Martian - Posted - 11/26/2025:  11:52:04

i have done some research, and am considering one of two pickups. I play in a classic rock/country bands , and my banjo goes invisible when trying to mic it as I would on a festival stage., but now competing with drums and teles, and a steel. I am considering the EMG ACB pick up, or another one they make , ( I think) The EMG ACB barrel. The first is humbuckers, with built in pre amp. What has scared me off so far, is I would get a Pick up suggestion, and then shop for a preamp, which I was told I might have to try a few. I don't want a drawer full of stuff if i can help it . TIA

Martian - Posted - 11/26/2025:  11:58:34

or Jones hatfield

Mickhammer - Posted - 11/26/2025:  13:56:07

I used the EMG ACB (until I picked up an electric banjo), it works fine. It's an active pickup, if that's what you mean by pre-amp, otherwise it's just the pickup and a battery pack, easy to install. Stage volume wasn't an issue for me, so I can't speak to feedback issues, but I'm sure it handles that much better than a microphone.

PKM - Posted - 11/26/2025:  15:52:28

I perfomed for 16 years with a band that did very large venues, ( like Tampa Stadium), and I eventually went with an electric banjo. It was awesome and trouble free. Now, I play in a smaller band that does nothing larger than a wedding venue. I use a Fishman Rare Earth which is active. A DI helps you to shape the tone with adjustments, ( highs, lows, mids, etc.) I've used a Tonebone Radial, like this one:
musiciansfriend.com/amplifiers...J2kfD_BwE
for many years and it not only boost your signal, buy allows you to shape it to get a more authentic banjo sound.

Mickhammer - Posted - 11/26/2025:  23:05:07

The (upright) bassist in my other group (I just sing in that one) is very particular about his tone, and he uses the Tonebone - very natural sounding. I have a Palmer Acoustic Pocket preamp which works quite well, tons of features. But with a good acoustic amp, you don't need really a preamp - it depends on the monitor situation really. (I prefer an amp even when there are monitors. I use Behringer's AEG clone, it's excellent and can get very loud.)

Jerry Hatrick - Posted - 11/27/2025:  01:32:04

I’ve used the EMG ACB when playing in amplified bands, and can recommend it for giving you the extra volume needed to be heard amongst electric guitars and basses. You lose something of the banjo tone, but other pickups I’ve tried either too easily feedback or just sound like a poor electric guitar. I tended to route it through a pre-amp, but you ought to be able to feed straight into a PA system mixer successfully.

However, I think you can spend your whole life searching for the perfect pickup for a banjo, because the instrument is inherently designed to be acoustically echo
-like, and amplifying an (unmuted) echo in a controlled manner is a real challenge. I’m sure someone who actually knows what they’re taking about can explain that much better than me.

pasdimo - Posted - 11/27/2025:  09:22:04

DPA4099 is excellent, but expensive

Martian - Posted - 11/27/2025:  09:54:30

I may need to explain some more, being in a country /rock set up, I will be playing a 5 string , prolly 2 songs a set, so am not intending to spend over $300 . Every time I do play banjo, it can sound like full blown crap to me tone wise , but people instantly hot foot it all over the place . thanks to all of you for your responses.