Ordered a K&K mini to replace my sound hole p-u, good choice?

[Michael T]

There are so many accolades laid on the K&K pure western mini I decided to order it today. I have been using a fishman rare earth humbuckler passive sound hole for a while and love it. But, I am starting to play out more and decided to add strap pins to my Larri DV-09 and thought I might as well quit hanging a cord from the sound hole too, being as I am gonna put a pin in anyway. There is a lot of praise for the K&K on this and the AGF forums and it was a tough decision over the fancy auras, blenders, I-beams etc. I have mixers and pre-amps and run thru a Loudbox performer most of the time so I deduced the straight K&K pure western was a good choice. Can I expect to simply plug and play most of the time? What are the feedback concerns like with this set up? Your comments and experiences would be appreciated, what to watch for or expect etc. BTW, I had a problem posting this? If it shows up twice, my apologies

[LaminateBoy]

I have a K&K in my 12-string and I run it straight into an Ultrasound acoustic amp and it works just fine. Various forum members have pointed out that there can be impedance mismatch problems if you run it into a preamp such as the Baggs PADI, but I don't know impedance from impotence and besides I have the K&K XLR preamp if I need to plug into a mixing board.

[Michael T]

My fishman PA/combo has both a phase switch and a feedback mod as well as a limiter. The feedback thing is the major concern; I get a "G" hummer going once in a while with the mag as is. I'm hoping that in small rooms or at home I can just run straight across the same band sets I A/B my T5-12'er on.  I will most likely rum thru a 6 channel mixer with phantom when gigging. I guess if I need to I may run thru my boss GE-7 eq pedal if highs need cut, I'm hoping not. I have just switched over to D'addario EXP's and use ½ set mediums (bottoms) and ½ set lights for the highs. The Larrivee DV-09 is a boomer bottom box anyway, I may like a little more on mids & top, plus I wouldn't mind picking up some of the slap & tickle too (thump & click), I just hope it isn't overwhelming. And I did visit with the luthier today about it. I am having him lower the action a little since I won't need to be concerned with getting too percussive (I play all over the strike zone depending on the effect I want, and I have had to be aware of the mag's placement). I am also having a bone nut put on to replace the tusque and a re-crown or replace the bone saddle I had put on a couple years ago too. I assume with the raves these get that at normal volumes many of these concerns are getting overblown in my mind. I'm really looking forward to doing the new set up and I am hoping for a better or should I say more accurate reproduction too, not that I find a lot of fault with my rare earth.  

[GA-ME]

I have the K&K PWM's in a maple/sitka 00, in a rosewood/sitka dred, and I have the trinity system in my 000-60. I use the XLR Preamp with the PWM's and love it. Haven't had any feed back problems with the straight PWM's and I have used it in small rooms as well as playing an outdoor festival with a huge system. Lots of stage volume and I didn't have any problems with feed back. The trinity system is MUCH more finicky though. Anything more than just a touch of the soundhole Mic and she goes all hogwild feedbacky. Part of that though is the 000 stays in DADFAD tuning and those droning open d strings get all microphonic. The Trinity System's belt clip pre doesn't do it for me either. Mostly just an expensive volume control for all practical intents and purposes in a live situation. If I had it to do over I would have just put the straight PWM in the 000 as well. They are consistent with a small learning curve. Thats the way I like it! Good luck in your application.

[Michael T]

I have been researching this quite a bit. It appears I should be fine with just the K&K as a stand alone pickup and run through any of my phantom powered equipment (monitor, amps, mixer all have phantom power and phase control), for peak performance without the need for another box.

My concerns revolve around the feedback issue, especially in loud settings. The quick and easy fix to this would be to have the 2 systems installed with their own end plugs as stand alones. My tech seems to think he could set up a disconnect that is accessible from the sound hole for the Rare Earth that would enable me to remove it when not needed or easily pop it in when it is needed.

I could then run the K&K through the monitor and out to the mains while running the Rare Earth direct to the mains which should address the feedback issue. It would also allow me to run thru the DI mix out on my amp and blend away with two separate channels, add effects or whatever if I choose stereo too, then run to the board or mains. Sounds more like a novelty than I would actually use though.

I don't need another box; I just have to plug 2 cords in instead of 1. The convenience factor comes into play when both these pickups have the availability of stereo jacking, and both accept additional pickups. However, the K&K is passive, which posses the phase issue and the need for a balance and separation control prior to the send to separate the feed.

On the other hand the Fishman requires a "Y" cord for the feed out to separate the channels or a mono adapter that would basically defeat the purpose of running both pick ups for the feedback effect.

I think I will keep them separated, If I need to plug the Fishman in it'll run a different direction from the K&K anyway. I have a T5 12 string if I want to play with voices.

Thanks for all the input, it was a good idea that took on a life of its own, I really do appreciate it, the discussion helped me get back to the intent. Good clean sound as accurately reproduced as possible, and a pretty good option to deal with the potential feedback issues that has concerning me.