K&K live performance

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

…Leaving it up to your sound people? Special tricks? Flux capacitors??

Hi sv

I have one venue I play in regularly where sound techs love to pump the volume on the subwoofers, and that causes feedback. It's the only time it happens.

When playing acoustic there, I run my K&K dual source rigs (mini + internal mic) through my preamps and then to the mains, and I use a feedback buster (the old black rubber plug) and it tames things down just fine.

I don't have to resort to tone shaping with a parametric eq or other complex answer. I do reverse the polarity of the mic (but not the K&K mini) and it puts it back in phase (sounds normal).

I have two other acoustics where I just insert a lute hole cover versus the black plug with similar results.

I know I could spend hundreds of $$$ to insert another piece of gear in the chain, but that $7 black rubber plug does it just as elegantly, and takes about 10 seconds to insert/remove.

[steelvibe]

Thanks everyone! A general question; do any of these sound hole pu companies offer the purchase of components to their systems separately? Considering how pricey these sound hole systems are, it would be nice to install just the jack permanently but be able to move just their pickup between guitars? (I see that the Black Angel has a jack on the pu itself)

That's a nice design, and you can only play one guitar at a time right?

Originally Posted by meb

I get a very nice warm, but detailed sound with it. You will want a nice preamp to get the most out of it. Also, the
phase switch helps when dialing in the sound if your preamp/DI doesn't
have one. It should definitely be on your short list.

My 2 cents...hope it helps.

Yes meb, that helps! I love what I'm hearing in YouTube vids where the Black Angel is used with another pu.

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi sv
I know I could spend hundreds of $$$ to insert another piece of gear in the chain, but that $7 black rubber plug does it just as elegantly, and takes about 10 seconds to insert/remove.

Thanks Larry, always appreciate your knowledge and input

Originally Posted by J Patrick

..when I was gigging in ensembles a K&K/M1A dual setup worked great for me...I used a stereo cord and sent the signal to separate channels on the board...(k&k through a preamp) ....some of the best live sound I've achieved to date...

Thanks Patrick, that sounds very promising! I wonder if the same success could be achieved if you only had one channel to work with at the board by sending a blended signal from a two channel preamp?

[meb]

At least the Baggs and Dimarzio cables are compatible with the 1/8" mini-jacks. Bluestarmusic.com sells the Baggs M1-C2 endpin harness for $25. It
is TRS, but works fine with the Black Angel TS. The BA cable is TS and will
work with the M1 passive, but drains the batteries on the active pu's, the
M1A and M80. Guess how I found out

As I said earlier, I occasionally sample the Baggs the M1 and M1A I
keep around, but always go back to the Black Angel.

I was wondering if the Schertler Magnetico AG-6 was compatible. It
uses a 1/8" plug I think. After watching a 40 minute video, the mic's
seemed feedback prone and/or tweaky. So, I kinda lost interest.

[RustyAxe]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

They sound pretty good too. Is this your favorite soundhole PU? I was also looking at the Dimarzio Black Angel

Favorite? Well, it's the one I have ... I've not tried too many others, this one does what I want it to. The new Baggs M80 is supposed be a bit better, as is the Sunrise. The Takamine Triax is a similar (if not exactly the same) design as the M1A, but like the M80 can be used in passive mode.

[varmonter]

i had the m80 and then bought the sunrise.
i wired the sunrise opposite the directions
with the female jack on the pickup feed.
that way i can move the m80 and sunrise
from guitar to guitar as needed.
right now i think i like the sunrise more.
but it's really too close to call.
i use the m80 in passive as i find it a pita to
move the switch. it's a bit more lively in active mode.

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by meb

I was wondering if the Schertler Magnetico AG-6 was compatible. It
uses a 1/8" plug I think. After watching a 40 minute video, the mic's
seemed feedback prone and/or tweaky. So, I kinda lost interest.

Hey meb, you might want to look in the Miniflex 2Mic. I own the model 2 and have for years. I can't believe that it does not get more love on this forum as it sounds fantastic as a solo pick up, and even though I haven't tried it in a pick up duo, I bet it would shine there too. It is by far one of the best pick up tones that I have found to date and is amazingly feedback resistant for being a microphone -based system. The only problem that I can foresee, is that you'd have to go with the model one for permanent install through the endpin jack. The model 2 (the one I have) is movable between guitars, but the way it hooks over the sound hole I would think makes it incompatible with any soundhole pick up. I'm going to test it in a dual- sourcing environment with a K&K PW, once I get around to actually doing that I will post my findings here.

[JakeStone]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

Thanks everyone! A general question; do any of these sound hole pu companies offer the purchase of components to their systems separately?

Yes.. I just picked up a Baggs M80 soundhole pup for my J-35.
I was looking for a non-permanent solution for now..

First impression is it sounds really good through my Bose L1 compact.
Even straight Line In with no processing or effects.

The M80 is pretty versatile.. Passive and Active. Long lasting battery with indicator.
Plus it has the 1/8" TRS connector. Which allows easy install and swap to other guitars.
Like another poster mentioned. You can buy the end pin harness for like $25.

[meb]

Thanks Sean. I had not heard of the Miniflex 2Mic. I checked out a couple
of videos yesterday, and the sound seemed very nice. They sure do have
a lot of options to parse though. Who knows...one may work its way into
my plans some day. How is the Gain Before Feedback with the Mod 2?

[steelvibe]

Hey meb.

Just a bit of history on Minflex- they are not a company that is a startup or some brand that is sketchy. Ken Donnell is the owner and is based out of California. He was the designer of one of the first acoustic guitar sound hole mic style pickups. He actually designed the GHS Acoustic Instrument Mic Pick-Up before making them better and changing the name to Miniflex. They have been in operation for over 20 years.

I think all the new models feature the feedback resistant, mechanically "out of phase" design. They are all active and my model 2 runs on a AAA battery- it isn't "hot" by any stretch. I've not used it in a really loud setting but did run it through a cheap DI without any phase or notch filters and into a mid-sized PA while leading worship at a smallish church (so my instrument was brought up to a higher gain). While we were not a tremendously loud band, we were loud enough. Absolutely zero feedback whatsoever! The tone was so good the sound guy came to me and complimented my setup. NO EQ, no compression, no effects- just dry through the DI and to the FOH! Great understated piece of gear that I had to keep. Sounds really good for solo fingerstyle too.