Does It Really Get Any Better Than a K&K For a Solo Performer?
 

I’m using Dave Stamey as an example here. I’ve seen him many times in a variety of settings—indoors, outdoors, from intimate ranch settings where he plays through his little Fender PA, to larger stages with a full sound system (like this Campus Jax show). His setup is very simple—K&K through their small preamp, and into whatever PA, with no effects. He goes from Bluegrass-type flat picking, to fingerpicking, strumming, and chomping out swing chords with no muss or fuss, and always sounds great IMO for a plugged in sound. I’ve seen him do shows with openers that have more gear (and likely an under saddle pickup), and Dave’s sound is always better, and I’ve never seen him struggle with feedback.
As I’m plotting an instrument with a pickup for stage use I’ve been reading all the treads on this page and kind of have it narrowed down to a few choices. My needs would be similar to Dave’s—just me and my guitar, and a vocal mic, and I’d cover similar guitar styles. The only disadvantage I can think of is that a preamp would be required, which may not always be ideal for open mic situations. Thoughts? Any other recommendations? Here’s some examples:

Stamey starts at about 30:00
https://youtu.be/8Rik5CpHygY

https://youtu.be/XaqhV7HwWFI

You might want to look into the Ultra Tonic pickup by James May Engineering. Very similar to the K&K pickup, with a few advantages.

http://jamesmayengineering.com/

To go one step further, you could also get the ToneDexter (also designed by James May).

https://audiosprockets.com/

I've taken this setup to Open Mics before, and it's not a huge hassle. I take the 1/4" plug that's given to me, and plug it into the ToneDexter. Then I go wireless between the guitar and the ToneDexter. I power the ToneDexter with a rechargeable USB battery pack, and use a USB 5V to 12V (9v is also OK) adapter. The ToneDexter doesn't care if the tip is positive or negative.

Note: With the K&K, you might want to carry a pre-amp (or your own DI). I ran into an issue with a low-impedance DI at one venue that really messed up the sound. But going through either the K&K preamp, or the ToneDexter, solved that issue for me. You could also just go into a tuner pedal (one that has a high impedance) and that would solve the issue.

It’s a good pickup but I don’t think it’s the best.

What’s your favorite? Thanks

To be honest, that Dave Stamey clip has exactly the same issue as every other K&K sample I've ever heard: no sparkle on top. I'm not saying that there's such a thing as a no-compromise pickup or pickup system -- as far as I can tell, it's a matter of choosing your poison. But that slightly dead top end is always a bit of a buzzkill for me with the K&K.

Dazzo. The only SBT that seems equal is the Trance Audio Amulet, although I have no direct experience with that.

If you like the sound of a K+K Pure Mini, I would recommend the James May Ultratonic. It seems to maintain the good parts and fix the bad parts of the ubiquitous Pure Mini.

Well, those are the 3 I’m considering—K&K/Ultratonic, Dazzo, and Trance!

Weird . . if anything, I'm constantly trying to dial out the highs. Maybe this guitar just has a lot more highs than I like.

I know one, maybe two people who prefer K&K over Dazzo, including people with K&Ks in their own guitars. My sample size is roughly 25 people in the live world.

I still like the K&K and will be trying the Dazzo soon, but it's funny how the popularity of a pickup often influences people's decision; even when they have the chance to give more boutique pickups a chance. I bought my used Dazzo from a guy who had it ripped out of a used guitar he purchased in order to install a K&K. I think he plugged the Dazzo in to check if there was a signal and that was it. He didn't even take the time to research or properly try the Dazzo. In the end, he probably spent $300 (Canadian) to get the K&K, have the Dazzo removed and K&K installed. It sounds crazy, but with so many K&K recommendations out there, it's easy to understand why some people still see the K&K as the best pickup out there.

I like K&K but I also really like the Baggs Lyric I have in my D-18.

The K&K mini has been around for about 20 years and has earned the reputation as the SBT pickup to which all other SBT pickups are compared/measured All SBT pickups have differences, some large and some small. Folks will tend to prefer one over the other, usually not by much, and that preference can be mostly traced to musical style(s), right hand technique, content of remaining signal chain, venue, ensemble makeup and personal aesthetics.

And then there are the differences among and between other types of pickups, such as soundhole magnetic, internal mic, external mic, UST, dual source, etc. Those difference dwarf the differences among the various brands of SBT pickups alone.

If a K&K mini works well for someone, that's great. If something else works better to someone else, that's great.

Say I'm a solo fingerstyle player and use "X" pickup. I ask for advice. Many are eager to help. The first suggests "Y" pickup instead of the K&K mini, a second says the "X" pickup sucks eggs and a third person says something else. Turns out the first person is a rhythm player/strummer/flatpicker in a 5 piece bluegrass/folk band, the second plays at home through a cheesy $200 acoustic amp, etc.

I have used a lot of pickups with my beloved Martin HD28. Baggs M1 (passive), M80, Anthem, Schatten HFN and Dazzo.

I really liked Dazzo on my HD2 (sounding really natural), but I had some problems on the installation and I couldn't make it work for me. After that, I tried the K&K Trinity System, with a Pure Mini and an internal microphone. I'm LOVING it. I used on recordings, livestreams, and I could finally test it on two live gigs this week, and one wedding on the last weekend, at louder volumes. No feedback problems as the way I setted it up.

The thing is: you will probably like some sort of EQ with it. The Trinity or the Pure Mini alone. Both sounded great with a little scoop on the mids, for me. BUT, I felt the same with the Dazzo. There's just NO pickup that I don't feel the need of some EQ, at some degree. Some more than others. But I can assure you that the K&K Pickup is great! I'm really happy with it!

Next step will be got myself a Felix2 preamp so I can have the EQ on my feet. And that, for me, will probably end my looong journey of finding a pickup sound I liked. I can tell you something: on those 2 gigs and on the wedding, I was really proud of my amplified acoustic tone. And that was the first time I felt that way.

The signal chain was: HD28 (2005) - K&K Trinity - K&K Preamp - TC Polytune 2 - Baggs Session DI (HPF @40hz) - QSC Touchmix 8 - QSC K10.2.

Out of curiosity, what issue did you have with the installation?