problems. It is EXTREMELY unlikely that the previous owners did anything to the pickup; both were upstanding individuals. I'm no expert and don't want to make any unfounded accusations, but I suspect that the real reason is much more likely to be cheap parts and poor shielding in the pickup.
Is the Analysis Plus cable actually that much better than the cheaper cables?
Here's the thing, at roughly $12.50 per foot, The AP had better be a good cable. And it does NOT disappoint. You can immediately hear the improved clarity and tone. But one very easy way to tell is that the AP transmits the radio signal much more clearly from the ukulele to the amp than the cheap cable.
Have you talked to Kanilea about this yet?
I'm going to go to the annual Ukulele Festival next weekend and try to see Joe and Kristen about this and will post any update.
I welcome your thoughts and any explanations for why my ukulele now plays Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, and The Band Perry--vocals and all.
EDIT: See Post #77 for update...and another fun video!
I just picked up an Analysis Plus Yellow Oval cable today and tried it out on my Kanilea Aldrine Model. Prior to this, I had only plugged the uke into my Roland Cube 30 electric guitar amp through a $10 Hosa cable for about 30 seconds, just to test that it worked. It worked. No further questions since I don't really play plugged in often anyway. Embarrassingly, this is basically how I test all of my ukes with pickups...through a noisy guitar amp (often still on the guitar British amp model settings) with a cheap guitar cable.
So today, eager to try my new AP cable (much hyped by Jake Shimabukuro), I bought out my proper Roland AC60 Acoustic amp. Here's the full setup:
Kanilea AG Tenor with Kanilea's in-house active pickup. Only modifications: D'Addario T2 strings & Martin Ebony/Abalone bridge pins.
Analysis Plus Yellow Oval 10ft, Angle 1/4" (silent) to Straight 1/4" (silent)
Roland AC60 Amp
I took a quick video on my phone to summarize what happens.... (Click the picture below to watch the video.)
SPOILER BELOW
THIS UKULELE PLAYS FM 97.5 HAWAII'S COUNTRY RADIO NON STOP.
Here's a quick Q&A:
What Pickup is in the Aldrine Model?
The Kanilea active pickup (often marketed under the name "Pegpals") is installed in the Aldrine model. In his video introducing the ukulele, he says "I think the pickup itself is like $500 bucks." That's not exactly accurate, and I think Kanilea charges somewhere in the ~$200 range for it...which is not cheap...but not quite $500.
So what is really inside? I took a look, and it turns out they are actually just using some undersaddle transducer wired to an Artec EPP active preamp. And I suspect this is the problem. It is a relatively inexpensive kit that can be found on Aliexpress (Chinese Amazon-like site) for $33. I suspect the total cost of parts is under $40. <LINK>
How do you know the Kanilea pickup is the problem?
Like any science experiement, I also ran a few control scenarios to test my hypothesis that the Kanilea pickup is the problem:
Amp nothing plugged in: no noise
Amp with cable plugged in; no ukulele: no noise
Then I tried different instruments
Kanilea Slothead Tenor w/ Fishman Matrix Infinity: beautiful silent tone
Kanilea K-4 Custom Tenor w/ Pegpals Pickup: LOT of noise...but no country music (you can't really tell from the cell-phone video, but it's one of the nosiest pickups I have ever heard...well second noisiest.)
KoAloha Sceptre Tenor w/ Fishman Matrix Infinity: beautiful silent tone
KoAloha Pineapple Sunday w/ Fishman Matrix Infinity: beautiful silent tone
Aldrine Model through cheap cable: country music albeit with a worse signal...guess I wasn't paying attention during my original test.
I think that's enough evidence to isolate the problem to the Kanilea in-house pickup.
Is it just that spot in the room?
No. I can move around and it will only get worse--or better, depending on how you look at it, because the signal actually gets clearer right in about the center of the room. Lifting it off the bed just makes the instrument a better antenna.
Can you change the station?
No; the Gilbert tuners do not allow me to change stations. Fail.
Where did you buy your Kanileas?
The offending instruments with the Kanilea pickup were purchased on the secondary market in like-new condition from the Marketplace here (Aldrine Model) and Craigslist (Custom K4). But I don't think buying on the secondary market caused these fundamental pickup problems. It is EXTREMELY unlikely that the previous owners did anything to the pickup; both were upstanding individuals. I'm no expert and don't want to make any unfounded accusations, but I suspect that the real reason is much more likely to be cheap parts and poor shielding in the pickup.
Is the Analysis Plus cable actually that much better than the cheaper cables?
Here's the thing, at roughly $12.50 per foot, The AP had better be a good cable. And it does NOT disappoint. You can immediately hear the improved clarity and tone. But one very easy way to tell is that the AP transmits the radio signal much more clearly from the ukulele to the amp than the cheap cable.
Have you talked to Kanilea about this yet?
I'm going to go to the annual Ukulele Festival next weekend and try to see Joe and Kristen about this and will post any update.
I welcome your thoughts and any explanations for why my ukulele now plays Taylor Swift, Florida Georgia Line, and The Band Perry--vocals and all.
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