Kalimbas with electric pickups
Want to rock out? Maurice White of Earth, Wind and Fire made his reputation on a Hugh Tracey kalimba with an electronic pickup. All of the Hugh Tracey kalimbas come with an optional electronic pickup. It is a piezo-electric device hooked up to a 1/4 inch jack, so you can use a guitar chord and plug your kalimba into a guitar amp, a computer (for recording), an effects processor, a PA system - i.e., anything you can do with a guitar.
The pickups add only $12 to the price of a box-mounted kalimba, or $20 to the price of a board-mounted kalimba. The pickups do not negatively affect the acoustic sound of the kalimbas, but they are a life-saver if you are performing with a loud band or jamming with some drummers. And you can totally hypnotize yourself playing through digital delay and reverb. There is literally an undiscovered universe of sound hidden in the electric kalimba!
The acoustic "wah-wah" effect is only weakly detected by the electronic pickup, but it does come through at about the 20% level. Some people like the solid body electric kalimbas better, and some people like the box-mounted electric kalimbas better. I find that the box-mounted kalimbas are more susceptible to feedback.
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The Hugh Tracey 8-Note with pickup is great fun, and pretty easy. / $89 |
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The Catania 11-Note Pentatonic Kalimba with pickup sounds, looks, and feels great! / $105 / Watch / Learn |
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The Hugh Tracey Celeste Pentatonic kalimba with pickup is totally wonderful for jamming out! / $121 / Listen |
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The Hugh Tracey Celeste Diatonic 11-Note kalimba with pickup is a great little kalimba! / $121 / Listen to the acoustic version. / Watch |
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The Hugh Tracey TM Alto with pickup. / $128 / Listen / Watch (acoustic) |
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The Hugh Tracey Celeste Alto with pickup sounds like the TM Alto. / $121 / Watch (acoustic) |
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The Hugh Tracey Celeste Treble with pickup is favored by advanced players, fast players, or those with smaller hands. / $121 / Watch |
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The Hugh Tracey Box Pentatonic—also comes with a pickup. / $154 |
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The Hugh Tracey Alto—also comes with a pickup. / $157 / Watch |
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The Hugh Tracey Treble also comes with a pickup / $142 |
