Basik Set for Acoustic Instruments

I use this for my Koaloha all solid Koa concert Ukelele. It sounds great, very accurate and quite warm and solid and not at all brittle like I feared. Handling noise was unexpectedly minimal unless you actually hit the pickup which is an effect all by itself! I place it 2 fingers width away from the bridge. The blue tack rolling can be a pain as you need to be careful to have a tight seal without using too big a wad, but other than the inconvenience, it works well as it doesn't mark up my instrument.

Update: Since this debacle, JJB electronics has custom made me 2 piezo pickups that fit all my exact needs, for less than $60 shipped. Can't say enough about that company (I have no financial interest with them, I gladly pay full price for everything I get from them). Yes it has a piezo tone to it, but a good preamp evens it out, and even un-preamped, it SMOKES the Schertler Basik for amplitude and bass response (even with 6ft leads, I was concerned that resistance from the long wore run was the problem with the BASIK, but I had long leads put on the JJB piezos and it works flawlessly, no noticeable drop off in cookie or quality when compared with my old JJB pickups with short leads). I am convinced there is no better 1/4" solution. Maybe the higher end Schertlers work better, but they're all XLR output, doesn't work for my gigs since I often plug into a TC Helicon voicelive play GTX harmonizer and effects processor (which is awesome by the way, it picks up the harmony key from the guitar or uke input, sounds incredibly natural. Every musician who hears me at gigs asks about it). Original review: Boy did I want this to work. I have an all Koa ukulele. I did not want to do any alterations. I know violinist who swears by this brand, so I thought I would give this a shot, I know they have higher end models but I really need the quarter inch output because I plug into instrument amps and preamps, generally not directly into a mixer. I simply don't understand where all the rave reviews come from. That said, two of the other reviews note poor bass response (why 5 stars then?) and a possibly defective pickup (probably hearing what I'm hearing, that gets 4 stars?). It has extremely low output. I was expecting something equal or better in level and better-sounding than the $20 JJB electronics Piezoelectric pick up I have on one of my cheap ukuleles, but after two miserable gigs with this dog of a pickup (I had to CRANK, I mean 100%, the gain on my Fishman preamp to get to just under 1/2 volume on my Godin guitar, which of course introduced a lot of hiss), I was (rhymes with hissed). The next day I did a controlled A/B experiment between the two pickups, and the $20 JJB electronics pickup killed this one in overall level and frequency response. I am talking exactly the same everything, same Uke, same placement, same cable, same channel strip, directly into my computer, no eq, no outboard preamps, no nothing. See attached screenshot of the waveform, obviously the schertler is the first clip, JJB electronics piezo second. I don't believe I can post audio, but the waveform does not lie, there is a marked amplitude difference. This $165 pick up, with it's fairly shoddily soldered little preamp (that requires an extra cable of course), puts out measurably less level then a $20 NON-PREAMPED piezo. Pathetic. And I KNOW, volume isn't everything, but the Schertler didn't sound good, even when it was boosted to a useful level. I had to cut highs and mids to counteract the nasally and brittle sound (yes of course I experimented with placement, any placement with less treble and the thing had even less volume), while my uke's natural tone is very warm, with a boomy wound low G. Lest you blame my gear for not being able to "reproduce the subtle beauty" of this junk pickup, I only use good stuff, depending on what set up I am using I have TC electronics, Radial, and Fishman preamps, and my main gigging amp is a Bose L1 model 2. I'm stumped that no one else has noted this low output. I thought I had a dud, but even the seller at djangobooks, who has been very responsive, doesn't find it to be excessively low level when compared with other BASIK pickups after I sent it back. Maybe the higher volume that guitars put out make this less an issue, but there's another rave review by a guy using this on a Uke. I don't get it. I dunno, maybe I'm just getting particular in my old age, but again, the waveform doesn't lie. It sucked for me, I returned it and am looking for something better. JJB electronics is going to make me a custom stick-on pickup and we'll see how that goes. I've never had a problem in the past with them, they sound really good, not quacky at all, I just foolishly thought spending $140 more would sound even better. I'm guessing the only thing better than a piezo will be much more expensive stick-on condenser mics, but like I said, I need 1/4' passive output for my everyday use.

This Mic is good stuff. Just can't get passed having to use that putty all the time. Also the one I received was Defective or something. It just for some reason Would Not work right. It's a good idea in the right direction just not there yet

Great Sound. Picks up a lot of incidental noise so you'll have to play clean. Definitely recommend.

bass is a little weak, but good resolution