Right, amplifying the cumbus is an unusual idea, i mean think about why the instrument was invented :-) BUT anyways,

I have a Shadow greek bouzouki magnetic pickup screwed to the end of the neck. To install this, I had to take the instrument apart, take the neck off, and take some wood off the edge of the neck so the pickup would fit. The pickup has a little bracket to hook onto the end of a bouzouki fingerboard, so, I marked this out on the now cut away neck, then chiselled it out. Then sat the pickup in there, drilled a hole for the screw to go through, then put a piece of black duct tape over the hole bracket mess because it was a little weird looking.

www.shadow-electronics.com/viewpro.html
Theres the pickup I got.
The result sounds really really great, cumbus strings are the same material as greek bouzouki strings (silver wound steel) so it worked really well. However, the pickup JUST struggles to reach the highest course of strings and doesn't pick them up as loud. But, the sound is great, not hugely banjoey but it's a clean and nice sound. I wish the pickup was just a tad wider though to get those last strings.

SO, I'm thinking of taking it off and putting some of those K and K pickups on, they are the best I hear.

There is something you all must consider though, is that using these pickups just straight out is a risk. Carmine, those suction cup things sound like shit because I assume your not using a preamp. Any cheap pickup will work well on a cumbus provided that you uses a good preamp to boost its output and shape your tone just a bit. I've tried the suction cup on my yayli tanbur, through an L.R Baggs Paracoustic DI box, and results were absolutely spot on the sound of the instrument, I couldn't tell any difference.

You can use those Boss Graphic Equalizer pedals, which I have, but they are better for magnetic pickups on bouzooukis and laoutos, and the pickup on my cumbus now. They work but are not as appropriate for contact piezo pickups.

All the best,
Paddy

Here he is:

www-personal.umich.edu/~mhuey...us.jpeg

While looking for Lu Edmunds's cumbus, I found another picture of an amplified cumbus, this time some piezo-system attached to the bridge:

www.rogerlandes.com/images/new_cumbus.jpg

Karl