The Steel Guitar Forum

Banjo pickup wanted as our band wants me to throw in several numbers that require banjo. I have an Ibanez Artist here which would need a reasonably priced pickup to be shipped to the USA . Thx, Steve Takacs

But wouldn't that make it even louder?

Anyone named Earnest Bovine need not reply. What a mean guy. Steve t

Hey Steve,
In case it's of any interest to you, I went down the same road a few years ago....picking banjer in a very loud Irish trad/country/bluegrass crossover band.
I tried a pile of pick-ups, from cheap to very expensive, and none of them worked well. Any time I got near loud enough, feedback would kick in.
I eventually solved the problem by taping a budget vocal mic. to the rods in the banjo. (AEG Blue Shadow or something like that name) Then I ran that through a budget (again!) volume booster pedal, and finally through a (you guessed it, budget) graphic equaliser unit.
Sounds like a lot of hassle, but it's really not.I mounted the two pedals side by side and clip them to my microphone stand, at waist level. I can then adjust volume and EQ to suit the gig.
Trust me, it works really well, if you're interested I can dig out the product names of all three items I used.
Cheers, Tony in Ireland

I've used Shure SM 57 replacement elements mounted to the coordinator rods successfully. Keeps the tone of the banjo and it's very compact.

Dave

Steve, I use a K & K pickup, Just run it through your steel rig. I do use a SGBB and V8 which helps the tone immensely! I tried several including the SM 57 route and feedback is always a problem.

the best pickup to put on a banjo is at least a f-150

Steve..You may want to try placing a dampening agent such as light foam inside the resonator to reduce the overtones which are the cause of much of the feed back.

Years ago I placed a DeArmond contact pickup on the face of my banjo and got a good sound.
It was held in place by a large rubber band.
Does anybody remember those?
Erv

PM sent.

Paul Hirshmann ...

Steve: I have an old Barcus Berry dobro pick up, if you think that might work.
Lee

FWIW: years ago the late Portland steel guitarist Eric West came up with a non-feedback solution. If I recall (and maybe Paul Hirshmann might remember) Eric used an acoustic guitar sound hole pickup placed in the resonator under the bridge and secured in place by cramming an old Tee shirt inside, too. It gave a surprisingly good sound when amplified, yet rather dull and thuddy when played acoustically.

The Kavanjo pickup/head assembly, which I mentioned previously, is used by Keith Urban and Taylor Swift. It should work for your situation.

you should call these guys, they will probably pick up the banjo for free, no feedback

steve takacs wrote:Banjo pickup wanted as our band wants me to throw in several numbers that require banjo. I have an Ibanez Artist here which would need a reasonably priced pickup to be shipped to the USA . Thx, Steve Takacs

I have what you need, I'll PM the details

PM sent.

I want to thank all of you members who took the time to help me solve this banjo amplification problem. I have plenty to work with now. Time to hit the streets of Beijing to see what I can find. Stevet

Paul Hirshmann wrote:the best pickup to put on a banjo is at least a f-150

HAHAHAHA!!