Do I need a pre-amp or just an amp?

[bho]

Hello,

I am installing a K&K Pure Mini pickup into an acoustic guitar. I thought I would only need an amplifier to plug in, but I see many recommendations for pre-amplifiers. What purpose does the pre-amp serve? Will it make much of a difference when paired with an amplifier?

Thanks.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by bho

Hello,

I am installing a K&K Pure Mini pickup into an acoustic guitar. I thought I would only need an amplifier to plug in, but I see many recommendations for pre-amplifiers. What purpose does the pre-amp serve? Will it make much of a difference when paired with an amplifier?

Thanks.

Hi bho…

I usually recommend to people who are installing a K&K Pure Mini to go without a preamp till they feel a need to improve/adjust the tone even more.

A preamp often brings additional functions including impedance matching direct box functions (XLR and ¼" output, ground lifting, phase shift, Input gain, master volume, and multiple tone adjustments, and sometimes mute etc).

The non-preamplified signal of a K&K Pure mini is hot enough for any PA or amp you are likely to encounter.

[AZLiberty]

With the K&K it's a sort of "it depends".

You should be able to run to an amplifier without issue so long as the run is reasonably short. When plugging into the house PA or snake the K&K can get "woofy" sounding if you don't run it through a pre-amp or DI box first.

I've taken to bringing along a DI box when I play out with my K&K equipped guitars.

[guitarsrawesome]

I've done lots of tests with the k&k pure mini pickup with and without k&k's pure xlr preamp/DI, mostly through a fishman sa220 soloamp.

I have to say that the pure xlr preamp helps A LOT. The pure mini pickup without it can be fairly muddy/bass-y sounding, but the preamp cleans up the mud quite a bit (there's a three band eq you can use to help with that) and you can get a real clear acoustic sound using it.

I've also tested the pure mini through the LR Baggs Para and Venue DI's, as well as through a Fishman Aura DI, and I still think the cleanest, purest sound comes from the K&K preamp. Another good thing about the K&K pure xlr preamp is that it can be powered by phantom power through the xlr cable. No batteries!

Hope that helps .

[jseth]

bho;

YOU are going to be the sole determining factor in that decision, I'm afraid... I suggest that you try it through your own amplifier (if you own one?), or else take it to a store and play through a number of different acoustic amplifiers...

There are a lot of choices for both preamps and amplifiers... there are a fair number of members here who have a K&K and run it straight into one of the Fishman products (Loud Box, etc...) and seem happy with the tone.

Personally, I was NOT happy with the tone, not through either my Bose L1 system, or my AER Compact 60 - both systems are excellent and produce wonderful clear sound - until I bought one of the K&K PURE XLR preamps to use with that particular guitar and pickup...

You may love the sound of the K&K through just an amp, or run straight into a pa mixer... only way to find out is to try it out and see!

Have fun with the choices; choose wisely and you'll have something you can enjoy for years to come!

[JP McD]

You don't absolutely need a pre-amp with the K&K, but you may eventually want one to clarify the tone. I really like the sound I get with a K&K going through a Redeye pre-amp. The Redeye is nice and simple, and has a boost switch, which I like a lot for the solo breaks.

Depending on how you're using the guitar this may be unnecessary.

[Kip Carter]

One word of caution here about DI boxes... they are not all the same. Some DI's are straight DI's and have absolutely no preamp property to them those will not shape the sound coming off your wire at all. They simply change the interface going into the PA and nothing more.

Earlier comment noting use of a DI was assuming that a DI that had preamp capitally built into it which is common but not always the case so I wanted to qualify this for you.

[Nitebob]

Hallo from South Africa! Sorry to fire up an old thread....

I am trying to get my one guitar equipped with contact mic type of equipment. So two questions

1. If you run this through a "Vocalist live" pedal, could it act as enough of a preamp?
2. If not could an endpin preamp work maybe in conjunction with a graphic equilizer?

Thx

[chubby biscuit]

Originally Posted by JP McD

You don't absolutely need a pre-amp with the K&K, but you may eventually want one to clarify the tone. I really like the sound I get with a K&K going through a Redeye pre-amp. The Redeye is nice and simple, and has a boost switch, which I like a lot for the solo breaks.

Even though the Red Eye doesn't have an EQ, was your sound good enough that you didn't feel like it needed to be shaped any, or do you wish that you did have an EQ? I am leaning towards a Red Eye but wondering if I should get an EQ pedal to go along with it.

[Br1ck]

I asked the owner/designer of the RedEye why just the basic treble control. He replied that with a properly designed linear pre amp you don't need one, provided you like the pickup going into it. The treble control he referred to as the dead string correcter.

Many if not most people don't know how to use an EQ properly. I may someday get a nice two or three band parametric to run through the effects loop of my RedEye, but the good ones need AC power and I don't want to complicate matters, and I haven't really needed it given my amp has decent EQ and I run to a PA from the amp if I need to.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

I asked the owner/designer of the RedEye why just the basic treble control. He replied that with a properly designed linear pre amp you don't need one, provided you like the pickup going into it. The treble control he referred to as the dead string correcter.

Which is precisely why I don't own a RedEye.

A pickup which reflects a guitar's unique characteristics (including balance of tone) is not going to fit a generic/averaged tone structure.

I've played and listened to guitars through RedEye preamps, and they are on the average end of the spectrum; underwhelming to my ears…

[chubby biscuit]

I am teetering between the K&K Preamp/DI and the Red Eye. Was dead set on the Baggs Venue but they seem to sound way too boxy or over compressed. Decisions, decisions.