Dazzo Information

[Vancebo]

Good post David. I think Teddy could indeed do himself a favor and make his website more user friendly, clear and automated for the average consumer to shop and place an order. He likes the personal touch and wants people to be happy. I say this knowing that he updated his website a couple days ago and I haven’t checked it out.

[sunnaudio]

Hi Folks,
Long time forum user... first time registering!
I want to jump in here and introduce ourselves.
We've been working with Teddy on new preamps that match up to the required impedance on the Dazzo pickups and the broad dynamic range they provide.
Sunny is the engineer and chief operator and can provide more technical specs on products.

I myself have worked with Teddy for the past 10 years with many R&D shootouts on various instruments, gigs and recordings since the inception of his pickup.
I have worked in the audio industry for the past 20 years, mostly doing audio mastering, lots of playing and recording. Now focusing my efforts on sunnaudio which is up and running with some new introductory products.
LD-1 Line Driver, TD-1 Tone Driver, and BL-1 Blender are now available.
https://sunnaudio.com/products/

We are also in the process of finalizing some floor DI's that have the tone driver EQ circuit with the latest improvements in tone, balance, and virtually no feedback at very high volumes.


Cheers,
Marc
sunnaudio.com

[Vancebo]

Hi Marc! Thanks for chiming in here and introducing yourself. I can’t wait to receive my line driver. I am sure I will be sharing with others my findings. Teddy told me you have an exceptional set of ears. Take that FWIW.

[Groberts]

Welcome Marc. Thanks for the great intro. Wish you much success. I’m sure the new preamp will be great.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by sunnaudio

Hi Folks,
Long time forum user... first time registering!
I want to jump in here and introduce ourselves.
We've been working with Teddy on new preamps that match up to the required impedance on the Dazzo pickups and the broad dynamic range they provide.
Sunny is the engineer and chief operator and can provide more technical specs on products.

I myself have worked with Teddy for the past 10 years with many R&D shootouts on various instruments, gigs and recordings since the inception of his pickup.
I have worked in the audio industry for the past 20 years, mostly doing audio mastering, lots of playing and recording. Now focusing my efforts on sunnaudio which is up and running with some new introductory products.
LD-1 Line Driver, TD-1 Tone Driver, and BL-1 Blender are now available.
https://sunnaudio.com/products/

We are also in the process of finalizing some floor DI's that have the tone driver EQ circuit with the latest improvements in tone, balance, and virtually no feedback at very high volumes.


Cheers,
Marc
sunnaudio.com

If I can make a suggestion, you should get on board with Teddy and update his website. Your company is mentioned on there but as a potential customer, I have no idea what my options are for internal preamps.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by Vancebo

Petty, I will try and answer your questions. Teddy is choosing not to define what pickup goes in a particular instrument. He wants to be able to advise you on what pickup to get for your particular guitar and use. Then if it doesn’t work then he will trade you for another version or give you your money back. I agree, his website is not clear and not very helpful. I will tell you, most acoustic flattops will work well with 60’s 70’s or 80’s. If you have a big Martin dread then I would lean toward the 60’s. If it is a smaller bodied guitar, then 80’s do best. 70’s is the go to for most acoustic applications.

He prefers epoxy for two reasons. First, he believes it sounds superior to tape and superglue. Lastly, during his installation process he has the ability to adjust the position of each piezo until it sounds correct. With the 6 minute epoxy, it gives him a couple of minutes of positioning. He places the first piezo with the bass string attached then adjusts until that bass string sounds natural. Then he does the same with only the treble string attached.

Glue is glue. I can imagine there is always going to be glue residue in the fibers of the wood. I just can’t see it there. He uses brake cleaner (carefully) to treat the residue and scrapes the loosened epoxy. He also may do a little sanding. I use epoxy remover gel. I have tested the use of epoxy and remover on a piece of lumber I have and the wood wood looks fine. Thought it was prudent to do that before I tried it in a guitar. I am just as concerned as anyone for using these products on their guitars. I don’t worry about it anymore.

I have successfully installed several of these and I even have a beater guitar that has had Dazzos installed and uninstalled several times simply to experiment with the effects of positioning and bass responses. I am sure you could use the same tape that trance uses. He claims that the sound will not be its best.

He now has worked with Sunaudio (Sonny is the original preamp developer for FRAP) to develop an onboard preamp. They have their final design ready to roll. He claims he likes it better than the Red Eye. They will also come out with an off board version. I have one one the way.

Good luck. Call Teddy and he will take care of you.

Thanks! I do like the face that the epoxy allows for tweaks. I guess it's really anyone's guess as to how much it gets into the wood though. I don't even really mind that, I would just hate to try the dazzo and then find that I don't like it and have issues with future installations of other pickups. I seem to remember reading once that someone had their luthier put some lacquer on the wood first before installing a K&K pickup. This eliminates the chance of the glue getting into the wood.

I did try the Trance Amulet M and never found a good tone with it so I am hesitant to go in a similar direction. However, I do tend to prefer Dazzo sound clips to the Amulet. I always find that the Amulet sounds a bit too thin.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by emmsone

Here's my input on the Dazzo's relating to your points

Superglue vs Epoxy : is one easier than the other? I would say no. Neither are complicated. Only real difference is you have to mix some epoxy yourself, superglue just comes straight out the bottle.
If you have a mirror and some battery led lights to go in the guitar while you are doing the install to keep your eye on whats going on that helps.
With the epoxy you can actually 'tweak' the install as the epoxy does not set hard for several minutes. This does mean you have to hold it in place slightly longer initially(vs superglue, but its still only a few minutes) and if you do try and move them slightly, be aware you will probably be automatically heavy handed with initial movements as its hard to be minimal when you can't see your hands, so a tip for any tweaking is, try and barely move them. If you put them where you want them to be the first time, great! With superglue (ie K&K/JJB) you put the pickups in, hold them in place, 30 seconds later you're done. But if you aren't as accurate as you'd like theres nothing you can do.
I think you could install then Dazzo's with superglue, tape, blue tac, double sided tape, etc as adhesive is adhesive, but clearly Dazzos were developed using epoxy and as such the resonance of the pickup works with the epoxy where it may not with an alternative.
Teddy didn't provide the epoxy, i got mine from the DIY shop, but there are some brands that he recommends above others, he might even supply some along with your order if you ask him to.

Install method : I installed my Dazzo's myself, did a couple of 'dry fits' without the glue and if you then know whats coming, its fairly straightforward.
I used the newest and now recommended "pointing through the bridge pins" method, I only have the one guitar with Dazzos in and only used this method so I can't compare to the previous version, I just went with what Teddy recommended, and it works. Personally I do think it makes more sense like this. I also think it actually enables easier installs as its easier to 'locate' the position when you have the pins to work with.
Theres no reason why, especially after some dry fit testing, you couldn't install these with a simple self made cardboard template a la K&K/JJB/Trance etc but you can go either way, template or no template and it should work both ways.


Bass responses : Its already been mentioned, but Teddy has several different bass responses available to suit your guitar, its not that he hasn't decided out which bass response is 'the one'. What I actually did after we had spoken was to send Teddy a good quality recording of the guitar and he came back with which response he recommended and that has fit perfectly. The ones he suggested very much match my guitars own responses.

I haven't had to remove the pickup (and hopefully won't have to), but the way epoxy holds means that you should be able to pop them off with good pressure under a corner from a razor blade.

Preamps/Mi-Si : I went for the Mi-Si option. Other than the fact i still haven't acquired a European charger plug for it yet and as such have to keep an international adapter with me, i'm quite happy with it. Personally I decided that I was going to do all my EQing with a mixer and couldn't afford and don't already have an external preamp. Having the Mi-Si means I don't need to worry so much about my impedance either, thats solved before the signal leaves the guitar. I go into the mixer via a passive DI box and an xlr cable mostly for conveniences sake.
I also find having the tone control is handy, its basically now set where I need it and hence I currently don't really use it that often, i've mounted it so its harder to reach but so i won't knock it accidentally when rolling volume up or down.

David

Thanks for that! I have some Amulet red tape lying around so I thought about potentially installing the Dazzo pickups with it. Even if they don't sound their best, it could be a good way to do a trial run in terms of the overall placement.

I do like the thought of the Misi set up but I am curious to know how the sunnaudio version works. I have seen some pics online and it looks similar to the Amulet MVT. I am just not sure if I want to go to the active route. One of the benefits of pickups like the Dazzo is that you don't have to worry about batteries.

It's too bad that there's no way to install the pickups, put the strings on and test the placement with the epoxy. Obviously this is not possible but it would really take the guess work out of the equation. I do like how adjustments can be made though. That's one thing I hated about the Amulet install. Although the tape was easy to pull off, I was never able to stick one on and then remove it and replace it with the same tape.

I think the new installation for the Dazzo does make me want to try it more. It seems to be a lot easier to get right than before. At least I would have a starting point.

As for the epoxy, I shouldn't worry too much. I remember a rig rundown that Thomas Leeb did a few years ago. He showed the inside of the guitar where the Dazzo was installed and the amount of glue on the bridge plate was insane. It looked as though he made no effort at all to remove the glue from previous installations of pickups like the K&K.

[Vancebo]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

Thanks for that! I have some Amulet red tape lying around so I thought about potentially installing the Dazzo pickups with it. Even if they don't sound their best, it could be a good way to do a trial run in terms of the overall placement.

I do like the thought of the Misi set up but I am curious to know how the sunnaudio version works. I have seen some pics online and it looks similar to the Amulet MVT. I am just not sure if I want to go to the active route. One of the benefits of pickups like the Dazzo is that you don't have to worry about batteries.

It's too bad that there's no way to install the pickups, put the strings on and test the placement with the epoxy. Obviously this is not possible but it would really take the guess work out of the equation. I do like how adjustments can be made though. That's one thing I hated about the Amulet install. Although the tape was easy to pull off, I was never able to stick one on and then remove it and replace it with the same tape.

I think the new installation for the Dazzo does make me want to try it more. It seems to be a lot easier to get right than before. At least I would have a starting point.

As for the epoxy, I shouldn't worry too much. I remember a rig rundown that Thomas Leeb did a few years ago. He showed the inside of the guitar where the Dazzo was installed and the amount of glue on the bridge plate was insane. It looked as though he made no effort at all to remove the glue from previous installations of pickups like the K&K.

Teddy taught me how to clean up the bridge plate pretty well. It takes a little patience and about 30 minutes of work is all.

I try to avoid plugging the Dazzo direct into an amp or mixer at all cost. Always better to use high quality cables and keep them short in length to an off board preamp.

[Br1ck]

I can see how I would come off as a sales pitch. I guess it is as I'd like more people to be happy with the sound of their guitars. A friend was having Dazzos put in two guitars, and since I had finished a repair on a Danelectro for him, it was convenient for me to drop it off, so I was just at his workshop.

Teddy has two on board pre amp options, volume only, and tone and volume. Both have the thumb wheels attached to the underside of the sound hole.I haven't heard either yet. I don't think he is using MiSi anymore as he has made something he likes better.

Since I have so many Dazzo equipped guitars, I'd be more inclined to use an out board pre amp when it becomes available, but since it will be so specifically impedance matched to Dazzos, doubt it will be a one sized fits all box with huge market potential. Sort of like his pickups. Teddy has a narrow focus regarding what he is doing.

Basically the installation is not rocket science, and Teddy has done so many guitars he is usually right in his recommendations. He will also talk to any tech directly. That I am four exits down the freeway from his shop is certainly a huge advantage for me that I take advantage of.

It's analogous to having a favorite pizza joint. It's so good, but I'm sure I might find better, but why would I want to eat a dozen lesser pizzas to find it, hence I eat the same great pizza over and over.

I realize most don't geek out on tone, but it kills me to listen to someone who is not aware ALL piezos need a proper impedance match to sound good, and a lot of K&K owners just read up, jump on the bandwagon and have them installed, and their techs never tell them it is just half the equation. Once again, K&Ks can sound very good, are a great value, but need help.

But their owners are often asking the sound guy to roll off the harsh highs they hear through their monitors. I'm about to buy two pres to use at an open mic for just these folks because I can't stand the loss of potential.

And don't get me started on all the undersaddle pickups through cheap onboard electrics put into $300 guitars.

Jaded? You bet I am. LOL

[sunnaudio]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

If I can make a suggestion, you should get on board with Teddy and update his website. Your company is mentioned on there but as a potential customer, I have no idea what my options are for internal preamps.

Thanks for the nice welcome everyone!
Regarding Teddy's website (petty1818), I will be helping him with it and hopefully get the essentials squared away.
Please contact him if you have questions or concerns.
I can help answer some questions too - I will be reading through here from time to time and seeing what's going on.
Cheers!

[Vancebo]

Went to the sunnaudio website and checked out the sound samples again. They are very good. The Tone Driver I guess is the one for me. The one with Bass/Treble/Volume knobs.

[sunnaudio]

Sunnaudio preamps are designed to be compatible with the majority of the popular piezo transducers in the market. The preamps also have optional configurations to support magnetic transducers and bias for active internal mics as well.

[Br1ck]

OK guys, in the quest for knowledge and all the free time I have(retired) I visited Teddy Randazzo's place this afternoon and got a demo of the sunnaudio preamp. It was a prototype of a product in the works and it was audibly warmer and more wide band than the RedEye. I talked to the designer over the phone who said the low end extension was greater.

Anyway, it had an effects loop, volume and two tone controls. A very classy sounding box that will be priced in the RedEye zone. Thinking seriously of getting one made.

[Vancebo]

That’s great news Br1ck. He is very excited about the new preamps. My onboard version is in the mail.

[Groberts]

Does the onboard version has soundhole Vol/Tone? I am guessing an internal battery pouch as well?