Pickup?

[Guitar55]

I currently own a Michael Kelley MKLFSETSBS, with an internal Fishman pickup, which I had professionally set up. It plays well, I think the tone is so-so and I don't like the pickup.

I'm thinking of upgrading and my budget is probably just short of $2000. Hopefully that will get me a much nicer instrument.

I'm thinking I'd have more options if I bought an acoustic instrument and added a pickup. Is this the way to go?

If so, what pickups should I consider and what might they cost?

Thanks,
Dennis

[SaintlyTom]

Is it an option for you to get an acoustic and play into a mic? I bought a recommended pickup for my Pava, used it once, and sold it. It took my beautiful rich mandolin and made the tone so metallic and thin. I just play into an SM57 now and like it.

[Verne Andru]

I've found I need 3 pickups to get a good amplified tone out of my mando. I have 2 piezos mounted under the soundboard (like K&K), and a Lace sensor (single coil magnetic) at the end of the fingerboard.

Neither sounds good by themselves, but blended with EQ provides a passable tone for live work. I would mic if I'm recording.









Here's a looper jam I did with that mando recording through the pickups:



The problem with the piezo bridges is they don't tend to sound great to begin with and will squawk when hit hard (that's a piezo going into distortion).

[pops1]

All piezo pickups need a preamp or they will sound like crap. Try plugging a low impedance mic into a guitar amp with a 1/4" cord and no low to hi Z transformer. No volume!!! Similar with a pickup the impedance needs to match and you are off by 1 millions ohms without the preamp.

[Guitar55]

So, if I got a K&K pickup, what would be a good pre-amp?

[pops1]

FireEye is what I use. I have tried many and this is the one I have been using for a couple of years now.

[stevojack665]

I use the JJB Prestige 220
http://jjb-electronics.com/prestige-220.html

And Audio Sprockets Tone Dexter
https://audiosprockets.com/

Great sound from my stage mandolin!