K&K or Lyric for a 12-string?

[Duncan T]

Hey everyone. I can't decide on a K&K mini or a Lyric for my '69 Guild f-112. I was wondering if you guys could help me decide. There's not too much on the 'net already because not too many people fingerpick country-blues on a twelve, so I thought I'd turn it over to the echo chamber.

Here's what I want:

1 - to be able to install it myself
2 - plug 'n' play no-fuss ease of use
3 - fairly good tonal balance; I fingerpick

I think I'm leaning mostly toward the K&K (people seem to have a lot of issues with the Lyric's tone and eq-ing) but I'm worried about installing it myself. How hard is it?

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Duncan T

Hey everyone. I can't decide on a K&K mini or a Lyric for my '69 Guild f-112. I was wondering if you guys could help me decide. There's not too much on the 'net already because not too many people fingerpick country-blues on a twelve, so I thought I'd turn it over to the echo chamber.

Here's what I want:

1 - to be able to install it myself
2 - plug 'n' play no-fuss ease of use
3 - fairly good tonal balance; I fingerpick

I think I'm leaning mostly toward the K&K (people seem to have a lot of issues with the Lyric's tone and eq-ing) but I'm worried about installing it myself. How hard is it?

Hi Duncan…

K&K makes a pickup they used to call the Pure Western. It has larger sensors which produce more robust and bassy tone, which is a great thing for filling out the tone of 12 string guitars (which tend to sound thin when using pickups). I just looked on their site, and they now call it the Pure 12 string.

Since you fingerpick, this would be a good match. And the strong output signal of the K&K Pure 12 string pickups (even passive) is a plus.

[FluffyDog6]

The Pure 12 string uses 21mm transducers. I would look inside the guitar very carefully with a mirror to be sure your 12 string's bridge plate can accommodate this rather large size.

I had to use a Pure Mini on a late 90's Seagull S12+ Cedar top guitar as the pins and bracing were in the wrong place.

Using these detailed instructions, it was a piece of cake to install it.

It sounds very clear and natural. The output is strong for a passive pickup, but I use a DI box to convert to XLR for the run to the soundboard. Direct into an amp would probably be OK too.

[Bill Ashton]

Ask Toby Walker, either here or by PM what he uses...saw him thr other night, and his "small body" 12 string sounded fantastic! He used a Schertler amp, don't know if it was just for a stage monitor...

[Petty1818]

I would go for the K&K pickup and depending on where you play, I would also add the internal mic. I have the Lyric in my Taylor and the K&K in my Larrivee and both pickups sound great. The problem with the Lyric though is that it lacks that enhanced bass tone that we are used to with pickups. If there's one thing I hate, it's when someone plugs in a 12 string and instead of there being a big and robust tone coming out of the speakers, the guitar sounds thin and weak. The K&k will do a better job of giving you that full tone.

[jseth]

I would also recommend the Pure 12 String pickup... glad to see that someone already posted that it is bigger than the PW Mini that I have in my 6 string Goodall.

I have an Anthem SL in my 12 string, and I like it fine... but I would NOT install it myself! The Anthem (as well as the Lyric?) requires a battery inside the guitar, which is a bit of pain, although the lifespan is really long (I haven't been gigging much lately, so it lasts me a year or so!)... also, the Anthem is fairly "invasive", meaning that stuff needs to be cut, hole drilled for the UST portion of the system, and the True-Mic has to glued to the bridgeplate (same as the Lyric). I found the Anthem to definitely alter the unplugged sound of the guitar, as well, whereas the K&K did nothing to vhange the sound of the guitar.

Just given what you mentioned as your "requirements", the K&K looks like the winner...

[pick me]

Seeing this post it reminded me of seeing the K&K for the 12 string which has 4 monitors for lack of a better word. It strikes me if this would not be better for a 6 string as well, with more pickups then the normal 3. I probably am way off track but it just seems like it should produce a wider range of sound. Then again, if it did I guess that would have been figured out long ago by better minds than mine.

[Duncan T]

UPDATE: Went with the lyric because my local shop was sold out of K&K. Sounds good! Presence control does a lot more than you'd expect.