Cello pickup

After trying out the cello at the Strzelecki Stringbusters Beginners group, it became pretty clear that I will never be heard, the instrument is just too quiet.

After some searching around I decided on the Shadow 955 NFX pickup.

This is how it looks once fitted.

As you can see, there are two independent pickups that go under the feet of the bridge. That way they hear some of the bridge and some of the body. The pre-amplifier just clamps to the strings between the bridge and the tailpiece. I've mounted it this way so I can read the labels on the rotary controls which are volume on the left, tone on the right. The output faces the bridge and I'm not to sure if that's the best way, but it's easy to change. Changing batteries will be a breeze, just slide out and slide in, no coverplate.

I really like the fact that I can change the volume and the tone at the instrument, not at the amplifier. Just gives me that much more control. Because the pre-amp is close to the pickups I won't have any impedance matching issues either.

Can't wait to try it out live.