I'm rooting around for a decent banjo pickup at the moment. I've been looking at McIntyre and Schatten transducers - both fairly pricey. What's the KK like for price and quality. Where do you get them?
Schatten transducers preamped or good directional mic. I play mostly with a load band including drum and bass so I use the pick up to get the volume without the feedback. If I play with just guitar, I will use a mic 100% of the time. brand will be effected by the amplifers, speakers and the instruments along side of you. To say the least , its trial and error. I got my pick up online from an English company, try and do a google on schatten. It cost 165 euros about 18 months ago.
I use the Schatten transducer and whilst it does work without a preamp, it works much better with one. I use mine with a Fishman preamp and it sounds great. Good tone control, plenty of volume and no feedback.
I didn't find the pickup expensive at $80, but with the addition of a preamp at £130 it all adds up. Still, a small price to pay for something that does the job well and I am very happy with.
the schatten banjo transducer produces an excellent "acoustic" sound without any noticeable impact on the acoustic performance of the banjo - unlike many other "stick-on" types. i agree that it will work without a pre-amp but the addition of a foot-pedal pre-amp/EQ unit can be very useful. it seems to work OK with standard guitar pedals which are a fair bit cheaper than the fishmann (& other) in-line types. i find the most difficult part is working out where and how to fix the jack socket - especially on vintage banjos.
for really loud stage use, the Gold Tone sliding mag pick-up has excellent feedback resistance and no impact at all on the acoustic performance. it is, however, a rather "electric" sound and definitely needs the foot-pedal pre-amp/EQ unit to soften the edges and provide some control. this type also works well with standard guitar pedals.
most of the other types of pick-up (ashbury, barcus-berry, shadow etc) seem to have a marked effect on the acoustic performance of a banjo which many players find unacceptable. if you are prepared to live with an "electric only" instrument, a custom type (similar to the deering crossfire or the gold tone EBT) offers an interesting approach but can be pricey to acquire as these types are only available in 5-string format as standard - the tenors would all be "custom" versions.
both schatten & GT sliding mag pick-ups are easy to acquire in the UK, USA & Canada but i couldn;t speak for ireland or the rest of europe.
As always, the sky's the limit. You can pay as much as you want.
I tried a very cheap (14 quid) transducer in different places on the back of the head. Eventually I found a place. In line with the bridge and about an inch from the edge below the E. No preamp. Not perfect, but astonishingly good results for next to nothing.
I've got an old Microvox accordion mic that I velcro on to the banjo. On an open back banjo I velcro the mic to the inside of the rim facing 90 degrees from the head (along the rim). On a resonator banjo I velcro it on the underside of the resonator flange. Both of these locations avoid the dreaded 'tubby' sound you can get when using a mic 'under' the banjo. I find the goosenecks to be a hassle. As with any mic you need to run it thru a preamp, the Microvox preamp being very simple, on/off and volume.
The Schatten transducer fits directly under the middle foot of the bridge and the jack socket comes with a very handy bracket that sits onto the tension hooks at about 4 o clock. The whole thing takes five minutes to fit.
Brian if you check out the link I gave you all will be explained.
When I used to play banjo in a trad band (I wasn't very good - that's the token modesty bit) I used a FRAP "IT" transducer (with it's own separate little preamp) wedged under the strings behind the bridge. I've had it since the 70's and I think they were highly regarded - it's really excellent so if you spot one on eBay grab it (I'm not selling mine!) I still treasure the instructions which claim that most manuals are "dull and sometimes wrong because the dudes who write them don't talk to the dudes who designed the product". Far out man!
Interesting topic, I have a C-ducer but have little chance to experiment as I only play sporadically and seldom practice with the full band (bass & drums etc) and many sound men would rather spend an hour miking up drums (complately unnecessary IMO in an acoustic-electric band in a small venue) than spend 30 seconds getting a good banjo sound and working too eliminate feedback.
It always sounds great when I try it with amps at home, but can be dodgy when it starts getting reverb from other amplified instruments and drums.
Most the time I play without monitor to avoid feedback which is not ideal
Call me cheap but the best thing I've found and believe me I've looked is to pop down to your local Maplin's - buy a cheap and nasty piezoelectric transducer – solder a bit of coax to and in line jack socket and bob’s etc etc. what I do is put it through a Zoom 505 guitar stomp box to get a bit of EQ to get rid of all the high frequencies. Just imagine if you will – waa-waa banjo.
Banjo pickups & Mics, What are you using ?
Re: Banjo pickups & Mics, What are you using ?
I'm rooting around for a decent banjo pickup at the moment. I've been looking at McIntyre and Schatten transducers - both fairly pricey. What's the KK like for price and quality. Where do you get them?
Do you use a preamp? If so, what kind?
# Posted on December 3rd 2004 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: Banjo pickups & Mics, What are you using ?
Schatten transducers preamped or good directional mic. I play mostly with a load band including drum and bass so I use the pick up to get the volume without the feedback. If I play with just guitar, I will use a mic 100% of the time. brand will be effected by the amplifers, speakers and the instruments along side of you. To say the least , its trial and error. I got my pick up online from an English company, try and do a google on schatten. It cost 165 euros about 18 months ago.
# Posted on December 3rd 2004 by compaqjohn
Re: Banjo pickups & Mics, What are you using ?
I use the Schatten transducer and whilst it does work without a preamp, it works much better with one. I use mine with a Fishman preamp and it sounds great. Good tone control, plenty of volume and no feedback.
I didn't find the pickup expensive at $80, but with the addition of a preamp at £130 it all adds up. Still, a small price to pay for something that does the job well and I am very happy with.
Conrad
# Posted on December 3rd 2004 by darnoc
Re: Banjo pickups & Mics
the schatten banjo transducer produces an excellent "acoustic" sound without any noticeable impact on the acoustic performance of the banjo - unlike many other "stick-on" types. i agree that it will work without a pre-amp but the addition of a foot-pedal pre-amp/EQ unit can be very useful. it seems to work OK with standard guitar pedals which are a fair bit cheaper than the fishmann (& other) in-line types. i find the most difficult part is working out where and how to fix the jack socket - especially on vintage banjos.
for really loud stage use, the Gold Tone sliding mag pick-up has excellent feedback resistance and no impact at all on the acoustic performance. it is, however, a rather "electric" sound and definitely needs the foot-pedal pre-amp/EQ unit to soften the edges and provide some control. this type also works well with standard guitar pedals.
most of the other types of pick-up (ashbury, barcus-berry, shadow etc) seem to have a marked effect on the acoustic performance of a banjo which many players find unacceptable. if you are prepared to live with an "electric only" instrument, a custom type (similar to the deering crossfire or the gold tone EBT) offers an interesting approach but can be pricey to acquire as these types are only available in 5-string format as standard - the tenors would all be "custom" versions.
both schatten & GT sliding mag pick-ups are easy to acquire in the UK, USA & Canada but i couldn;t speak for ireland or the rest of europe.
# Posted on December 3rd 2004 by teetotaller
Re: Banjo pickups & Mics, What are you using ?
As always, the sky's the limit. You can pay as much as you want.
I tried a very cheap (14 quid) transducer in different places on the back of the head. Eventually I found a place. In line with the bridge and about an inch from the edge below the E. No preamp. Not perfect, but astonishingly good results for next to nothing.
# Posted on December 3rd 2004 by showaddydadito
Re: Banjo pickups & Mics, What are you using ?
I've got an old Microvox accordion mic that I velcro on to the banjo. On an open back banjo I velcro the mic to the inside of the rim facing 90 degrees from the head (along the rim). On a resonator banjo I velcro it on the underside of the resonator flange. Both of these locations avoid the dreaded 'tubby' sound you can get when using a mic 'under' the banjo. I find the goosenecks to be a hassle. As with any mic you need to run it thru a preamp, the Microvox preamp being very simple, on/off and volume.
# Posted on December 3rd 2004 by Tusong200
Re: Banjo pickups & Mics, What are you using ?
The Schatten transducer fits directly under the middle foot of the bridge and the jack socket comes with a very handy bracket that sits onto the tension hooks at about 4 o clock. The whole thing takes five minutes to fit.
Brian if you check out the link I gave you all will be explained.
Conrad
# Posted on December 3rd 2004 by darnoc
Re: Banjo pickups & Mics, What are you using ?
ConraddarnoC, where do you get a Schatten for $80? Did you mean pounds?
# Posted on December 3rd 2004 by CreadurMawnOrganig
Re: Banjo pickups & Mics, What are you using ?
When I used to play banjo in a trad band (I wasn't very good - that's the token modesty bit) I used a FRAP "IT" transducer (with it's own separate little preamp) wedged under the strings behind the bridge. I've had it since the 70's and I think they were highly regarded - it's really excellent so if you spot one on eBay grab it (I'm not selling mine!) I still treasure the instructions which claim that most manuals are "dull and sometimes wrong because the dudes who write them don't talk to the dudes who designed the product". Far out man!
# Posted on December 3rd 2004 by RichardB
Re: Banjo pickups & Mics, What are you using ?
Interesting topic, I have a C-ducer but have little chance to experiment as I only play sporadically and seldom practice with the full band (bass & drums etc) and many sound men would rather spend an hour miking up drums (complately unnecessary IMO in an acoustic-electric band in a small venue) than spend 30 seconds getting a good banjo sound and working too eliminate feedback.
It always sounds great when I try it with amps at home, but can be dodgy when it starts getting reverb from other amplified instruments and drums.
Most the time I play without monitor to avoid feedback which is not ideal
# Posted on December 4th 2004 by Bren
Re: Banjo pickups & Mics, What are you using ?
Call me cheap but the best thing I've found and believe me I've looked is to pop down to your local Maplin's - buy a cheap and nasty piezoelectric transducer – solder a bit of coax to and in line jack socket and bob’s etc etc. what I do is put it through a Zoom 505 guitar stomp box to get a bit of EQ to get rid of all the high frequencies. Just imagine if you will – waa-waa banjo.
# Posted on December 9th 2004 by stacey