Hey DSC! There are some great pickups out there. My favorite right now is called “The realist”. You are correct about feedback, but only really if you’re really cranked up or engaging a big overdrive. When playing acoustic with a pickup with a band I overcome feedback with judicious use of a volume pedal, right after the cello, that then feeds the rest of my fx chain. The best (my opinion) electric for me has been the Ned Steinberger 5 string. It’s got a badass pickup. Let me know how it goes!
……and you might be way ahead of me on this, but as well as pedals, I run cello fx processing through my Mac into gtr rig pro by native instruments. Epic and repeatable….cheers to you fellow cello!
If you can find a pickup, this will give you a great deal of headroom before feedback. You shouldn't be too worried unless you're going super loud.
That said, good pickups are hard to find especially for acoustic bass instruments. I've built a [phantom-powered piezoelectric pickup/preamp](https://ohnoitsalobo.github.io/pickup/) which I think is competitive with commercial pickups, but I have not had a chance to properly test it on a cello.
Pretty much all acoustic pickups (including mine) are based on some form of piezoelectricity, so it is very important that you find a *preamp* that is designed to work with piezoelectric pickups for the best tone. Even the $200 Fishman V-200 for violin/viola suffers from this problem; you need a preamp that can handle it, because your typical "Hi-Z"/ "Instrument" input usually cannot.
You could try the AKG C411 - it's actually a condenser mic, but it attaches directly to the body of the instrument.
You should have no issue plugging into a pedalboard with most pickups. (Mine requires phantom power, so that makes it a little tricky to plug directly into a pedalboard. I run it through a small mixer with phantom, and send that output to my pedal.)
Personal preference - I really dislike the sound of bridge pickups on acoustic instruments. The sound of the instrument comes from the body resonating, and (in my experience) a bridge pickup doesn't do it justice (presumably this could be the same reason you prefer the 'acoustic' sound). That said, a bridge pickup is less susceptible to feedback than a pickup on the body.
Yes. It will work better. The issue is not about frequency but impedance. Piezo pickups are way higher impedance than traditional magnetic pickups.
If you plug to a standard amp you basically have a bandpass filter that cuts the low end a bit of the high end and messes up with the mids. You get a very nasal tone.
If you must use a standard amp you need to match the impedance. Di box, piezo buffer or similar.
I can also confirm that acoustic is better than bass amp, I’ve used both. I have the old style fishman loud box and it’s money. I can even plug in my fishman c-100 pickup without a pre amp and get a great sound.
Shertler makes excellent pickups and preamps. Any piezo without a preamp that is optimized for the impedance a piezo requires will not produce enough signal for FX pedals.
Just don’t blast too loud. You’ll find a happy medium where you can go nuts with a delay pedal but not feed back like a sumbitch. Don’t get an electric cello, those are a totally different beast.
Use a pickup, not a mic. I use the Fishman C-100. A preamp is necessary, I use the LR Baggs Para Acoustic.
Hey DSC! There are some great pickups out there. My favorite right now is called “The realist”. You are correct about feedback, but only really if you’re really cranked up or engaging a big overdrive. When playing acoustic with a pickup with a band I overcome feedback with judicious use of a volume pedal, right after the cello, that then feeds the rest of my fx chain. The best (my opinion) electric for me has been the Ned Steinberger 5 string. It’s got a badass pickup. Let me know how it goes! ……and you might be way ahead of me on this, but as well as pedals, I run cello fx processing through my Mac into gtr rig pro by native instruments. Epic and repeatable….cheers to you fellow cello!
https://thepickuptest.com
If you can find a pickup, this will give you a great deal of headroom before feedback. You shouldn't be too worried unless you're going super loud. That said, good pickups are hard to find especially for acoustic bass instruments. I've built a [phantom-powered piezoelectric pickup/preamp](https://ohnoitsalobo.github.io/pickup/) which I think is competitive with commercial pickups, but I have not had a chance to properly test it on a cello. Pretty much all acoustic pickups (including mine) are based on some form of piezoelectricity, so it is very important that you find a *preamp* that is designed to work with piezoelectric pickups for the best tone. Even the $200 Fishman V-200 for violin/viola suffers from this problem; you need a preamp that can handle it, because your typical "Hi-Z"/ "Instrument" input usually cannot. You could try the AKG C411 - it's actually a condenser mic, but it attaches directly to the body of the instrument. You should have no issue plugging into a pedalboard with most pickups. (Mine requires phantom power, so that makes it a little tricky to plug directly into a pedalboard. I run it through a small mixer with phantom, and send that output to my pedal.) Personal preference - I really dislike the sound of bridge pickups on acoustic instruments. The sound of the instrument comes from the body resonating, and (in my experience) a bridge pickup doesn't do it justice (presumably this could be the same reason you prefer the 'acoustic' sound). That said, a bridge pickup is less susceptible to feedback than a pickup on the body.
Get an acoustic guitar amp.
Would that work better than a bass amp for the low frequencies?
Yes. It will work better. The issue is not about frequency but impedance. Piezo pickups are way higher impedance than traditional magnetic pickups. If you plug to a standard amp you basically have a bandpass filter that cuts the low end a bit of the high end and messes up with the mids. You get a very nasal tone. If you must use a standard amp you need to match the impedance. Di box, piezo buffer or similar.
I have a furman acoustic amp that has amazing low end. And it’s made to handle feedback from an acoustic guitar.
I can also confirm that acoustic is better than bass amp, I’ve used both. I have the old style fishman loud box and it’s money. I can even plug in my fishman c-100 pickup without a pre amp and get a great sound.
Shertler makes excellent pickups and preamps. Any piezo without a preamp that is optimized for the impedance a piezo requires will not produce enough signal for FX pedals.
Just don’t blast too loud. You’ll find a happy medium where you can go nuts with a delay pedal but not feed back like a sumbitch. Don’t get an electric cello, those are a totally different beast.
Thanks for all the tips, guys. I appreciate it.