#1
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Help with K&K
Hi,
I've been a (passive) K&K user for many years. And I've paired it with a LOT of different pickups (Lyric, Anthem, Blackstack, MagMic, Sunrise, etc). Most recently, I've had good success with pairing it with either the Black Angel sound hole hum bucker, and the Anthem SL. But it takes a lot of extra EQ to make it work: 1) K&K tends to be bassy and weak in the treble. So I EQ to help that. 2) Because it's weak in the treble, I feel the need to use the other pickup to add some high end. I usually add a HPF on the 2nd source at 750 hz or so because I don't want the bass/mid frequencies of the K&K and 2nd source to interact. So the K&K is the bulk of the sound, and definitely sounds warmer and more full than any sound hole pickup or UST in the low end. Currently I'm using a Helix to EQ and mix these two sources together. But I wish I had a simpler setup for certain times. But the K&K just sounds dull without a 2nd source. It's warm, natural, true... but dull by itself. Just curious if anyone else has found this to be true, and any advice you may have. Thanks!
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'10 Wechter 5712c - Fishman Rare Earth '13 Jaffrey #26 - Malaysian Blackwood! '21 Gretsch 5622 '22 Furch Red Pure G-LR - Barbera Soloist ST-300 Mini + DIY mic preamp |
#2
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Funny I never noticed that a K & K mini is weak in the trebles. To each their own.
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Waterloo WL-S, K & K mini Waterloo WL-S Deluxe, K & K mini Iris OG, 12 fret, slot head, K & K mini Follow The Yellow Brick Road |
#3
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I have four guitars and a mandolin with K+K, and none have reduced treble.
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-Gordon 1978 Larrivee L-26 cutaway 1988 Larrivee L-28 cutaway 2006 Larrivee L03-R 2009 Larrivee LV03-R 2016 Irvin SJ cutaway 2020 Irvin SJ cutaway (build thread) K+K, Dazzo, Schatten/ToneDexter Notable Journey website Facebook page Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art. - Leonardo Da Vinci |
#4
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I have two guitars with K&K mini's in them, a pre war Gibson and a rosewood Martin OM. They sound different, but not in the way you are describing. The big improvement I made was getting a Tonedexter to play through. 1000% improvement.
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2003 Martin OM-42, K&K's 1932 National Style O, K&K's 1930 National Style 1 tricone Square-neck 1951 Rickenbacker Panda lap steel 2014 Gibson Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe Ltd, Custom Shop, K&K's 1957 Kay K-27 X-braced jumbo, K&K's 1967 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Nashville 2014 Gold Tone WL-250, Whyte Lade banjo 2024 Mahogany Weissenborn, Jack Stepick Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina Tonedexter |
#5
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Tonedexter is on my radar but wondering if you ever tried a Redeye Preamp with your K&K?
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Martin DC-18E (Ambertone) Martin HDC-28E Martin D-18 (2015) Collings D1 Traditional Emerald X20 Fender CS '63 Telecaster Custom Collings I-35LCV Collings I-30LC Collings 290 www.heartsoulaz.com |
#6
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Quote:
today to see if its still there. They seem to go quickly. I too agree with others about KK pups. perhaps your pup was placed odd on the treble end. I do find that kk definitely needs eq no matter what i plug it into. But once dialed in it sounds good. For open mics if you play them i find my sunrise mag pup works better Usually sounds good no matter what i plug into. But the kk when properly eq'd sounds more natural. |
#7
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Are you saying it's weak on highs/heavy on lows WHEN paired with other signals or the same when just using the K&K?
I've used K&K's exclusively for several (6) years now. It's my go-to pickup system. I have found that the K&K's give a tone that is different based on the guitar's characteristics which it resides within. I'll give you an example based on my two current guitars, a Martin 000-18GE Custom and an Emerald X20 Custom: The Martin is very warm and dry but the mids are very forward and the highs pop. As a mahogany guitar this is pretty much what is expected. I find that I need to dial out some mids and really go light on my right ring and middle fingers when picking the B and high E strings so as not to overpower the lows. The Emerald on the other hand tends to favor the low end and the A has a ton of sustain, almost too much. As such I find that I really need to dial back the lows to compensate and attack the B and high E while using a light touch on the low E and A, almost the exact opposite of the Martin. The K&K does a great job of just amplifying each guitars natural tone. As of late I have been favoring the K&K belt clip pre-amp. On this I tend to dial the lows back a bit and then the mids and highs up a bit then on the mixer I EQ as needed for a perfect blend. I also use a BodyRez which further enhances my tone as it tends to be a little muddy because I play fingerstyle with the meat of my fingertips. The BodyRez scoops the mids and boosts the lows and highs and really gives an acoustic tone and feel like a guitar being played with a pick. Sounds like a lot but in reality it's a very simple set up. |
#8
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At the risk of being tiresome about it, nothing can compare to the Tonedexter for delivering a tone most like the natural guitar's sound in front of a microphone. TC Helicon's Body Rez is no comparison and no ordinary preamp equalization will do it. Tonedexter essentially equalizes as if it had 2000 bands, and then adds time delay to replicate the guitar body's natural air. And once it is set up and trained it is just point and shoot, no complexity during a performance. I have a friend who spent a tremendous amount of money on custom pickups (under-saddle and microphone combinations) and expensive preamps and the Tonedexter just blew them all away. I plead guilty to being a fan boy for these things but they just deliver on their promise.
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2003 Martin OM-42, K&K's 1932 National Style O, K&K's 1930 National Style 1 tricone Square-neck 1951 Rickenbacker Panda lap steel 2014 Gibson Roy Smeck Stage Deluxe Ltd, Custom Shop, K&K's 1957 Kay K-27 X-braced jumbo, K&K's 1967 Gretsch 6120 Chet Atkins Nashville 2014 Gold Tone WL-250, Whyte Lade banjo 2024 Mahogany Weissenborn, Jack Stepick Ear Trumpet Labs Edwina Tonedexter |