as you all know I am a K&K dealer. I ad a customer request for a pre amp so I thought I would give the K&K a try. I have to say my disappointment is a surprise as I thought K&K would have designed a great product. The unit has a few serious flaws. The sound part is fine the attachment to the guitar is horrid.
The first issue is that you will have to hard solder your pick up leads into an RCA jack. This should be an easy task only the jacks come pre tinned and the hole for the wire is plugged, and in my case the solder was over run and shorted out the jack. On top of this the double stick adhesive is inferior and will not stick. I got units and decided to put one in my guitar first so I could rate it.
Well the design made some poor choices and they didn't figure in the sound hole braces so there is not enough area for the double stick tape to adhere plus on the of the the pre amp , has all the plugs coming out of the circuitry and hitting the X braces.
So I tried this in a Martin and same deal. So in a long story the pre amp tone is fine but the adhesion to the guitar is inferior and not worth a damn.
K&K pre amps
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K&K pre amps
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
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Re: K&K pre amps
Thanks for the information. I like the K&K pure mini pickup, partially because I can drive my amp without a pre amp. I do have one of their external preamps and like it. Especially on a classical where I can reverse the phase if I am getting feedback. I will keep away from their internal preamps.
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Re: K&K pre amps
Thanks, John. Good warning on what to stay away from.
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Re: K&K pre amps
Let us know if K&K is listening to you, and when they have solved the problems. Any decent manufacturer (doesn't matter what they make) know that responding positively to feedback is absolutely necessary for survival as a company, particularly a small company.
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Re: K&K pre amps
UPDATE
I got a repair package from K&K replacing the RCA Jacks and mounts I will see how these work next week . Will keep you posted , at least they listened
I got a repair package from K&K replacing the RCA Jacks and mounts I will see how these work next week . Will keep you posted , at least they listened
John Hall
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com
Blues Creek Guitars Inc
Authorized CF Martin Repair Center
president of Association of Stringed Instrument Artisans
http://www.bluescreekguitars.com