Ukulele Gear: Pickups
Pickups
Passive, Active, Electric
– Just what does all that have to do with getting my ukulele louder?
5 August 2026
Curt's Personal Pickup Recommendations
- Pono The Pono Passive — A great passive pick that allows you to set EQ flat and reproduces a uke's natural sound. The same element that Martin Guitars has used since 1968.
- MiSi — An active, battery-free preamp. Uses the L.R. Baggs ukulele pickup. All you have to do is power up for 60 seconds using the Mi-Si Power Charger, providing you with up to 16 hours of performance time.
- L. R. Baggs — The L. R. Baggs Element is great for the ukulele and acoustic guitars. I have this installed in one of my Ko'olau CS Tenors ( the newer in training uke ).
- Fishman Transducers, Inc. — Great Amps, Pedals, PA, and Pickups.
- K & K Sound Systems, Inc. — K & K soundboard transducers are a good alternative to the under the saddle pickups.
I (Curt) don't have any experience with installing or using aNueNue Air Air pickups.
Pickup Comparisons from the Ukulele Site
- aNueNue Air Air (2:56) (11:00) – A dual mic and and under-saddle system.
- MISI Trio (4:20) (13:00) (16:20) – An active under-saddle element.
- K & K Big Island Spot (7:50) (18:20) – A passive under the soundboard transducer.
- Pono Passive (6:15) (23:00) – An passive under-saddle element. (Curt: My favorite passive pickup)
- LR Baggs Five-0 (9:10) (14:30) – An active under-saddle element.
Ukulele Recommendations
These are LearningUkulele.com and Learning Ukulele with Curt first choices for ukulele pickups. I've (Curt) personally have installed these in customer's ukulele at Funky Frets Music Store
L. R. Baggs
We started this in a loft in downtown Los Angeles, California, with a hope and a dream, and no business sense whatsoever. The first L.R. Baggs product was our LB6 Series Pickup. We would like to thank Leo Kottke for his early support. Stores would call us and say, "Leo Kottke said he was using your pickup." We could literally track his touring route as the stores would order in his wake. Early endorsers were Steven Sheehan of the Judds, James Taylor and Kathy Mattea. These endorsers gave us the encouragement and support that sustained us when we had more enthusiasm than business sense. They spread the word and gradually our business grew.
Mi-Si Electronics Design, Inc.
Mi-Si was founded in 2004 by experienced team of engineers with the passion and the drive to make music technology better – for both artists and music lovers. With more than 50 years of combined experience, Mi-Si brings unceasing innovation to the field of acoustic amplification, making music better and authentic.
K & K Sound Systems, Inc.
Our mission is to establish K&K as the premier manufacturer of the highest quality acoustic amplification products in the world while maintaining the highest respect and service to our customers, employees, and community.
All K&K products are designed and manufactured in house, enabling us to quickly react to customer and market needs. Specific requests for customized products are easily met for musicians, dealers, and manufacturers. Our products are proudly Made in Oregon, USA. We encourage our customers to shop local and we strive to do the same.
B-Band Ltd
B-Band is a manufacturer of high quality pickup systems for acoustic guitars, double basses and drums. All B-Band pickups use our proprietary patented electric film technology instead of common piezo materials. Piezo pickups tend to impart a sound of their own, often described as "quacky" or "plastic", B-Band transducers act in much the same way a condenser microphone does. This results in excellent reproduction of your acoustic instrument's unique voice."Hear the Truth".
Duncan Turner Acoustic Research (D-TAR)
What makes D-TAR different from other onboard systems? The D-TAR Multi-Source combines the Wave-Length piezoelectric under-saddle pickup with a miniature condenser microphone that is nestled in a special absorptive visco-elastic polymer shock mount for optimal isolation.
K & K Sound Systems, Inc.
Our mission is to establish K&K as the premier manufacturer of the highest quality acoustic amplification products in the world while maintaining the highest respect and service to our customers, employees, and community.
All K&K products are designed and manufactured in house, enabling us to quickly react to customer and market needs. Specific requests for customized products are easily met for musicians, dealers, and manufacturers. Our products are proudly Made in Oregon, USA. We encourage our customers to shop local and we strive to do the same.
KNA Pickups
KNA Pickups has a full range of pickup solutions, we offer several designs to assure players get the best sound possible for their application. Our piezo, magnetic, passive, and active pickups offer natural sound reproduction tailored specifically for the tonal and dynamic range of each instrument.
L. R. Baggs
We started this in a loft in downtown Los Angeles, California, with a hope and a dream, and no business sense whatsoever. The first L.R. Baggs product was our LB6 Series Pickup. We would like to thank Leo Kottke for his early support. Stores would call us and say, "Leo Kottke said he was using your pickup." We could literally track his touring route as the stores would order in his wake. Early endorsers were Steven Sheehan of the Judds, James Taylor and Kathy Mattea. These endorsers gave us the encouragement and support that sustained us when we had more enthusiasm than business sense. They spread the word and gradually our business grew.
Meyers Pickups
Myers Pickups allows your passion to be heard by picking up the natural tone and sound of your instrument. This easily removable pickup will capture your expression without leaving a mark on your instrument. Our most popular models are the "Gooseneck" and "Feather" pickups. The smallest, all-in-one, multi-instrument, preamp pickups on the market today!
So versatile that it can be used with almost any instrument! Easily attaches and detaches from your instrument using the various methods
Mi-Si Electronics Design, Inc.
Mi-Si was founded in 2004 by experienced team of engineers with the passion and the drive to make music technology better – for both artists and music lovers. With more than 50 years of combined experience, Mi-Si brings unceasing innovation to the field of acoustic amplification, making music better and authentic.
Pick Up The World
Pick-up the World is dedicated to reducing our environmental impact and to this end, PUTW’s pickups are now built using 100% non-polluting, renewable energy. Additionally, all of PUTW’s pickup packaging is made from United States small farm grown / Non GMO quick composting plant based materials.
Schatten Design
Shadow Electronics
Shadow Electronics stands for high quality and absolutely reliable pickup systems - and this since 1971. Shadow was founded by Joe Marinic in 1971 and is one of the most experienced companies in the musical instrument business. Up to the present, musical enthusiasm and recognized electronic knowledge are the interlocking columns of the success of Shadow. We cooperate not only with world known top-musicians but we also have a team of highly qualified engineers and partners on staff.
Popular Electric Ukulele Pickups
These use the same principles as electric guitar pickups but one for four strings and require steel strings as the pick are magnetic.