Help with large guitar pickup guidance

[K.E.P.]

I have a mid 80s Alvarez 5030. The guitar is all solid I believe and was passed down from my grandfather. It's spruce/hog and is very large and loud. It would easily be considered a jumbo.

I plan on playing this in a church band and solo applications though my fire-eye red-eye preamp to PA (no amp). Becuase of the unique sound hole, I can't have a feedback buster if needed. My Santa Cruz VS has a K&k pure mini that sounds great and I have had no issues with.

I plan on putting another K&k pure mini becuase of price and the relative ease of use and great sound in my other guitars. Does anyone else have the k&k in thier large bodied guitars. Any issues?

[pieterh]

Have one in my Guild dread. I love it, great sound, easy to use (and install). I don't think you need to worry too much about feedback, especially with the right eq etc (notch filter to compensate for venue acoustics). This would be the case for any pickup to be honest.

I played guitar in the band accompanying a
choir in November: there was a fair amount of volume on the church stage. I really found the notch filter came into its own this time, it took nearly no time at all to find the danger frequency for my Guild in the church and use the steep cut on my Tonebone's notch filter. After that I just got on and played.

[rschultz]

I just put one in my Taylor jumbo. Tried to go direct into my Fishman Artist, sounded very bassy, weak treble too. Tried a Baggs PADI, not much better. Once I got the K&K Pure Preamp, it sounded great. K&K suggests a 1Mohm impedance. Some people say impedance doesn't matter, but in the case of the Pure Mini, I think it does.

[clintj]

I put a K&K in my Yamaha, which has a somewhat larger lower bout than a standard dread (I can see the difference when it is next to my S12.) With the Pure preamp, it is well balanced and not prone to feedback even without a soundhole cover, unless I really turn up my amp and point it back towards me. My Seagull has a UST, and it is really prone to feedback if I have the amp much louder than the guitar.

[ljguitar]

Hi K.E.P.

That is a really great guitar, with some legacy attached to it!

I have a K&K Pure Western Mini in my Kronbauer Mini-jumbo, and it works great. How wide is the lower bout of your Alvarez? My Kronbauer is wider than a dread, but thinner than a dreadnaught as well. The K&K sounds really natural in it.

What is your guitar's acoustic non-amplified tone like? I know you said it's 'loud'…so is it bassy or boomy?

Unless you are running a large wedge monitor at your feet loud enough to move furniture, you should be able to control feedback with a bit of care and without extreme measures. Monitors can be repositioned or your guitar turned down in your monitor.

One reason I use a stage amp is to locate the guitar monitor behind me and up at waist level so I can hear it well, and it's less prone to feedback behind me than 18" from the lower bout of my guitar, and my guitar is off in the monitor at my feet.

The input impedance of the K&K Pure Western Mini is not an issue. There are many good reports here in the forum of them being paired with red-eye preamps.

Since you already have a preamp which you know works well with your other guitar, you are ready to roll once the pickup is installed.

Please keep us posted.

[K.E.P.]

Originally Posted by ljguitar

Hi K.E.P.

That is a really great guitar, with some legacy attached to it!

I have a K&K Pure Western Mini in my Kronbauer Mini-jumbo, and it works great. How wide is the lower bout of your Alvarez? My Kronbauer is wider than a dread, but thinner than a dreadnaught as well. The K&K sounds really natural in it.

What is your guitar's acoustic non-amplified tone like? I know you said it's 'loud'…so is it bassy or boomy?

Unless you are running a large wedge monitor at your feet loud enough to move furniture, you should be able to control feedback with a bit of care and without extreme measures. Monitors can be repositioned or your guitar turned down in your monitor.

One reason I use a stage amp is to locate the guitar monitor behind me and up at waist level so I can hear it well, and it's less prone to feedback behind me than 18" from the lower bout of my guitar, and my guitar is off in the monitor at my feet.

The input impedance of the K&K Pure Western Mini is not an issue. There are many good reports here in the forum of them being paired with red-eye preamps.

Since you already have a preamp which you know works well with your other guitar, you are ready to roll once the pickup is installed.

Please keep us posted.

I will have to go measure, but its wider than my santa cruz and almost as thick. Not too boomy, but nice and balanced and loud. Really does well on fingerpicking. My only main concern is that it picks up body sounds more-so than my other guitars. (this has been one of the only things to make me think to go for a UST like baggs element/DTAR, etc.)

Thanks for all of your help.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by K.E.P.

...My only main concern is that it picks up body sounds more-so than my other guitars. (this has been one of the only things to make me think to go for a UST like baggs element/DTAR, etc.)

If you put in an undersaddle, you will hate yourself in the morning (I'm having some fun).

I find that K&Ks are great in about anything they are in. They are not more prone to issues with a bigger or more responsive bodies.

My Mini-jumbo is a scoshe over 16 inches across the lower bout. I'm guessing your's may be a touch bigger than that. If it sounds nice as an acoustic it will likely sound great with a sound board transducer.

[K.E.P.]

At the largest point, it's about 16 wide by 5 deep.

[chitz]

I have a JJB Prestige 330 in my rather large Yamaha FG-720S-12 and it works beautifully.
$50

[royd]

IME, large body guitars are a bit trickier to amplify than smaller ones and once the top gets moving, look out... it can make things difficult for an SBT. Stay away from wedge monitors and keep the volume reasonable and it should work fine for you but don't expect to be able to play at rock concert volumes with a wedge pointed at you without getting lots of feedback.

FWIW, I play big guitars - Lowden O size, just under 16.5 inches wide and nearly 5 inches deep.

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by K.E.P.

I have a mid 80s Alvarez 5030. The guitar is all solid I believe and was passed down from my grandfather. It's spruce/hog and is very large and loud. It would easily be considered a jumbo.

I plan on playing this in a church band and solo applications though my fire-eye red-eye preamp to PA (no amp). Becuase of the unique sound hole, I can't have a feedback buster if needed. My Santa Cruz VS has a K&k pure mini that sounds great and I have had no issues with.

I plan on putting another K&k pure mini becuase of price and the relative ease of use and great sound in my other guitars. Does anyone else have the k&k in thier large bodied guitars. Any issues?

[Pics snipped]

Use the same pickup that you use with your SCGC VJ. Other than eq and volume adjustments, each guitar should behave similarly when playing amplified. If you like the K&K in your Santa Cruz, you'll like it in your Alvarez.

[K.E.P.]

Thank you all for the help.