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  #16  
Old 09-14-2017, 08:24 AM
Jimmy Koh Jimmy Koh is offline
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Originally Posted by Long Jon View Post
NON rechargeable Energiser LITHIUM batteries are practically immortal !
Hey Jon, this should be stickied! Thanks!

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Originally Posted by Methos1979 View Post
As to your question above, I have always had to EQ any and every pickup I've owned.
There you go, Methos. I think the K&K is a good pickup. I have never try it but I have tried cheap Korean made suction cup soundbound transducer and they are great! I firmly believe that there is no one holy grail pickup that requires you to do nothing. And if there is ever one, it will be the ears of your audience in a small room.

Last edited by Jimmy Koh; 09-14-2017 at 08:32 AM.
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  #17  
Old 09-14-2017, 09:30 AM
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I have the K&K on my RS and Emerald acoustic guitars. I have a volume control cord that adjusts at the jack. Both guitars are balanced enough that I do not need eq settings. The K&K is an incredibly clean sounding pickup. The point of the system is to keep the tote load at a minimum. I should also note that I don't often do large venues and work through a AC33 amp when going electric at mid-sized venues. At larger venues I let the sound folks have control.

I will be changing the system with the in-process Emerald electric. The Barbera is an experiment for me and one that will be augmented with (shudder) a battery and volume and tone controls. I prefer a passive setup but think a nylon string, thin bodied guitar might need a little push. I could be wrong.
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  #18  
Old 09-14-2017, 12:42 PM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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Originally Posted by 121 View Post
It looks like they built up some white material and sanded that material flat (Emerald arches their CF buildup instead of using braces like Composite Acoustics or a thick spacer between the inner and outer CF layers like RainSong). The cables at the heads are going the wrong direction. K&K directions say they should go towards the neck and loop back towards the end pin forcing the wires away from the pins. The high e/B head should be located in front of the high e string, not between them. For the RainSong I installed a K&K in, since its soundboard is flat, I used very thick gap filling CA glue in case the surface was not as smooth as ideal. It worked fine. Given how this was installed, I would recommend the Baggs options.
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  #19  
Old 09-14-2017, 01:14 PM
Earl49 Earl49 is offline
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Originally Posted by Long Jon View Post
.... NON rechargeable Energiser LITHIUM batteries are practically immortal !
....Long long shelf life, Never leak. Worth the extra, (forget re-chargeables they generally don't hold the full voltage very long, v poor performance , spend more time on the charger than in the appliance....
Lithium batteries are used in smoke detectors for that very reason-- years of shelf life, and a smoke detector is basically a trickle demand. Lithium's can be a bit larger and more square-ish than some 9V cells, so can be a tight fit in certain battery holders. I use lithium batteries in certain test equipment left outdoors because they don't have a voltage drop at low temperatures (a trick learned from an Iditarod musher for his headlamps and GPS).

Rechargeable batteries (NiCd for example) are 1.2V per cell, whereas most non-rechargeable types are 1.5V per cell. So a full rechargeable battery starts at 80% compared to an alkaline battery.
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  #20  
Old 09-14-2017, 03:28 PM
121 121 is offline
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Originally Posted by jonfields45 View Post
It looks like they built up some white material and sanded that material flat (Emerald arches their CF buildup instead of using braces like Composite Acoustics or a thick spacer between the inner and outer CF layers like RainSong). The cables at the heads are going the wrong direction. K&K directions say they should go towards the neck and loop back towards the end pin forcing the wires away from the pins. The high e/B head should be located in front of the high e string, not between them. For the RainSong I installed a K&K in, since its soundboard is flat, I used very thick gap filling CA glue in case the surface was not as smooth as ideal. It worked fine. Given how this was installed, I would recommend the Baggs options.
I asked Jack at K&K technical support about my Emerald X20 K&K mini installation. (Jack got the same pictures I posted on this thread.)
I asked, does it matter which direction the wires point ?
Does it matter if the pickups are flipped/positioned 180 degrees ?
I also asked about the pickup position between B/e string ?

Jack said the pickup between B/e string looked fine.
He also said the wires normally do point toward the neck, but they will work fine pointed the other way. It really does not matter which pickup is where as long as they are spaced correctly. Just watch out when you change guitar strings that the beads do not contact the wires as that could produce a buzz when you play.

The K&K wires have not been an issue when changing strings on my X20 and the wires do not move near the string ball area so I doubt they'll hinder in future string changes.

I've not had any issues with the K&K mini system in my X20, IMHO it sounds great.
The K&K mini system in my X7 (Emerald folks installed also) also sounds great, IMHO.
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  #21  
Old 09-14-2017, 05:04 PM
Carbonius Carbonius is offline
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K&K started recommended that exact placement, favoring the high E, a while back. The B string tended to be a bit too loud with the old installation.

I have a very rare K&K in my guitar. My high E was too quite (compared to all strings), so the luthier wired in a 4th head to the trebles side of the high E. My low E sounded just a bit too quiet when compared to the unplugged tone so... the luthier wired in a 5th head to the bass side of the low E. My guitar has a HUGE tone plugged in. Very full, very balanced. He charged me for what I got, 1 & 2/3 of a standard K&K. He said it was easy due to the vert basic nature of the K&K.

EDIT: I haven't read of the K&K being exactly over the high E like was suggested above. Last I saw it was just to be closer to the E as the picture shows.According to K&K's website, the transducer placement relative to the strings is fine http://kksound.com/support/jig-new.php I find it pretty goopy looking, but I guess it's a lot harder to work on when you have to have your whole arm in there with no vision! If it sounds good, then it's good!

Last edited by Carbonius; 09-14-2017 at 10:29 PM.
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  #22  
Old 09-14-2017, 06:28 PM
Jimmy Koh Jimmy Koh is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Carbonius View Post
K&K started recommended that exact placement, favoring the high E, a while back. The B string tended to be a bit too loud with the old installation.

I have a very rare K&K in my guitar. My high E was too quite (compared to all strings), so the luthier wired in a 4th head to the trebles side of the high E. My low E sounded just a bit too quiet when compared to the unplugged tone so... the luthier wired in a 5th head to the bass side of the low E. My guitar has a HUGE tone plugged in. Very full, very balanced. He charged me for what I got, 1 & 2/3 of a standard K&K. He said it was easy due to the vert basic nature of the K&K.
Wait - you have five K&K transducers under the bridge??
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  #23  
Old 09-14-2017, 06:59 PM
Carbonius Carbonius is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jimmy Koh View Post
Wait - you have five K&K transducers under the bridge??
Yup!! It certainly picked up some extra range. I would think that high and guitars don't need this. I'm also super picky about things. The luthier said that the bridge plate on my Taylor seemed thicker than is necessary on a guitar. It was his opinion that this was the reason why vibrations weren't transferring as much as they should have. He is very experienced with K&K, uses them in all of his builds. His solution was simple and satisfactory.
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  #24  
Old 04-04-2018, 06:13 PM
jwellsy jwellsy is offline
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Are there any web reviews or Youtubes about installing 5 K&K transducers? This sounds like an interesting way to help bump up the bass.
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  #25  
Old 04-04-2018, 06:17 PM
kramster kramster is offline
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Originally Posted by jwellsy View Post
Are there any web reviews or Youtubes about installing 5 K&K transducers? This sounds like an interesting way to help bump up the bass.
K&Ks already bass it up some with a measly 3
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  #26  
Old 04-05-2018, 09:32 AM
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The Barbera pickup on the thin-bodied electric X7 is active, has a battery and volume and tone controls. I thought that a nylon string electric could use a boost and it's worked out well. I've been playing with an acoustic group and a small Roland portable amp--I can dial it down to fit an acoustic setting and I can dial it up to match the banjo. I can also go to the wild side and pump up the volume. I've been very happy with the Barbera.
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  #27  
Old 04-05-2018, 07:49 PM
AZLiberty AZLiberty is offline
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Emerald and Rainsong both want crazy money to install a K&K.

My local shop installed a K&K pure mini in my Rainsong for $125 (pickup plus install).

If you want a K&K, have Emerald prep it and install yourself or pay a local.
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  #28  
Old 04-05-2018, 08:26 PM
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Smile A lot of info here...

But no Goats so far?

This is all very informative! With an Opus X-20 incoming I am glad to hear many nice reviews of the K&K. I have them in a few of my wood guitars and really like them. I, too, do not want any more electronics than needed in the axe.

I love the Red Eye DI with everything I have plugged into it. It is super simple and makes the KK sound even better!

Cheers

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  #29  
Old 04-05-2018, 09:17 PM
kramster kramster is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Guitars44me View Post
But no Goats so far?
How about .. Go at ...it with the K&K.
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Some wood things by Epi, Harmony, Takamine, Good Time, PRS, Slick, Gypsy Music, keyboards, wind controllers.. etc
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  #30  
Old 04-05-2018, 09:18 PM
kramster kramster is offline
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This made me have 8 last responses in a row... sigh....
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CA: Early OX and Cargo
McPherson: Early Kevin Michael Proto
Some wood things by Epi, Harmony, Takamine, Good Time, PRS, Slick, Gypsy Music, keyboards, wind controllers.. etc
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