Schatten Celtic Harp and Pedal Harp Pickup - CH-3 Artist
The Sound Quality Of A Studio Mic, The Convenience Of A Pickup
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First introduced in April 2006 and having just
undergone a minor redesign in March of 2011, our CH-3 Artist pickup system
will work flawlessly on both Celtic harps and Pedal harps.
Complete with its' own integrated preamp, this pickup delivers full,
rich sound quality and ease of installation in one neat package.
This pickup system comes with a specially designed
output jack assembly that holds the preamp and clamps simply and
securely to a sound port opening of the harp This CH-3 Artist can be
installed non-invasively using this new jack assembly as there
are no holes to drill and no modification is required to the
instrument to install this system. The piezo sensing unit is a further
development of our HFN series of pickups and combines our Player
preamp with a revolutionary piezo design in soundboard mounted
transducers.
Simply put, what you get out of this pickup system is
the exact sound of your harp......it allows your harp to sound just
like you know it sounds: fully acoustic, tonaly open, and warm.
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Details
The CH-3 Artist pickup system
comes complete and ready to install. Installation of the pickup
sensor is quite simple, as the unit adheres to the soundboard with
our special mounting putty. The mounting of the preamp is equally
easy as our new output jack assembly containing the preamp clamps
safely and securely to virtually any sound port opening.
Since the pickup system comes with
it's own integrated preamp, you don't need to buy an external
outboard preamp. Everything that you need to get it right is
supplied. The only things that you will need are a 9 volt alkaline
battery and a 'guitar cord' to plug in.
This pickup system has been tested on Lyon & Healy pedal harps, Salvi Celtic and pedal harps, Triplett Celtic harps, Dusty Strings Celtic Harps, and Rees Celtic harps. The CH-3 Artist fits properly and sounds good on all of these harps.
Pictures
CH-3 Artist Harp Pickup with integrated preamp and new clamp-on preamp / jack assembly bracket
The CH-3 sensor mounted to the soundboard
Note: the 'feet' of the pickup base are now fully articulated to more easily fit soundboard curvature.
The integrated preamp mounted to to a harp sound port using our new clamp on jack assembly bracket.
The parts of the jack assembly that come into contact with the harp are heavily cork padded to prevent damage.
Harp builders and those that wish to have a more permanent and less visual mounting may simply mount the preamp though a soundbox wall.
(The preamp may be mounted to the back or sides or base of the sound box as might be necessary.)
Technical
Revised base design more easily fits soundboard curvature
The feet of the pickup base are now fully articulated. This means that the pickup will fit the curvature inherent in virtually any harp soundboard quickly and easily and without modification to either the pickup or the harp. The pickup base also now offers more clearance height so the pickup will fit harps with internal reinforcing rods (such as in a Ravenna) and more clearance span to more easily fit harps with larger string strips (such as many pedal harps.
The pickup sensor is designed to
be installed approximately one-third of the way up from the bass
end of the soundboard. The main unit of the pickup sensor spans
the string strip, while the treble extension unit (the smaller
rosewood part attached to the main unit) enhances the sound of the
pickup, extends the range and tonal quality and allows the piezo
unit to sample sound over a larger area of a harp's soundboard.
The transducer unit attaches to the soundboard with our special supplied putty. This putty provides a solid and secure mounting for the pickup but still allows for quick and easy removal of the system.This pickup system has been tested on Lyon & Healy pedal harps, Salvi Celtic and pedal harps, Triplett Celtic harps, Dusty Strings Celtic Harps, and Rees Celtic harps*. The CH-3 Artist fits properly and sounds good on all of these harps.
Revised output jack assembly
Our new clamp-on adjustable preamp / jack bracket is
designed to clamp simply and securely to the sound port opening of
a harp. The jack bracket will fit sound port openings as
narrow as 2 inches or as wide as 3 1/2 inches. The preamp, and in
fact the entire jack bracket, may be moved off center to
accomodate harps that have rods and struts running down their
centers (such as the Dusty Strings Ravenna).
Revised Battery Mounting
The 9 volt battery that the preamp runs on is tucked away in a velcro mounted cordura nylon battery bag that attaches to the inside of the harp. The battery bag is shown at the right. More than 20 inches of lead wire from the preamp to the battery clip allow the battery to be placed virtually anywhere convenient within the harp.
The pickup comes fully wired and assembled. The only things that you have to provide are a 9 volt alkaline battery for the preamp and a standard 'guitar' cord to plug into between your armp and the pickup system.
Total installation time is normally a
couple of minutes at the most. It's that easy.
A 24 inch shielded wire connects the piezo unit to the preamp
unit. There is more that enough wire to allow the pickup to be
placed where required and to be able to mount the preamp unit in a
suitable location.
View the installation instructions (pdf)
Artists
The pickup arrived this week and we installed it on my Henry Meikle harp. It provides a stunningly accurate aural picture of the acoustic signature of my instrument. Putting my ear up to the amp was like hearing a fine condenser microphone - all the nuance, finger caresses, and inherent richness of the harp's nylon strings were captured with amazing accuracy.
I am extremely excited about performing and recording with my new Schatten CH-3 Harp Pickup.
Sahra Featherstone, Toronto Ontario www.sahrafeatherstone.com
To: Schatten Design
I recently purchased your CH-3 Artist harp pickup. It
is attached to my Venus Paragon Grand Concert Pedal Harp. I order
the pickup from the Harp Connection in Salem, Massachusetts after
reading their newsletter about the CH-3.
I AM VERY PLEASED WITH IT!
I was very disappointed with the
******* pickup I had; it brightened the harp to sound more like a
guitar.....and the notes closest to the pickup were obnoxiously
loud.
Your CH-3 Artist accurately reproduces the SAME lovely sound my
harp makes acoustically and shows no note favoritism! Good Luck,
and thanks for your excellent pickup.
Sincerely,
Robert L. Strong - Graceville, Florida
I just purchased the
Schatten CH-3 Artist Pickup for Celtic Harps and Pedal Harps. I
have a CAMAC Athena Concert Grand and it sounds absolutely
amazing!!!
Thanks so much.
Shirley Hardy
www.huntsvilleharpist.com
Shirley plays harp, piano & percussion throughout North Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina & Mississippi. She plays for weddings, receptions, dinners, socials, funerals & visitations, retirement and assisted living facilities, and many churches. She also participates in various community activities and fund raisers as well as many special programs throughout the year. As Huntsville Times Reporter Greg Parker stated in a recent article published about Shirley - "Harpist Strives for Angelic Sound" ....and that she does.
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.
