When it comes to acoustic guitars, a lot of them today come with pickups built in. At the risk of offending some, you get precisely what you pay for. Dealers understand that the majority of buyers want the guitar good to go, and even selling a tuner to the new owner can be like pulling teeth. We may agree that this is dumb, but it is what it is.

With the exception of Taylor Guitars, higher end instruments typically do not come with pickups installed, which to me is a good thing. After owning nearly twenty different acoustics, I’ve made the decision not to get electronics pre-installed. I have good reason to make this decision, with rare exception for the following reasons.

Why Not Built In Pickups?

The most cost effective way to get a pickup inside an acoustic is to go with a piezo system. This is typically installed under the saddle. Yes, I am aware of some exceptions, but the majority are piezo based.

Piezos typically require a preamplifier and require a battery. While this does not sound like much in terms of upkeep, and it really isn’t, what if you don’t like the sound of piezos? For myself and most amplified acoustic players, the sound of piezos is like simultaneously having your teeth drilled and several hell demons beating on your head with little brass hammers. So yuck. I have owned guitars whose amplified tones courtesy of a piezo sound nothing like the guitar and requiring far more EQ work than should be required just to get them to stop grating on me.

If I spend thousands of dollars on a guitar for specific build specs in terms of woods, bracing, design and architecture, I want the best possible sound from the guitar either for playing gigs or for recording. The best sound from an acoustic guitar comes from a microphone near the soundhole, preferably two microphones. A pair of Neumann KM185 microphones would set me back $2350 CAD. Fabulous microphones but my goodness the cost! I did not go that route, instead I chose the, in my opinion, equally excellent RODE NT5 Matched Pair which cost about $570 CAD. Substantially less and superb sound for live and recording.

But microphones are a pain, especially if you are playing live because they limit your movement, and some players need to move around. In that case, a pickup is your best bet.

There are so many choices of pickup. I am hereby making your life easy. There is actually only one choice of pickup and it is the K&K Pure Mini Pickup.

K&K Pure Mini

The K&K Pure Mini is a three transducer system that attaches to the bridge plate inside the guitar. In its simplest form, the three transducers come together in a mono 1/4” female jack.

There’s no battery, no wiring loom, just a simple connection. Installing K&K Pure Mini is not particularly difficult but it does benefit from a jig and long flexible arms. I have done them myself and have had them installed by my preferred technician Mr. Kevin Martell and I know that Kevin’s work is better.

For those who want a volume control inside the sound hole, K&K Sound offers this as an add-on or as a kit with a Pure Mini pickup.

The sine qua non option adds an internal microphone on a gooseneck to go with the transducers and a Trinity Pro Preamp, an external stereo preamp that comes with a cable. Customers who already have a Pure Mini Pickup can order the Trinity Pro upgrade. I own guitars with just the Pure Mini, the Pure Mini and the Volume control and the Trinity Pro kit. I must confess, i like the added internal microphone option, but am not sure that everyone would need it.

Keeping it Simple

If you buy one of the undersaddle types expect colouration of your sound, and also expect to go fishing inside the body for a battery when you least want to do so. With the K&K Pure Mini, the pickup is completely passive. Compared to undersaddle pickups, the sound difference is enormous. As I switch out guitars with undersaddle piezos, mostly Fishman Matrix types, I am astounded by just how much better the guitar sounds with the K&K Pure Mini. While I own the Trinity Pro, my starting point from now on will just be a Pure Mini and an external volume pedal that I know does not negatively impact the signal or the tone. Volume pedals have been a bit of a pain for me, and while they are more expensive, I have chosen the Xotic volume pedal over other options because it does not colour the sound or dump the highs when not rocked fully forward.

There are two different Xotic pedals, rated at 250k and 25k. Choose the 250k for anything with a high impedance output. Kevin Martell recommends the Goodrich Sound Company volume pedals.

Amplified

I have had a variety of acoustic amps over the years, starting with a Fender Acoustasonic, which did not stay long, then a series of Fishman Loudbox amps. I really did not like the sound of the Acoustasonic which surprised me since I love the sound of Fender tube amps so much. The Fishmans were all better but were all what I call “bitey”, sort of like a little velociraptor, cute until it takes your arm off. I also tried a number of front of amp acoustic pedals that offered DI out to my recording interface including the Fishman Aura system and the Tech21 Acoustic Fly Rig. The Aura is designed to model the sounds of different sized guitars of different woods and while it sounded like a good idea, did not sound good practically. The Tech 21 is actually quite decent and can fit in a gig bag for small gigs and such, but I did not care for the DI out so much. Personal opinion, ymmv.

Then I bought the AER Compact 60 amplifier. I bought mine from a store shutting down during COVID and got the Tommy Emmanuel signature version. It’s pretty much the same as the regular Compact 60 but with some different subtle but ostensibly useful effects. I use a bit of the very good reverb and that’s about it. The AER amplifier combined with a good pickup sounds just like the guitar, only louder. Which is what I wanted. It also has a DI out if I want a preamp out level signal for recording or sending to a PA. I learned some tips from Mr. Emmanuel on amp placement that made a positive difference and am very pleased with the amplifier. AER has a smaller dealer network, but if you want a really great acoustic amp, go there. It pairs perfectly with the K&K Pure Mini.

Recorded

I run the K&K Pure Mini right out of the guitar into the Hi-Z input on my Apollo interface. This gives me a perfectly clean and uncoloured sound direct to disk. I can then use plugins where necessary to achieve the tones that I want, by choosing a preamp that favours the guitar, by adding a great studio reverb, or even doubling the track for spread. The recorded sound is to my preference, as good as, if not better than what I get with the NT5 pair. I have guitars with other pickups right now that I will still mike up to record, whereas I hope to not have to do that once I replace the existing pickups with K&K Pure Mini.

Conclusions

Lots of acoustic players will never plug their guitar in to an amp or interface. That’s perfect for them. For those of us who do, why give up on sound and tone? Get a K&K Pure Mini and you are going to be a very happy player.

Thanks for reading and until next time, peace.