Here's a followup on my member introduction story about swapping out the preamp in my Lanikai LQA-TCA tenor uke. (Yes, I do get very verbose.)
The Lanikai came with a Fishman Sonitone preamp power system and Sonicore piezo pickup. The Sonitone volume and tone controls are inside the edge of the sound hole, and according to Fishman, are supposed to be at the 6 o'clock position, but because the control panel is so deep, it could not fit there, so obviously Lanikai put it where it did fit, at the 8 o'clock position. (I assume it was originally made for a guitar.)
Because I liked the look and feel of the Lanikai, and because it was such a good price ($149 down from $329), I decided to go with it. But after a while, I grew to hate that the controls were is such an awkward place under the strings, and that there was no built in tuner.
I went back to the store to trade it for something else, but they had nothing in stock, they could order a Gretsch G9121 (that had a Fishman Kula preamp/tuner in the side), but it would arrive after my return period, so I couldn't do that.
I decided that I would find that same Kula preamp since it would work with the power unit already in the Lanikai and install it myself. But no, Fishman does not sell that preamp, not even as a replacement part to dealers. So I got online and finally found an earlier Fishman preamp/tuner that uses the same power system, an Isys+ from a place in China for $21. I contacted Fishman, who said that it should work fine.
While waiting for it, I carefully removed the Sonitone parts in the Lanikai, leaving the power box and Sonicore pickup wiring intact. When the Isys+ finally arrived, I carefully marked and cut a hole in the side of the Lanikai to fit. I have to say, I did a very good job.
The wires from the power box plugged right in to the preamp, but it turns out the piezo pickup was hard wired to the Isys+, where the pickup wires on the Sonitone were screwed in. Because I couldn't get the saddle out of the Lanikai to swap the pickup, I had to cut the wires of the Isys+ pickup and splice them to the existing pickup wires (I actually used small connectors).
I put it together and tested the tuner, worked fine. I then plugged in my wireless amp connector and found that the volume was rather low. I then plugged in a cable to the amp, and damn, it hummed like crazy and there was barely any volume. I tested with another cable, same thing, tested all the connections with my other uke (which I also swapped the preamp), and they all worked. So obviously I did something wrong, or the Isys+ is faulty (no return to China).
Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm going to email Fishman again and see what they say, and will probably end up taking it to my luthier and see what he can do.
The Lanikai came with a Fishman Sonitone preamp power system and Sonicore piezo pickup. The Sonitone volume and tone controls are inside the edge of the sound hole, and according to Fishman, are supposed to be at the 6 o'clock position, but because the control panel is so deep, it could not fit there, so obviously Lanikai put it where it did fit, at the 8 o'clock position. (I assume it was originally made for a guitar.)
Because I liked the look and feel of the Lanikai, and because it was such a good price ($149 down from $329), I decided to go with it. But after a while, I grew to hate that the controls were is such an awkward place under the strings, and that there was no built in tuner.
I went back to the store to trade it for something else, but they had nothing in stock, they could order a Gretsch G9121 (that had a Fishman Kula preamp/tuner in the side), but it would arrive after my return period, so I couldn't do that.
I decided that I would find that same Kula preamp since it would work with the power unit already in the Lanikai and install it myself. But no, Fishman does not sell that preamp, not even as a replacement part to dealers. So I got online and finally found an earlier Fishman preamp/tuner that uses the same power system, an Isys+ from a place in China for $21. I contacted Fishman, who said that it should work fine.
While waiting for it, I carefully removed the Sonitone parts in the Lanikai, leaving the power box and Sonicore pickup wiring intact. When the Isys+ finally arrived, I carefully marked and cut a hole in the side of the Lanikai to fit. I have to say, I did a very good job.
The wires from the power box plugged right in to the preamp, but it turns out the piezo pickup was hard wired to the Isys+, where the pickup wires on the Sonitone were screwed in. Because I couldn't get the saddle out of the Lanikai to swap the pickup, I had to cut the wires of the Isys+ pickup and splice them to the existing pickup wires (I actually used small connectors).
I put it together and tested the tuner, worked fine. I then plugged in my wireless amp connector and found that the volume was rather low. I then plugged in a cable to the amp, and damn, it hummed like crazy and there was barely any volume. I tested with another cable, same thing, tested all the connections with my other uke (which I also swapped the preamp), and they all worked. So obviously I did something wrong, or the Isys+ is faulty (no return to China).
Does anyone have any experience with this? I'm going to email Fishman again and see what they say, and will probably end up taking it to my luthier and see what he can do.
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