K & K Sound Systems Mini Western

passive, glued under bridge, I like that cause it keeps the saddle to wood thing going.

martin d-28, I chose the minis after reading reviews on the martin discussion pages and askin around. I didnt want anything with a horrible preamp cut in the side of this guitar. I wanted good sound with VERY minimal mods. just the endpin.

very good output level. The band I play in I do all rhythm. flatwound strings, drivin hard! I play backup for a national act and the lead singer/ guitar player (Sean Mencher) has ears like no one else I know, loves em as well. I am using a fender acoustisonic dsp and thats it. We go from flat out rockabilly to gypsy to western swing, sweet and lowdown to bar room brawl and it works.

I buy, sell and trade guitars at a alarming rate. This one is a keeper. Very simple, pro quality setup. I have ordered the archtop model for one of my other guitars.

Passive, three pickups super glued under the bridge.

Martin 000-15 slot head. 2006.
I'm not new to K & K. Will never consider installing an undersaddle anymore. Never. Either K & K, Highlander, or Baggs M1 active.

Output is strong and balanced. Using a Roland Acoustic 60. Finger style and flatpick, open tuning mostly.

Installing the system is fairly easy. Do as instructed and hold them in place for about 30 seconds to let the super glue set. I've been playing long enough to know whats good and what isn't. For this little guitar these pickups are just super. Really nice natural sound. Hope this helps anyone that is hoping to find something nice for their acoustic guitars. I have used undersaddles also. Anymore I just don't care for them. Not saying they are junk but personally they just don't sound right and they are a bit more work to install. In 30 minutes or less you're plugging in with the K & K's.

Pickup features: passive under bridge
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Washburn D-100M
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): fingerstyle
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: loud enough
Tone: bassy
Sonic evaluation: into yamaha guitar preamp and into stereo system

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: I am happy with this pickup. It was fairly inexpensive, easy to install (although you do have to drill a hole, it is where the strap button is already, took about 15 minutes) and sounds good. I do have to cut the bass quite a bit to get a realistic balance, but with a bass cut and a little reverb, the sound is comparable to what I hear on many recordings. I am getting another for my Baby Taylor

Pickup features: passive transducer
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Taylor Leo Kottke Signature 6 string acoustic
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Fishman Prefix
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): rock, folk, et.al.
Reason for pickup change: Wanted more wood sound from the guitar (sounds beautiful unplugged) and less of the famed fishman 'quack.' Listened to the webpage and i started drooling at the sounds they were getting.

Perceived output level: Low output level though my luthier might have installed incorrectly
Tone: trebly which is suprising since i kept hearing how low-end heavy it would be
Sonic evaluation: I run the KK Undersaddle (which i am also less than excited about) and the Mini-western transducers through the KK Quantam blender pre-amp straight to the PA so i am getting no acoustic amp coloration which could be swaying my opinion. I play 80% pick and 20% fingerstyle as a worship pastor in a church of about 2,000 with a stellar PA. The KK mini-western transducers were giving off some type of distorted tremelo sound and had none of the low end i heard on their website despite my Taylor Kottke's 6 penchant for giving off a lot of low end naturally since it is a jumbo. Their Fantastick undersaddle also was less full than both an EMG undersaddle and Fishman undersaddle i had previously. The dial in on the Quantam, which i was thinking only would need to be tweaked to customize the sound, required massive cuts and boosts to get the sound even close to where it needed to be. My drooling in anticipation soon to fuming foaming of the mouth as my search for the ultimate acoustic guitar tone would have to continue. I had high hopes that i could quit searching and just start playing, but alas the quest continues.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: I am going to go back to the beefiness of the EMG undersaddle and attempt to see if the transducers were installed improperly (which is doubtful since he has worked on every guitar with every pickup system imaginable for tons of labelled acoustic players). I hope to use about 80% of the EMG couple with 20% of the mini-westerns for shimmer and string separation of tone.