What to use on a mandolin?

[pick me]

I recently bought an Eastman MD315 F hole mandolin, was wondering what the best way to amplify it is? I have the F holes, so don't see how I can go the same rout like I did with my guitar, using the K&K and mic.

[Petty1818]

K&K makes great mandolin pickups and having the F holes actually makes the install much easier. You can go for a permanent internal install with an end pin jack or a more temporary install with an external jack. That would be my first suggestion.

Schatten also makes a stick on pickup that sounds quite good. The pickup sticks to the back of the bridge and then there's an external jack. It's not as permanent and has a nice direct tone.

[Mkel12]

You might want to check out a Dazzo pickup on the top with bees wax as an adhesive. I visited the Dazzo shop yesterday and he applied this application to a ukulele. Sounded really good!

[midwinter]

I just (i.e. yesterday) swapped out my LR Baggs Radius for a JJB (sort of like the K&K) and I like it a lot more than the Baggs.