Will K&K Pure Mini's Work for Me?

[Winch2017]

Hey Guys,
A new Martin D-15M arrived yesterday. I had planned to use K&K Pure Mini transducer pickup system (actually already purchased and in hand). Now I'm hearing mixed messages about K&K.

First of all, let me give you the overall scenario......

The D-15M will be my back up guitar and will be used at the occasional open mic. I "may" use it at the occasional gig as well (main guitar is a D-28 with factory installed Martin UST).

I play solo/duo/trio through decent sound systems like Bose and Fishman.

We play smaller venues like bars and coffee houses/restaurants, with the rare larger gig like marinas/outside bars.

I have a Fishman Pro-Eq Platinum DI box if needed.

I prefer to go passive....no onboard preamp, no battery.

I don't want cords outside the guitar body. I want all wires internal.

Will the K&K's meet my needs? If not, what do you recommend?

I appreciate your feedback.

Thanks,
Winch

[Methos1979]

K&K's are great pickup systems. They can have some challenges. If you play in loud places or music where you need to play loud, they can be feedback prone. For most a soundhole cover takes care of that. If you play with a pick then you won't need much in the way of EQ other than the usual minor tweaks to get your tone but if you play fingerstyle (like me) with no nails then you'll likely need to dial in a significant amount of EQ.

I love the K&K for the simplicity. No batteries. No wires. I'm very used to dialing in the EQ so it's fast and easy for me. Since you're used to a UST system it be very different sounding and you'll need to learn those differences but it's not rocket science. Mostly it depends on the type of music and venues/volumes you play at.

[jonfields45]

A K&K will feedback more easily than the UST you are using now. If you are not using loud floor monitors, the feedback resistance of a UST is probably not that important. Your UST is probably better for punching through a lead line against other players and the K&K will sound more natural in quiet settings where you can really hear the guitar.

I too like a minimum of stuff in my guitar and I have one guitar with a MiSi Trio (LR Baggs Element UST and a proprietary rechargeable super capacitor powered end pin preamp) and the other with the K&K Mini. For solo gigs, which I generally decline unless someone really twists my arm, I think the K&K is the way to go. For duo gigs I use the MiSi guitar.

[Winch2017]

We use floor monitors.....so maybe I should rethink the K&K's due to feedback issues.

[EdEd]

Originally Posted by Winch2017

We use floor monitors.....so maybe I should rethink the K&K's due to feedback issues.

You have to play awfully loud for feedback to be an issue. In general, other than a full rock band, complete with a full drum kit, the K&K should work fine.

Ed

[Winch2017]

Originally Posted by EdEd

You have to play awfully loud for feedback to be an issue. In general, other than a full rock band, complete with a full drum, the K&K should work fine.

Ed

Gotcha.....Thanks Ed

[pieterh]

Originally Posted by Winch2017

We use floor monitors.....so maybe I should rethink the K&K's due to feedback issues.

What Winch2017 said, unless you are competing with drums etc floor wedges will be fine. If you are playing mainly acoustic sets then you presumably don’t need the guitar that loud in the monitors. A slight shift of position so the monitor angle is playing to you and your ears and not to the guitar can be all that is needed if there is still a risk of feedback.

Otherwise I use the Pure Mini in 2 of my guitars and find it easy to work with, fairly easy to eq if needed and without the quack you get with piezo pickups that are under pressure (ie under saddle pups).

[buzzardwhiskey]

My 5 man band with electric bass, drummer and electric lead guitar plays big open festival stages to tiny cramped bar stages. The K&K is great about 80 percent of the time. But it CAN be problematic, mostly when the soundguy is not on top of his game. So I use a rubber soundhole plug and the problem is completely solved.

[Winch2017]

OK you guys talked me into it.......I hope that I don't get super glue all over my new guitar LOL!!

[buzzardwhiskey]

Originally Posted by Winch2017

OK you guys talked me into it.......I hope that I don't get super glue all over my new guitar LOL!!

You CAN do it yourself. There are plenty of sites and blogs with great instructions. Go slow and plan everything out. I have a couple of purchase suggestions:

1) Go buy a few pairs of those purple nitrile gloves so that you don't get super glue on your fingers.
2) Go buy one of those tiny mirrors on an extendo pole from Lowes or wherever. The ones with lights are even better.

[varmonter]

what's the input impedance of the fishman platnum pro eq thingy
you mentioned??. kk likes 1mgohm. I find for open mics
unless you have something like the fishman or some
sort of pre/di the kk kinda sucks all by itself.
If you have to travel light for these i would
reccomend the baggs m80 or the sunrise . Both soundhole pickups
and sound good no matter what you plug into.
The kk when properly eq,d sounds better. But for open mics
where there is no setup tweak time the mag pups are better. IMHO.

[steelvibe]

Hi Winch2017

I really like the K&K personally and the Fishman Platinum Pro DI will be fine (the Input impedance is 10M Ohms, but you have both phase and notch filters, an input trim, and several options for low cut). It might take a little tweaking but once you have it there you will make those K&Ks sound great! In fact, here is another tip- if you play the same room a lot, take a picture of your settings once you have them where you want them so you will always remember, and then you can change them for other rooms without forgetting your favorite settings ( I also name my settings photos to the room they were tweaked to).

I’ve been using the Platinum’s little brother- the “Stage”, and it essentially does the same thing as the Pro but without as many bells and whistles. You will benefit from the tone of the K&K immensely with the aid of that DI and will have 17V of juicy analog headroom to play with. It really adds a presence and punch to your tone and gives you a wonderful full signal that won’t quack out at high gain.

Because K&Ks are prone to feedback your DI has another great feature in that it has an “amp output”. If you don’t actually need to use it for an amp, you can do what I do—use it as a headphone jack! Just take a ¼ to 1/8 adaper and use it for your stage monitor. Then the house can turn your signal down at the wedges in front of you thus immensely helping to reduce the feedback K&Ks are prone to. In fact, I took the plunge many years back and bought these great Shure in-ear headphones that around your ear. They sent me several different in ear pieces but my favorite one has expandable foam inserts that fill up your ears once you have them in but the core of the headphones are hollowed out. This enables you to have as loud of your own signal you need right to your ears but without drowning out the sound of the rest of the band (since the foam allows a bit of the outside noise to mix with your signal). Love that set up!

Good luck to you!

[EdEd]

Originally Posted by varmonter

But for open mics where there is no setup tweak time the mag pups are better. IMHO.

As long as sounding like an electric guitar is the goal.

Ed

[dnf777]

I put an KnK in my OM-21 and love it. Playing through a fishman loudbox it sounds fine plugged directly into amp. I also use a fishman aura DI, although certainly not necessary. I installed it myself, and it was very easy. One thing I would do slightly different than recommended above, is get a bigger folding mirror that just lays inside your guitar. Its hands free (two hands are nice for the install) and gets you a much nicer view of the bridge plate, while also collecting and reflecting more ambient light, so I just had a gooseneck desk lamp, and didn't need an internal or flashlight. Good luck. Its pretty straight forward.

[Winch2017]

Good tips and suggestions! Thanks to everyone for the input!!