K&K Twin Spot vs Aloha Spot in tenor ukulele

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atstockland

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I'm curious what the difference is between the K&K twin spot and K&K aloha spot...and, if the Aloha is designed for ukuleles...then why do high end builders choose to use the Twin Spot in their ukes? Anyone have any guidelines why choose one over the other?
 
Turns out they are the same pickup! The Aloha Spot has shorter wires better suited to smaller instruments. The Twin Spot, although not advertised for ukes, is better suited for tenor and barratone ukes due to the longer wires. This info is from an email reply I got from K&K.
 
I always thought the Twin Spot had two soundboard transducer pickups and the Aloha Spot only had one?
 
I've used 3 different models from K & K and they all work well in my ukuleles. I fitted the Twin transducers in Tenors & Baritones and the Single transducer in a Concert, the performance is very good. I do recommend the use of an external Preamp for best results.
 

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As Campbell said; use a preamp with K&K. K&K are passive pickups vs a Misi which is an active pickup.

I also bought a volume control wheel with the last K&K I bought. It fits inside the sound hole to control the volume. Since it was an archtop with f holes; we located the wheel inside the side soundport. It makes it so much easier switching between rhythm and lead riffs. Will never install a pickup again without a volume control.
 
I have a Twin Spot in one tenor uke and a Aloha Spot in another tenor uke.....As mentioned in previous posts they both sound the same to me, however the Twin Spot has longer lead wires that had to be zip tied together inside the body so they did not bounce around.

I also purchase a K & K belt mounted Pre Amp which really helped with tone and volume.....Both pick ups have two transducers that stick to the inside of the sound board underneath the bridge that are supposed to placed between the G and C strings and between the E and A strings.

I have had a Misi under the saddle pick up, but my personal opinion is that it mutes the volume of the ukulele between the saddle and bridge when not amplified.
 
I had asked Aaron Keim this question. He stated the Aloha was a twin spot voiced for the higher pitch of a ukulele and that in his opinion, many ukes sounded too shrill with one. He recommended the twin-spot. I took his advice but haven't installed it yet.
 
Brad Donaldson recommended the Twin Spot when he built my concert uke, and I got a K&K Pure preamp to go along with it.

I don't use the preamp when I do an open mic with a DI box, but always use it between the uke and mixer when I gig, in combination with a condenser instrument mic.

I agree, the literature from K&K shows the only difference between the Twinspot and Aloha is the cable length.

-Kurt​
 
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