Fiddle pickup or mic question.......

Jeremy Brownlow · Post by **Jeremy Brownlow** » 10 Jul 2002 8:08 pm

I hope I do not get in trouble for bring up fiddles here on the steel guitar forum. I just need some advice on what kind of pickup or mic is best for running a fiddle through a pa or amp. Anyone double on fiddle or know their fiddlers set-up?
thanks,
JB

Michael Brebes · Post by **Michael Brebes** » 11 Jul 2002 6:16 am

My daughter plays "violin" and doesn't like the bridge pickups. She uses a small Audio Technica microphone that comes with a little gooseneck. It can be attached to the chinrest with the gooseneck, but she took off the gooseneck and stuffed it under the end of the fingerboard. Sounds pretty good that way.

Post by **Joey Ace** » 11 Jul 2002 6:31 am

There's a guy I "know" from the Tascam 788 forum that calls himself Fiddlpat.

He plays pro and has a top-notch home studio.
He always offers excellent advice on recording.

I suggest you email him. Tell him "Ace" sent ya.

Fiddlpat's web page is http://www.angelfire.com/music3/roots/
His email addr is there.

Kevin Hatton · Post by **Kevin Hatton** » 11 Jul 2002 9:10 am

There are two prevalent professional standard pickups for fiddle. One is LR Baggs (which was the most popular). The other is the Zeta pickup system which I use. It comes with the bridge and tailpiece. Its available in both real wood bridge or synthetic (which I use). I like the synthetic sound much better and always get tone compliments. You will see a good number of Nashville road players using the Zeta now. As important is the pickup is the amplifier. It should be a good quality ACOUSTIC amplifier. Running a fiddle through a digital amp made for guitars
just doesn't cut it for tone. Check out Zeta.com. they are tremendous pickup systems. Fishman also makes pretty good violin pickups. <FONT SIZE=1 COLOR="#8e236b"><p align=CENTER>[This message was edited by Kevin Hatton on 11 July 2002 at 10:11 AM.]</p></FONT>

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 11 Jul 2002 9:52 am

I get a good sound with a Fishman pickup that clamps onto the bass side of the bridge. The newer Fishmans have a jack with a clamp arrangement that fits on the edge of the fiddle and takes a standard 1/4" plug. These are easy to mount and don't require any modifications to the instrument. I also use a Fishman preamp for EQ and volume control. I also use a Fishman piezo bridge on my mandolin, and use the same preamp.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

Jeremy Brownlow · Post by **Jeremy Brownlow** » 11 Jul 2002 11:39 am

Thanks folks for the help. I have a 15 year old fishman (i think) bridge slot pickup, it sounds ok but has a short and cuts in and out. I am looking to upgrade and get something new and better.
thanks again, JB

Robert Rogers · Post by **Robert Rogers** » 17 Jul 2002 10:41 am

I prefer a L.R.baggs,barcus-berry, or a zeta bridge pick-up with a peavey nashville 400 or 1000.Just my 2 cents.

Robert
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1975 EMMONS PUSH-PULL ROSEWOOD D-10

Ziggie · Post by **Ziggie** » 24 Jul 2002 8:16 pm

I use something a bit different. It's called a WoodPicker. It's very cheap. I get them for about $35. Most transducer pickups all do the same thing. I found out it's more in the preamp then the actual pickup. I play a lot of acoustic instruments as well as steel. I use WoodPickers on mandolins, banjos, fiddles, bouzoukis, kalimba, and steel drums with satisfactory resullts. The bottom line......it gets the job done and I have to play at high volume levels. I use an Alesis recording mixer to preamp all my acoustic instrument. It works very well. Some people us active DI boxes, small mixers, and of course acoustic preamps. There's a lot of ways you can go with it.

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Don Zeitler aka Ziggie

Darvin Willhoite · Post by **Darvin Willhoite** » 26 Jul 2002 10:18 am

I have a Woodpicker pickup stuck under the spider of my Dobro, and it sounds pretty good. You can't beat the price either.

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Darvin Willhoite
Riva Ridge Recording

SveinungL · Post by **SveinungL** » 30 Jul 2002 10:55 pm

Try http://www.fiddlesource.com/ the Autolycus fiddle pickup. I've used it myself and it works very good, even at high volumes with a large and loud band!

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Thanks Sveinung Lilleheier - Norway
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Kentucky Riders