I play Bluegrass banjo, but occasionally play out with country, or country rock bands, but I am playing in a Mic, and the les Paul, and elec. bass that are on either side of me, as a result , generally speaking, I am not heard. One of my friends suggested a pick up. any suggestions? thanks
EMG-ACB barrel :)
I was looking at one, EMG ACB-5 at sweetwater i will check this one out
Here's just one of many previous Hangout discussions of pickups.
Here's a link to the results when you enter "pickup" in the search tool over there in the permanent left-hand navigation column (under the word "More."
Time and again, when I hear a good (natural) sounding banjo through a pickup and have the opportunity to ask the player what they're using, it's been a Fishman.
When you have a couple hours to spare, listen to these two episodes of the Picky Fingers Banjo Podcast:
#152 - ToneDexter, featuring James May and Josh Bennett -- makers and marketers of this preamp/DI pedal that learns and lets you achieve the microphonic sound of your banjo through any pickup.
#153 - ToneDexter Shootout, in which host Keith Billik (member here) demonstrates what ToneDexter can do, by programming "wavemaps" using every combination of 3 different banjo pickups (by K&K, Schatten, and EMG) and 5 different microphones (by Rode, Behringer, Shure, Audio Technica, and Mesanovic).
Episode 153 is great! Full of real-world audio info. Here's an important point Keith makes once or twice: In all the tests, he has the EQ or any other sound-adjusting settings on ToneDexter perfectly flat. Zero or whatever indicator means no adjustment is being applied. The point being: every tested combination of pickup and mic could be considered its worst and has plenty of room for improvement. A full range of tones is there to be added or subtracted to improve the sound.
The EMG pickup is their (newer?) ACB Barrel. In contrast to the original EMG ACB-5 pickup that I think is pretty much a guitar style humbucker, the ACB Barrel is similar to the Fishman, using a metal shim under the bridge to excite the magnetic system. Somehow this produces an acoustic sound that to my ears rivals vibration-based transducers.
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The reason I point you to the ToneDexter podcast is that any pickup you choose will require a preamp or DI (direct input) pedal. Same thing. The preamp boosts the signal to give your PA mixer enough to work with. It also lets you shape the sound reaching the mixer in ways the mixer might not be capable of.
Acoustic instrument preamps are not cheap to begin with and the ToneDexter costs more. But not exorbitant. I believe it's worth the extra dollars to have a banjo through a pickup sound almost the same as a banjo through a mic.
If I were to get back into live gigging and needed to play through my pickup, I'd buy a ToneDexter. The very few live gigs I've played in the past eight years all were handled through mics. No problem.
I use a Pickup the World thin film transducer. If I were not satisfied with its sound through a ToneDexter, I'd replace the pickup with a Fishman or EMG Barrel. But, again, I'm no longer gigging so I can't justify the expense. ToneDexter is $600 new! A Fishman pickup is $230.
I use Fishman in banjos and bass banjos. The clarity is unbeatable. But a damper really helps make the head less reactive to ambient sounds. I've struggled with feedback without dampers.
Feedback is a big challenge in your type of amplified situation (electric instruments, drums, probably monitors on stage). So another solution -- some consider a better solution -- is an electric banjo such as the Deering Crossfire (no longer made) or one of the Gold Tone offerings.
Equivalent to that would be a conventional banjo with the EMG ACB-5 pickup and a stuffed pot. In a session on amplification in the online/virtual Midwest Banjo Camp during the pandemic, Ned Luberecki said he fills one banjo with rigid foam insulation to use in these loud situations. The goal is to keep the banjo from going microphonic. You do sacrifice natural banjo sound. But maybe the ToneDexter could bring it back.
You'd have to train the ToneDexter on the sound of the stuffed banjo through a mic so it knew what that banjo was supposed to sound like.
Here is what i use: jones-hatfied pickup with LR Baggs Venue pickup. Works really well for me in bar settings and when playing with country band when everyone else is plugged in.
Truest non-electric banjo sound that I've used.
Jack Hatfield is a banjo guy, really knows his stuff, and is very accessible for questions and guidance.
https://hatfieldmusic.com/product/jones-hatfield-banjo-pickup/
quote:
Originally posted by Bruce Berry BanjosI use Fishman in banjos and bass banjos. The clarity is unbeatable. But a damper really helps make the head less reactive to ambient sounds. I've struggled with feedback without dampers.
did you find you had to use a pre -amp? thanks
quote:
Originally posted by Martianquote:
Originally posted by Bruce Berry BanjosI use Fishman in banjos and bass banjos. The clarity is unbeatable. But a damper really helps make the head less reactive to ambient sounds. I've struggled with feedback without dampers.
did you find you had to use a pre -amp? thanks
I do have the Fishman pre-amp that they designed to go with it, and it's nice. Not 100% necessary though. In fact I've chosen not to use it for the last couple show we've done, mainly because I'm lazy, but I also thought it sounded fine without. On my wife's bass, it doesn't need it at all (2 dampers in the bass though). For my 5-string, the pre-amp is sometimes helpful to have that extra headroom for EQing purposes.
I think every pickup needs a preamp. You can certainly plug directly into a mixer and see if the channel gain or trim (whichever it's called) provides enough boost to give the channel EQ and volume controls enough signal to work with.
Likewise a guitar or acoustic instrument amplifier if it has a separate gain control.
Generally preamps do a better job of shaping the signal before it gets to the mixer.
Edited by - Old Hickory on 04/20/2025 13:20:13
I did have onbe other thought, suppose i played in a regular mic, ran the mic to my amp. and mic the amp to the board?
I use a fishman rare earth pick up and a fishman platinum preamp, but of course I prefer using a Dpa mic….
I have the EMG ACB 5 in my Stelling. If you are playing on a loud stage, the EMG is the best choice for getting healthy levels without feedback.
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