Electrical Uke project

Posted by John Nagy on June 9, 2010 at 12:47pm

Ok - sorry if I shot this out to everyone as I should have just posted it here.  I need to know what pickup would work best for a uke and perhaps if anyone has resources for me to check out.  I believe certain pickups work best for the different amount of strings?  New at the electric build and your comments are appreciated.  Also, the wooden bowl and saucer to make a hollow body uke in the dish section at walmart may prove to be a cool idea.  Just sharing. 

 

Thank you all,

John

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Replies

  • Yellowbelly Flatt June 13, 2010 at 1:18pm
    I wonder if you have thought of using an undersaddle type pickup. I have used several of these on electric baritone ukuleles and found them to be very useful.

    I used the really cheap ones from China or Hong Kong or somewhere that cost about 15 English pounds. They come with the undersaddle pickup, a volume/ tone non active pre amp unit and a jack socket. Unless you go for an active pre amp, all the soldering is completed for you.
  • John Nagy June 9, 2010 at 5:09pm
    Thx for the link. I learning on the delicate part of these things.
  • Jeff K. June 9, 2010 at 4:45pm
    I've had great luck with Piezo Transducers. The only thing you have to watch out for is that they are very delicate (I actually just crushed one..), since they're generally made of brass and ceramic, so be careful. You can order some with wires here - http://www.allelectronics.com/make-a-store/category/466/Piezo-Eleme...

    Good luck!
  • John Nagy June 9, 2010 at 4:42pm
    HA! I love CBN!!! Where else can you get all the best folks together for music! Thx Alan!
  • Alan Roberts June 9, 2010 at 3:34pm
    Almost forgot... Michael J. King has plans for a solid body electric uke you can download for $10. I haven't seen the uke plans, but I've built 4 other instruments off his plans for lyres and kantele. Here's a photo of his:

    Here's that address: http://www.michaeljking.com/electric_ukuleles.htm
  • John Nagy June 9, 2010 at 2:43pm
    Thx Andy - piezos, got it. Look forward to see your design. Again, thx everyone for the help.
  • Andy Estabrooks June 9, 2010 at 2:33pm
    I've used piezos with good results in ukes too. I place them right under the bridge with mounting tape them smother it with hot glue. I haven't had any problems with hum. I've heard others rave about the Artec acoustic pickup/ preamps as well. I'm designing a uke for professional use right now, I'm considering the Artec one for this build.
  • Alan Roberts June 9, 2010 at 1:26pm
    John Nagy said:
    Sweet - Thx Alan. This does help.

    A lot of times you can find piezos without any wires on them. Here's a video showing how to solder them up:
    http://www.handmademusicclubhouse.com/video/ted-tv-soldering-hookup...

    I like Ted's soldering jig. I had trouble holding two wires and a soldering gun all at once -- next time, I'm just going to glue some clothes pins to scrap wood. Do'ah!
  • John Nagy June 9, 2010 at 1:20pm
    Sweet - Thx Alan. This does help.
  • Alan Roberts June 9, 2010 at 1:06pm
    IF you use nylon strings, that would limit your pickup to piezos. Magnetic pickups won't work on nylon, of course. I got pickups and jacks from C. B. Gitty and will never shop from anyone else now. Here's a diagram of a jack that shows positive and negitive:
    http://www.guitarnucleus.com/wiring.html#jackwire I was intimidated by all this, and it turned out to be easy. Here's my end result:

    Hmmm. Thought I took a photo after hot gluing the piezo. Anyway, keep the wire as short as possible to reduce humm. Does that help?
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