View Full Version : Decent preamps for Mando pickup
darkstar21370
Mar-25-2021, 6:09am
Hey y'all
I'm sure this has been asked a thousand times and maybe someone can just direct me to another thread but any recommendations for a decent middle of the road preamp for a K&K pickup? The tonedexter is just way too much $$ for me
Thanks everyone
Hey y'all
I'm sure this has been asked a thousand times and maybe someone can just direct me to another thread but any recommendations for a decent middle of the road preamp for a K&K pickup? The tonedexter is just way too much $$ for me
Thanks everyone
I have been through many of them some thought of as the best (read expensive)
Look no further then the Red Eye
RedEye, simple, small and easy with great sound. Not too many $$$ either. I have been thru around a half dozen, been using this for the last few years.
mandroid
Mar-25-2021, 8:23pm
K&K makes one of their own , you know (several actually).. https://kksound.com/preamps.php
https://kksound.com/products/purepreamp.php their basic (just for your instrument)
:popcorn:
Kevin Winn
Mar-25-2021, 11:17pm
Red Eye. Done.
steve in tampa
Mar-26-2021, 4:02am
After trying just about everything, I have settled for now on a Tech 21 Q\Strip Parametric EQ. Two sweepable midrange bands, HP and LP filters, XLR out. Phantom, battery or 9V power, tuner out. Very easy to dial in exactly the sound you want on any instrument.
https://www.tech21nyc.com/products/effects/q-strip/
I looked on that site, but it doesn't say what the input impedance is. Regardless of what you want it to do you need an input impedance of 1 million ohms. The purpose of the preamp is to match the transducer impedance to the input of your amp or PA. Without this match a good sound is almost impossible to attain. The RedEye works so well because of the headroom on it's input. A transducer is powerful enough to drive any amp or PA channel, but without the impedance match it won't sound good. The headroom is important because the output of the transducer can be enough to overdrive the input of some devices if you are playing hard.
Edit, with more searching I did find it says a HiZ input for transducers. The RedEye simply has a treble control and a boost control, very simple and doesn't need anything else as it sounds good like it is. Those controls are on any amp or PA you use and doubling up tone controls is unnecessary IMHO.