K&K Pure Mini vs. Martin Thinline Gold Plus
 

I have a ‘72 Martin D-28S (12 fret, slot head) in which I installed a Martin Thinline Gold Plus system back in 2000. The internal preamp has given up the ghost so to speak. I have the same system installed in my ‘93 Taylor 555 12-string, and I like the fact that both have had the same output, and could use a single Taylor V Cord to seamlessly switch between guitars at gigs without changing setting on my direct box or PA. Question: Does anyone know how the output level of the K&K Pure Mini Compares with the Martin Thinline Gold Plus systems? Thank you.

Having owned both (the Martin Thinline Gold + is a rebadged Fishman Acoustic Matrix II with the narrow piezo strip, which I have had in a few Gibsons and Martins, and I have the K&K in a couple of my current guitars), whilst the K&K has strong output compared to most passive pickups, it’s a fair way short of the output of the Martin/Fishman with onboard preamp.

The K&K also requires a lot more drastic EQ work to make it sing than the Fishman/Martin and has a much lower threshold of gain before feedback, so switching between guitars with the two different pickups would be less than straightforward.

I would suggest going with K&K in both guitars or looking at the Fishman Matrix Infinity which is the modern iteration of your Thinline Gold. Both are excellent pickups, albeit quite different from one another.

I have K&K’s in two guitars. I used to play through an Alix preamp with decent results. When I switched over to the MUCH less expensive K&K pre, things got much better. Go figure.