Is my K&K Pure Mini installed incorrectly?
 

A couple of years ago I had a Pure Mini installed in my Eastman dread ahead of a first amplified gig as a I needed a way to plug in to the PA. I wasn't sure if I would continue playing more shows and it worked well at the time for the price.

Now I am playing monthly and while the pickup has served me well compared to another band members plinky sounding mag pickup, I've really started to notice some string volume imbalances. For solos I have to overcompensate with a boost pedal because the B and e strings are significantly quieter than the rest. It's clear looking at the meters on our mixer playing from string to string as well. I switched from an impedance matched tuner pedal to the K&K preamp and the overall sound definitely improved but the balance issue is still there.

I had it installed at what was the most recommended shop to me in Denver, but recently I decided to take a look at the inside and could see that the installation doesn't exactly match up with what I saw recommeded in other threads here. Could this be part of the balance issue or is this basically a normal installation?

Recommendations in Denver for future pickup installs?

https://i.imgur.com/y6c2XSJ.jpg

The transducers are not installed in their optimal locations and the transducer lead should NOT touch the brace. I doubt they used the installation jig which would ensure correct placement. No idea how close to centered under the saddle the transducers are.

It appears that the tech used their best guess when positioning them.

Thanks for your response, I thought it might be the case.

They should not be touching the bracing at all.
HE

Not sure what the white substance is. Is it hard? If not it might be something he used to hold the elements to his fingertip when placing them. I use double face tape or putty on a jig I made for this and sometimes some residue sticks to the element. Once the glue sets I just peel it off. The location of the discs is a bit uneven but these things are pretty forgiving. If it sounds good it probably is but I think I'd choose someone else if I wanted another one installed.

Update: Looking at this again I have to say this is a really sloppy installation. Not only are the elements not located properly between the pins, they're not even in a straight line. No way are they located evenly under the saddle. The excess glue is the least of the problems. While these pickups are forgiving there's a limit. Years ago a friend ran into a similar problem with a very well respected luthier in our area. Brilliant in every way he was just not familiar with installing these pickups.

Here are the installation instructions for the Pure pickup… https://static1.squarespace.com/stat...plasticjig.pdf

The transducers should be positioned directly under the saddle - i.e. to the front of the bridge, not rearwards of the pins. I’m not sure from the pic if they are ahead of, or behind, the pin holes. There should be one transducer between strings 6 and 5, one between strings 4 and 3, and the remaining transducer should be in line with the 1st string (to prevent the 2nd overpowering).

Thanks Adrian, I appreciate you taking a look. The white stuff is soft and tacky, I am assuming it was used to stick the elements to some jig or maybe just his finger like you mention.

I brought it back to the shop and they were skeptical but agreed to take another look.

Maybe far from cosmetic perfection and not an ideal placement of the leads, but certainly good enough to sound fine. Weak plain strings for soloing is one of the shortcomings of a SBT. Magnetic will solve that problem with its own deficits. I once make an IR using a magnetic pickup, instead of a mic, as its target to be used for solos hoping it would fatten up the plain strings.

The fore/aft location is easy to verify because of the X brace location in the photo, as well as the ball end / pin location.

looks like they left the putty on 2 of the pickups. I did mine myself on my Martin 00L-17 the jig was to tight to the bracing on the treble and bass side so I did those without it. im a little close to the string ball on the treble side, and closer to the B string. The other two were placed in the right spot. When I plugged her in she sounds pretty good. a little weird not having an EQ to dial it in. How does yours sound?

Ha! Why didn’t I notice that! Thanks…