Acoustic Pickup Advice... Again.

[J.F. Custom]

Hi all.

It's been covered before, but I thought I'd throw this out there to get some opinions for this particular case.

I have a friend who'd like a pickup installed in his guitar. It is a steel string, dreadnaught I believe - but I am yet to actually see it to confirm. The requirements however are for a 'natural tone' like a mic, but visually discreet from the front, with adjustment at the fingertips (preamp onboard). He does not want the 'quack' of an undersaddle piezo, nor the look of a microphone or magnetic pickup. This really suggests a soundboard transducer, which is where I would normally head anyway.

I would suggest a K&K Mini, BUT, they only have the preamps as a separate unit which he does not want, or 'onboard' but only adjustable with a screwdriver... Hardly convenient. He wants a side mounted preamp with knobs or sliders at the fingertips, something like B-Band make. I'd prefer to get it all from the same supplier if possible rather than combining a B-Band Preamp with a K&K pickup for example, but am still open to the possibility if required.

So what are your suggestions for a complete solution? B-Band do make a soundboard transducer, but it is quite a different style to the three sensor K&K Mini. I'm not familiar with it specifically, aside from B-Band itself having a fairly good reputation, so am unsure whether to simply go for this or something else.

Any opinions or suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

Jeremy.

[ozwood]

Hi Jeremy,

I have used these and the results have always been pleasing , or you can combine a Mini western with, say a Fishman Pre amp/eq with a bit of modification , I know Jeff Highland has done it several Times with success.

http://www.kksound.com/ultrapuremini.html

Cheers,

[jeffhigh]

Yeah i have done it into a cheap chinese fishman presys preamp ( the one with tuner and notch filter is good)
about $55

No mods to the unit, just splice in the K and K cable to the input wire.
I hate the idea of cutting into a pristine side, these were replacements for undersaddle pickups

The K and K onboard pre is designed so you set the eq once then just use the volume slider. I don't see a problem with that myself, there is always EQ available at amp or desk

[J.F. Custom]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

@Paul - Yep I'm familiar with the K&K products, including the Ultrapure Mini. The problem with the Ultrapure, as with other K&K onboard solutions, is as I suggested above - it is only adjustable by screwdriver. This is not an issue for me, but he wants easy adjustment at the fingertips should he wish to make subtle changes between songs etc.

@Jeff - Yeah I agree. I have explained that he is likely to set the eq once and not touch it thereafter, but he is adamant. He wants the controls to twiddle, which does mean some side surgery is required. Personally I prefer to keep the onboard system basic and tweak as you suggest through an external preamp, amp or desk - but that's me.


So I know I could get a K&K Mini and another brand pre-amp, I just wondered if there was a complete package anyone was personally recommending?

Or does anyone have first hand experience with the B-Band AST 1470 for example? That is their equivalent I guess of the K&K Mini. I'm leaning this way, just to give it a go and have a matching pickup/preamp.


Finally, how important has anyone found the need for a Phase Switch ?

Thanks again.

Jeremy.

[ozwood]

Sorry Jeremy it was Late when I read that , now that iI have read it again . you pretty much covered it .

[Trevor Gore]

Or does anyone have first hand experience with the B-Band AST 1470 for example?

A lot of Ashton guitars have B-Band pick-ups in, though they might have them re-badged. Check out the local cheap guitar shop. I thought they sounded pretty good, considering. The B-Band pick-up is based on electret condenser technology, so has to be used with one of their pre-amps to get the right eq and biasing (equivalent to phantom power). Conversely, I'm not sure the B-Band pre-amps will work with piezos because the input impedance will likely be low, though K&K's, unlike most piezos, will drive quite low impedance loads.

[MBP]

What about the LR Baggs anthem?

Or the anthem pro if he needs more.

[Nick]

Following on from Ro's suggestion & I know your customer doesn't want that piezo UST 'quack' but after installing the LR Baggs stage pro system (comes with an Element UST) on my last two guitar builds (gawd it seems soooo long ago ) I was more than impressed with how close to natural sounding this system was short of sticking a Neuman mic infront of the guitar, it had no quack at all that has traditionally been associated with piezo's. Just a thought incase you'd like to 'convince' your customer
There's always Rick Turner's D-Tar system of course! But then you are back to twiddling knobs in the soundhole.

[J.F. Custom]

Thanks for all the replies and comments everyone, it's appreciated.

I'll keep the LR Baggs systems in mind next time this comes up and take a closer look at their current offerings Ro and Nick. Interesting comments on the newer Under Saddle systems too Nick. It is quite possible/likely they have improved these since last time I tried them - it's been a while.

I did in fact go for a B-Band system in the end. The top model A6T side mount preamp with dual sources in the UST and AST pickups. So I will see what their under saddle pickups sounds like, but will be able to blend it off into the soundboard pickup as well. Should provide a good variety of adjustable sound for him "at the fingertip" during play and cover all bases I think.

It also has a built in tuner and a phase switch so he'll be fully kitted.

Jeremy.