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Thread: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

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    Default Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    The Mandolin Cafe has posted the following news release:
    Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Lace Music Products has announced its latest pickup offering, the Mando-Lace, a passive easy to install pickup for mandolins.



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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Anybody have experience with this company's products?

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by jalanmiller View Post
    Anybody have experience with this company's products?
    Ever play a Fender electric guitar made between 1987 and 1996?
    PJ Doland
    1923 Gibson Snakehead A

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by PJ Doland View Post
    Ever play a Fender electric guitar made between 1987 and 1996?
    Gotcha. I like the concept of this passive pickup. I'd rather never have to use one, but sometimes it's a better option than the brain damage.

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    I used one of their high gain picks in an electric mandolin custom build. Excellent sound. The magnetic pickup will not be very acoustic sounding but thats a sound all in its own. Good for blues I expect , might try one on my National
    John

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Several years ago I had one of their Lace Dobro Sensor surface-mount pickups on a National Radiotone Bendaway (wooden cutaway resonator) guitar. It looked a bit like this new mandolin model, but I don't know how similar it is.

    The Dobro Sensor was a passive single-coil design. On the one hand, it sounded pretty good for a Bluesy tone on that guitar, if not exactly "acoustic." On the other hand, it would start humming and buzzing if I brought it anywhere near a computer, or an electric fan was nearby. Typical passive single coil behavior. I couldn't tell from the Lace web site on this new pickup is single coil or a humbucker design, which would be more resistant to EM noise.

    These days I use a clip-on mini condenser mic (DPA 4099) on my resonator guitar, for what it's worth. Magnetic pickups are good for controlling feedback on a very loud stage, but it's not a tone I especially want on a mandolin or acoustic guitar.

  7. #7

    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    So how does this attach? There's some piece that slides between the saddle and bridge base and it clamps there? Can't really see it clearly in the video.

    Might work for one of the bands I play in. Might not work if you have a pickguard on.
    Last edited by Don Grieser; Aug-08-2015 at 4:23pm.
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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Hi folks! Lace Pickups here... we just thought we'd chime in here and give anyone who's curious the chance to ask us some direct questions about our new mandolin pickup, or any of our other acoustic pickups, for that matter.

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by oldwave View Post
    I used one of their high gain picks in an electric mandolin custom build. Excellent sound. The magnetic pickup will not be very acoustic sounding but thats a sound all in its own. Good for blues I expect , might try one on my National
    Hi there, oldwave.

    It's hard to get a good natural-sounding tone off an acoustic instrument with a magnetic pickup, but the fellow in production who invented this pickup did a pretty good job at getting the wind and the internal magnets just right to get the best sound possible.

    We did most of our testing with an acoustic amplifier and a small PA system in house, but you can plug it into a direct box as well. One of our field testers became fond of using it with a small fender amp and some effects.

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by foldedpath View Post
    Several years ago I had one of their Lace Dobro Sensor surface-mount pickups on a National Radiotone Bendaway (wooden cutaway resonator) guitar. It looked a bit like this new mandolin model, but I don't know how similar it is.

    The Dobro Sensor was a passive single-coil design. On the one hand, it sounded pretty good for a Bluesy tone on that guitar, if not exactly "acoustic." On the other hand, it would start humming and buzzing if I brought it anywhere near a computer, or an electric fan was nearby. Typical passive single coil behavior. I couldn't tell from the Lace web site on this new pickup is single coil or a humbucker design, which would be more resistant to EM noise.

    These days I use a clip-on mini condenser mic (DPA 4099) on my resonator guitar, for what it's worth. Magnetic pickups are good for controlling feedback on a very loud stage, but it's not a tone I especially want on a mandolin or acoustic guitar.
    The new mandolin pickup uses the same cover/housing as the Dobro pickup, but the magnets and wind are totally different. It's a single-coil design that uses similar technology to our Lace Sensors for electric guitar, and it rejects most of the noise associated with single-coils in the same manner. We've toyed around with a dual-coil design but at the moment we've decided to go with the single-coil setup for ease of use and compact installation.

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by Don Grieser View Post
    So how does this attach? There's some piece that slides between the saddle and bridge base and it clamps there? Can't really see it clearly in the video.

    Might work for one of the bands I play in. Might not work if you have a pickguard on.
    Here's how you do it:

    1) Unscrew the pads from the metal tab on the bridge-facing side of he pickup.

    2) Take the pickup and get it under the strings near the bridge, with the metal tab facing the bridge. Slide the metal tab into the gap on the mandolin's bridge between the saddles and the top-mounted bridge base, and then move it towards the E strings to get it centered.

    3) Put the pads underneath the metal tab (cork side down), line up the screw holes, and screw the pads back on.

    4) Situate the pickup cable out of the way, use the loop in the cable to hang off your lower strap button.

    5) Plug an instrument cable into the female jack coming off the pickup, and you're good to go.


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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by Lace Music View Post
    Here's how you do it:

    1) Unscrew the pads from the metal tab on the bridge-facing side of he pickup.

    2) Take the pickup and get it under the strings near the bridge, with the metal tab facing the bridge. Slide the metal tab into the gap on the mandolin's bridge between the saddles and the top-mounted bridge base, and then move it towards the E strings to get it centered.

    What a great opportunity. Thanks for checking in with us. I received my Mando-Lace a couple of days ago after ordering it online through the Lace Music site. I also had some assistance form Jared of Lace Music via email. Helpful gent! Thanks.

    First, don't believe the video. The video makes it look as though the pickup installs easily with one smooth insertion between the bridge and saddle. At least that's what I took away from watching it a couple times. Since my pickup came without instructions I wasn't concerned for I watched how to do it. I quickly discovered this wasn't the case. The rest was trial and error. However, after reading the helpful installation instructions above I do believe that I have it right, well, almost. Here's why:

    In instruction #2 copied above you said that once the pickup was inserted through the bridge that you should "...then move it towards the E strings...". However, on the bottom of the pickup is an arrow and an instruction that says something like AFTER INSERTION SLIDE THIS WAY. The arrow is pointing towards the G strings. It is pointing away from the side that is attached to the cord. It doesn't seem to make any difference in the functions of the p/u for it can be moved in either direction.

    Question: What is the recommended direction to do the slide? Is this slide related to the pickup's function or it is a locking mechanism making it more secure?

    I'm attaching a couple pics of my setup and my bud, Benny. Note that when viewed from the side the feet of the pickup do not come in contact with the mandolin. If I install it with the feet resting on the mandolin then the pickup hits the underside of the strings. To prevent this I've temporarily shimmed it up by placing a piece of folded cardboard under the feet. Something isn't right and it's most likely my installation.

    Question: After looking at the photos and reading my comments what needs to be done to achieve the correct positioning of the pickup on my instrument?

    The pickup works! On my installation it's a little weaker on the E strings than on the others. But, it"s not nearly as bad as the weak E that I've experienced with other types of pickups such as those on the Mandobird and the Mando-Strat. I haven't gigged with it yet. I've just been playing around with it in the living room with my trusty LOUDBOXmini. First impressions are very positive for its intended use. I think that I'm going to be happy using this. My installation though is questionable. Anyone else try it?

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by biologyprof View Post
    What a great opportunity. Thanks for checking in with us. I received my Mando-Lace a couple of days ago after ordering it online through the Lace Music site. I also had some assistance form Jared of Lace Music via email. Helpful gent! Thanks.

    First, don't believe the video. The video makes it look as though the pickup installs easily with one smooth insertion between the bridge and saddle. At least that's what I took away from watching it a couple times. Since my pickup came without instructions I wasn't concerned for I watched how to do it. I quickly discovered this wasn't the case. The rest was trial and error. However, after reading the helpful installation instructions above I do believe that I have it right, well, almost. Here's why:

    In instruction #2 copied above you said that once the pickup was inserted through the bridge that you should "...then move it towards the E strings...". However, on the bottom of the pickup is an arrow and an instruction that says something like AFTER INSERTION SLIDE THIS WAY. The arrow is pointing towards the G strings. It is pointing away from the side that is attached to the cord. It doesn't seem to make any difference in the functions of the p/u for it can be moved in either direction.

    Question: What is the recommended direction to do the slide? Is this slide related to the pickup's function or it is a locking mechanism making it more secure?

    I'm attaching a couple pics of my setup and my bud, Benny. Note that when viewed from the side the feet of the pickup do not come in contact with the mandolin. If I install it with the feet resting on the mandolin then the pickup hits the underside of the strings. To prevent this I've temporarily shimmed it up by placing a piece of folded cardboard under the feet. Something isn't right and it's most likely my installation.

    Question: After looking at the photos and reading my comments what needs to be done to achieve the correct positioning of the pickup on my instrument?

    The pickup works! On my installation it's a little weaker on the E strings than on the others. But, it"s not nearly as bad as the weak E that I've experienced with other types of pickups such as those on the Mandobird and the Mando-Strat. I haven't gigged with it yet. I've just been playing around with it in the living room with my trusty LOUDBOXmini. First impressions are very positive for its intended use. I think that I'm going to be happy using this. My installation though is questionable. Anyone else try it?

    Click image for larger version. 

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    Hi there, sir. A few things regarding your post.

    The video that's out there was done by a 3rd party and does not show the step-by-step installation. The fellow that did the video had only verbal instructions from us and kind of improvised to make the pickup work for his personal instrument. In any case we apologize for any confusion. We'll be making a better video in the near future.

    The instructions should read that the pickup has to be slid slightly towards the G strings, not the E's. That was a typo on my part which has since been corrected.

    Most of the mandolins we tested this pickup on needed to have the pickup slid over to the G side. Every mandolin type is going to be a little bit different, so just play with the lateral position of the pickup until you achieve the string-to-string balance you desire.

    As for your installation, your basic instinct for a shim quick-fix was correct, but we'll be shipping all Mando-Laces from here on (we've only done a handful of them so far) out with extra cork so that you don't have to do that. PM me your address or send it to info@lacemusic.com and reference this thread and we'll send you more cork in the mail.

    This is valuable feedback on a totally brand new product, so thanks for the input and I'm glad you like it overall!

  14. #14

    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    //first post

    I ordered one of these on Monday... Will report back on my experience after it arrives and I play around with it a bit.

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by whopper View Post
    //first post

    I ordered one of these on Monday... Will report back on my experience after it arrives and I play around with it a bit.
    Thanks for the order! Let us know how you like it!

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    biologyprof: how much does the installed pickup dampen the acoustic sound of your mandolin?
    2010 Heiden A5, 2020 Pomeroy oval A, 2013 Kentucky KM1000 F5, 2012 Girouard A Mandola w ff holes, 2001 Old Wave A oval octave
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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by Lace Music View Post
    Thanks for the order! Let us know how you like it!
    I installed it fairly easily on a Breedlove Crossover OO. I am new to the mandolin. I mostly play double bass, electric bass, guitar and banjo. That's why I got a cheap mandolin. The instrument sounds pretty decent IMO. But, I am hooked and will be upgrading soon.

    Unfortunately, the bridge on this particular instrument doesn't have enough width in the slot area to slide the pickup into an exact center position. It's offset on the G strings side approximately 1 cm, maybe less. Perhaps the tongue on the pickup, for lack of a better word, could be slightly adjustable side to side as well.

    However, the slightly offset position did not seem to adversely impact the response of E strings, or any of the others, when amplified. I have a slight ground issue with the end pin, but I am not worried, I can remedy that. Plus, I plan to permanently install the pickup with a end pin strap button.

    I really like the sound so far. I do not plan on playing bluegrass, so a natural acoustic sound is not what I am looking for. I will be using this rig for old-timey music, alt-country, blues and folk. I was limited on time, so I plugged it straight into a Roland AC-60, rolled off most of the treble and boosted the bass and mids, engaged the shape button. I got pretty much the tone I was looking for, punchy and fairly warm. I had to crank up the gain quite a bit. A pre-amp is probably a good idea.

    I also went straight into a passive mixer, rolled up the gain and listened through headphones. Grounding the end pin connection with my hand (I will fix that) and giving it a strum, I got an extremely clean sound that will be great for tracking.

    Tonight, I am going to experiment a little more with a basic tube pre-amp and send the signal through my 57' Fender Tweed Deluxe clone. See what it sounds like through a vintage style tube amp (my sincere apologies to the traditionalists).

    Don G., I did not experience much dampening, if any, when I played it acoustically with the pick up installed. But TIFWIW, I'm a newbie and it's a cheap mando.

    I will report back. I am satisfied at this point. Like the possibilities.

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by whopper View Post
    I installed it fairly easily on a Breedlove Crossover OO. I am new to the mandolin. I mostly play double bass, electric bass, guitar and banjo. That's why I got a cheap mandolin. The instrument sounds pretty decent IMO. But, I am hooked and will be upgrading soon.

    Unfortunately, the bridge on this particular instrument doesn't have enough width in the slot area to slide the pickup into an exact center position. It's offset on the G strings side approximately 1 cm, maybe less. Perhaps the tongue on the pickup, for lack of a better word, could be slightly adjustable side to side as well.

    However, the slightly offset position did not seem to adversely impact the response of E strings, or any of the others, when amplified. I have a slight ground issue with the end pin, but I am not worried, I can remedy that. Plus, I plan to permanently install the pickup with a end pin strap button.

    I really like the sound so far. I do not plan on playing bluegrass, so a natural acoustic sound is not what I am looking for. I will be using this rig for old-timey music, alt-country, blues and folk. I was limited on time, so I plugged it straight into a Roland AC-60, rolled off most of the treble and boosted the bass and mids, engaged the shape button. I got pretty much the tone I was looking for, punchy and fairly warm. I had to crank up the gain quite a bit. A pre-amp is probably a good idea.

    I also went straight into a passive mixer, rolled up the gain and listened through headphones. Grounding the end pin connection with my hand (I will fix that) and giving it a strum, I got an extremely clean sound that will be great for tracking.

    Tonight, I am going to experiment a little more with a basic tube pre-amp and send the signal through my 57' Fender Tweed Deluxe clone. See what it sounds like through a vintage style tube amp (my sincere apologies to the traditionalists).

    Don G., I did not experience much dampening, if any, when I played it acoustically with the pick up installed. But TIFWIW, I'm a newbie and it's a cheap mando.

    I will report back. I am satisfied at this point. Like the possibilities.
    Thanks for your report back!

    The pickup's internal magnets are designed so that you can play with the pickup's center position a bit to get the desired string balance. In most cases the pickup wound up being a little off to one side, although on some mandos they sounded best centered. There's no one correct position. Dial it in by ear and then lock it down with the pads - that will be the best way to get it to sound right.

    We test every one of our pickups on a tester rig before shipping and if one has issues it goes back. If you are unable to resolve this end pin grounding issue let me know.

    Again, thanks for your reports and we look forward to hearing about your continued experience.

  19. #19

    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    I called an audible and did a slightly more permanent install. The bridge adjustment turn screws are larger than normal on the bridge and were touching the pickup when installed normally.

    So, I took off the top part of the bridge, drilled a couple pilot holes into the bottom part and carefully screwed the pickup directly into the bottom piece using tiny wood screws and the gaskets provided. I had to grind off a little bit of the screws that went through the bottom of the saddle. Very easy operation (pics below). Remember, I have a cheap mandolin and I am not that worried about cosmetics or drilling holes in it.

    The pickup is not horizontally level with the strings as a result, but it feels really solid and I am getting a similar, if not better, sound than with the normal install. It's a really full sound. Down the road, I may try to do something to mitigate the angle and get it a little more level, but I don't want to mess with the pickup too much. Maybe a little shim would work. Anyway, I am going to work with this configuration for a while. Fun process so far and I haven't damaged anything except for a broken string (evident in pics).

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    Last edited by whopper; Aug-26-2015 at 2:07pm.

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by Don Grieser View Post
    biologyprof: how much does the installed pickup dampen the acoustic sound of your mandolin?
    Note To Lace Music: I received the extra cork pads. My temporary cardboard shim seems to be doing the job so I'll use the cork later. Thanks for that. I temporarily attached the pickup's cord and plug to the strap right at the end pin. It's still not to my liking. When I tuck the excess cord nicely under the strings behind the bridge it quickly drops down and just hangs below the bridge. Most likely I'll fasten it to something so that it stays put.Attachment 137855Attachment 137856

    Don: I checked out your BillyHawks site and videos and I like your intro to Achin' In My Heart(?). It's a fun one to play. As for the dampening effect from the pickup I'd have to say that it does but only a little. I'm playing this pickup through a Baggs Para Di and into a LoudBox Mini. Between the settings on both I can dial in a pretty good acoustic sound but with low volume. Actually, the volume is turned up on the amp and the DI box but the gain is set only as high as I could go without buzzing or sounding distorted. Because of that this setup isn't very loud. I'm sure that larger amps will give more volume when needed. To date my experience with the Mando-Lace has been only in my living room. I haven't yet put it through a PA or larger amp. Perhaps others will be able to offer some input from their experience. Just to be clear, I said that my setup with the Mando-Lace gave "a pretty good acoustic sound" and it does IMO, BUT!...to my ear it still sounds like an acoustic mandolin played through an amp. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

    Greg
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    Last edited by biologyprof; Aug-31-2015 at 12:31am. Reason: checking attached photos
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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by biologyprof View Post
    ...to my ear it still sounds like an acoustic mandolin played through an amp. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

    Greg
    That was actually kind of the intent. We wound the coil specifically to try to reproduce as natural a sound as possible with a magnetic pickup.

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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    how is that different from winding the other pickups ?
    own a Lace fender Gold .. in a 4 string solid body currently
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    Default Re: Lace Music Products Announces the Mando-Lace Pickup

    Quote Originally Posted by mandroid View Post
    how is that different from winding the other pickups ?
    own a Lace fender Gold .. in a 4 string solid body currently
    I'll have to ask the production staff member who invented it. He'd be able to give you a better answer than I. All I can tell you for sure is that he went through 4 or 5 different different iterations of the pickup just for the coils, and then it was a matter of getting the magnets and shunts right.

    He'll be back next week, I can ask him then and report back.

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