This past week I took a trip to Capital University’s Studio E with the goal of testing and comparing gear, specifically the mic preamps. I grabbed my friend Jenna to come in and strum a few chords on the ukulele for the comparison. The goal in mind was to get 4 different recordings, each using a different preamp.

In preparation for this gear shootout, I took some time to research a few techniques for recording ukulele. Results were limited, with most being tips for people at home, but I did some digging and was able to find some useful information. The first article I read was on georgesmusic.com, which offered microphone tips for ukulele. The article recommended a condenser microphone, 6-12 inches from the instrument in front of the sound hole. I liked that this article offered advice for both stereo and mono placement. I also checked out Royer’s article for recording ukulele and other stringed instruments. This one specifically went over placement for ribbon microphones, but I figured I could still borrow a few mic placement ideas. I ended up using a single Shure KSM32 positioned near the soundhole of the instrument. I figured that a mono technique would be ideal, especially since I would be comparing preamps. 

I originally wanted to do the same lineup of preamps as featured in my gear research post, however after encountering a few difficulties and considering my client’s time constraints, a few adjustments were made. The final lineup came down to: the UA 4-710d (I wanted to compare the tube and transistor settings separately), The Portico 5015, and the Chandler TG2. 

The tube setting on the UA amp produced a nice warm recording, with a lot of presence from the middle frequencies of the ukulele. It added a nice amount of color to the ukulele sound without going overboard. The transistor setting, however, had less color and was more true to the original source. There is an overall smoothness to the sound in both settings, and I think it is very beneficial to have a variable knob that allows different blends of tube and solid state. The first thing I noticed with the Portico 5015 was the lack of color- the ukulele sound was clean and not overly bright or dark. It seemed to be the most natural sounding of the bunch, lacking some of the richness of the previous two. The Chandler TG2 captured the high end of the ukulele very nicely without it having too much ring. The transients were punchy and the strums very crisp. You can almost hear each individual string being hit, resulting in a very textured sound.   

While all the featured preamps offer different pros and cons, I found that some tend to work better for the sound of the ukulele. If i were to rank them in their performance I’d put the Chandler on top- it captures the string texture of the ukulele wonderfully, while offering a nice balanced tone with good high end. Closely following is the UA 4-710d. I’d say for the ukulele in particular, I preferred using the transistor setting as opposed to the tube. I like that it still offered a little color while maintaining the clear sound. The tube setting offered nice color but took some of the crispness away, which is the only reason I put it below. I think it would be nice to do a blend with mostly transistors and a little bit of tube to get the best of each. Finally, I’d put the portico in last. This mic preamp performed well, but lacked some of the excitement and energy present in the others. I do, however, think that if you are going for a very dry and clean ukulele sound that can be enhanced later- this is your best bet.