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  #31  
Old 12-26-2019, 12:50 PM
martingitdave martingitdave is offline
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Default K&K owners unite

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Originally Posted by Groberts View Post
I picked up a K & K Pure XLR preamp last week and it does sweeten the K & K Pickup nicely. It's subtle in some ways yet makes a really nice difference. I wish it has a notch filter and ability to power from my pedal board so I can leave it plugged in. Nice stuff. I value the inclusion of a midrange EQ knob.



That said, this sounded so much better with the K & K I am now tempted to try the Sunn Audio Stage DI. and I'm wondering if there are other pre-amps that would mount permanently on my pedal board that might work well?



I am just not that motivated to go down the Tone Dexter rabbit hole.



So thinking Tone bone or ???

The Fishman preamp you were using doesn’t sound great with K&K, to my ears. The preamp is really the key to enjoying K&K. Pre ToneDexter, there were a lot of popular preamps for use with K&K. But, many are expensive, and you might as well get the Dexter. The ToneBone is a good one. Borrow a Dexter if you can. Just give it a try. Sunn Audio uses a 5M Ohm circuit, which should be OK, but is higher than the K&K recommended 1M.

Alternatively, you can get one of those simple 9V battery adaptors for the pedal board power and Velcro the one you have.
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  #32  
Old 12-29-2019, 08:41 PM
Digelectric Digelectric is offline
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Originally Posted by Adrianw View Post
I've installed about twenty K&K Pure Mini's over the years in all sorts of instruments from Collings, Martin, Gibson, Eastman, Epiphone, Larrivee and more, from dreads to jumbos to parlors. All passive, all superglued to a sanded and cleaned bridgeplate under the saddle with the recommended spacing. All three elements installed at once with a homemade jig. While all sound slightly different depending on guitar make and body shape none have ever resulted in an unusable sound, even when used direct without a preamp into the board or amp. A preamp CAN improve the sound but in small adjustments. Now I'm not saying it can't happen and I don't doubt the experiences of others but it's never happened to me. These pickups are certainly not for everyone or every instrument or every playing style but assuming they're actual K&Ks and properly installed with superglue and not tape I'd look elsewhere for the source of the problem. Strings and saddle material might be a good place to start.


Are you a tech? I recently asked a tech what their experience was with the K&K and heard a pretty similar story. I’m curious if the install might have some pitfalls that has been an issue for some. Like glue type or positioning not being quite right?

Anyway, I was just about to post a new thread on recommendations for a pickup for my D28 so I’ll get started on that without detailing this one but curious if you have any thoughts on where the K&K issues might be coming from.
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  #33  
Old 12-29-2019, 09:13 PM
jamison162 jamison162 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Groberts View Post
I picked up a K & K Pure XLR preamp last week and it does sweeten the K & K Pickup nicely. It's subtle in some ways yet makes a really nice difference. I wish it has a notch filter and ability to power from my pedal board so I can leave it plugged in. Nice stuff. I value the inclusion of a midrange EQ knob.

That said, this sounded so much better with the K & K I am now tempted to try the Sunn Audio Stage DI. and I'm wondering if there are other pre-amps that would mount permanently on my pedal board that might work well?

I am just not that motivated to go down the Tone Dexter rabbit hole.

So thinking Tone bone or ???
Hi Gary,

As you know, I've tried my fair share of acoustic preamps and with the K&K alone, it's hard to beat the LR Baggs PADI...I even liked it better than the Venue DI and Redeye. Was not a fan of the Radials.

Other than the PADI, my list of "gear I'de like to try" includes the Sunn Audio preamp, but perhaps #1...the Grace BiX or ALiX!
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  #34  
Old 12-29-2019, 10:30 PM
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Groberts Groberts is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jamison162 View Post
Hi Gary,

As you know, I've tried my fair share of acoustic preamps and with the K&K alone, it's hard to beat the LR Baggs PADI...I even liked it better than the Venue DI and Redeye. Was not a fan of the Radials.

Other than the PADI, my list of "gear I'de like to try" includes the Sunn Audio preamp, but perhaps #1...the Grace BiX or ALiX!
Hey Eric, good to hear from you. The Grace Bix lacks notch filter which is a bummer. The Alix looks pretty great. the pure xlr sounds great. I’ll check out a PADI. Not a bad idea. I hated the Venue. The tuner was useless waste of space.
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  #35  
Old 12-30-2019, 12:11 PM
gfsark gfsark is offline
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Totally agree with 6L6, roll back the base increase the treble when playing my K&K through Fishman Loudbox mini. Running through a preamp does even better, but the only one I have is a ToneMatch from Bose, which really is designed (from a mounting point of view) to go with a Bose tower system. Guess I’d blame the amp/preamp more than the pickups per se, but I haven’t really had the much experience with other pu’s. One day, I’ll get a Tonedexter
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  #36  
Old 12-30-2019, 04:19 PM
ChrisE ChrisE is offline
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I like the K&K in my HD-28. It sounds great directly into my Carvin Stagemate. Sure it might require a little EQ'ing, but isn't that what the knobs on the amp are for?
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