Thumping sound (finger noise?) coming through my Roland amp

[de24]

I'm playing a Mainland tenor with a MiSi pickup and have it plugged into a Roland Micro Cube.

I've been strumming along and notice a good bit of finger noise coming through the amp that sounds a bit like a helicopter or if you ran your finger nail across some corduroy pants. I can tell that it's the sound of my fingers hitting the strings and not the fretboard. Adjusting various knobs and so forth don't alter the fact that the sound is still present although some do mask it.

I'm wondering if this has to do with my playing technique or the amp settings.

Any help/advice/suggestions would be much appreciated. This is my first time dabbling with amp or electrics of any kind.

 

[buddhuu]

Most pickups will pick up a little handling/finger noise. Some also give a percussive thud when the finger or pick hits the string. On steel string instruments such as guitar a magnetic soundhole pickup can be one of the quietest in this regard, but that's not much help to a player of a nylon string instrument!

Aquila strings used to be particularly noisy. They had a kind of roughish finish that caused a fair bit of friction/noise. I've not used them for a while, but I hear they've improved that.

Could a change of strings improve things for you?

On a mandolin I had a while ago with a K&K pickup I eventually had to EQ out the frequency where the thud was occurring. Same with an Ashbury electro acoustic uke I had for a while (with an undersaddle pickup). In both of those cases I never could cure it by messing with the pickup itself. You can try changing bridge saddle material or swapping the piezo element for a different one, but there's no guarantee it'd fix it.

Hopefully a pickup expert will chime in...

 

[de24]

Thanks for the suggestion Rick. Changing the strings was my first thought too. Although these are brand new Aquilas so I hate to just toss them. Would you recommend going to a different material or different gauge?

A co-worker guitar player suggested using a pre-amp to eliminate some of that noise but I thought with a MiSi you didn't need to use a pre-amp.

Other than that, I guess I can take it to someone who could fiddle with the pickup. I'd hate to do that myself.

 

[strumsilly]

I'm no expert, but I got an inexpensive preamp to boost the signal for my passive pickup. fooled around with it and you can def cut out some of the thump with it by adjusting the bands. it might be a cheap fix. the best is the Boss, but I went for the fish and chips after reading favorable reviews.
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guit...000000?src=3WFRWXX&ZYXSEM=0&CAWELAID=26018622

 

[Doug W]

Well I am the world's leading authority on everthing and I basically do what Rick suggested on the mandolin and ukulele-EQ out the irritating frequencies. If you are plugging into an amp that doesn't have much in the way of EQ, buy an EQ pedal and run your uke through the pedal into the amp.

 

[kissing]

Perhaps turn down the Gain knob down to low, as that increases the sensitivity of what you're picking up.
And turning the tone knob to have a bit less treble tends to cut off some of the high-frequency string 'squeak'.

The string suggestion is a good one - Aquilas are a bit prone to percussive noise. I have Fremont black fluorocarbon strings on my Eleuke tenor, which are very good for plugging in.


Other than that, it's mostly technique. Over time, you just 'learn' to play in a manner that makes less percussive noise.
An ukulele plugged in is played differently to one that is played purely acoustically. You sort of learn it along the way with your ears.