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Thread: Getting A-E strings volume balanced on 8 string solid?

  1. #1
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    Default Getting A-E strings volume balanced on 8 string solid?

    I got a Chinese Tele shaped 8 string solid mandolin, which now has inexpensive dual blade humbuckers in it. The basic sound is good except the A and E strings are unbalanced in volume. Being a blade type, I can tip the pickup to favor the Es, but I can't adjust individual polepieces. So:

    1) I guess I can fit heavier E's and/or lighter A's to adjust the magnetic volume balance. Any ideas on what gauges to try, and what's the maximum thickness E I can use (it's a solid plank so pretty robust).

    2) Any other ideas, like graphic pedal frequecy boosts etc?

    Thanks, Max

  2. #2
    coprolite mandroid's Avatar
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    Question Re: Getting A-E strings volume balanced on 8 string solid?

    I thought I saw the Stevens 5 string .. did some mechanical sense ... angling the pickup further from the bridge,

    so the thin tight E string's amplitude in vibrating wave form might be wider , than if the pickup angles towards the bridge ...

    (since string motion in the magnetic field is the source of the signal,

    & not many frets, so pickups are closer to the string octave-midpoint..

    as is done on much longer scale guitars, which a lot of builders seem to emulate in electric mandolins..

    Wind a second single pole pickup just under the E strings?

    Fitting an in-bridge piezo pickup & blend it's signal in , with the magnetic pickup signal in a second channel?

    [+ a milti-band EQ to boost the weak frequencies & cut the strong ones]
    Rack mounts have more band controls than pedal ones.



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  4. #3

    Default Re: Getting A-E strings volume balanced on 8 string solid?

    Why not buy a pickup with individual pole pieces?

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    Default Re: Getting A-E strings volume balanced on 8 string solid?

    Quote Originally Posted by thistle3585 View Post
    Why not buy a pickup with individual pole pieces?
    The reason is Andrew, this is a real cheap project - these blade humbucker pickups I have in it cost me £7 each from a retailer and sound pretty good . I think vertically stacked Strat humbuckers with adjustable pole pieces start at about 10 times that.

  7. #5

    Default Re: Getting A-E strings volume balanced on 8 string solid?

    Quote Originally Posted by maxr View Post
    The reason is Andrew, this is a real cheap project - these blade humbucker pickups I have in it cost me £7 each from a retailer and sound pretty good . I think vertically stacked Strat humbuckers with adjustable pole pieces start at about 10 times that.
    When you mentioned an effects pedal, I figured a pickup would be less than the cost of a pedal.

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    Innocent Bystander JeffD's Avatar
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    Default Re: Getting A-E strings volume balanced on 8 string solid?

    I don't know a lot about electric instruments. But I had a similar experience - I got myself a Fender Mandocaster. I plugged it into the amp i had and the A and especially the E strings were not the same volume as the others.

    In my case, it turned out that the amp I had was not for electric instruments, it was designed to accurately reproduce acoustic instruments, via the microphone I bought with it. It was what I had, for gigging with my acoustic mandolin. And for that it worked well. My acoustic mandolin sounded basically the same, but much much louder.

    So I found a small amp for electric instruments and - well it all worked, no issues, no problems.

    I am happy to tell you what I had and what I bought, and what I learned. But I cannot say that it is applicable in this case, or any other.
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  10. #7

    Default Re: Getting A-E strings volume balanced on 8 string solid?

    For string gauges, I've found that up to 11.5's for the E's and down to 14's for the A's is about as far as you can go and still have it play comfortably. But it makes quite a bit of difference from basic string sets with 10's and 15's, or 11's and 16's.
    And, as others have mentioned, angling the pickups closer to the E's also helps.
    The overall distance from the pickups to the strings makes a difference as well. You'll have to play around with that to find the sweet spot of string to string balance and tone. Your other thread mentioned too much bass response. Moving the G side of the pickups farther away might help with that.

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    Registered User Charlie Bernstein's Avatar
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    Default Re: Getting A-E strings volume balanced on 8 string solid?

    MXR's ten-band EQ pedal is great.

    But I doubt you need it. Put time into playing the mando and after a while you'll find that you're hitting the E strings harder and the A strings more softly.
    Gibson A-Junior snakehead (Keep on pluckin'!)

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