Question about pickups and preamps
Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 4:51 pm
I just bought two of the JJB Prestige piezo pickup units (3 pickups for the guitar, 2 pickups for a mandola). These are supposed to be clones of the K&K Pure mini pickups. JJB recommends using a K&K Pure Preamp with them, since the input impedance is 1 Mohm and they say you're not supposed to go over 4 Mohm and most of the less expensive preamps are 10 Mohm or greater. However, on the Unofficial Martin forum
(http://theunofficialmartinguitarforum.y ... v0tKV5Rd7d ) there's a discussion about whether the output impedance (said to be 10 Kohm) is too high to be used on most amps. From what I can noodle out, the preferred preamp is the K&K Pure XLR, with an output impedance of 100 ohms. But that unit is over $150, which I can't afford ... the plain Pure preamp is already stretching the budget at around $90.
I'm really a newbie at all this amplification stuff, so I figured that I'd ask the folks here about what their experiences have been with this setup. I really don't have more than $100 to spend on a preamp right now, but with the open-mike stuff I'm doing now, I need at least some way of controlling the volume away from the amplifier itself, and if I'm switching back and forth between the guitar and the mandola on stage, the EQ knobs might come in handy, too.
(http://theunofficialmartinguitarforum.y ... v0tKV5Rd7d ) there's a discussion about whether the output impedance (said to be 10 Kohm) is too high to be used on most amps. From what I can noodle out, the preferred preamp is the K&K Pure XLR, with an output impedance of 100 ohms. But that unit is over $150, which I can't afford ... the plain Pure preamp is already stretching the budget at around $90.
I'm really a newbie at all this amplification stuff, so I figured that I'd ask the folks here about what their experiences have been with this setup. I really don't have more than $100 to spend on a preamp right now, but with the open-mike stuff I'm doing now, I need at least some way of controlling the volume away from the amplifier itself, and if I'm switching back and forth between the guitar and the mandola on stage, the EQ knobs might come in handy, too.