I recently asked a dealer (a Collings dealer)to install a K&K western pure mini pickup in my Martin HD-28. He told me that was a bad choice because big body guitars will get a howling feedback with this pickup. I then asked a vey well known guitar builder and repair setup shop about putting in a K&K mini and he said I would be much better off with a battery pickup with a preamp. I have heard these pickups and think they sound great. I also like the idea of no battery. I play through a Roland ac-60 (great acoustic amp for the money by the way)so it should be no problem. I don't play stadiums, in fact if I can get 4 people to listen on my deck I am thrilled. So what gives with this downgrade of the K&K mini from these guys? Anyone with dreads have one? Thanks Paul

Did the dealer offer a "better", much more expensive pickup?? Hmmmmmmmmm.

No Randy, they just were not that positive on the k&k mini. In fairness to the Collings dealer tech person, he did say it might work and that the mini is best suited for small body guitars. However neither was trying to sell me a different pickup. It was just there opinion of the mini.

I think Bryan Kimsey installs the pure western mini in dreadnaughts all the time. Also, and I could be wrong about this, but I think the mini was developed solely because of the small bridgeplates on pre-war style guitars - which would indicate that there is no reason to think it should not be used on dreadnaughts.

Bill

I've got the mini installed on my D2H. It was installed by Dick Dubois, and he didn't make any mention of any problems. In fact, he spoke highly of the K+K mini. I love not having a battery or preamp in the guitar. I've gigged with it numerous times in pretty quiet environments (church and singer/songwriter stuff) and haven't had any problems with feedback.

After having gone through scads of pickups over a 20 year period, I have K&K pure western minis in all three of the guitars I gig with, including a CJA that is as loud as any dreadnought could possibly be. I have never had feedback of any kind with any of the three guitars. Why it wouldn't work equally as well in a squared shouldered dreadnought beats me. If I thought there was a better pickup, I'd play it. Haven't found it yet, and doubt that I will.

I recently had a K&K Mini Western p/u installed in my D1A by Mark Kaiser. I also purchased the Pure XLR pre-amp which has a phase switch. I have had no issues with feedback and if I do, I have the phase switch to mitigate it.

K&K mini's are great pups. They are the least intrusive pup to your guitar of all the pickups that are available these days. No need for batteries or the extra wires floating around on the inside for the active types. No modifications to your bridge & saddle either. I have one in my SJ and in 2 other guitars...they work great! Powerful enough to go it alone, & coupled w/ the XLR preamp...they perform even better!

Maybe the dealer didn't want the hassle of installing it. They can be tricky, but if you've done it before, it's a cakewalk. The larger Pure Western Transducers were causing some problems. The Mini works best... supergluing it to the bridgeplate.

From the K&K site: Pure Western Mini - We now recommend the mini pickups for all acoustic guitars. Permanent installation with superglue is required for optimum performance. We are proud to announce that our engineers succeeded in raising the output level of the Pure Western Mini by about 15% which makes it now almost as powerful as the bigger Pure Western Standard. This pickup system will fit ANY guitar! It features absolutely balanced and linear sound transmission all over the guitar's frequency spectrum.


Pure Western Standard Size - Removable - We recommend this pickup system with larger transducer heads if a removable installation is desired or for personal preference. It has a little more output than the Mini system, features extra strong bass response and pronounced midrange. Permanently installed, the standard size Pure Western has sufficient output to plug directly into a PA system without using a preamp. Please check for the bridgeplate size of your guitar before you order.

Installation Tutorial

I agree completely. The sound is at least the equal of anything I've ever tried- active, passive, saddle, mini mic, soundhole pickup, whatever- and by far the least intrusive. Except for the end pin, it's invisible, unless you spend a lot of time searching the interior of your guitar with dental tools. I like the M1 Baggs, but it was like having a giant white mini-overpass across your sound hole. I want my acoustic guitars to look, and sound, acoustic. K&K gets it done.

Thanks-I have never heard anyone say anything negative about the k&k mini that actually has one in their guitar. I am going to put one in. I think these guys probably were not setup or experienced to put one in or were out of the pickup at the time and did not want to hassel with it. But it is apparent to me that there is nothing wrong with the mini for any acoustic guitar.

How do I contact K&K?