Pickup in E6D-TC (+ New Member Welcome!)

[hallandboats]

Hello all! 

I am the proud new owner of a beautiful E6D-TC (Pictures!!!)

The previous owner included an LR Baggs M1a (Active) Soundhole pickup with it. 

I was curious if anyone had any opinions of this pickup?

I am considering selling it and getting a K&K Pure Mini (understanding that I will need a Pre Amp)

I would like to compare and contrast the two.

FWIW I will mostly be playing WITHOUT the pickup, but I do want the option! 

Thanks and looking forward to being a part of the group! 

Z

[ThemisSal]

My favorite pickups are the Baggs M1 passive, the K&K, and the Element VTC. I’ve also owned the M1A and the M80.

if you mostly play without the pickup, by all means get the K&K. It will sound great. I have gravitated away from it for my louder bar gigs simply because it’s harder to dial in… and feedback is an issue. When I do use my MartinD-15 with the k&k, I use a soundhole plug, and my sound checks are a little longer. The Baggs products are just easy. 

but back to the K&K, if you are mostly plugging in alone or with friends, or at an open mic or a coffee house, the k&k will be great. And it’s invisible when not in use.

and most importantly, welcome! Beautiful guitar…

[RomanS]

I own the passive M1, and have used it live on stage for years, and I also have the K&K Mini in a guitar that has been my main stage guitar for a bit longer than a year.

-) The M1 is pretty good for a magnetic sound hole pickup.
It sounds a bit more "acoustic" than others of this type I have tried - but it only produces some superficial resemblance to the unplugged tone of your guitar; you could mount it in a cheap plywood guitar, and the tone wouldn't change that much...
I love that you can adjust string balance with the polepiece screws.
Also, it is quite feedback resistant, and will work even in a rock band with a loud drummer.

-) The K&K Mini: With a good preamp (I use a FireEye RedEye Twin) and a tiny bit of EQ you can get really close to the unplugged tone of your guitar - if you want the tone of YOUR guitar coming from the PA, and not some generic "acoustic" tone, the K&K will get you A LOT closer than the M1.
The K&K is said to be much more feedback prone than the M1 - I haven't had a chance to explore that, as I haven't used my K&K equipped guitar with a loud rock band on a large stage yet - only with drummer-less small acoustic bands in cafe/pub-type gigs; for those it works perfectly.

One more thing: Installing the M1 is much easier (you can do it yourself), installing the K&K is pretty difficult, even with the included jigs, because placement of the three sensor is critical; if you want the K&K, look for a luthier who knows how to stick it in your guitar.

Oh, and personally, I would never play a guitar with an internal preamp that requires a battery, on stage - I have experienced it time and again with other musicians that the battery goes dead at the worst possible moment, and with most acoustics it is really hard to change batteries on the fly, because usually you have to take the strings off the guitar. When I used to run sound for a monthly concert series I organized, I always kept a mic & stand ready for exactly this type of situation, and needed it quite a few times. The battery on the M1A is easier to change than one mounted to the neck block inside an acoustic, but if it goes dead, this will still stop your show. I would always go with an external preamp, and with my FireEye, I love that there's no power supply or battery needed, because it gets it's juice from the mixer - phantom powered through the XLR cable...

Oh, and there are other SBT (soundboard transducer) pickups like the K&K - Schatten, Dazzo, etc. The only one I have hands on experience with is the Journey-Tek, and I definitely prefer the K&K (much higher output, and easier to fit inside the guitar, as the Journey has very large sensors that barely fit the bridge plates of some guitars).

[sleigh]

I'll second (or third) the recommendation of the K&K -- that's my choice for a pickup: no battery to die on you in the middle of a gig, great tone. The only downside is that it really helps to have a preamp also.