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I tried out a mahogany slope dread of mine with a K&K pure mini installed last night at a fairly large venue in St Louis. It was going directly into the board of the sound system. There was major feedback at around 250Hz. The soundman tried notching 250Hz down to almost nothing and it still fed back to the point where it was objectionable. The volume was not extreme by any measure. I had hoped the K&K would work well for a guitar I am building for a touring musician in a 4-piece band, but can foresee lots of problems adapting it to various rooms and sound systems.
I haven't heard any piezo based system that doesn't "click-clack" with fret and picking noise.
Maybe the best option is plugging a K&K into an acoustic amp and then micing the amp into the mix? Not sure if the guitar would still feedback at various frequencies depending on the resonances of the different rooms.

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--Reynolds Large

You should talk to K&K. They sell a preamp. I use the K&K directly into an amp, but for a system use a preamp.

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Yes - I am always concerned about feedback with any SBT. You have to be careful - point the monitor away from the guitar, stand far enough away from it and then you are usually OK. A feedback buster works well also. I would not have a K&K mini in my guitar because of this, yet many do fine with theirs. I'd go with the LR Baggs Anthem or DTAR Wavelength.

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"An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is an adventure wrongly considered." G. K. Chesterton.

I gig with a K&K and the Pure XLR Preamp as a DI. Yeah feedback is an issue in some venues and I have to roll off a lot of bass with the preamp.
I built for a touring Nashville level player and he used the K&K with a Sunrise soundhole pickup. Dieter will wire a pigtail on the jack so you can mix the signals outboard. That worked for him.
One of K&K's Powermix Pure systems might be the ticket. An under saddle transducer and the bridge plate transducer with either outboard or on-board mixing. Anyone ever tried them?

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I heard from a friend that K&K's preamps have a fair amount of hiss. True?
I have heard many Anthem systems in many different guitars. Not nearly as natural sounding as the K&K in passive mode. I really hate the clickety-clack sound that is the result of fretting and picking the strings and USTs seem to have this in spades.

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Stay with the happy people.
--Reynolds Large

Agree with Todd that a good quality soundhole PU like the LR Baggs M1 is a good option to limit feedback, so too is a small body guitar.

Cheers

Kim

I just put an emg soundhole pickup in my guitar.
I already had the Baggs LB!2 in the saddle.
The Baggs thru a D.I. box,
emg thru a seperate jack,
then out thru an AB box.
Blend the 2, and I really like the sound.
Saddle pickup sounds best for the 3 bass strings,
soundhole magnetic sounds best for the 3 treble.
Sweet!
Less quack, less feedback.

That's what I use too. I play with a large orchestra in a room that seats about 800. I have to damp the box on the guitar sometimes with my hand as it starts resonating either from the vocals or loud instruments. One thing you can do with the preamp is reverse the phase which makes a big difference for me.

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

You shouldn't use a magnetic soundhole PU by itself, you'd might as well play an electric. I've played in loud venues with a K&K and a Sunrise with an outboard preamp, for years. Use one mixer for each PU, in my case, the Rane has two channels with two eq's so I could use one TRS plug ( one cord). Clinton

I'm a big fan of a 2 source separately processed system. UST and magnetic. That way you can dial in whichever is behaving better for any given venue.
As said, smaller bodies behave better as volume goes up.
-C

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