Myers Pickups The Grip Violin / Mandolin

pros: The sound out of this unit is really great.

cons:
First of all, If you have a good violin, you should know that when this thing is securely clamped to the body of the violin, the sound of the violin is severely affected. I mean... a lot!!. The sound of the violin is highly dependant on a free moving soundboard, and any pressure that prevents that affects the sound. I just couldn't believe it would affect it this much.

maintainablility is really bad! It's like this product is a pre-release beta product or something. You need to open the case using micro-sized tools to replace the battery and take things apart even further to mount/dismount the suction cup. The interior is very delicate and it is easy to break things.

An excellent solution to faithful instrument amplification.

No specs are available from Myers, or from any other source that I could find. Which means a leap of faith, when forking out the slightly elevated price.

My application is violin and in this regard, Myers have "dropped the ball". The bottom of the Carpenter Clamp has no Cork on it. What idiot expects you to clamp chrome steel against a violin back (or mandolin).
Also the Cork and Felt pads are not thick enough to allow for the elevation of the violin top. So that when you clamp the PreAmp/Mic module to the top surface of the violin the base is resting on the Violin sound board. But hey, I can elevate it enough with neoprene tubing or rubber feet. That is not the point though; For this price point and the advertised (violin) application, I would expect everything necessary for the average joe, would be included.

In Summary, a good product, with excellent sound capture characteristics. Output is acceptable, but a preamp for Hi-z amp input is recommended. So whilst the Myers family sell the Clamp product as the finished article, they still have some very important work to do with regard to the Carpenter Clamp arrangement for a clean fit to a valuable violin (or Mandolin).

Many thanks to Thomann, who as always, excel in the quality of service they continue to provide.

This seems to produce a nice authentic sound on the mandolin, but it's impossible to use in a live situation even when it's not a particularly high-gain environment. It's not very powerful, but I have it going through a Boss-AD10 preamp. It may be helpful someday if I'm recording, or play in a quiet concert hall with a sound engineer, but not usable for me beyond that. Disappointing.