Return to K&K Pure Mini?

[Jack Orion]

Hi Folks,

I used to have K&Ks in two guitars - a Martin 000x1 and an OM28v.

In the x1 it sounded really good and gave me no problems at all, but in the OM I had a few gigs where it would just howl away uncontrollably. At the time I didn't want to invest in a preamp as I was playing a lot of 'line check and go' gigs, so I swapped it out for a Fishman Rare Earth and then a LR Baggs M1a.

I'm now not playing out very much at all, but thinking about playing the odd open mic night and maybe two to three gigs a year, but I've also changed from heavy strumming to folk-y fingerpicking and have also purchased a headway edb1.

So I was thinking about perhaps giving the K&K another chance as I find the trebles on the M1a a bit electric-y, and the bass response quite 'hyped'. The last gig I played with the M1a and the Headway I had to turn the bass down a lot as I was getting this HUGE bass sound, which didn't really fit my style (though it may have worked for some and it was super clean and feedback resistant!).

However my main guitar now is a Fylde Alexander, mahogany and cedar, and it has a lot of midrange and a full bass, which, given my previous experience with the OM, concerns me regarding feedback and muddiness.

I know there's a lot of people on here who are huge k&k fans (and some who seem to recommend it as a matter of course) but I was wondering about honest advice regarding quick setup open mic night situations and no soundcheck gigs.

I'm okay with using my headway for open mics and know its uses well enough to help combat feedback with notch and phase, and the E.Q. seems pretty good, plus you can adjust the impedance. I'm not going to be buying 32 band parametric eqs etc etc, but I could think about the trinity mic system and possibly the DTAR solstice at some point in the future...

I'm also not particulary interested in going with a dual source rig that mixes soundhole and the K&K.

I've been very dismissive of the K&K in the past, but then I was looking for a very robust plug n play in possibly loud situations pickup - now I'm after a more refined sound and hope that gigs I will play will reflect that...

I have also looked at the Anthem SL, but I sometimes find it a bit thin when playing with nails depending upon the amplifier it was going through, and I'm generally not a fan of undersaddles at all...

Fire away...

[Andy Howell]

Glad you are enjoying the Headway, much under appreciated in my view.

An additional in guitar. Mic is an option but I guess a lot depends on where you are laying and what style you are playing. In smaller settings I like to use the Headway to mix a guitar line out and a real mic.

It's also worth considering that you can mix two in guitar pickups without one of them having to be a mic. Last year Martin Simpson told me he was supplementing his Highlander pickup with a Macintyre Feather in one of his guitars and he was delighted with it. I guess his dual source guitar has to work on festival stages and so on and extra feedback resistance is useful. Remember the Headway can easily deal with a stereo out signal and allows you to vary the blend of the two.

If you are doing quick floor spots using an external mic would be difficult but then again there is often not much time to blend a signal anyway. If you have more set up time you obviously have more options available to you.

[ocarolan]

Bit of a UK meet up going on here!

Your Fylde deserves good acoustic reproduction when amplified!

K&K minis plus K&K belt clip preamp could work well for quick plug and go.

But I use K&K Pure XLR preamp on a shortish lead to my guitar (Fylde Custom Alex, K&K minis as you know!) and carry it on, plonk it on floor/chair or whatever. Plug "house" lead into preamp and you're away. helps to have the preamp already set roughly how you like - I use a lot of mid cut, sometimes a little treble boost and a little bass cut. A lot of "house" PA operators seem to go heavy on the bass - might need more bass preamp cut than expected. Your Headway preamp could obviously be used in the same way, largely preset, but with maybe a quick last minute tweak to begin if soundcheck not possible.

Also, IMHO, there's no real need for much, if any, guitar or vocal sound in monitors when playing solo

Agree re USTs - I used to use Headway UST (in Fylde Oberon) in band situation - excellent for a piezo UST, but not faithful enough for solo serious acoustic spots, esp re dynamics - K&K minis excel especially in this department I reckon.

Keith

[Andy Howell]

I feel as if we are all moonlighting ...

[ocarolan]

...

Keith