k&k pure mini

[eyesore]

On the advice of this forum I stopped usin a preamp with my fishman soloamp. It works great. I 'm wondering if there is a way of boosting the high E and B strings volume ,have plenty of Bass but when I take a lead on the high strings I feel like there is less volume ;on all my acoustics. Any ideas ? Thanks.

[Doug Young]

Was your K&K installed using the latest recommended placement - with the high string sensor more to the E string side? This is a common complaint with K&Ks. Some people add a 4th transducer to get more sound out of the high strings, I think James May was doing that with his original Ultratonic setup, if I remember right.

[eyesore]

Geez , I don't know .My guitar Tech did the job, I 'm pretty sure he knows what he is doing, He has done lots of them. Didn't know they made one with four transducers.

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by eyesore

Geez , I don't know .My guitar Tech did the job, I 'm pretty sure he knows what he is doing, He has done lots of them. Didn't know they made one with four transducers.

They make a "classical set" with 4, but you can add individual ones, of course. K&K doesn't recommend the 4th, they recommend (starting a few years ago) moving the top sensor over the E string, where they used to say to put them evenly spaced between the E and B. This was seemingly in response to complaints about weak E strings. But other people do all kinds of experimental things.

Incidentally, wanting more volume for a lead is a perfect example of when a "preamp" (really, a central control gizmo) is useful. Many have boost switches that you can hit for solos, turning up the volume by some configurable amount. You don't need a preamp just for sound quality, if you're using an amp designed for acoustic pickups, but the features of many preamps, routing, mute, boost, EQ, etc, can still be useful.

[eyesore]

Thank you Doug!you are one of my favorite guitarists! I will try my preamp again when I play with our trio.

[tadol]

Look into the Ultratonic by James May - he offers a K&K retrofit, which adds another sensor to boost the high end, and a sensor on the bass side, which ties into the special circuit board he designed that cleans up the bass and lets you “tune” the pickup to reduce or eliminate any feedback. It also adds a volume wheel. It’s a great upgrade for a K&K installation -