Originally published at: Plug In Ebook. Replies here will cross-post to the original lesson page.
Use this thread to ask questions about dialing in your gear, share experiences, and discuss how to get a better sound.
Post your gear here and we can help you try to get the best sound out of it and advise any upgrades that could help improve your setup.
Hello Brad and everyones ! Aloha ! My gear (just beginning to play plg-in…) :
1 ) active mic : Misi uke
2 : Preamp / Basic EQ : Fishman ProEQmini
3) Amp : Ibanez Acoustic Troubadour TA 35
For now, it’s working. I try to find the right sound with “EQing” (have to read your eBook).
But what is annoying me for now is the noise (not so loud but) of the Amp when just plugged. I tried to resolve ground issues by plugin in the same electrical socket but still there…
Mahalo ! Patrice
Does the noise get louder when you turn up the amp volume? Try moving the amp to a different location in your house - or even to a whole different building. It might just be the inherent noise floor from the electrical components in the amp, but it could be interference from RFI/EMI pollution (computers, certain types of lights, etc.) or poor grounding in your electrical circuit.
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Aloha Brad and thank you for your reply ! And yes, I have to check first I think the grouding of my electrical circuit…
Aloha Brad ! In fact and hopefully not a ground noise issue ! Just a wrong choice for the cable plugged into my uke : a TRS instead of a TS one… Work fine now, just beginning to learn to EQ … Mahalo !
Aha! Yes, the extra ring on the TRS jack can make contact in the wrong place and create noise. All kinda depends on how the input jack is constructed. It’s always a good bet to save TRS cables for input jacks that are marked “balanced.” Then you know for sure that they’re meant to receive TRS. If it doesn’t say, it’s probably unbalanced and you should use a TS instrument cable.
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Mahalo Brad for sharing tour knowledge
Aloha, Brad,
I enjoyed the Plugging In book! I didn’t understand everything, but I’m glad I have it as a reference should I need to!
My little band of two singing ‘ukulele players and an (appropriately quiet) drummer does very well gigging with two Fishman mini-loudbox amps. We are adding a U-bass to our situation… do we need to get a bass amp? We mostly play breweries and taverns where we don’t need to be super loud.
Your advice much appreciated,
Robin
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Yes, a bass amp is designed to create the extended low end from a bass tuning. The Fishmans are only intended for an acoustic guitar’s lowest note. A bass is a whole octave below that. You can plug a bass into the Loudbox, but it will sound thin and won’t have the oomf you want.
I’ve heard good things about the Fender Rumble amps for the price. Keep in mind that it takes more power to create low frequencies, so you’ll need more wattage from a bass amp to match the same from your Loudbox. (For what you do, I would probably look for a 200~ watt amp.)
Check Craigslist. It seems like burnt out bass players are always selling their bass amps!
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Howzit Brad,
Here’s a trouble shooting question for you.
I have a beautiful Custom Kanile’a Tenor 'ukulele with an active UST pickup. It sounds amazing when I play it unplugged. However, when I plug in to my Fishman Loudbox, or into Apple GarageBand via the Scarlett 2i2 with headphones, the C string is soooo much louder than the other 3 strings. Is it possible that the under saddle transducer has shifted after installation? Or is it as simple as turning down the bass on either my amp or in GarageBand? The strings just seem so unbalanced in volume. I would appreciate any advice as how to try solving this issue.
Hey Bob,
People put a lot of effort into making a great uke and then pass the pickup install to the new guy. It’s usually just shoddy work that creates a problem like this unless you’re using a wound C-string or you’re super boosting your EQ.
It’s most likely one of two things:
- A saddle that isn’t completely flat
- A saddle slot that isn’t completely flat
I would start by taking off the strings and pulling the saddle out (mark with a pencil which way it goes). Place it on a flat surface (like a piece of glass) and see if you can see any light under it. If the C-string is too loud, there is probably a hump in that area. If it’s uneven, you can put a piece of fine sandpaper on said surface and carefully pull the saddle back and forth to try and “true” the bottom.
Notice if the saddle is tight when you pull it out. Usually they should have a slight bit of play, but some people wedge them in the slot and then it can’t float with the UST and strings.
Shouldn’t be something you have to deal with. If the DIY stuff makes you uncomfortable, just get the dealer to fix it. Sounds like something they should have caught before it went out.
Unlikely that the UST has shifted, unless you took out the saddle and were careless about mooshing it back in there. You can try turning down the bass, but you probably need a parametric EQ centered on the C note to fix the problem that way. If your EQ is flat, there’s no reason a string should jump out.
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Mahalo Brad,
Thanks for getting back so quickly. Actually I have not yet changed the strings on this ‘ukulele as I bought it used on eBay from the original owner. So I can’t say whether he changed the strings on it or not. But I do understand that the strings should be changed one at a time with a UST piezo pickup to keep the saddle from shifting.
As for my EQ, I’ve kept it all pretty flat across the board to get a good place to start from first. I noticed right away that the C string was super loud on the Fishman Loudbox, so I wanted to double check in GarageBand to see if the the same was true, which it was.
I was a bit concerned about removing the strings and fiddling with it before first talking to both you and the folks at Kanile’a.
Contacted the Kanile’a ohana and Benji got back to me and offered to talk about some solutions over the phone. In his email he thought that the saddle might have become unseated during a string change So I’ll let you know what he says before I start sanding.
Bob
Brad,
Problem solved!!! But not without a bit of detective work.
I talked to Benji Young at Kanile’a who asked a very critical question.
“Is the saddle leaning back toward the bridge pins at about a 10° angle?”
I told him that it was not, but in fact straight up at a 90° angle from the top.
He suggested that I slack up the strings and pull gently on the saddle so that it leans toward the bridge pins and tighten the strings back up to pitch.
So I slacked up the strings and adjusted the saddle, tipping it slightly toward the bridge pins.
Then I tightened the strings back up to pitch while gently holding the saddle at a slight angle.
I tried this twice and both times the saddle straightened right back up to a 90° angle.
So I slacked up once again and removed the saddle to see if the piezo was seated properly and everything looked good. (being careful to remember which side was facing the headstock, by putting a pencil dot on one side)
So then I thought… maybe the previous owner had changed the strings and the bridge may possibly have fallen out, and he perhaps might have put it back in the opposite direction. So I flipped it around and this time when I tightened the strings the saddle kept the 10° angle toward the bridge pins. It seems as if that is exactly what had happened, because once I plugged it in and listened through headphones, the sound was exquisitely balanced on all 4 strings. Even with the high G, they were all equal with nothing “popping out”.
The 10° saddle tilt was the key to solving this dilemma. I couldn’t have done it without some help. So thanks for your suggestions.
Now I can play this magnificent piece of art, both acoustically and plugged in with stunning results. So if it sounds bad, that’s all on me!
ps: while I had the saddle out of the bridge, I did put it on a flat surface with the sunlight behind it and saw no light underneath. It was very flat.
REMINDER to all of you out there that change your own strings. Be extra careful when removing the saddle, to put it back in the same way it came out.
Glad you got it figured out! Strange that it’s supposed to lean back, but if that fixed the problem, great!