K&K UltraPure Mini “Retro” Edition for Steel String Guitars
The UltraPure Mini is an active system for steel string guitar. It comprises a three-head bridge plate pickup, an onboard preamp with soundhole access, an endpin jack, and a Velcro mounted 9-volt battery holder. The pickup is based on our time-tested Pure Mini, which excels at amplifying the natural tone of your guitar. The UltraPure Preamp offers precise 3 band EQ as well as a gain control to finetune bass, mid, treble and gain.
Our goal was to build an acoustic guitar transducer system that does not sound as harsh and percussive as the common state-of-the-art saddle transducers do. We were looking for a warmer, more "microphone-like" tone with the ability to achieve the high-gain-before-feedback characteristics of saddle pickups. After thorough testing we concluded that surface transducers positioned directly underneath the bridge inside the guitar body represent the ideal solution by yielding an excellent response from the guitar top, while minimizing feedback problems.
Installing the UltraPure Mini
Installing the preamp requires no destructive alteration to your instrument. The preamp is mounted inside the guitar at the edge of the soundhole, using a super-strong neodymium magnet (that is attched to your guitar with Velcro), giving you convenient access to the volume slider during performance. Just pull the unit out a bit (remember, it is held in place by a strong magnet) and adjust the EQ and gain trimpots with a miniature screw driver. This needs to be done only once to perfectly balance your guitar in respect to the amplification system you are using.
The 1/2" diameter Mini pickups will fit ANY steel string acoustic guitar. Direct installation with superglue is required for optimum performance but the system is still removable without damaging the guitar (you may damage the pickup though). Installing the pickups is a breeze with the included mounting jig, detailed instructions, and superglue.
