k&k pure maccaferri xt

Henrik

Anyone any thoughts or has tried the ....k&k pure maccaferri xt acoustic pick up?

Twang

I met a guy who was a pro player a few weeks ago who had one attached to his guitar. I didn't get to hear it or try it but I asked him how he liked it and he was very positive about it.

I used to have the definity which is a more basic version of the xt and it was quite nice. Great feedback resistance and not too quacky/piezo-like but was a little bit thin sounding on the trebles. The xt builds on that pickup so there is every chance the xt will be better. I don't think the K&K demos do them any favours.

I'm thinking of getting one of these but I don't like the way the jack socket attaches on the bottom of the guitar. I used to attach the definity jack on top of the tailpiece which I preferred. This might be harder to do on the xt.

Buco

I used to use one. Back then it didn't have XT in the model name, I assume that just means external. It's decent, nothing really wrong with it. Will sound better with a preamp but can be used without. Two reasons I replaced it: we played this coffee shop weekly and during the sound check when the place was mostly empty we'd dial the band sound but when it feels up I'd have a feedback (didn't have a preamp at the time). Eventually I'd find a setting to play without feedback but that plus just being curious what other stuff sounds like and I sold it.

If you find one used and cheap I'd try. I wouldn't buy one new, I think for the price there's better options. For one JJB Electronics makes a similar product, as respected as K&K at one third of the price.

Twang

A preamp for me was a must. The sound was poor without it but plug in the preamp (bags venue di) and the sound improved 100 % and the notch filter fixed all my feedback issues.

Ive had nothing but positive experiences with K&K gear over the years and I'm still seriously considering this pickup.

Are you sure Buco, that your pickup was the same as the pure Macc XT? This mic has two soundboard transducers. One has a cork pad and is held by pressure under the bridge, the other is taped on top of the top.

Buco

Physically it looks the same. Two pads, external mount. Actually it was probably me that gave them the idea to use cork and pressure mount it under the bridge. I also disliked the size and placement of 1/4" jack so I replaced it with the 1/8" which I then glued to the top of the tailpiece and I made a cable with 1/8" plug on one end and 1/4" on the other. Here's a timeline of that project:

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/6419/k-amp-k-pure-floating-bridge-modified-install-quick-review/p1

wim

I had the K&K Pure Maccaferri, which I think is the same electronics but intended to be mounted inside not XT (external?).

Can't recommend. It sounded awful and was a waste of money.

I would say for GJ don't mess with piezos at all. AT Pro 70 mic is at a similar price point and sounds better (but still moderately awful :)

Twang

I found your timeline link really interesting and informative Buco, many thanks. You appear to be running this through an electric guitar amp unless I am mistaken. I wouldn’t expect it to work that well through anything other than an acoustic amp/pa.

Buco

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/comment/100701#Comment_100701

At the beginning of that thread I was using a tube amp from my rock days, so yes not really intended for acoustic instrument. But by the time I wrote one of the last posts in the '13 I was using ZT Lunchbox Acoustic. It wasn't a night and day difference although ZT had soften the K&K sound. Hughes and Kettner are known for building tube amps with crystal clear shimmering clear tone (all the way to the trash metal type distortion) and it worked well at the time. I don't remember if I was using a preamp at any point with K&K though and that really helps the most. Actually there's a recording (done through the ZT Acoustic) I put up with the thread when I was selling it here, both the sound and the playing are a little blah but you can get away with it:

https://www.djangobooks.com/forum/discussion/11717/

Twang

Yeah I’m not totally sold on the sound I hear in your clip, unlike the playing which is really great!

I’m still not convinced what you have there is the xt. Both of your transducers look the same. The new xt uses 2 different transducers, one is like a piezo that works under pressure from the bridge and the other is like a soundboard transducer that is not designed to go under the bridge. Maybe you had some kind of prototype?

Buco

Thanks man. Ha yeah I definitely turned the thing into a prototype. Actually it occurred to me that the one I had was and still is being sold as "pure floating bridge". Mainly marketed for these types of guitars, they even use a picture of GJ guitar with this pickup on their website. I wonder what's the difference between the elements in the pure Macc, they don't give any information regarding technical details. The sound on my recording is in the same ballpark as the demo for the XT on their website to my ears. So @Henrik if that's something you can be ok with go for it and as @Twang said it can sound better with a preamp. I still think at $175 new there are better options.