K & K Sound Systems Pure Mini

Pickup features: Passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Martin OM 16 (DADGAD tuning)
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: B-Band UST
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: See the K&K web site at www.kksound.com
You musical style(s): Mainly Irish/Celtic & original
Reason for pickup change: Just trying this style of pickup after years of under saddle pickups.

Perceived output level: Output level without a preamp is impressive...balanced, clear, and true. With the K&K Pure Preamp, it's amazing.
Tone: This is my first bridge plate-mounted pickup (glued to the bridge plate under the top), so wasn't used to the initial tone. It was good, but a bit bassy and not much treble. Using the K&K Pure Preamp, I cut the bass a bit, dropped the mids, and increased the treble quite a bit. The result is a very true acoustic sound with excellent balance all the way up the neck, even with the capo at the 10th fret it's clear as a bell. Much better than the B-Band that was in it.
Sonic evaluation: The Irish/Celtic duo I'm part of doesn't have any gigs for a while, so didn't want to drag out the big sound system and hook it all up. So I used my personal Biamp 350W 6-CH powered mixer with reverb and 10 band EQ hooked to a small set of speakers with subwoofer (excellent sounding practice system). Even with this smaller system, the K&K Pure Mini w/K&K Pure Preamp sounds fantastic.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Irish/Celtic, contemporary, original

Comments: Yes, I'd buy another one. I've been playing professionally for 30+ years. My other stage guitar is a 1970 Guild F-30 Paul Simon. What started this out is the LR Baggs LB6 in the Guild went out, so after a lot of online research and hearing sound clips with the K&K compared to other pickups, I ordered the K&K for the Guild, which is in standard tuning. After receiving the K&K, I got to thinking that I use the Martin a lot more since I play most of the Irish/Celtic music in DADGAD tuning, so did a switcheroo. I took the B-Band UST out of the Martin, put it in the Guild (sounds really good), and installed the K&K in the Martin. The K&K works very well with DADGAD, producing an exceptionally balanced, clear, and acoustic tone, bringing out the wonderful tonal character of this particular OM 16. So the decision to install the K&K in the Martin was a good one. Depending on how it works in a performance situation, I may end up getting one for the Guild as well....although the B-Band sounds pretty good and I only use it for a few songs. We'll see. The B-Band isn't quite as woody and acoustic as the K&K. Also, the K&K is better balanced than the B-Band. And I didn't get the middle pickup exactly centered between the G & A string holes. I practiced placement for a while before committing to gluing and was getting it pretty close, but as I was watching through the pin holes and lining up the pickup between the holes, I must have moved my hand down a bit at an angle instead of a straight line as I moved the pickup forward into position. So it's closer to the G string hole than the A. But even so, it still sounds great. K&K says there's room for placement error...thank God! The other two pickups are exactly centered where they should be.
I guess the only thing at this point I wish this system had is a light on the preamp to indicate it's on. Sometimes on stage I forget to unplug something if I'm not reminded by a visual prompt. It'd also be nice to have an ON/OFF switch insetad of having to disconnect the OUT plug to turn it off. But these are small concerns compared to the overall quality of the Pure Mini system with preamp. As many have already said, my Martin sounds like my Martin....just louder with more power.