MatthewW
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Onboard pickup & preamp systems for oud
Hello all- I would appreciate any advice and comments from regular users of electric ouds having an onboard preamp and pickup system installed. I am
not sure whether to use an undersaddle pickup, or two individual pickups (as the K&K) placed under the top of the oud. Besides what pickup/s you
use, I would also appreciate any personal comments about what onboard preamp you have found to work well along with the pickup; ie Fishman, B.Band.
The oud will be about 3 inches deep, so any onboard preamp will need to fit this width.
I'm looking for optimum tone, ease of maintenence, and little or no feedback when used in live gigs. Thanks in advance, Matthew 
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Kelly
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Hi Mathew
Is this a solid body oud? if so I would have thought that under saddle pick up would be only option as sound board even on shallow body is going to
give you by comparison lower output. correct me tho I could be wrong in assuming that.
Who is making the body/oud? will it be fixed or floating bridge?
A Luthier like Jon Le Voi in Alford, Lincs might be able to give you some good advice. He's a sound guy :-)
Regards
Kelly
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MatthewW
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Hi Kelly- the oud will be hollow, about 3 inches deep. If all goes to plan I'm hoping to have it made by Andrew Bradshaw, who Mavrothi made us aware
of recently. It's one of the nicest electric ouds I have seen and heard:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zG7Kgshok3Y
I would like an onboard preamp like and either undersaddle pickup or two mics under the soundboard coming off from the preamp if possible. I'm trying
to get as much feedback ( no pun intended) from forum members who use any onboard preamps/pickps on an oud. One preamp I have in mind is the Fishman
Prefix Pro. Thanks for the tip on Jon Le Voi, I'll get an email off to him soon. cheers buddy- Matthew
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Kelly
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Hi Matt Yes its a fine sounding instrument. not sure about machine heads - call me old- fashioned.
Jon makes excellent Maccaferi/Selmer type guitars but has made great mandolas/citterns. The 2 he made for me in the 80's had cheap but excellent hi
gain before feedback Schaller oyster pickups wth crafty coupling design onto underside of sound board in bridge area either side- wired in parallel.
got great d.i sound from the desk with minimum eq. He might even have a go at building an oud for you- his construction /design approach is excellent
as is his wood pile.
Kelly
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MatthewW
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Quote: Originally posted by Kelly  |
Hi Matt Yes its a fine sounding instrument. not sure about machine heads - call me old- fashioned. |
OK- your'e old fashioned! 
I'll contact Jon and see if he can build something similiar, ya never know. MW
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Sazi
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Hi Matthew, excuse me for stating the obvious, but if you like that oud sound so much and wish to get the same from the same maker, then would it not
be better to ask him what he used and to use the same pick-up and placement for you?
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MatthewW
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Hi Sazi- thanks for stating what appears obvious- however the reason why I am looking at alternative ways of amplifying the oud is because the oud in
the youtube clip, which does sound nice, has no onboard preamp, and I would rather not have to use an external preamp. I would like everything needed
on the oud; the preamp and the pickup. I am not sure about having two mics (as the K&K) under the top, or to go for an undersaddle pickup. This is
why I am asking opinions and comments from users of ouds with any onboard systems. regards, Matthew
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Sazi
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| Quote: Originally posted by MatthewW | | ... I am not sure about having two mics (as the K&K) under the top, or to go for an undersaddle pickup. This is why I am asking opinions and
comments from users of ouds with any onboard systems. regards, Matthew |
Well, personally I would go for the two transducers under the soundboard over an under-saddle any day, but I believe there is a better option, (I
think it might be by Fishman, there are probably others), which has both a transducer and a built-in mic. plus on-board pre, and the thing that's
different is they use the piezo only for bass, thus avoiding the infamous piezo 'quack', and the mic for the rest, - the bass roll-off on the mic
helps avoid the main feedback problem areas, and adds 'air'.
Now my own experience with a similar kind of set-up was that the mic worked well on two of my ouds but not on the one I really wanted it for, but I
didn't really have the right pre for the job.
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MatthewW
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Hi Sazi- this is why I am asking for personal advice and comments on what onboard systems you guys out there have found to work best. Keeping in mind
this will be a thinner bodied, hollow oud, 3"deep with little or no soundhole to minimize on feedback, so it won't have the same acoustic/feedback
problems that a full bodied oud might have. If you can remember the onboard system with preamp, transducer and mic you are referring to that would be
great. thanks.
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Ararat66
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Hi Matthew
Got your email earlier, great to hear from you ... I'm doing fine btw enjoying my ouding more and more these days :-)
I have virtually no experience of electric ouds save to say that the solid body one I once tried was dead in terms of feel so I think the hollow,
shallow body sounds perfect, because as you know the quality of what you play is hugely directed by the feel of the oud.
If I were you I'd U2U Mavrothis for some direct advice, his Andrew Bradshaw oud looks and sounds pretty damn good to me. There is also the offering
from Godin, the Multioud which is currently £ 1,359 from Thomann ... pretty dear when you can get one made maybe.
I'd be interested in your discoveries on this - keep us posted.
Cheers
Leon
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MatthewW
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Hi Leon- I've been in contact with Mav, he's very helpful and has a lot of knowledge on these things. he recently tried a Godin Multioud:
http://www.mikeouds.com/messageboard/viewthread.php?tid=11541
cheers, Matthew
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Ararat66
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Hi Matthew
I saw that afterwards - and another Godin thread too - so a useful coincidence. What do you reckon you will do??
Leon
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