Octave Mandolin Pickup

[Pinch2000]

Hi,
Brand new to the forum. Santa Claus brought me an octave mandolin and I'm wondering what would be the best choice in pickups. I've looked at the K&K Twin Internal and was wondering about opinions or other suggestions.
Tks Ernie

[John Flynn]

I have a K&K twin internal on my Mendel OM. I run the output through a Baggs Gigpro into a Crate CA30 acoustic amp, which is a very modest rig. I am very happy with the sound.

[Rob Gerety]

I have had many different pickups but now I am pretty much settled on the K&K with an Orchid DI or Orchid Pre Amp and I am really happy. An alternative preamp would be the K&K preamps but my experience is the Orchid is superior - also more expensive. Frankly you could use an Orchid DI with a PA and make any minor eq adjustments at the desk and do really well - gets all the extra junk in must pre amps out of the signal and works well. Orchid makes a mutable DI that is not very expensive and it works real well with the K&K.

[Pinch2000]

Thanks. I'll probably go with the K&K pickup. I've got a Baggs Gigpro (never heard of Orchid but I'll definitely check it out) so it should work out well. Ernie

[Andy Miller]

I've been using various K&K's with and without my Gigpro. I find that on the octaves and zouks the K&K's sound pretty nice straight into the board. With the mandolin I could use a little more EQ than the Gigpro affords.

[Mandobart]

I'll toss this in as I do on every K&K post. My first internal pickup mount I did I used a K&K twin, and I am happy with the sound. I still have it. However, a fellow cafe member told me about JJB pickups. I have since mounted these in six other instruments from fiddle to mandocello (including two OM's), and I am just as happy with the sound and quality. They are just as good and cost much less. FYI, NFI.

[Rob Gerety]

I have found that with the K&K pickups in guitar and mandolin I need almost no eq whatsoever if I use an Orchid Pre amp or DI. I don't know if this is the impedance issue or not. But I do note that both the Orchid products have a 1 meg input impedance spec which is what K&K recommends. Not so sure about the gig pro spec.

[Pinch2000]

I've never heard of JJB pickups before but I had a look at their website. Great prices and reviews for sure. Looks like it's coming down to K&K or JJB. Thanks for all the input.
Ernie