I've been gigging with Jason Flores' invention, the Krivo pickup, for about a year. I was using a piezo under the bridge foot on the upright, which worked ok, but I had one really bad experience with subsonic wind noise playing outside. I usually play through a small Gallien Krueger for some on-state sound, then run a lineout through the main board. I could see the wind induced microphonics on the piezo driving the mains crazy. Later, I had a "fragility" problem and lost a lead on the piezo.Time for a new pickup and I was tired of babying my tube preamp in the outdoor gigs where it rains just a little. Time for a magnetic pickup! Jason sells the Krivo on Ebay once in a while, and I was lucky enough to pick one up.
The sound is great - very high output so using a preamp is not required at all. This is a solid humbucking pickup - no noise problems as long as you follow the installation directions and ground the strings together down near the tailpiece.
I've had a minor retention problem with the jack (my big feet stepping on my own cord) which I usually resolve with gaffers tape to make sure I don't unplug during a set. I love this pickup and since it velcro's to your fingerboard, if you DO NOT love it, you're not looking at screw holes and other repairs to remove it. In fact, I have a single pickup which I switch back and forth between my 3/4 and 1/2 plywood Framus uprights. Check him out at http://myspace.com/krivopickupsj
