Installing built-in pick up for 2004 dulcimer?

Art S
Art S
@art-s
one month ago
21 posts

I use a Myers Pickup, which is a microphone not a pickup. It connects to the instrument in a variety of ways. I use the long carpenter clamp. Specify "long" as the standard will not likely wrap around the instrument. I put the tiny mic inside the f hole, so, yes, it will pick up vibrations from the box, but I could just hover it over the strings. It has it's own little volume control, but doesn't like phantom power.

Ken Longfield
Ken Longfield
@ken-longfield
3 months ago
1,083 posts

We are responding to a thread that is four years old. I'm not sure how popular the Cherub pickup is among mountain dulcimer players as I haven't been to any "live" festivals since the pandemic. Bear in mind that this is a pickup and not a microphone. It responds to vibrations created by the strings and any touch on the instruments surface. It clips on to the top of the dulcimer through a sound hole. It may not fit in narrow or small sound holes. I'd be interested in knowing how it works if anyone here uses one.

Ken

"The dulcimer sings a sweet song."

Ken Hulme
Ken Hulme
@ken-hulme
3 months ago
2,123 posts

Age of the instrument doesn't mean  thing when it comes to installing an after-market "built-in" mic.   Not anything you want to DIY for the first time.  

shanonmilan
@shanonmilan
3 months ago
61 posts

It seems like a Cherub pick-up/mic is really popular among dulcimer player.

marg
@marg
4 years ago
616 posts

(The Cherub violin mic ) Is a mic the same as a pick up, I have seen several listed as I am also looking to some kind of a way hook a pick up on a dulcimer.

Has anyone hear of a passive piezo pickup for nylon strings - Kremona NG-1.  It sits on the tie bar utilizing the tension of the strings, so its seems it could sit behind a dulcimer bridge and under the strings for tension also. They are incase in wood and thin, seems we could just loosen the strings than slip them under.

Any thoughts?

Dave Ismay
Dave Ismay
@dave-ismay
4 years ago
25 posts

A couple of years ago someone on here suggested The Cherub violin mic as a cheap and reasonably efficient way to hook up a dulcimer. I have found with a decent sound system they do work and are quickly swapped from one instrument to another and most importantly you get to test for the best position for next to no expenditure

Matt Berg
Matt Berg
@matt-berg
4 years ago
93 posts

Have you considered contacting Richard Ash at Folkcraft?  He seems always willing to help on questions like this.

Vicki Moore
Vicki Moore
@vicki-moore
4 years ago
16 posts

Does anyone have experience or knowledge about this subject? I have a 2004 Folkcraft baritone and also a 1993 standard Folkcraft - both for which I am considering to have built-in pick ups installed. Thoughts? Or perhaps someone can recommend a good “stick on” option...but I have never found a good one in all these years!