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Post by Vinny on Sept 7, 2017 19:21:19 GMT
Thanks Andy. Do you mean an external preamp or the one in the pickup? Vinny
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Sept 7, 2017 22:16:34 GMT
I presume andyhowell meant external preamp, Vinny . There's no method of altering the internal preamp settings. An external preamp is pretty much essential for getting the best out of most pickups in my experience - not just because of EQ adjustability in the case of the Rare Earth Blend but because the output isn't great, and you really need the extra oomph from a preamp to give a good strong signal to the PA. And the more mic is dialled in, the lower the output - the mic must be taking quite a bit of the power from the rather weedy batteries. I agree with Amit that the Rare Earth gives a bit of "bite" to the sound which certainly works well for me. I like the simplicity and directness of it. I've had the basic RE humbucker in several guitars, but am in the process of replacing them with Blend models as funds permit. The mic mitigates some of the metallic, electric sounding edge that you get from most soundhole pickups, and to me that's worth the extra cost. I've never had problems with feedback, but I never have the mic/pickup blend control above half way; about 60% pickup/40% mic works best for me. Hope that helps.
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Post by Vinny on Sept 7, 2017 23:17:36 GMT
Thanks riverman. I've used pure mini pickups with the pure xlr preamp or the baggs para di when using an aer alpha or going to a p.a. but since I got the acousticube I haven't needed a preamp as it's preamp is so good. Thanks for advice. I'm tempted. Vinny
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Post by Amit on Sept 8, 2017 12:01:12 GMT
I presume andyhowell meant external preamp, Vinny . There's no method of altering the internal preamp settings. An external preamp is pretty much essential for getting the best out of most pickups in my experience - not just because of EQ adjustability in the case of the Rare Earth Blend but because the output isn't great, and you really need the extra oomph from a preamp to give a good strong signal to the PA. And the more mic is dialled in, the lower the output - the mic must be taking quite a bit of the power from the rather weedy batteries. I agree with Amit that the Rare Earth gives a bit of "bite" to the sound which certainly works well for me. I like the simplicity and directness of it. I've had the basic RE humbucker in several guitars, but am in the process of replacing them with Blend models as funds permit. The mic mitigates some of the metallic, electric sounding edge that you get from most soundhole pickups, and to me that's worth the extra cost. I've never had problems with feedback, but I never have the mic/pickup blend control above half way; about 60% pickup/40% mic works best for me. Hope that helps. Agree with everything here, the output of the REB is pretty low, so an external preamp is a must. I have to have the gain set very high on my Session preamp due to the low output of the pickup, but it sounds really nice to my ears. The mic definitely takes away some of that warm electric sound, and I've not had any problems with feedback to date (I usually have the blend control pretty much exactly in the middle these days with 50% mic and 50% pickup). I've had a mini-jack connector installed too, so I can unplug the pickup and slip it out of the guitar between gigs, leaving just the cable inside.
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Sept 8, 2017 12:34:25 GMT
I've had a mini-jack connector installed too, so I can unplug the pickup and slip it out of the guitar between gigs, leaving just the cable inside. Great idea Amit - it's a pity Fishman don't take a leaf out of LR Baggs's book and supply the RE in that configuration. Was it a complicated/expensive job? I've considered having it done myself, it would make life a lot easier!
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Post by Amit on Sept 8, 2017 13:17:08 GMT
I've had a mini-jack connector installed too, so I can unplug the pickup and slip it out of the guitar between gigs, leaving just the cable inside. Great idea Amit - it's a pity Fishman don't take a leaf out of LR Baggs's book and supply the RE in that configuration. Was it a complicated/expensive job? I've considered having it done myself, it would make life a lot easier! Agreed it's a shame Fishman don't provide it like that. I had someone do the work for me, it was Colin Keefe based over in Long Eaton - not a million miles away from me, and he was doing some work on an old Martin guitar I own, all seemed relatively straight forward after he'd ordered the little mini-jack. I've got a small sticky pad thing in the guitar which folds over the hanging cable to keep it from moving around too much when it's not connected, all looks really tidy
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Post by surfguy13 on Sept 8, 2017 18:35:28 GMT
A final thank you to everyone who commented, just so useful and helped me make a decision! The K&K sounds good and although mixed views in terms of sound quality I think I would have probably been happy with the sound. However, I just wasn't happy with the permanent fixing to the bridge plate. Seems a bit clunky to me and suprised they haven't come up with a reversible fixing for the transducers. Also, there is clearly a need for a preamp and although I normally use a preamp anyway, I'd like a pickup to stand alone in some situations.
So......decided to go for the LR Baggs M1A! I've had these before and for me they were definitely the best of the bunch. Also it has the added bonus of being active. Easy to fit and great that it can be removed very easily due to the mini jack. I managed to find on on Amazon for under £150 which is pretty good value I think.
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Post by Vinny on Sept 8, 2017 18:36:58 GMT
Thanks Amit. I was hoping to avoid the external preamp if I could. A friend of mine rewired a rare earth humbucker and used a nine volt battery instead of coin cells. I thought he'd fry it but he said it gave a hotter signal. Vinny
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stringdriventhing
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Post by stringdriventhing on Sept 11, 2017 21:47:52 GMT
Well, the pickup for the tenor guitar has arrived, but looking at the size of the soundhole on the Viaten again I have basically crapped it and decided to get a man to do it... I will be getting a K&K for my Furch at some point and I will definitely try to install that myself, or rather watch my pal install it whilst trying not to be annoying
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Post by surfguy13 on Sept 12, 2017 9:56:48 GMT
Well, the pickup for the tenor guitar has arrived, but looking at the size of the soundhole on the Viaten again I have basically crapped it and decided to get a man to do it... I will be getting a K&K for my Furch at some point and I will definitely try to install that myself, or rather watch my pal install it whilst trying not to be annoying I can't say I blame you if the soundhole is really small. The soundhole on my D, into which I installed the M1A, is pretty huge but even so it wasn't easy and let's face it, the M1A is a doddle to fit relative to a tranducer on the bridge plate! I wish you luck with the Furch....
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