Violin Pick up's

August 2, 2007 at 08:15 PM · They suck.

Try a Baggs bridge pickup. Very clean.

August 2, 2007 at 08:16 PM · Barcus Berry pickups basically suck wind. They are very tin-ney sounding. Try a Baggs bridge pickup, very clean and clear sounding.

August 2, 2007 at 09:29 PM · I've been using a LR Baggs pickup for almost twenty years and have always been happy with it. The transducer is built into the bridge so that one does not have to spend hours trying to find the optimum position for it. The Baggs is low mass and does not interfere much with the acoustic sound of the instrument. At work I run from the violin straight into a Demeter DI (no preamp), and the house sound-man says he runs the fiddle pretty much flat (except some 2.5KHz rolled off).

I'm not familiar with Kurman soundposts or other "exotic" transducers so can't say the Baggs is the best there is. It may very well be the best piezo style solution, though.

Good luck!

- david johnson -

August 5, 2007 at 10:10 AM · What does everyone think about BARBERA transducers? And how do they compare to the LR Baggs ones?

Thanks!

August 5, 2007 at 01:28 PM · Schatten is another. The sound samples sound very natural.

Schatten pickup

August 6, 2007 at 06:10 PM · Hello,

I've used LB Baggs p.u.s for years and have been satisfied with them. I have not tried the Barbera pickups but the few times I've heard them used I was impressed. In fact, after recently hearing a local fiddler in a particularly loud bar band I noticed that the sound was clear and undistorted even at high volume. I spoke with the guy after the gig and he told me that he is in fact an violin maker and based on his research he felt the Barbera was superior. I suppose the best test (although impractical) would be to try both pickups with the same violin under similar acoustic conditions.

Regards, Marty

August 7, 2007 at 08:56 PM · My daughter just put the Schatten pickup through a workout -- through a Fender Deluxe Reverb guitar amp -- and it sounds GREAT. I'm surprised that it sounds so good through a guitar amp, but just had to turn the treble down a bit and the sound was wonderfully rich and balanced. Very nice with the amp's reverb; trem sounded quite cool also.

Next, into Garageband.

August 9, 2007 at 06:21 PM · Hello,

I use a couple of different amps including a Fender Vibrolux amp which I like very much. However, I find it essential to use a preamp to fine tune the tone, particularly rolling off the high frequencies. The 'E' string can be very shrill otherwise. The preamp I like is the L.R. Baggs Para Di (http://www.lrbaggs.com/html/products/preamps_paradi.shtml)

Regards, Marty

August 9, 2007 at 08:57 PM · Personally...from about 10 years of touring (playing electric), there's NO WAY i'd go back to a pickup! Volume becomes an issue too fast and the feedback gets out of hand. Do yourself a favor and go electric. Look at ZETA - you'll be happy you did!

-Ross Christopher

www.rosschristopher.com

www.myspace.com/rosschristopher

August 9, 2007 at 11:38 PM · It all depends on the tone requirements and the kind of venues you expect to be playing at.

Like Ross I currently use a Zeta Violin (Strados 5 string) for most public shows since we play at a lot of venues with large PA systems. I have never had a feedback issue (unless when intentionally using a distortion effect).

The tone of Zetas is pretty distinct: clean, clear, very open but somewhat one dimensional and metallic (using Zeta steel core strings). Using a decent effects processor and subtly applying some warming effects can mask this somewhat.

Using an LR Baggs bridge pick up and LR Baggs pre amp I usually get a slightly more complex and warm tone. I like the sound at least as much as the Zeta tone, and I can produce more dynamic range. I have never had a problem playing with this set up at smaller venues (coffee shops, bars etc), but occasionally though rarely got some slight feedback issues when playing larger venues. You can get the LR Baggs pickup and pre amp for less than a quarter of the price of a new Zeta, so unless you intend to play loud shows or big venues and if you already have an instrument that might be a good start.

However, many shows I play these days are outdoors, or at smokey clubs and I dont want to subject a good accoustic violin to that stress (not even speaking of inebriated concert goers or band mates...). Using the solid body Zeta (which is built like a tank and rarely goes out of tune even in extreme heat [read Burningman] or moist conditions), gives me peace of mind and a very reliable playing option.

Whatever you do, DO NOT get a Fishman piezzo slide in pick up. The e-string sound is overly trebbly and the lows are very muffled, plus the sound is very variable if you accidentally hit the pick up plate that you have to shimmy into your bridge.

Dont forget about good amplification as well - I usually use accoustic instrument or vocal PA cabinets at places that do not provide a PA system. Electric guitar amps are usually not a good choice at least to my taste.

Lastly, try to use an excellent bow - well made Carbon fiber bows (like the Coda Classic) are very durable and take more abuse than wooden bows (I use a Coda bow for shows), but when playing in a safe environment I use a contemporary french bow by a good maker and it makes a huge difference.

Hope this helps!

Sebastian

August 10, 2007 at 12:56 PM · Ross,

I appreciate your perspective and experience, but what if you are trying to put out an amplified sound that sounds like an acoustic violin and not an electric violin? I haven't heard a solid-body electric, Zeta or other maker, that sounds like an acoustic violin. They can get close on the e string, but in the mid- and low-range, electric violins sound like... electric violins.

August 10, 2007 at 09:03 PM · If you want an acoustic sound, there's no substitute for a good mic.

The most feedback resistant solutions that I know of are (in decreasing order of feedback resistance):

- hypercardiod mic and a piezo pickup or strip

- hypercardiod mic

- cardiod mic

- omni mic

mounted on the violin.

I personally have used hypercardiods on a gooseneck mount that mounts on the violin tailpiece and that had a good sound and worked well. You run that signal straight into a mixing board (no guitar preamp needed).

Omnis or cardiods sound better of course but at the cost of more potential feedback issues.

A decent mic with a good gooseneck mount is likely to cost more than a pickup but may cost about the same as a pickup and a good acoustic guitar preamp/pieze-eq-device. Or you can just get something like the Audio-Technica 35 (or 37?) series (hyper)cardiod on a clip mount. The mount's not as good as a mount specifically designed for the violin like the Accusound or ATM Roam's but it's probably the same (or similar) mic capsule and a lot cheaper.

Of course, if you have a really nice budget, I've read that the little DPA cardiod mics are awesome. Expensive but awesome.

- Ray

August 10, 2007 at 10:14 PM · I agree with Ray, I have tried at least a half a dozen different pick ups over the past 10 years and I have yet to come across any pickup-only solution that sounds realistically like an accoustic violin. That shouldnt be a surprise since most pick ups transduce the sound directly from the bridge whereas a mic can capture the sound image produced by the whole violin body as your left ear would hear it when you play...

In recording situations I usually have my violin miced (no pick up), unless I need to manipulate an effects chain while playing.

August 11, 2007 at 12:36 AM · Thanks, fellas.

November 8, 2007 at 12:02 AM · Hello,

have just bought a Shadow 945 NFX (originally for violin, is that what has been mentioned here under the german name of "Schatten") for my small 14" Viola, functions quite well, but is not really superb in sound quality to the "tuning pickup" for 10$ which I had up to now (and which I had to discard because of too heavy feedback problems - OK. here the NFX seems clearly better).

What I discovered lately: the viola is "superb" for rock music in combination with an octaver - I bought the "Behringer UO100" but it does not really work well (only one adjustment works: original and second octave minimum and lowest octave maximum - but 1 of three notes missing if you bow and only lowest strings perform. If you pick the strings it is much better (developed for guitar).

Because I'm completely in love with that "double-bass bowed" sound of the viola I ask you: do you know an octaver which really works well with a viola? Do you know better pickups?

kind regards

February 21, 2008 at 09:01 PM · "(originally for violin, is that what has been mentioned here under the german name of "Schatten")"

Hello just logged in - the Schatten and the Shadow are not the same pickups or the same company Shadow is German and Schatten is Canadian..

As for octave-pedals try the Boss PS5 Super Shifter , I tried it for violin and it works very well

November 29, 2010 at 08:58 PM ·

Hi,

back to Barcus- Berry. Nobody said about which model he/she is talking.

My experience: the clamp-on sounds thin and bad, the piezo bridge is all right. I used it almost 20 years on various instruments - violins and violas (when B-B still produced viola bridges back in the end-70ies). Sound:

http://www.uli-boesking.de/verg_u3.htm

Amp: Vox AC 30.

Today I'm playing a magnetic "Rebo" pickup. Sounds quite natural, no feedbacks. Fine on all of my instruments:

http://www.myspace.com/dodecats

Our cello-player uses it, too.