Hello All
So far on all my builds I have only used piezos as pickups. I want to use a magnetic pickup for a 5 string cigarbox banjo I am building. Would there be any foreseeable problems if I used a single coil magnetic acoustic guitar pickup (i.e. the one in the link below), and placed it on an angle under the 5 strings? Or would there be any problem with me just mounting it under the strings as if I would if there were six strings?
Sorry to show my ignorance :)
Jonesy
Replies
just line it up so the strings sit halfway between pole pieces (like a bass pickup) and it'll look great ;)
Can you post a photo of this baby? If it's a traditional skin-topped banjo, then the surface mount pickup you noted makes a lot of sense. It might dampen some of the sound produced by the skin, but since you will be playing electric, it shouldn't matter. You may also want to look into nickel strings instead of bronze since the pickup responds to the disturbance to its magnetic field caused as the strings move. Bronze wound strings do have a steel center, but the bronze winding is non-magnetic. Nickle strings will be noticeable louder with a mag pickup.
if you mean lining the poles up to the strings better , it really does not make too much of a difference in sound .. the mag field radiates out , strings will still be picked up even in-between the poles . some folks figure the slanted pup looks better , and seems to match more visually . or may sound better over the poles . and also may be trying to get deeper tones on one side , and brighter on the other .
(ie: closer to the neck will give a deeper tone .. closer to the bridge will be brighter .)
this helps decide pickup placement also , even if the pup is straight up and down. .
ps .. is there going to be a skin on this ? or wood top ?
pss .. you can also hide the pickup inside .. if its thin wood .. it will radiate through the lid and still work .