What Preamp for my Collings > K&K Pure Western Mini > Soloamp?

[1OUfan]

I use the BBE Acoustimax and like it quite a lot. Does everything I need it to do

Bob

[shawntp]

This is the OP, thanks everyone for their comments. I do understand there are a lot of opinions and experiences in this area. Really we all have different guitars, strings, electronics, amplifiers, cables/cable lengths, ears, and sonic environments so its no wonder we have a spectrum of opinions.

I decided to try the Red-Eye preamp and ordered one (waiting for delivery). I like the feature set, read good opinions on this in the separate Collings forum too. Will see how it goes, I dont mind spending a little to try things out.

[shawntp]

I took receipt of the Red-Eye yesterday and I am in total awe. Note that I have a passive system with the K&K pure western installed on a Collings OM.

Previously when I would plug right into the Soloamp (and also my friends acoustic amp) with the EQ flat I need to do a lot of tweaking. On the Soloamp I find the mids to be out of control and honky sounding so I had to roll that way back. Also the bass was a little unnaturally heavy and I would roll that back and boost the treble to give it a touch of air. With my friends Taylor (with the active system) it sounded totally different - not as warm and a little thin but in general ok with flat EQ on each (granted its a totally different guitar so comparison of a 414 with ES to a Collings with K&K is sort of futile).

So I plug the little Red Eye in to my surprise the Collings just jumps to life. I can run it in the front with the EQ flat or in the back Aux in (though that bypasses the reverb/etc so I have used the front mainly). No weird mids, no need to adjust bass, and with the red-eye treble control up most of the way the thing just sounds perfectly EQ'd, natural, and alive with Flat EQ settings on the SoloAmp now.

I am not sure if it works this way with all passive pickup system but with the K&K Pure Western Mini it is just tone perfection. The guitar comes alive with more dimension, the notes jump of the frets with great definition and the dynamics of what I play is just more truly translated from the soloamp.

I read on a Collings forum where one of the people who works at Collings noted using a Red-Eye and K&K PWM also which is the reason I went this way (that and El Conquistador's comments given we have almost the same exact right down to the Heil PR35 I saw in another thread - only difference is he runs a SCGC OM and I a Collings OM - Heh).

I can's say enough good things about what great tone I'm getting and how well the K&K and the Red-Eye pair together.

[El Conquistador]

Originally Posted by shawntp

I can's say enough good things about what great tone I'm getting and how well the K&K and the Red-Eye pair together.

Cool!. Glad it worked out for you the same way it worked for me.

Steve

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by shawntp

I can run it in the front with the EQ flat or in the back Aux in (though that bypasses the reverb/etc so I have used the front mainly).

If you choose to skip the pre-amp section of the SoloAmp you needn't run into the front end (through the eq) OR lose your reverb. Plug your pre-amp into the aux return of the channel you're using and you'll have reverb while skipping the pre-amp.

Much more "unity gain" friendly than running a pre-amp into a pre-amp.

[lpa53]

Shawn, now you have me interested in the Red Eye. My Hoffman has a passive Pure Western Mini and I play through an SA. I'm not at all a techie but wonder how the RedEye does what it does with only a Treble control.

[donh]

Originally Posted by lpa53

Shawn, now you have me interested in the Red Eye. My Hoffman has a passive Pure Western Mini and I play through an SA. I'm not at all a techie but wonder how the RedEye does what it does with only a Treble control.

go to the Fire-Eye site: http://www.fire-eye.com/
and read this page: http://www.fire-eye.com/tech.htm

[studiodunn]

Shawn,
Did you order the red eye direct from fire Eye?

[El Conquistador]

Originally Posted by studiodunn

Shawn,
Did you order the red eye direct from fire Eye?

I got mine from Donh. (See post 2 above this one).
Steve

[min7b5]

Really loving this little guy with the K&K right now

[theotigno]

Originally Posted by shawntp

I am not sure if it works this way with all passive pickup system ...

Congratulations on getting the tone that you want! To answer the question above, I use a Dimarzio DP139 (a passive magnetic pickup) and I like the way the pickup sounds through the Red-Eye as well.

I'm actually more curious to see how it sounds with an active pickup.

[shawntp]

I ordered min from Fiddlers Green via phone (shop in Austin). They shipped the same day and were a little less than the listed MSRP.

I am sure there are lots of great options out there but this Red Eye is just the perfect rig addition for me. I have a group I play with and two of the guys with martins and passive sound hole pickups that never sounded that great. I'll be interested to see if this helps sweeten up their sound when I am not using it/playing something else.

So many great products out there to capture and share great tone (live and in e studio). What a great time to be alive and gigging/strumming.

[chinmusic]

Originally Posted by min7b5

Really loving this little guy with the K&K right now

I had one of these for my K&K rig when they first came out- crazy powerful.