Quote:
Originally Posted by eyesore
Do you guys use these things all the time? I was just given one. I was gonna try it tommorow night .I have K&K minis in all my guitars....Pros and Cons?
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IMO, it really depends on the environment you are playing in, especially with the K&K pickups. If you're playing at home or in a more intimate setting like a coffeeshop or most open mics, you probably won't need it. If, on the other hand, you're playing in a noisy bar where you need to "turn it up" to be heard, or in a large, loud band with a bunch of monitors, you will probably need it in all the time.
The K&K is a very nice SBT that offers a nice "acoustic-guitar-like" sound, especially when EQ'd properly, as long as you don't need the kind of volume that leads to feedback. At that point the buster is a good solution.
I used K&Ks for many years before I found myself in a situation where I constantly ended up fighting feedback. Even with significant EQ-ing it was impossible to get rid of it entirely. I play in a large praise band with acoustic, electric & bass guitars, piano & keyboard, drums, 2-3 singers & often other instruments like violins or wind instruments. Oh, & everybody gets their own monitor! So, as you might imagine, it gets very loud! I had to put on soundhole covers to get rid of the feedback & while they did the job I kept on the lookout for a more elegant solution. Along came the James May UltraTonic (UT) pickup & the rest, as they say, is history. :-) I first converted the K&K in my OM-21 to the UT & was amazed by the quality of the sound but mostly by the absolute feedback rejection it gave me. When I was having some work done on my old D-18 & had the luthier remove the K&K & install the full UT in its place. IMO, the UT sounds better than the K&K but most important to me, it absolutely eliminates feedback!
Anyway, if you are mostly playing in fairly quiet venues the K&K is a very good pickup. If you might end up playing in a louder, less controllable environment, slap that buster on or get ready to fight the feedback!
Frank