Not sure how to pick a pickup for my violin.

Michele

I have recently begun playing with my Uncle who plays guitar. We are playing for my cousins wedding. The problem is his guitar overpowers my violin. I want to get a pickup for my violin. I would like one that is removable but good quality. Are there any suggestions?

ayer

Think about the whole sound system, not just the pick up. Many piezo-electric pickups don't put out enough voltage to go straight into an amplifier. I use a Fishman, and go into a small single tube pre-amp (originally for a microphone), then to a guitar amp. It works fine for me. Search here on the site for prior pickup discussions and you can find lots of comments about different brands of pickups. It may make your head spin about the subtle differences between pickups.
You could also get a microphone and pre-amp, put the microphone on a stand so its over your violin, and send the pre-amp into your uncle's amp.

Go to a large, good electric guitar store and try out different arrangements. Borrow a pickup if a call to the store says they don't have pickups. Ask if they have your uncle's amp so you can plug into one like you'll use for the wedding. Tell the sales rep your objectives and a rough budget and let them help you try different configurations. Your ears will tell you.

ada

Yous is a common question that is not that easy to answer. Fiddle players contend with it all the time if they play in bands. You can spend a lot of money and still not have a good outcome. My advice is to go as simple as possible. Get a Shure 58 microphone or one like it, or better yet borrow one, and see if you can go directly into your uncle's amp. His amp might only accommodate a single pickup and if so you will have to get an amp, hopefully borrowed. Then try playing thru the microphone and see what happens. If you get a good result that will be a cheap way to go. Also, you might have to lower the treble and raise the bass to get a full sound. Violins are hard to amplify and get a good sound.