Schatten BJ-02 Series Pickups for Banjos
Fits All Banjos - 4, 5, and 6 String
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...and we've added a new model to our BJ-02 lineup.
Revolutionary - A banjo pickup that allows your banjo to sound like your banjo, only louder. The BJ-02 Series offers both good sound and good feedback rejection along with simple, non-invasive installation.
The BJ-02 pickup sensor is installed on the underside of the banjo head and is normally placed directly under and inline with the center foot of the bridge. The pickup is totally non-damping. It does not interfere in any way with the natural acoustic tone or output of the banjo.The BJ-02 pickup sensor is installed on the underside of the banjo head and is normally placed directly under and inline with the center foot of the bridge.
All three BJ-02 models have jack assemblies that clamp simply and easily to the tensioning hooks of the banjo in the same manner as a banjo's arm rest.
More Choice - Added to the BJ-02 lineup is our new BJ-02 Player. This new model features our famous BJ-02 sensor combined with a simplified metal jack assembly. Rounding out the lineup are the BJ-02 Std with our hand finished rosewood jack assembly and the BJ-02 Pro with our ABS jack assembly complete with an integrated volume control.
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| BJ-02 Player | BJ-02 Std. | BJ-02 Pro |
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Details
BJ-02
The BJ-02 series sensor is designed to work on
any banjo. Five string, tenor, six string, open backs; all sound excellent with
this pickup.Installation of the pickup system takes about ten
minutes and everything that you need to complete the installation is
included with the system.
This particular
placement of the sensor allows the pickup to "hear" just what the
banjo is doing. The center foot of the bridge is driving the
element directly for maximum output and clarity and it is due to
this same placement of the element that also gives the BJ-02's
their superior anti-feedback characteristics. It is very difficult
for feedback to drive the pickup in reverse due to the overall
stiffness of the bridge area.
On a 'normal' banjo with a three footed bridge, the
pickup is to be installed on the underside of the head directly
under the centre foot of the bridge. On tenor banjos or banjos
having a two footed bridge, the suggested placement for the pickup
is on the underside of the head directly under the bass side
bridge foot.
The BJ-02 Player comes with a simple metal jack assembly that clamps to the tensioning hooks - the same as our BJ-02 Std and BJ-02 Pro models. The BJ-02 Player is the only model of banjo pickup with a jack assembly that will fit all standard banjos, as well as the Deering Goodtime banjos. Please read the information in the 'Technical' tab on this page about tensioning hook spacing and Deering Goodtime banjos.
The BJ-02 Std. comes with our NBJA rosewood bodied jack assembly with a 1/4" output jack. The new BJ-02 Pro features a small black ABS jack assembly with a 1/4" output jack and an integrated volume control. These jack assemblies nestle in tight against the tensioning hooks and simply clamp to those tensioning hooks in the same way that a normal arm rest attaches.
This pickup has been designed to operate properly and sound terrific
without the use of a preamp when plugged into any 'normal' amp (guitar
amp, bass amp, etc.). As with any pickup, the sound can be further
enhanced with an outboard preamp. If you require the added ability to be able to plug directly into a
P.A. or mixer then you may wish to add either one of our new
Mini Pre belt clipable preamps or one of our
Preamp/DI units to
your pickup system.
Pictures
BJ-02 Std with Rosewood NBJA Jack Assembly
Technical
Pickup
Installation: On a 'normal' banjo with a three footed
bridge, the pickup is to be installed on the underside of the head
directly under the centre foot of the bridge. On tenor banjos or
banjos having a two footed bridge, the suggested placement for the
pickup is on the underside of the head directly under the bass
side bridge foot. The pickup sensor is attached to the underside
of the head with a drop of the supplied 5 minute epoxy.
The jack assembly attaches to the tensioning hooks of the banjo
utilizing a thin aluminum bar that slides in behind the the hooks.
The assembly is tightened against the hooks with the two small
machine screws that are visible of the surface of the jack
assembly.
See Banjo Pickup Installation Video (4
minutes): BJ-02
Installation Video
Read Banjo Pickup Installation Instructions
(pdf): Installation Instructions
Pickup Uninstall: The
pickup is quite easily removed from any normal mylar banjo head
should you wish to change banjo heads or move the pickup to a
different banjo.
See Banjo Pickup Uninstall Video (2
minutes):
BJ-02 Uninstall Video
Tensioning Hook Spacing and Jack Assemblies:
For Standard Banjos - All BJ-02 series models will fit properly. BJ-02 Player, BJ-02 Std, BJ-02 Pro will fit all standard banjos.
For Deering Goodtime Banjos - The BJ-02 Player is the only pickup that will fit these banjos.
Notes: On the Goodtime banjos, the
distance from the center of one hook to the center of the next
hook is approximately 2 1/4". The BJ-02 Player jack assembly has a
maximum span of 2 1/2".
On standard banjos the center to center distance from
one hook to the next is approximately 1 1/2". The BJ-02 Std and
BJ-02 Pro jack assemblies have a maximum span of 2".
Some older banjos may have wider than normal spacing between hooks. If you are in doubt, please measure the center to center distance of the hooks on your banjo.
Sound
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A thank you to Larry Johnston for the following mp3's. Larry indicates that the BJ-02 pickup is installed in a 78 Gibson RB250 with a Tennessee 20 tone ring and First quality replacement shell. It was recorded using a Zoom H4, with no enhancements. Ground Speed (1.4mb) Medley (1.8mb) Eleanor Rigby (3.3mb) |
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The following two sound bites were recorded simultaneously. The first
is the banjo through a condenser mic. The second is the banjo through
the BJ-02 pickup.
A nice thank you to Gerhard Pehland in Germany for the
banjo work and for allowing us to borrow.....
Banjo through condenser mic (446 kb)
Banjo through BJ-02 pickup (446 kb)
Artists
First Time Ever: I've put a pickup on my banjo.
It not only makes amplifies the sound but it enhances
the tone. Quantity plus quality. A 1954 Vega long-neck and a 2010
Schatten pickup: the perfect couple!
Peggy Seeger
www.peggyseeger.com
PEGGY SEEGER, member of the North
American musical Seeger family, is a singer of traditional
Anglo-American songs and activist songmaker. She plays six
instruments: piano, guitar, 5-string banjo, Appalachian dulcimer,
autoharp and English concertina.
Peggy has recorded 22 solo albums and participated
directly in more than a hundred others. She lived in England for
35 years with the singer/songmaker Ewan MacColl and has three
children and seven grandchildren.
She now lives in Boston, Massachusetts, and tours
regularly worldwide. She records exclusively for Appleseed
Recordings, putting out out a new CD every 18 months.
I fitted the 'BJ-02
Pro' to my Kel Kroydon banjo 4 weeks ago and have gigged it hard.
In a word, it's Awesome! I have spent so much money on every top
dollar pick-up out there and none of them compare to the Schatten.
Easy installation, well hidden, aesthetically pleasing, excellent
volume control, and superior tone...I haven't found anything else
that even comes close! I can't wait to try Schatten on my fiddle
and guitar! Great job from the Pro's. Johnny Butten
Johnny Butten,
The world's fastest banjo player, proudly displays his Guinness
World record.
His official certificate from Guinness reads: The fastest banjo
player is Johnny Butten (UK) who played Duelling Banjos at a
speed of 260 beats per minute at the Newquay Bluegrass Festival,
Newquay, Cornwall, UK, on 15 September 2007.
www.johnnybutten.com
Hey Les, I just installed the Schatten BJ-02 banjo pickup on my Wildwood Troubador open back banjo, it sounds great. The BJ-02 is just the ticket for playing in noisy clubs and dances or anyplace you need more volume.
I'm running mine through the Schatten Preamp-DI and the
sound is very natural. Who cares about a better mouse trap,
you've made a louder banjo! The world's a better place, you
may be up for a Nobel Prize.
"Rooster" Rick Jackofsky - The Homegrown
String Band
I've tried many pickups for my banjo and for the last three years I've been stuck on the Schatten. Not one performance problem and the tone is absolutely great!! My search has been over for a while.
Try it and you'll see what I mean.
Don Wayne Reno
Hello to all you nice folks at Schatten Design.
I just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know how pleased
I am with the Schatten BJ-02-STD banjo pickup that I just
installed. And, to let you know that my entire experience with
your company has been a pleasure.
Your online ordering process is excellent. My shipment arrived in
a very timely manner. The installation instructions were clear and
concise and the pickup installed very easily.
And, best of all, the pickup sounds GREAT!!! My banjo never
sounded better. Since I play clawhammer style without a resonator,
I was curious to see how well the pickup would work. Turns out, it
works great. I'm very pleased. Thank you for making a great
product, and being so easy to do business with.
Sincerely,
Jim Johnson
Hello there Schatten Design,
I received a banjo pickup and DI from you guys last summer and
havent got around to telling you how much I love it. Onstage it
sounds fantastic and does a great job of reproducing the natural
sound of my banjo. The Ultra Sound DI is the perfect compliment to
dial in just the right tone.
The best thing is that I have plenty of volume to get over the
clanking of beer bottles! When we perform in concert halls it
works well with a stand along microphone to make my banjo fill the
room very well.
Thanks so much for the great service and for putting a wonderful
product out there for all us pickers.
Mike / Spaghetti Western String Co. Minneapolis, MN
www.spaghettiwesternmusic.com
Hello,
I just wanted to let you know how satisfied I am with
my BJ-02 pickup.
I am now "plug-and-play", no need to fight with a microphone
and feedback ( the sound guys loves me now!), and I
can stand up to our brass section without worrying about
them actually hearing me (they do now!). It truly feels
good to actually sound like a banjo and get positive
feedback about it.
And I got so many good comments about your guitar systems
that my other instruments are now getting the "Schatten
upgrade".
Cheers
Banjo Ben Duval
www.Myspace.com/subcollisions
The banjo pickup was installed on one of my Scorpion banjos
(i.e. the ones I build) which is going to be delivered in the
hands of its buyer in a couple days. Man, that pickup is hot AND
natural, I love it, and I wish we would play plugged-in sometimes
so I could mow the audience with a few notes and a
great sound!
BTW, I noticed that to my ear the acoustic sound is
better if the pickup is sort of straddling between the middle foot
of the bridge and the head right behind it, with no loss in the
electric sound. Just my
observation. And there is no tendency to feed back anyway. Also
the head must be adjusted for a kinda higher tension: the tapping
tune without pickup, around G# initially, dropped down to almost
F# with the pickup, so I tightened the head to G# again and the
sound improved a lot both acoustically and electrically.
Further tightening to almost A resulted in a clearer sound both
ways, no muddiness anywhere, and a lot more volume acoustically
without losing lows at all. Piece of cake...Martino Coppo, the
mandolin player of my band (Red Wine) has been using your pickup
on his mandolin for a few months, he loves it................
OK, let's try to attach a couple pics, more will follow
separately. Thanks
again for a great product, take care.
Silvio
Our pickups allow us to blast out the sound required to pacify certain audiences without sacrificing the acoustic timbre of our variety of instruments, we have used them with great success.
The band employs banjos, guitar, mandolin, fiddle, a trap set, a doghouse bass, many kazoos, and a whole host of other toys to create their irresistible sound, a truly Special blend. Jug band, Bluegrass, Old-Timey, String Band, Vaudevillian, Jazz, call it what you will, it's just American music (except when it's Eastern European).
Josh B.
Special Ed and the Shortbus
Richmond's Premier Twisted String Band
2007 SE Independent Music World Series Champions!
2008 1st Prize Neo-Trad Band - Clifftop Appalachian String Band Festival
Kudos!
Finally someone created a great sounding pick-up that
even a dummy like me can install. It arrived in my mailbox two
days after I ordered it online. Thank you!
John Wort Hannam
From Fort Macleod, Alberta Canada, this songwriter sings blue
collar roots music that reflects his rural Canadian surroundings.
Hi Les, I just wanted to get back to
you with a review of your Schatten banjo pickup. I played a gig
the other night with my Celtic group the Blackthorn Band. In this
band the banjo has to compete with multiple other instruments,
including bass and drums. I have tried all the major brands and
have always had problems with feedback and trying to get a natural
banjo sound.
I instantly noticed the difference with the Schatten on
my Deering 5 string. At the end of the first tune, the guitar
player turned to me and said, "Hey that sounds like a banjo!" The
greatest thing is that you actually have a dynamic range- you can
pull back or drive forward full attack and the pickup knows the
difference. The banjo sounded warmer and fuller- not at all
shrill. You've got a real winner here!
Jim O'Connor and the Blackthorn Band
This note from Jim two and a half years later, after installing a
second BJ-02 in another one of his banjos:
Les,
I just wanted to send you a quick note to let you know
how pleased I am with the new pickup and jack assembly you sent.
Much easier to install and use- and more consistent in sound, than
that famous pickup maker from down my (Massachusetts) way. After
fooling around with those for a few years I am really glad I
called you- it is the solution to making the banjo sound natural
in a noisy environment with a noisy band.
Hi,
I just want to say thank you for your
GREAT Service & Fast Shipping! The pickup (a BJ-02-STD ) sounds
Excellent, reproducing the true acoustic sound of the banjo. I
will surely keep you in mind for any more pickup needs & would
recommend you to my friends & associates.
......Feel free to use the note! Our group is called "The Too Old
Folks".
Sincerely,
Jeannie Marselles
About Pickups & Amps
Terminology
Passive Pickup - A piezo pickup.
Impedance - To simplify things as much as posssible we'll say that impedance refers to the range in which an amplifying device can 'hear' a pickup plugged into it.
Preamp - A device specifically designed for use with piezo pickups that increases the signal strength and lowers the impedance of a passive pickup.
Active Pickup - A piezo pickup with an attached preamp.
Microphone Preamp - a device that may be built into P.A.systems and mixers that is designed to work with microphones. These units will not generally work with passive pickups.
'Normal' Electric Guitar Amps: A passive pickup has an impedance of approximately 2 mega ohms (2 million ohms) which virtually all 'normal' electric guitar amps can generally handle without issue.
'Acoustic' Amps: may or may not require the use of a preamp with a pickup and that will depend upon whether or not there is a special built in preamp section to that amp that specifically allows for the choice in plugging in either a passive (non-preamped) or active (preamped) pickup. This choice is quite often in the form of pushbutton on the amp's control panel. Many acoustic amps show a selection that may indicate the choice of 'high impedance' and 'low impedance'.
Low impedance in these instances usually indicates that in this range the amp will handle an impedance of 1000 ohms or less - which will allow active pickups with preamps to be used.
High impedance in these instances may indicate an allowable impedance into the 2 or 3 mega ohm range - which will allow passive pickups to be used. Or it may indicate a maximum input impedance allowed of 20,000 ohms or less - which will handle magnetic electric guitar pickups but not passive pickups. You should carefully read the technical specifications of your acoustic amp in order to see what it will do.
P.A. Systems, Mixers: all of these units will require the use of a preamp between themselves and a passive pickup. Microphone preamps built into P.A.'s and mixers are not designed for use with passive pickups and will not work properly.
Computers: Due to the vagaries and variables inherent in the sound cards found in computers, the only thing that we can advise is that a preamp will almost certainly be necessary.
