K&K experience. Not sure I like it.

[El Conquistador]

In view of the many varied and contradicting opinions offered (Thank you to everyone by the way, this is what makes this forum so valuable) here is what I have decided to do.

Since the K&K preamp is more than 2x more expensive than the MXR Equalizer, and, there is no vendor that will not charge me shipping if I decide it is not the solution for me, I am going to start with the MXR from Amazon which I can return charge free if it does not do the job for me.

If the MXR doesn't solve my problem, I will then go with the K&K preamp. If that does not get me where I want to be, I will remove the K&K and start over, perhaps with a barn door guitar.

Thanks for all the help, I really do appreciate it and will let you all know how it turns out.
LC

[chitz]

I had the same dissapointing experience with my K&K PWM. They are said to be plug and play but they are anything but. Had to spend another $160 on a PARA DI to make it work properly. This is one of the reasons I now install JJB's in my guitars. They are not near as bass/mid heavy, don't need as much EQ and the best part is they cost less.

[min7b5]

El Conquistador, if you do try the MXR thing, shoot me an email. I'm happy to go over settings and stuff over phone.

[SteveS]

Maybe others have made it work, but I've found that if the signal is that messed up coming from the pick up, EQing never makes it good enough for me. In your situation, I'd swap out the PU for another brand before trying to EQ. I like the Wavelength with the VT module.

[JLS]

Originally Posted by El Conquistador

In an attempt to simplify my giging life, I recently purchased a giging guitar. The idea was to install a pickup in it that I could just plug into instead of mounting a soundhole pickup. I found a good used OMPW in the classifieds here that is really well balanced and sounds reat. Then, after a great deal of research on forums like this and UMGF etc, I settled on the K&K Pure Western for its simplicity and reported excellent performance. I am running it through a Fishman SoloAmp that I have used for a couple of years with excellent results

I picked up the OMPW from the tech yesterday and giged with it last night. I've got to say, I was pretty disapointed. The highs are so thin as to be almost absent. I had the bass EQed down to 9:00 Oclock with the mids and highs all the way up to 3:00 Oclock and it still was mostly bass. I asked a regular patron who plays some guitar himself what he thought of the sound and he said that is just sounded fuzzy, hard to distinguish the notes.

What am I doing wrong? The signal is plenty hot and the caple I am using is a 10 footer, so, I should theoretically not need a DI box to make this thing sound good.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
LC

P.S. I just noticed another thread where a guy thought his SoloAmp could duplicate the Eq from his preamp but discovered the use of his pre-amp made a "massive" difference. What say you Min?

This sounds like a bum install. I install a lot of K&Ks, never have this problem.

[El Conquistador]

Originally Posted by RustyAxe

I was VERY disappointed (there's an old thread here on AGF). I HATED my PWM until I mated it to a K&K preamp. I already owned a Baggs ParaDI, and according to what I read here I should have been ecstatic. BUT it didn't get me the tone that others raved about.

Originally Posted by HudsDad

Same here. I have the PWM in my Larrivee and the tone is quite mediocre if I plug straight into the amp (AG30).

Originally Posted by JLS

This sounds like a bum install. I install a lot of K&Ks, never have this problem.

Once again, lots of different experiences and opinions here.

LC

[El Conquistador]

Originally Posted by min7b5

El Conquistador, if you do try the MXR thing, shoot me an email. I'm happy to go over settings and stuff over phone.

Thanks Eric, I was hoping I could lean on your experience. BTW, big congrats on your SCGC Signature Model. Well deserved IMHO.

LC

[interociter]

I've used a K&K PWM in my GS(RS) for a while. To me, it's been pretty easy to get a good sound using the Pure XLR pre-amp/DI. I also like not having to worry about batteries. However, there is one thing that is seriously making me consider switching to another pickup. I've noticed that when making contact with the bridge pins or bridge, like when I'm trying to get a percussive sound by palm muting at the bridge, there is a annoying response from the pickup, which has a crackle-ish sound about it. I think it's just the sound of my skin touching the pins and being over-amplified, but I just can't deal with it. I'm thinking about either the DTAR wavelengh/multisource, or maybe just springing the big $ and having Taylor retro-install the ES. I'd be disappointed to put in the DTAR and end up in the same boat. It being a UST I'm hoping it'd be better for me. I know I haven't had that issue with a ES. I'd appreciate input from folks out there on this.

[El Conquistador]

BTW, how much difference do you think the cable could make?

Mine is very old so I was thinking of replacing it. In my little search, I see that Monster makes an Acoustic Cable that they get ALLLLLLLLLOT of money for. What do you guys think? Could a cable be worth that kind of dough?
LC

[chitz]

Originally Posted by El Conquistador

BTW, how much difference do you think the cable could make?

Mine is very old so I was thinking of replacing it. In my little search, I see that Monster makes an Acoustic Cable that they get ALLLLLLLLLOT of money for. What do you guys think? Could a cable be worth that kind of dough?
LC

I don't think the cable will matter. And for those expensive Monster cables... I say bah humbug! Any good shielded cable will perform greatly! Even the cheap ones.

[localguitarist]

Originally Posted by El Conquistador

BTW, how much difference do you think the cable could make?

Mine is very old so I was thinking of replacing it. In my little search, I see that Monster makes an Acoustic Cable that they get ALLLLLLLLLOT of money for. What do you guys think? Could a cable be worth that kind of dough?
LC

Yeah sort of. Doubt it's the problem, and monster cables are ridiculously over priced. Some cables are worth a larger price tag...not monsters. I also thought about something else that might help. Try it through a fishman amp. I had a similar problem through an ultrasound. There are so many variables in an acoustic guitar signal chain. And it's really easy to blame a pickup. Most combo amps are intended for use with a ust pickups. They color the sound in order to help make the. Sound better. Unfortunately this can make sbt's sound bass heavy or woofy. Have you tried it through a pa?

Ps- I tried the mxr eq pedal. Didn't help for me. What helped was changing my amplification system. Less color the better for sbt and mics. IMO you have to choose ust and color amplification or better pickup and clean amplification.

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by El Conquistador

BTW, how much difference do you think the cable could make?

Mine is very old so I was thinking of replacing it. In my little search, I see that Monster makes an Acoustic Cable that they get ALLLLLLLLLOT of money for. What do you guys think? Could a cable be worth that kind of dough?
LC

We all have to spend time, effort and money to locate an acceptable signal chain for live playing. There are many aspects to it. Little helps more than actual personal experience. Similarly, your personal views, experience and conclusions trump those of anyone else.

Assuming your K&K pickup is installed correctly, you apparently don't like how it sounds or behaves. Relax. That's fine. Many reach the same conclusion. But a pickup is merely one part of the signal chain. I agree with your plan to try a few other things to solve whatever it is you don't like. Try to do it, though, without spending money. Borrow some items to test further. There is little need to spend more money until you know what it is that will work for you. Too many posters here, and on other forums, simply spend more money on some other aspect of the signal chain with the hope that it will solve whatever the perceived issues are.

Good luck.

[John M.]

I've had nothing but good luck and great tone with my K&K's. Guess we all have different ears, but I installed a whole lot of pickup systems for a whole lot of people and these pickups are as good as I've ever heard short of a condenser mic. I use a Genz Benz amp (when I use an amp) and an EDB-1 pre and everything gets a long nicely.

BTW - Cables DO, matter. A LOT. But you don't have to go crazy with prices. George L's have held up really well in cable shootouts and are still used heavily by tone freaks (Eric Johnson for one) and they are a much better deal. I solder Switchcraft jacks onto mine and they hold up extremely well.

[El Conquistador]

Originally Posted by John M.

George L's have held up really well in cable shootouts and they are a much better deal.

I am not familiar with "George L". Can you elaborate please?
LC

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by El Conquistador

BTW, how much difference do you think the cable could make?

Mine is very old so I was thinking of replacing it. In my little search, I see that Monster makes an Acoustic Cable that they get ALLLLLLLLLOT of money for. What do you guys think? Could a cable be worth that kind of dough?
LC

Bingo. This could well be a big part of the reason you're losing high end. The cable between a passive pickup and an amp or preamp should be relatively short and good quality. I use a 10' Elixir cable with all my passive pickups. Its a low capacitance cable which is claimed (by Elixir) to have one-third of the capacitance of a "standard" cable of equal length. In any event, driving a passive signal thru a long, high capacity cable will definitely cause a loss of high end.

On the other hand, cable length and quality is much less critical with an active pickup system where the signal is "impedance buffered" by the onboard preamp before reaching the cable.

Gary