Octave Mandolin, Bouzouki, Mandola: Electric Pick-Up Systems & Installation

Subject: PU's for Octave.
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 22:51:26 -0300

Hello again,
I ed you earlier asking about pickups before I read your
FAQ"s. I see that you have been recommending the Shadow. Is there a model
# for that pickup to help me research it a little further? Where exactly
is this installed,, is it under the bridge??? Also if you have any other
suggestions on PU's it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks again,
Stewart

Yes, we used to recommend the Shadow...and it's still a solid piezo that seems to give a decent response. However, since McIntyre has introduced the Feather, we've almost exclusively install these on all Octaves.

We install these under the top at the treble side of the bridge.

Hope this helps...FOTW

Subject: Octave Mandolin pickup???
Date: Thu, 15 Aug 2002 17:19:54 -0300

Hello,
I am currently interested in purchasing an octave mandolin (Sage1) and I'm
in the predicament of how to amplify this baby. Have you any suggestions of
what might be best? I am certainly far from a pro player but I like to
have good gear when I do play. In my acoustic guitars, I use the Fishman
Matrix in my Larrivee C10 and I use a Highlander PU in my Taylor 510c and
they sound great although I do prefer the sound of the fishman, it seems to
have more output. I'd like to get similar sound reproduction in the octave
mandolin if possible. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. By the
way, you have a great site.
Many thanks,
Stewart MacDonald

Greetings Stewart,

Now that's an infamous name!

I used to buy from StewMac quite often...and my luthiers still do in fact...

My suggestion would be to go with the factory installed McIntyre Feather Pick-Up (we also install these in-house)...as Weber builds your Sage1. Most of the sound manipulation would be dependent on the pre-amp and type of amplification after that...the McIntyre Feather does a great job of picking up the acoustic timbre of the instrument...the weakest link after that would be how you mold your sound by the sound reinforcement equipment you'll be using.

If you're on the Atlantic side of Canada, you probably have seen your share of Celtic music happenings...we're in the process of starting a label and have 10 Celtic bands out of Canada signing on...

I hope I've been of some help to you...best of luck with your future research efforts...

Mickey

Subject: Best mandolin value for $1200
Date: Wed, 1 May 2002 09:44:13 -0700

I just bought a 1994 Taylor guitar model 712 with an after market
(excellent) pickup and just sold my Washburn 1982 M-1S-N mandolin with a
Fishman saddle pickup.
I'd like to replace the sold mando for something in the $1200 range.
Do I get an A or F style? What's the difference?
I want a USA made company.
I want it to have a pickup (or can I add a saddle pickup like the Fishman)?
The Fishman saddle pickup actually replaced the original saddle and had a
wire from the saddle to the input (which attached to the main body strap
peg). So the pickup did not affect the inner workings of the body's
acoustics.
Do they still make pickups like this and is the purists choice for going
electric?
I want a full rather than bright sound.

Greetings,

I believe in the price range you're looking, you'll find that you get more for the money in an A model...

The differences between the F and A can be fairly extensive...mainly, two critical factors you're looking at are bracing and the style of music you hope to pursue with your new mandolin.

In the 1200.00 range, you have some very nice domestic mandos available...your main choices would be either the Weber Hyalite or the Breedlove Quartz KF or OF models...

All of these are archtop F soundhole mandos that offer versatility, excellent craftsmanship and a tremendous tone...

For F models, you would be limited to import models...there isn't a domestically made F model that falls in at 1200.00 or less...

I would recommend the the Fishman transducer...or, especially the new McIntyre Feather pick-up designed specifically for mandolin...these are only 149.00 Installed.

I believe we can also offer the Fishman Saddle pick-ups if that's what you would prefer; haven't seen one in quite awhile though...we highly recommend the pick-up to be installed with a permanent jack on the end pin...

For a full sound, you would want to run a pre-amp between the pick-up and the amp/PA...this will reinforce the feed and add to the capability to further manipulate the tone and volume. We have a clip-on belt version made by Fishman available...

Hope the above helps somehow...Mickey