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K&K Sound Pure 12-String acoustic pickup with Passive Volume control

The Pure Pickup™

About the Pure Pickup

The Pure Pickup is our award-winning, signature pickup for acoustic guitars. Installed on the guitar's bridge plate, the Pure Pickup is the the best choice for achieving a rich, natural guitar sound -- even without a preamp!

Our customers tell us that it's the best passive pickup on the market, which means it's the perfect plug-and-play solution for the musician who wants a warm, full-range signal without worrying about cluttering up their instrument, adjusting onboard electronics, or having to remember to change the battery.

Available as:

  • Pure Mini: 3-head transducer for steel string acoustic guitar
  • Pure Classic: 4-head transducer for nylon string acoustic guitar
  • Pure 12-String: 3-head transducer for 12-string acoustic guitar. The larger pickup heads produce an extra strong bass response and pronounced midrange that sounds great in 12-string guitars and is a good alternative for guitars with heavy spruce tops and maple bridge plates.

The Pure Pickup's position on the bridge plate provides the perfect balance of sound, picking up all the strings without sounding harsh or percussive and "listening" to the sound board to amplify the unique characteristics of your guitar. The result is a warm, full-range signal that represents the true character of your guitar.

For players who want more control over their signal, or need to achieve high gain before feedback, we recommend the Pure Preamp or Pure XLR Preamp.

Technical specs & installation notes:

  • Pure Mini: Direct installation with superglue gel is required for optimum performance but the system can be carefully removed without damage to your guitar (you may damage the pickup though). This pickup system will fit all standard steel string acoustic guitars.
  • Pure Classic: The Pure Classic is designed to be installed with superglue for optimum sound transmission. For the players who do not wish to do this we also supply a special extra thin double stick tape for peel-and-stick removable installation. Pickups installed with this tape will require a preamp because output is reduced by about 30% compared to the superglue installation.
  • Pure 12-String: Because the pickup heads are quite large, please check the bridge plate size of your guitar before you order. Please refer to this original size diagram of the Pure 12-String. If the pickups do not fit, the Pure Mini is a good alternative.

Volume Control

About the Volume Control

Our Volume Control is a non-destructive, plug-and-play addition to any single-source passive internal transducer system, like a Pure Pickup, FanTaStick, Twin Spot, or Big Twin.

You can order it as an integrated element with any single-source passive pickup, or as an Add-On for an existing pickup. Simply unscrew the existing endpin jack, remove it from the endpin hole, and plug it into the 1/4" plug of the Volume Control Add-On. The 1/4" plug has a self-adhesive fastener, which can be secured inside the guitar. The lightweight thumbwheel control mounts with a peel-and-stick installation to the inner edge of the soundshole. Mount the new endpin jack into the endpin hole, and you're done!

This passive volume control works without a battery. It does not boost the volume, but it allows you to turn the pickup signal down.

It functions best when the input impedance of the device you plug your guitar into is 1 Mega Ohm (preamp/amp or mixing board-channel). If this input impedance deviates by a large amount (i.e. 100 Kilo Ohms or 10 Mega Ohms), you may experience diminished range (from "full volume" to "off" within a 1/3rd rotation) or, in extreme cases, a slight hum when the potentiometer is at middle position. This is a normal phenomenon when passive potentiometers are used with piezo based pickups. At "full-on" or "full-off" it will always be noise-free. A lot of customers use the Volume Control like an extended on/off switch.