The Steel Guitar Forum

What are you guys using ?.....Thanks,Jim

On the magnetic PU front, I successively put on my weissenborn:
- Sunrise
- Fishman Rare-Earth (Blend and non-blend models)
- Baggs M1
- Seymour Duncan
- Angel Di Marzio
- Nanomag Shadow
and probably one or two other that I forgot at the moment.

Presently mounted in the sound hole are a Fishman Rare Earth Blend *and* an Angel Di Marzio, which are the more resistant to magnetic field noise of the bunch.

They are all usable sound wise, but I find the sound of the Baggs unpleasing.

Jean-Paul
youtube/batzic

For acoustic replication K&K works beautifully for me. Very accurate, especially via the Jerry Douglas Fishman preamp. For sound hole I had Vintage Vibes in Florida make me a custom pickup and it too is remarkable. Good luck in your search!

Thanks for the info guys....

Ed,
Do you mean the K&K mini’s ? .....Thanks

I have two pickups on mine; a Sunrise in the sound hole and an under the bridge pickup. The outputs go to a stereo jack and then into two channels on a Marshall acoustic amp where I can balance the sound.
Sounds great!
Erv

Hi Erv,
I’m assuming that you have a cable that goes from stereo plug - 2 mono plugs into mixer....Is this correct ? ........No kind of interference having 2 pickups wired to one jack ? Thanks, Jim

Jim,
The stereo cable goes directly into a stereo jack in the Marshall.
The amp splits the signal into two separate channels where the volume and tone can be adjusted.
Erv

Ok ......Thanks Erv.....Jim

I have tried a variety of pickups for my weissenborns and for me the K&K Double Helix system sounds the best. With the two channel preamp that is part of the system you can control the volume of each pickup to your taste.

James Quackenbush wrote:Thanks for the info guys....

Ed,
Do you mean the K&K mini’s ? .....Thanks

Yup.

I’ve always liked the tone that I got running the mini’s in regular acoustic guitar’s.....so now it’s a matter of which sound hole pickup to go with....Thanks to all for the help...Jim

I have 2 Weissenborns. One is an Iseman and I keep it in Open D. It has a Sunrise in the sound hole and a K&K Pure Mini on the bridge plate. Sounds awesome. My Pogreba Baritone is in Open C and has a Seymore Duncan Mag Mic. Also great sounding. I would recommend either setup. The Iseman goes thru a Red Eye stereo pre. The Pogreba’s Mag Mic has a battery so it’s active and no pre needed.

Gino Marozzo wrote:I have tried a variety of pickups for my weissenborns and for me the K&K Double Helix system sounds the best. With the two channel preamp that is part of the system you can control the volume of each pickup to your taste.

Thank you for making me aware of a magnetic PU I don't own already.
That K&K Helix PU sounds promising, passive humbucker, with phase and coil switches.
Now I have to buy it

Jean-Paul
youtube/batzic

Follow up for the Double Helix (not the whole system with piezo, just the soundhole magnetic PU):
I bought one as soon as I've been aware of it, and indeed, it sounds very nice.

Pros :
Exceptional note separation (in the Glass setting) for a sound hole PU.
The phase switch is really useful (I use another PU in the same soundhole. Yes, I'm a soundhole PU addict)

Cons :
Not the hottest output (for a passive unit)
Not the quietest, either (they say "hum-cancelling", not "hum-free") specially in the Steam setting. In the Glass setting, the noise is workable.

I installed it in reverse position, and I've been able to adjust with the poles, no problem.

Baggs M1 into a Baggs Para Acoustic DI that spends most of it’s time in a drawer

Does anyone know the difference between the $100.00 K&K Mini and the Chinese look-alikes that sell for between 3 and 5 dollars?

Jack Hanson wrote:Does anyone know the difference between the $100.00 K&K Mini and the Chinese look-alikes that sell for between 3 and 5 dollars?

Here's the Chinese knock-off:

And here's the genuine article:

Jack,

the K&K are very probably using the same sort of piezo disc than the chinese on the picture. A piezo is a piezo.

But :
I use hundreds of those piezos, that I bought in bulk, in all sort of project along the years, and I learned a few things :
- they are, in their raw form, extremely fragile. And the ceramic part is very difficult to solder properly.
- the material used, between them and the vibrating object they are put on, is of utmost importance. Rubber, plastic, foam, nylon, wood, whatever, this has tremendous effect on the sound, and so you end up making all sort of tests to insure consistent results. And then there is the exact place you put them on, and the type of glue you use...

So, you can buy raw piezo discs and experiment, it's fun and time consuming.
For 3 to 5 bucks, when I look at the picture, and even if the jack is low quality (which is surely the case), price is OK. Just an advice : buy 5 or 6 of them, you'll need them.

Does the K&K system is worth 100$ ? Maybe.
Now, in that quality category, there are other brands less expensive, too.