second p'up/mic recommendation?

[WeddingGuy]

I play a classical guitar with a Baggs Element UST going through a DTar Solstice. Usually doing duets and "quieter" type gigs. Occasion noisy restaurants, but then not exactly peeling paint.

I USED TO also use a K&K Meridian external mic, and generally liked the sound I was getting. I didn't care for the extra hassle of being feedback-prone. The Meridian recently crapped out on me. K&K believes possibly due to the fact that the Solstice delivers +15 volts phantom while the Meridian is designed to run on (if I remember correctly) 9v.

Anyway, been playing without it for a while. The UST sounds, to my ears, really nice on the treble strings, and (sadly) just like a crappy pickup on the bass strings.

Which got me thinking about either installing an internal mic OR some other kind of pickup. The more I read, the more I'm thinking I should look into a SBT-type pickup to blend in with the Baggs UST.

...OORRRR should I just yank the Baggs out completely and start over?

Just wondering what your thoughts are.

Thank you,

[Vancebo]

I understand your pain. A lot of $$$ has gone into my experimentation phase of acoustic guitar amplification.

The Baggs Element UST is nothing special IMO. Most USTs are nothing special if you care about your tone. Fishman has taken the approach instead of improving the UST to use modeling technology to improve your sound with their Aura systems. They were designed to work well with any UST. You can try an Aura pedal at Guitar Center and return it if it is not for you. It works for some.

K & K mini is popular here and it IMO is a step in a more natural direction. I always liked it paired with a mic.

The Baggs Lyric is simple and very natural sounding. Some people like me have to EQ it a lot to get it to sound right. Some people don't like the bass response. They find it lacking in punch.

There are all in one dual source systems by just about everybody. Good luck

[Slickster]

after reading up forever on AGF, I put in a K&K mini and wow! Night and day better than the Element. I haven't had any feedback problems at all.

I picked up the Red-Eye Fire-eye too. Warmer and smoother than my Baggs Para DI.

I'm all plug and play no batteries or hassles now. Sounds GREAT!

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by WeddingGuy

…should I just yank the Baggs out completely and start over?

Hi WeddingGuy…

That gets my vote.

To my ear, coaxial undersaddle pickups are even worse (tone-wise) than the solid bar style of piezo pickups. The soundboard transducers like the K&K are so much better.

You could just use an external mic in the place of the Meridian which failed, and be back to where you were for much less money.

If it were me, I'd start with the K&K Pure mini and then if you need even more consider a mic. I use the standard K&K Silver bullet mics in all four of my acoustic guitars, and it's a great combo with the DTAR Solstice.

I've been using K&K internal mics in my rigs for over a decade with power greater than K&K's approved ratings without issue, as have dozens of us here in the forum, and thousands of us across the country. I've even used them with a +18 volt preamp for over a year.

Yours is only the second K&K mic I've even heard of going out, and the other was an internal mic being used with a K&K preamp, which I'd chalk
up to manufacturer defect.

[WeddingGuy]

Larry,
Thank you for chiming in. I enjoy reading your input into these things...

Yes, it did strike me as odd--about the voltage difference that you mentioned. I had done some reading at one point a couple of months ago that suggested this should be no big deal. Shortly thereafter, my mic was dead. It could have been some other problem, who knows...?

Do you have any experience with a Baggs "Lyric"? I was reading through another (very long) thread and was thinking that possibly using a lyric in tandem with either a K&K or possibly a PUTW may be a good solution.

Hadn't really thought of the silver bullet. Do you have that internally mounted? How do you mount that? Does K&K sell some kind of bracket for it?