Banjo Fishman Magnetic PickUp a Solution - Pt 2

Amplifying my Stelling Sunflower banjo wasn't as easy as I thought it would be … picking up where I left off … being in NEVAH, Maine's Progressive Bluegrass, NewGrass, Prograssabilly band with eight (8) talented band members, I needed to be heard. After hoisting the banjo up to my vocal mic during a good portion of one of our shows the conclusion was … NOPE. Then trying to mic it separately standing real close to it for most of the show and playing as loud as possible during the breaks, again for me … NOPE.

Therefore …

Third Banjo Sound solution:
I broke down and decided to see what was out there in the way of pick-ups. At the time I started looking there weren't too many. I'd discussed this with Tony Trischka at one point and if I am not mistaken Tony had a "custom made" pickup that had been tweaked for his needs. I am certainly no Tony Trischka, anyone who has heard me can certainly attest to that, so I thought I'd see if an off the shelf pickup would work.

Violà … I found the Fishman Magnetic Pickup for my banjo. Highly recommended by tons of banjo folk and used by at least 3/4 of a ton of banjo folk. I didn't know anyone up in Maine, at the time, who had one so I took a chance.

Hal's Fishman Banjo Pick-up

The Fishman pickup arrived and after carefully installing it … it worked. They recommend it should be professionally installed. And I agree, installing micro electronics needing to be soldered at any point in the procedure should be professionally installed …

… mine wasn't, and that could be the reason why, after months of using it I had "issues." I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if my soldering joints weren't right, and I took it to a professional to double check. Everything was soldered correctly. Then, again, I replaced the battery even though it was the first thing I checked, it was fine …whatever the reason was, whatever excuse I came up with for WHY I wasn't getting the consistent sound I wanted … was merely an excuse.

I even went out, on the recommendation of Philip Zanon - who runs sound for the Kruger Brothers and purchased a Fender Acoustasonic 150 Amp thinking that maybe the marshall acoustic amp I'd borrowed wasn't working. I'm pretty sure that Yens Kruger has a Fishman Pickup in his Deering Banjo  and his works fine. So I concluded that it must be me.

I was totally stuck in amplified banjo sound hell … and then to top it all off I added to my troubles and decided to go wireless …

Next Blog: Fourth Banjo Solution - A Terrific Wireless Banjo Setup that Works for Me