DTar Mama Bear, K&K Mini, question

[oldpepsiguy]

I have a Mama Bear preamp, not purchased specifically for use with the K&K mini but for use with a DTar Wavelength p/u. My question is has anyone tried Mama Bear with the K&K and what settings did you use. I'm not really sure what "type" of classification to apply to the K&K it seems to be a non typical p/u. Thanks Jim <><

[guitaniac]

Hi Jim,

Mama Bear wasn't designed for use with SBTs, but using Mama Bear with the Pure Western-mini has worked for me, especially for recording. (I prefer USTs or dual source rigs for live sound, as the mini-Pure tends to get boomy and problematic {for me} at higher volumes.) To my way of thinking, Mama Bear gives the mini-Pure sound more of an outside-the-guitar perspective.

All three of my recordings in the "SoloAmp Test Recording" thread were made with this signal chain: mini-Pure> Fishman Platinum Pro EQ preamp (EQ set flat)> PreSonus EQ3B (for parametric EQ)> Mama Bear> Zoom H4 recorder

Normally, I'd preamp the mini-Pure with a high-headroom PUTW "Line Driver" preamp which I velcro to the guitar. The Line Driver is being repaired, however, so I preamped with the Platinum. If I had wanted to put Mama Bear before the EQ, I could have simplified the signal chain a bit and preamped with Mama Bear. (The PreSonus EQ3B's input impedance is way too low to properly impedance buffer the passive mini-Pure signal.) I should mention that the guitar signal chain also went thru my HarmonyG pedal, but I don't think the pedal processed the signal in any appreciable way.

As for the Mama Bear particulars, I'm using the "neutral" input (#16) with the slope-shoulder dread target guitar (#7) at an effect level of about 45% (12:30 o'clock on the level dial).

Hope that helps.
Gary

[CitizenAudio]

These two products do not go well together. the Mama bear needs an undersaddle pickup.

[open strings]

check out the D-Tar Website forum...

[guitaniac]

Here you go, Jim. I made a comparison recording for you of the Mi-Si UST in my spruce/mahogany OM vs the mini-Pure SBT in the same guitar.
Mi-Si UST vs K&K mini-Pure


I ran both of them thru the same signal chain, which included Mama Bear.

pickup> Fishman Platinum Pro EQ preamp> Presonus EQ3B (parametric EQ)> Mama Bear> Zoom H4 recorder

The Mi-Si system has its own onboard preamp, but I still ran it thru the Platinum preamp because I think the Platinum's "smooth effect" helps a bit with quack.

I doubt that I have to tell you which pickup is which. The mini-Pure has a rounder, more pleasing sound, which is why I prefer to record off of it. As I mentioned before, I prefer the UST for live sound because the mini-Pure tends to get boomy and/or feedback at higher volumes.

Regarding the Mi-Si UST, its probably the least quacky of all the single-source USTs that I've tried. I don't feel its as dynamically responsive as the Wavelength, however. If this guitar had a Tusq saddle (rather than bone), I'd probably prefer to have a Wavelength system in it. I have a killer setup in my cedar/mahogany Samick OM - a Wavelength UST under the Tusq saddle and a tiny Shadow Nano-Mag pickup at the end of the fretboard for when I really need a high level of feedback-free gain. (The Wavelength UST senses multi-directionally and does pick up a lot of body vibration. Its going to be a little more feedback prone than a unidirectionally string-sensing UST like the Takamine Palathetic system which is mechanically designed to avoid body vibrations.)

Gary

[pdks]

I know this post was from late last year, but just wanted to say 'thanks' to guitaniac. It was very helpful.

[guitaniac]

pdks,

What setup did you end up going with, and for what application (stage or recording)?

Gary