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Post by PistolPete on Mar 27, 2018 9:04:31 GMT
I'm considering taking the leap & getting K&Ks put in my gigging instruments. I know many people speak highly of them, but I was wondering if anyone here uses them with preamps other than the recommended K&K ones & if so what your experience was?
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stringdriventhing
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Post by stringdriventhing on Mar 27, 2018 9:15:45 GMT
I've been using K&Ks for a few years now in two guitars, a tenor guitar and a mandolin. I've been putting them through a Fishman Pro EQ Platinum which I'd used before I got the K&Ks and it sounds pretty good I think. I'm actually planning on taking a punt on a K&K xlr preamp soon, so I can let you know if I notice any difference.
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Post by Wild Violet on Mar 27, 2018 9:29:48 GMT
I use a RedEye by Fire-Eye which works really well. I think the Orchid pre-amps are very similar but made in the UK, I know a lot of people are very happy with them. I also plug in a fair amount of times without a pre-amp.
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Post by andyhowell on Mar 27, 2018 9:49:23 GMT
I think a decent preamp makes a big difference to these.
I use a Headway preamp which is a fine piece of English made kit — used a lot by the Fairport family of musicians (as the company is based in Oxfordshire). I've had many K&K guitars through it.
My other choice would be the Orchid which also UK based and used by the Show of Hands family (as they are based in the South West). I tried buying one for a year or so and gave up as they never in stock but you might have better luck.
Both of these preamps are built like tanks, especially the orchid. The Orchid needs phantom power and the Headway can be battery operated. The Headway has a second channel that allows you to blend in a mic signal which can be superb. I prefer both of these with K&K than the K&K preamps themselves. I've not heard the Red Eye but have heard good reports, however, it has more limited EQ options than the first two — which might be a factor in some venues!
Let us know what you decide to do! When your in Brum next you can always pa with my Headway.
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Post by ocarolan on Mar 27, 2018 15:04:01 GMT
I have K&K pickups in all my 6 string guitars plus mandolin and octave mandolin. I do use K&K XLR preamp, but maybe more often the Orchid Acoustic preamp. Baggs PADI works fine too (despite all the naysayers in another place)as does even a simple Boss eq pedal. have also used without preamp, though would not want to do so routinely as I like some control (esp "off") at my fingertips.
When playing solo (or sometimes duo) provided that phantom power is available (though I do have a simple separate plug in phantom power supply - £20 or so)I use the Orchid (on mic stand) for it's excellent sound quality with no fuss - not many knobs to twiddle, but you don't need them, it just works and a great sound is obtainable in seconds. Excellent mute button, plus tuner output. As my instruments have the same pickups it is easy to change from one instrument to another on the Orchid (muted) and keep the same eq, maybe tweak the volume a little, and still have the different qualities of the instruments coming through.
I use the K&K preamps (one per instrument) if I need really quick changeovers without tentative vol tweaks change as quickly as possible, usu when in band.
The Baggs PADI is a bit fiddly to get all the tiny knobs tweaked optimally - I have it in my church band setup on default settings achieved after much tweaking - the venue is the same every time and hence the default settings system works. I would not like to use this preamp in a different place/setup every time as it takes me too long to get the sound great - which it certainly can be with care/time.
The Boss eq pedal works well enough, though not quite such good sound, and more potential for increased noise if too much eq applied. Fine in band context. Less good for solo instrumental nuances.
Hope this helps, Pete.
Keith
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Post by lavaman on Mar 27, 2018 17:01:34 GMT
Most of my guitars have a K&K installed and they all work well with my Orchid preamp. The only downside is that it requires phantom power (no battery option). It clips to your mic stand for ease of adjustment and there's a mute button when switching guitars. info at orchid-electronics.co.uk/acoustic.htmIain
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Post by ocarolan on Mar 27, 2018 17:47:06 GMT
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Post by dreadnought28 on Mar 27, 2018 18:12:09 GMT
I’ve K&K in many of my guitars. They actually work surprisingly well without a preamp although I prefer to work with one. Their own preamps work well and the Headway is excellent. Out on its own however is the Dtar Solstice, as used by Martin Simpson. No longer made but they pop up on the used market from time to time.
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Post by lavaman on Mar 27, 2018 22:14:41 GMT
I've got one of those as well and they work well but takes another 5 minutes to setup. I've only used it twice - both on older simple PAs Iain
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Post by PistolPete on Mar 28, 2018 12:51:03 GMT
Many thanks for your thoughts In light of what's been said here, I'm tempted to try using the Fishman Platinum Stage I have initially & look at getting an Orchid or a Red-Eye when finances allow. I was slightly concerned that if I didn't throw the £100 at the official K&K pre-amp I might end up with them being barely usable.
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Post by andyhowell on Mar 28, 2018 13:07:02 GMT
I've run the sound for someone using a Platinum Stage and it was pretty effective — this is the one that has compression on it?
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Post by PistolPete on Mar 28, 2018 13:21:02 GMT
I've run the sound for someone using a Platinum Stage and it was pretty effective — this is the one that has compression on it? I think that's the Platinum Pro - the Stage is the more basic version - EQ; three varieties of volume control; & a low pass filter. It's been pretty handy on a variety of guitars that have wandered into my open mic over the last few years, but particularly on the Epiphone PR200 with passive UST that serves as the house guitar there.
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Post by mandovark on Mar 28, 2018 13:54:40 GMT
Another recommendation here for the Orchid. It's about as user-friendly as it gets, and as Keith says it's very easy to get a good sound with minimal adjustment. It's ideal if you're planning to play several instruments through the same channel - I regularly switch between two guitars, mandolin and cello-mandolin, and it only needs the slightest adjustments (I like a bit more bass on the cello-mandolin, and I tend to turn the treble up a notch if I'm playing slide). Having it clipped to the mic stand makes it easy to tweak the EQ mid-song if you need to.
I've used a Fishman in the past, which was fine for a single instrument, but if you need to change instruments the Orchid is much easier to work with.
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Post by andyhowell on Mar 28, 2018 15:04:38 GMT
Yeah it was the Pro I was thinking about. But ignoring the compressor for a moment the basic sound was good. I used an old style Fishman EQ for years and never had any problems with it — I only replaced it when it fell to pieces!
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Post by stringdriventhing on Mar 28, 2018 15:16:25 GMT
Many thanks for your thoughts In light of what's been said here, I'm tempted to try using the Fishman Platinum Stage I have initially & look at getting an Orchid or a Red-Eye when finances allow. I was slightly concerned that if I didn't throw the £100 at the official K&K pre-amp I might end up with them being barely usable. My Platinum Pro is the old-style one with the grey plastic casing. It definitely works fine with the K&Ks, but I've been curious to find out if they would sound even better through K&K's own preamp. To put your mind at rest, do you know anyone with a K&K pickup that you could get to try it with your Platinum Stage?
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