James May Engineering

OrganicZed

OrganicZed

Fractal Fanatic
I recently learned about James May's products and it doesn't seem like these are all that well known so I thought I'd help spread the word on what seem to be some well designed solutions for acoustic instrument amplification. He comes across as very knowledgeable and I like his solution oriented design philosophy. After reading some very positive reviews and consulting with my local luthier I put in an order for his Ultra Tonic pickup and plan to have it installed in a guitar next month.

The Ultra Tonic pickup system is based on the K&K pure mini guitar pickup design. It uses a bridge plate mounted piezo transducer to capture the main signal of the guitar and an additional transducer to pickup the body resonances of the guitar. The resonances of a guitar can cause feedback issues on a loud stage. The body sensor is configured out of phase with the main transducer and is blended into the signal to cancel out the offending resonances directly as the signal source. The amount of signal from the phase canceling body sensor can be adjusted to suit your individual guitar so that it doesn't totally neuter the bass response. From what I have read, low frequency feedback is a common issue for K&K users and often requires the use of an external EQ to overcome. Another issue his design addresses is the impedance matching concern. The K&K system only plays well with 1 MOhm or greater input impedance devices. This concern, and the need for the EQ to tame the low end, are primary reasons why K&K recommends using their external preamp with their pickups. Mr. May's circuit was was designed to work well with input impedances as low as 500 kOhm. Like the K&K, his pickup is totally passive (no batteries!).

His other product is called the Tone Dexter. It is essentially like the tone match capability found on the Axe-FX III in a pedal and targeted toward acoustic instrument players. You plug in your acoustic guitar pickup and a microphone and then it creates an impulse response that will work to make your pickup sound a lot like the microphone signal. It also has a clever parametric EQ that automatically identifies the resonant peaks of your guitar signal from the IR and makes it easy to dial those down to prevent low frequency feedback. As an Axe-FX III user, I don't think I need the Tone Dexter, but I could see where that would be an attractive product for those who don't already have the ability to create tone matching IRs.

 
I read a lot about the Ultra Tonic, but ended up installing a K&K in my Martin HD35.
I know James makes it so you can 'upgrade' your K&K with his kit, but I couldn't really determine if it was feasible without sending my guitar to him.
I believe he likes to have your guitar shipped to him so he can measure it's resonance and make the appropriate tweaks to the 'system'.
A few forums mention you can do something 'similar' with a Parametric EQ, so I opted for simplicity with the K&K because shipping a guitar to him, having him install the system, and shipping back would have greatly increased the cost (for me).
Would love to hear if others have gone from K&K to the Ultra Tonic and felt it was a worthy upgrade.

As for the Tone Dexter - I felt like it was very easy to do the same thing with my Axe, so haven't explored any of the tone matching acoustic devices.
I have tried the 3Sigma IRs in my Axe, and if I use the ones created for a K&K, they're pretty good.
I still feel they have a hollow phasey-ness to them, so in the end I just prefer an Eq'd K&K.

Always looking for perfect acoustic amplification solution.
 
@BBN

In the video I posted, one of the hosts mentions that he installed the K&K conversion kit on one of his guitars. He described the process and all that was necessary was to cut the the wires from the old end pin jack, strip, tin, and solder them to the circuit board, set the filter dip switches, and swap out the endpin old end pin jack for the new one.

It is not necessary to send the guitar to James May for installation (although he does offer installation services). He has a PDF with detailed installation instructions and photos posted on his website. I sent that document to my luthier and he was confident that he could do the install. Also, the same guy in who talked about the K&K retrofit installation in the video mentions that he installed the Ultra Tonic pickup in another guitar and did the install himself with good results.

Tuning system for your guitar is accomplished by trying out the 12 dipswitch settings while listening to the amplified signal through a PA or acoustic amp. James said in the video that the switches are essentially a stepped attenuator for the body sensor and they adjust the level at which it's signal is blended with the main signal. This can be accomplished at the time of the installation or can be adjusted by the end user at a later time. Adjusting the setting does require accessing the end pin mounted switches, so it is not something you could do on the fly.

In theory, the result of the system is similar to what you can do with well tailored parametric EQ. However, using a transducer attached to the guitar itself offers a more complex EQ curve than what you can achieve with most parametric EQ devices. According to James, the multiple body frequency resonances that cause a standard K&K pickup to have an overly bass heavy sound and feedback issues have a medium Q (broad frequency range). As such, it would be difficult to precisely dial them out with an EQ applied in post processing. I have not compared the results you can get from the two approaches side by side, so I can't say whether or not the more complex dual pickup designed by James is really superior to the results you'd get with a K&K / parametric EQ setup in practice.

James does comment on the problem of trying to apply an IR created for some one else's guitar to your instrument as is done with thrid-party IRs and is the premise of the Fishman Aura series of products at about 35:25 in the video. He says that applying the tone match from another guitar to yours creates problems when the resonances don't match up. That causes the hollow phasey sound you're describing.
 
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OrganicZed said:
James does comment on the problem of trying to apply an IR created for some one else's guitar to your instrument as is done with thrid-party IRs and is the premise of the Fishman Aura series of products at about 35:25 in the video. He says that applying the tone match from another guitar to yours creates problems when the resonances don't match up. That causes the hollow phasey sound you're describing.
Click to expand...
That is very interesting! May have to try creating some IRs then.
 
Yes, I am going to try my hand at it as well. My church has a nice large diaphragm condenser microphone that they use for the acoustic piano on occasion. I'll see if I can borrow it for a day. Otherwise, all I've got to work with is a Sennheiser e609. James mentions at 40:55 in the video that recommends using a small diaphragm condenser microphone.
 
I have both a tonedexter (original) and some Ultratonic equipped pickups.

First, for the Ultratonic installs I have done a couple myself. If you are reasonably handy, and follow the instructions, they are pretty straightforward. The upgrade should be even easier as the biggest issue I have had is getting the main sensor aligned properly with the saddle.

I really like the pickup I have a couple k&is as well and I prefer the Ultratonic and it is definitely more feedback resistant. Like all accoustic pickups the result vary depending on the guitar. That said, I am happy with all my installs compared to other pickups.

The tonedexter really helps piezo pickups. I had a misi pickup install that I couldn't stand and really liked it through the tonedexter. I have not been able to get the same tone quality through fractal and third party irs.

There is also a new tonedexter 2 coming out.

I have also had James help me directly through customer support and he is excellent although he sometimes takes a bit to get back to you.

Anyway another endorsement great products.
 
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@Ronrad can you comment on the tonal differences between the K&K and the Ultra Tonic pickups? Do you believe that they are worth the additional cost vs the K&K with a good EQ?
 
@OrganicZed they are all in different guitars so bit difficult to compare head to head but yes I think so. Particularly in a guitar that is feedback prone and very resonant.

You do have to spend the time to set the dip switches correctly they make a big difference.
 
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@OrganicZed I want to say a big thank you for sharing this!
I watched the entire video and found it quite interesting.

Like before I found Fractal, I had always hoped that someone could bring the technology to electric guitar.
Enter Fractal Audio Systems = my life had changed and will never be the same!
But I didn't expect it to come with all the effects, routing, editors, and endless choices we now have!

For over 40 years I have never been happy with the sound of any piezo amplified acoustic guitar.
Now I see James Mays seems to be at the top of this game.

I'm going to do more research on this.
I have a beautiful Maple Taylor 614CE that sounds great unplugged, but sounds crappy to me amplified.
I am very pickey with my tone.

Thanks man!!
 
@scottp James May seems to bring the same sort of mentality to acoustic amplification that Fractal has brought to the digital amp realm. These are simply engineering problems that can be solved with a solid scientific approach and a no compromises build specification.
 
Thank you for posting this, I wish I would have known about it earlier because I just got an instrument with a K&K. I'm pairing it with a Grace Bix preamp with good results. It allows me to dial out the boominess of the K&K. I'm also using a Nux Optima Air for modeling. I have one of our PA speakers at my house that I've been tweaking with but haven't played live with the set up. I may look at the K&K conversion option.

I'm currently using a Martin HD28 with a Fishman Aura VT Enhanced pickup in it and it sounds great live and it's really convenient to be able to go direct to the board. The other guitar player in our band has a Martin with a Fishman piezo system and there is a big difference in the way the guitars sound amplified. I won't use the K&K equipped guitar live until I can get it to sound the same or better than the Martin. It's close but not quite there yet.
 
Update: I installed the James May K&K conversion kit in my new acoustic and I have to say I'm impressed with the results. I've only used it at home but the boominess is gone and the tone of the instrument is much more balanced. I contacted James and he said the K&K conversion sounds identical to the regular pickup so I went that route. Next test is practice this week and if everything goes well, I'll play it at our gig next month. Thank you again for posting this!
 
ipressthebutton said:
Update: I installed the James May K&K conversion kit in my new acoustic and I have to say I'm impressed with the results. I've only used it at home but the boominess is gone and the tone of the instrument is much more balanced. I contacted James and he said the K&K conversion sounds identical to the regular pickup so I went that route. Next test is practice this week and if everything goes well, I'll play it at our gig next month. Thank you again for posting this!
Click to expand...
How hard was the install?
 
BBN said:
How hard was the install?
Click to expand...
I had someone install it for me but he said it was pretty easy. He said it took some time to try different combinations of the dip switches to get it dialed in to my guitar. He set it the way he thought sounded best but offered to have me come to the shop if I wasn't happy with the intial settings. Installation with some minor fret dressing ran ~$100.

It changed the tone as advertised, the guitar (dreadnought) is not overly bassy now and the mid/highs are clearer. It was a noticeable change over the K&K alone and I had to significantly adjust the settings on my Grace Bix. I haven't played at practice or gig levels but I had no issues with feedback at home and it was fairly loud and I was sitting right in front of the speaker. I'll also plug the Grace Bix, it is a great, compact preamp with a powerful EQ. The guitar with just the K&K sounded really good but the James May pickup really took it to the next level. More to come...
 
@ipressthebutton Thanks for revisiting this thread with your update. Here's my update:

I had the Ultra Tonic pickup system installed in my guitar by a local tech whom I have previously had do work for me. The installation process did not go particularly smoothly. The tech intentionally deviated from the very detailed installation instructions provided by James May and instead used a method that he uses for installing the K&K pickup. He destroyed the piezo element during the installation process. He called James May Engineering and James himself answered the phone. After explaining what he had done, James was very generous and offered to provide a replacement piezo element at no cost. My tech was impressed by the level of support. He also liked the sound and indicated that he would be recommending the pickup to future customers.

With the new element installed, I came to the shop and dialed in the dip switches to my liking. I think they provide a very good range of bass roll off. There was a range of three settings that were usable for suppressing feedback without neutering the low end. It is not that big of a deal to change the settings if I decide down the line that I need more feedback suppression. I'd say it would take about 10 minutes to change the settings and get it back to ready to play.

The tone is nice. It has no semblance of piezo quack and I would describe the raw tone as full and balanced. It does not have as much snap / attack as a traditional under saddle piezo pickup. For use in an ensemble I anticipate I would want to eq in some additional high end. The output of the pickup is pretty robust considering it is totally passive. When plugged into my Axe-FX III I simply boosted the signal at the input block and was easily able to get the levels I needed. The onboard volume control does not change the tone throughout its range as advertised. Unsurprisingly, the pickup is more sensitive to body noise than a regular UST piezo.

I purchased a used Sure SM81 microphone which I used to make tone matches of my guitar. The results are really impressive and I would highly recommend going this route. I also made tone matches using this setup for my other acoustic guitar which has a Fishman under saddle piezo transducer. The results with the UST guitar are good and offer a much more pleasing sound than the unprocessed pickup itself, but the realism provided by the combination of the Ultra Tonic pickup and a tone match is noticeably more true to the pure mic'd sound. The pickup is obviously playing a role in the equation.

I will also note that application of the Worship Tutorials tone matches to either guitar sounded worse than using the tone matches I made myself. However, the WT acoustic IRs sound great on the piezo signal of my PRS P22.

Overall, I'm happy with the results and would recommend the system.
 
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