K&K Pure Mini opinions

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Hotspur

The K&K gets a lot of love on these forums, and for the life of me I can't quite understand why. To me, it sounds horribly thuddy and lifeless when you hit the strings hard.

If you want a passive SBT (and lord, I understand why you would - no batteries, invisible, lightweight, etc) you might check out the Dazzos. From the samples I've heard, those hold up to harder strumming much better than the K&K, and sound more natural played soft, too. Compare the samples on Doug Young's page to the K&K - it's night and day.

The other thing is that the K&K will, relatively-speaking, shine in almost diametrically different situation than an M1. The M1 is going to work best in band situations, and will hold up well to both harder strumming and higher volumes. The K&K is best when played softly, IMO.

I don't know if you're through with Baggs, or just through with the M1. If not, there are two options I'd seriously consider (in fact, that I'm leaning towards for my next guitar, which will be a Larrivee L). The first is the M80. This is similar to an M80, but should sound substantially less magnetic, and be much more responsive to body resonance. The M80 can almost fool you that it's not a mag. Not quite, but it's close.

The other is the Anthem, which is dual source - it's got a Lyric-style mike in the guitar, and an UST. People seem to be very happy with the sounds they get from this. The main downsides are that installing the UST element is more invasive (requires a small hole through the top, and goes between the bridge and saddle, so may slightly affect unplugged tone).

Larivvee installs the Anthem in-factory for a lot of their higher-end guitars, which suggests that they think it's a good fit for their instruments.

The Anthem SL works fantastic in my L-03.
I especially like it for rhythm guitar where you really dig in to the strumming because it has a lot of punch in my guitar. The UST does not seem to affect the acoustic tone to my ears. My buddy has the same thing in his Larrivee with different tonewoods and his sounds great with or without the amplification as well.
I must say the Dazzo sounds very good as well in Doug's comparison but it seemed a little bass heavy without some EQ. Different guitar could have a lot to do with that though.
Incidentally, not knocking the K and K at all, they were in the finals before I bought.

[Hotspur]

Originally Posted by rokdog49

The Anthem SL works fantastic in my L-03.

What's your style of play? How much do you play solo, and do you ever play with a full band?

[RCdreamer]

Thanks for your replies, it´s hard to choose, it´s a Quest finding the right pickup and I know I never going to be happy, I like mics and I think the "perfect" pickup (for me) does not exist... yet!

[RCdreamer]

Originally Posted by Hotspur

What's your style of play? How much do you play solo, and do you ever play with a full band?

This my style (here, testing mid side recording):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwf712f0Hnc
I play solo and with a full band too! But when I play with a band it is usually about 3 or 4 songs because I´m a bass player!
(I´m lefthanded, I can´t use all the soundboard pickups (like to try rare earth from fishman).

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by RCdreamer

Thanks for your replies, it´s hard to choose, it´s a Quest finding the right pickup and I know I never going to be happy, I like mics and I think the "perfect" pickup (for me) does not exist... yet!

Hi RCd…

My wife and I hold a monthly pot-luck for 'seniors' in our church called Folks Like Us. It's a monthly gathering for about 20-25 people and where we eat and sing hymns. The only place we sing hymns in our church is at our pot-luck lunch…and it's a hoot (a lot of fun). I just bring whichever of my acoustics I feel like for that day with no amp. I always enjoy getting to hear my guitars without any window dressing or processing.

Our church is contemporary, and attendance at services are in the hundreds of folks, so for the Sunday on Worship Team we have multiple services in a packed out auditorium where if you stuck a mic in front of an acoustic guitar, it simply would not be heard over the drums, bass, electric guitar, keyboards and vocals (and hundreds of people singing). If we didn't have a loud PA we wouldn't be leading hundreds of people who are singing.

I see the benefits of playing in both settings, am equipped for both, and enjoy both. Always glad for the acoustic opportunities, but not dissatisfied or displeased with my amplified playing situations either.

[6L6]

All eight acoustics in my stash have been converted to the K&K Pure Mini. I love 'em!

[akafloyd]

I find them to be very pleasing. Are they perfect? Nope. They are, for me, the best combination of tone, convenience (no batteries), and being unobtrusive (no change in appearance and unplugged tone).

[Fusion01]

I'm considering a new Taylor purchase but need to actually try one before placing an order. I don't know if the electronics in there will be decent and if I should order without electronics and just install a K&K Trinity system from the get go. Any thoughts? The price I save from going without electronics on the Taylor will basically pay for the K&K Trinity setup.

[Johnny.guitar]

I have 2 guitars with k&k's installed and use a Red eye preamp. My Gibson AJ sounds absolutely glorious with it and the light weight and no batteries to deal with makes it a total win for me. Played acoustically it's like it's not even there. Love these pickups and I do use them with a loud band as well as solo. A sound hole cover takes care of any feedback problems.

[fongie]

Originally Posted by 6L6

All eight acoustics in my stash have been converted to the K&K Pure Mini. I love 'em!

Me too.........

All run through my Orchid Muting DI

[dcopper]

I put K&K pms in my 2012 LTD 814 cocobolo (removed the ES); in my 914 non cutaway, non-electricronics; in a 1986 Ovation collector's series just for kicks; in my T5, making it a T6 and had a K&K installed in my Collings mandolin.
To me, a passive system that I can use with my RedEye preamps, is an easy solution and I think that they sound excellent.
I also have a Sunrise in the 914 so together, the Sunrise and the K&K pm sounds outstanding.
I have an M80 also in the coco taylor that I sometimes use with the K&K pm and again - an excellent total solution.
For amps, it is a Fishman LB Performer/ AER 60/3 or an Alesis board with QSC K8s.

So yeah, I am happy and no batteries!
davidc

[SalFromChatham]

I have experimented with different pickups and different guitars and different preamps and different pedals and body Rez and and and....


My best live sound? D35 with K&K mini... Orchid DI... Fishman SA220

Simple. And best.

[jseth]

I have the Anthem SL system in both my Mark Angus 6 and 12 string guitars; I like the sound and they seem to be okay with regards to feedback resistance, but I bet if I were in a full band situation, they would be a bit touchy... times like that, a straight UST or a mag pickup might be best, regarding feedback.

I have the K&K PW Mini in my Goodall Grand Concert. When I first had it installed, I tried it going straight into my AER and also into my Bose T1 and L1 PA... didn't like it a bit, couldn't get a "workable" tone, not for my ears...

Got a hold of a K&K PURE XLR preamp and put that in the signal chain, and VOILA! Sounded MUCH better. Were I to use this for gigging, I would have an external mic on the soundhole, for some string noise and breath - not so much for any volume - and that would sound lovely, I'm guessing. I used the same formula with Fishman Matrix UST pickups and they sounded very good.

Nothing is going to sound as good as a mic into the board in your studio, I'm afraid. It's all a series of compromises until you find what works best for you. I think that UST pickups can sound wonderful IF the player has a light picking hand; when you "bear down" on a UST, that's when the dreaded QUACK kicks in...

I agree that Doug Young's assortment of sound clips with so many different pickups and combinations is a GREAT resource... good luck finding what you want!

[G_Sin]

Novice K&K question:

installing these on my Larrivee D-01. Do I need a sound hole cover to suppress feedback?

[chemiorro]

Hi,

I'm looking for any recordnig of Martin DX1 with K&K pure mini and there's nothing like that on youtube. Does any of you have a video or audio of such combination? I need it for comparise cheap Martin and cheap Taylor with K&K pure mini. It seems that Taylor works fine with it but I'm not sure about Martin.

Cheers.