Martin DM Pickup Decisions...

[joeguam]

Originally Posted by andypandemonium

Hey guys,

So, I talked to my Tech (who is very good imo), and he said that he is weary of the K&k style pickup because it is permanent... I kind of agree... isn't the superglue gonna stay stuck on the guitar even "if" you can get the transducers off with a razor???

Also, he recommended the Ibeam... some videos make it sound great... on others in has a serious harshness that sounds similar to piezo quack... Does anyone have experience with these? Can you avoid the quack? Is it natural sounding?

You could always just use double-sided tape which is completely reversible. I've done this a couple of times on non-standard instruments to test for the optimal placement of the transducers. Although there is a slight signal strength difference than using CA glue, I didn't notice a difference in tone (to my lowly ears at least).

If you like the sound of the pure mini after maybe testing it out in other guitars, maybe this is an option?

[pieterh]

I too think the glue residue is a non-issue though I can understand the concern. Let's face it, drilling for end-pin or installing a UST (where you have a drill a small hole for the wire) and having an end-pin preamp for most models is more of an invasion that a wee bit of glue on the bridge plate. And I chose the K&K because of the minimal effect on the structure of the guitar.

It sounds darn good too!

[RustyAxe]

Originally Posted by andypandemonium

Also, he recommended the Ibeam... some videos make it sound great... on others in has a serious harshness that sounds similar to piezo quack... Does anyone have experience with these? Can you avoid the quack? Is it natural sounding?

Hell no, the iBeam is a feedback monster, especially in a dread! I pulled mine out within one week of installing it, and replaced it with K&K. What was important was how the guitar sounded with the pickup installed. I have since installed them in four other acoustics six and twelve strings, as well as a Guild B-50 acoustic bass. I've also removed them from a friend's guitar, and they came out clean. I just rubbed the bridge plate with a little fine sandpaper to get any remaining glue off (there wasn't much, it was just little rough).

[andypandemonium]

So, I see a lot of love for the K&k/jjb (which supposedly sound identical), and for the lyric. THe lyric sund samples seem atleast mildly consistent among videos...

With the K&K, sometimes the sound is fairly natural in videos and sometimes it sounds like a bad, almost midrangy to my untrained ears, cheap pickup. Is this just poor recording abilities or eq technique? Why do ppl sometimes sound great and sometimes sound horrible with it? Does that make sense? It just seems to be two extremes...