ToneDexter II Support
Pickup Guidance
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Pickup Guidance FAQs
This Guidance applies to the original legacy ToneDexter and the new ToneDexter II
Please check out the User Guide for detailed info on how to use ToneDexter.
ToneDexter only works as intended with piezo pickups (all types and mounting locations). Magnetic pickups will sometimes give pleasing results, but they won’t sound nearly as natural as with a piezo.
Creating your own set of WaveMaps is essential to get a great sound with your full-bodied acoustic instrument, and ToneDexter makes that very easy to do. However, in cases of solid body instruments that don’t have much sound of their own, such as the Yamaha SLG200 silent guitar and Solid Body Electric Violins, we offer some pre-made WaveMaps that were created on good sounding acoustic instruments.
It is also possible to modify the tonal balance of your own custom WaveMaps by recording and playing back tracks from a DAW.
Banjo Pickups (3)
Banjo pickups fall into these main categories:
- Head mounted – piezo discs taped or glued to the head, either on the bottom inside or outside on the top.
- Bridge mounted – either integrated into the bridge, or clamped onto it.
- Magnetic – inside the body, may have pole pieces extending through the head.
- Microphone – senses the sound inside or outside the body, close to the head.
ToneDexter works best with head mounted and bridge mounted piezo transducers, and some magnetic pickups. Bridge mounted will usually have much more feedback immunity than head mounted, but they will not sound as good by themselves as head mounted. With ToneDexter, both types will sound spectacular.
Some magnetic pickups work better than others. Some sense the strings, and some sense a metal piece attached to the head. The latter style is more linear and works better with ToneDexter. The string sensing types may give an improved sound, but do not yield the natural sounding results obtainable with other types.
Microphone pickups can work with ToneDexter, but they will require their own dedicated preamp, either onboard or external, to supply them with necessary power.
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- K&K Sound
- Banjo Twin – Piezo discs, passive, mounts inside under bridge feet
- Definity – Piezo sensor, passive, mounts on top under middle foot of bridge
- KNA
- BP-1 – rectangular piezo that glues to head below center foot of bridge on inside.
- Schatten
- BJ-02 – rectangular piezo that glues to head below center foot of bridge on inside.
- LR Baggs
- Banjo Pickup – bridge with integrated pickup
- EMG
- ACB Barrel – active magnetic pickup that senses a steel shim attached to the head. Much more linear with better results than magnetic pickups that sense the string movement.
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- Fishman
- Rare Earth – Magnetic system with that attaches to rails.
- Gold Tone
- SMP+ – Sliding, rail mounted magnetic system
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