Thank you for this! I was looking into Ukulele pickups and saw these as options. That one that sticks onto the body aint too bad. I like that the cable can be plugged in and unplugged. I see an easy solution being to get a shielded 3.5mm aux cable, and using an adapter to bring the other end up to 1/4”. That doesn’t make the transducer itself shielded, of course, so you’d still get the rubbing/tapping sounds wherever you touched the ukulele, but it would get rid of the noise from the cable being touched. Tbh I can see some musicians actually utilizing that sensitivity to add some rhythm effects into their playing. Personallly, I’d love to get an internal pickup installed. I just wanted to see what was out there too, and this intrigued me as a cheaper optionz

@GotAUkulele

2 жыл бұрын

Happy to help

Thanks for putting this up. I remain unplugged on ukulele, but I'm open minded. The first one you tried sounded natural through the internet and etc., but the noise ruined it. The second one sounded distorted at any gain level that would actually be heard. I learned something. Thanks.

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

Glad it was helpful!

"...just because I know it annoys the traditionalists..." - haha, great! Thanks for the unexpected bonus review.

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

My pleasure! (And the traditionalists need a lift!!)

@schallweihrauch3302

3 жыл бұрын

@@GotAUkulele A lift? Real traditionalists will continue to take the stairs.

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

@@schallweihrauch3302 ha ha!

I really enjoyed that and I can't wait for the next video... I appreciate your time 👍👍👍👍👍👍

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you!

I have the Kremona and understand the issues with it for sure. However, I don't gig and I use it on a Tahitian ukulele that my husband made for me (highly prized by me). It works well for recordings and that suits me fine. Otherwise, I am in agreement with all these assessments and just spring for the factory jobs!

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

Fair enough! Can see that.

From a baritone ukulele player. Great video and advice!

@GotAUkulele

11 ай бұрын

Hey, thanks!

The noise from touching the cable is a mechanical vibration that travels along the wire. That is why it fades the further you go from the pickup. Cable shielding is either woven wire or foil or both that surrounds the inner conductor(s) and stops them from acting like antenae and picking up RF noise. If the noise was RF, moving a couple of feet down the wire would not stop it.

@GotAUkulele

2 жыл бұрын

Either way it's noisy as hell and unususable!

Thanks appreciate what you do

@GotAUkulele

Жыл бұрын

Very welcome

Thanks Baz for this video. I have used one of the cherub pickups on a guitar and a uke. I found that it did work on the headstock of a uke, but the positioning of it was critical. The cable needed to be routed so that it didn't touch the tuning pegs. It still generated some rustling noises from my hands moving about on the uke, but for cheap occasional amplification it was better than nothing. Eventually I self fitted an under saddle piezo which I found to be better overall, although it comes with issues of its own. Piezo quack....

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

It works with a lot of gain - but I thought the sound was still utterly dreadful!

Myers makes a small mic on a gooseneck that fastens to the instrument. 200 US dollars though.

@GotAUkulele

Жыл бұрын

Very good mics too!

Thank you man, this helps a lot !

@GotAUkulele

Жыл бұрын

Glad to hear it!

Thank you for this and all your videos Baz! Can you recommend a pre-amp for a uke with a passive pickup? Assuming I want to feed it into a mixing board?

@GotAUkulele

2 жыл бұрын

All sorts out there - superb option is the LR Baggs venue DI - XLR out if needed to DI to desk. Parametric EQ to notch out unwanted frequencies - utterly brilliant

Very useful review. Probably save me a few quid and a lot of annoying disappointment.

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

Quite! A lot of these things look tempting, but will end up in a drawer!

After watching your vid I checked out some irig reviews. It sounded fantastic. I wonder whether it is susceptible to noise from touching the cable. That would be an interesting review as well. Thanks for this review. I tried externals years ago and dismissed them due to the handling noise. I have MiSi trios in a couple of ukes, and put the aNueNue Air Air in my most recent install. It’s my favorite. I mostly plug in leading groups, don’t perform much. Anything would work in my situation really. Those two work great for me.

@DennisHicks78749

2 жыл бұрын

The one external pickup I tried that had the least handling noise had a short cable running to a jack that hooked onto the strap button. From there you run a normal cable to the amp, etc. I minimized the handling noise by taping down the wire. It was much better but I still had to be careful, and who wants to put tape on a ukulele?

@GotAUkulele

2 жыл бұрын

I still use my iRIG - absolutely no noise from the cable - silent in fact. My gripe with the cable is how thin it is - looks VERY easy to break!

Thanks Barry, save me a bit of research, now going to search for other options you mentioned. BTW, is that Radiohead you fingerpick on all your reviews, or am I just being a paranoid thingy (pun intended, sounds like Freak to me and is lovely!)?

@GotAUkulele

Жыл бұрын

Creep!

@malcolmwilcox8921

Жыл бұрын

Creep, of course, oops!

Having worked for the phone company in the US (Ma Bell, the old phone company) as well as for an electronic component supply company, I learned that the jack is female, and the plug is male. But many people call both a jack but only the male a plug. It helps to know this when sourcing components on an instrument build, among other things.

@GotAUkulele

2 жыл бұрын

I call the socket the ‘jack’ and the plug the ‘jack plug’

I just get a live mic, mic stand and plug it into my guitar amp. Works for me!

My thoughts? An instrument is a tool. Drill a hole or two and install a proper pickup.

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

100% agree. Never understand the obsession some have with keeping a ukulele looking like a museum piece.

@tommorrisey3999

3 жыл бұрын

@@GotAUkulele I can tell which ones I play the most by looking at them.

@moojeni

2 жыл бұрын

Do the stickers damage the finish of the wood once you take them off?

Thanks Baz. I'm going to be recording some songs from a Scarlett audio interface to my computer and I'm wondering if I should use a pickup on my ukes (I will use different ones) or just use a normal microphone and play,.

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

I use a Scarlett - very good interfaces. If you are sat still, nothing beats a microphone for accurate sound recording - but pickups are a boon for performing and moving around I find. For home recording though a mic will be better i'd say. I use a Rode NT1 Condenser mic into the Scarlett - very natural sound

@PeteyHoudini

3 жыл бұрын

@@GotAUkulele : Thanks Baz.

@PeteyHoudini

3 жыл бұрын

@@GotAUkulele Funny, I never realized that onboard pickups were for "live" playing and moving about as you said. I would have never clued into it. Thanks, Baz! Just working out my setup. Thanx.

So there are practically NO OPTIONS that beat doing a real install or just mic’ing your uke well? Have you seen the metal ‘submarine’ one?

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

Erm.. that's not what the review says? Check out the iRig Acoustic Stage - GREAT sound. Also works as a PC interface. I just 'prefer' internal installs - less hassle - plug in and go.

@troykulele

3 жыл бұрын

@@GotAUkulele #guilty #oversimplified I’ll check out the IRig

I got my amp hooked up to my computer and I can hear the exterior noise. It all sounds bad. You can get a mic for $90.

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

That says more about the connections and equipment than the concept. Every video I make is made connected to a computer.

I don't mind modifying my ukulele, what would you recommend

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

I always go with under saddle strips terminating to a jack socket in the base. Recommend LR Baggs

Surely, these days there's a Bluetooth one? Or have I just invented something?Thanks for the review. Stay safe.

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

Lanikai made a uke with Bluetooth in it. To be honest though, BT is a pretty terrible tech for faithful sound transfer. Would be very much a one trick pony, and no way i'd use it in anything on stage.

@GumbleBernard

3 жыл бұрын

too much latency

Great review, and I'm all for annoying the traditionalists! Go Baz the rebel!

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Howie!

Sorry, someone got there before me.

@GotAUkulele

3 жыл бұрын

It died a death! Look at it that you saved a lot of hassle (and money!)