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| Mandolin Family Pickups |
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There are many brands and styles of pickup available but for the mandolin family the range is smaller than that for guitars.
Currently I recommend either an undersaddle transducer or a contact transducer. The former provides a more stable, less feedback prone option but compromises slightly on 'natural' tone. Fixed EQ pre amps are a minimum requirement with this option. The latter can produce a very dynamic and natural tone - great for a sensitive accompanist or in a duo/trio situation - but needs a pre-amp with tone control as a minimum - usually with a notch filter to help eliminate feedback and booming problems. Generally I only recommend people to use contact pickups in mandolins.
For a general overview of acoustic instrument pickups click here
For pickup prices click here |
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Headway
For customers who are regularly playing plugged in I usually recommend headway undersaddle transducers. Apart from being pretty much the only company which design with the whole mandolin family in mind, they are (for and undersaddle pickup) very dynamic, have an incredibly natural tone and are highly resistant to feedback. They also use a class A, all discreet (less components in the signal path) pre amp design with fet transistors as doL.R Baggs. There are various models and combinations I recommend depending on the type of instrument and the player. I also usually recommend these for Octave Mandolas and Bouzoukis. They now produce a budget version especially for the mandolin with a tiny pre amp mounted on the pickup cable. All come with an on board pre amp. If tone controls are required I usually recommend an off board pre amp such as the Baggs Para D.I. See price list. |
Ashworth
For customers who want a more sensitive and natural ampified sound, I recommend Ashworth contact transducers. These highly dynamic pickups, built with high output for mandolins are attached to the soundboard inside the instrument. I usually recommend them for mandolins only. I always advise to use an offboard pre-amp with minimum 3band EQ for these pickups such as the Baggs Para D.I. See price list.
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Schertler
I have now tried these and when positioned correctly and with a little EQ can perform very well and are extremely feedback resistant. They are a tiny dymanic mic that adheres to the soundboard with a special putty and are designed to be temporarily installed each time you seek amplification. A few goes at the adhesion process and you get the idea. Used by Chris Thile from Nickel Creek amongst others. The drawback comes as the output is XLR female so you need an adaptor to use most guitar type pre amps which I would recommend. Schertler do their own version which goes with the DYN range of pickups. See price list.
LR Baggs
Coming soon, the new radius pickup from LR Baggs |
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