FINALLY: My First Trance Audio Amulet Pickup

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

I've gotten good-sounding tone with overall clamping pressure on the Amulets as applied by lightweight C-clamps. I've yet to try Gary Hull's selective-area clamping method but will and I'm sure I'll achieve even better amplified tone by doing so.

I agree that the M-VT (Volume-Tone Wheeled sound-hole module) is a worthwhile option as it enables a player to achieve good tone within seconds and can greatly lessen dependence on outboard EQ/preamp devices. Usually, any additional EQ that may be needed can be supplied by that resident on an acoustic guitar amp or a mixing board.

I think one thing that could be improved overall is the clamping set up that Trance supplies with their pickups. The clamps are quite small, are difficult to work with and to be honest, I don't think they fully provide an even dispersion of pressure. I tightened mine a bit more than I normally would so the transducers were very snug but there's a chance that I was off a bit. I am going to try one more install but this time I will clean the surface and I want to try your C clamp method.

[Doug Young]

I have had several Trance systems installed using the Barge cement (installs done by Gryphon), and I have several now installed with tape. It was too many years apart to claim I can A/B the sound, but one measure is that neither of my Barge cemented installs lasted - I gave up on them and removed the pickups. I think all 3 guitars I have with tape sound excellent. The cement installs were the stereo system, which you would think would be "better", but for what it's worth, I think the Trance M system with the tape sounds better.

Gary would be the one who knows best here - I imagine he has AB'd the tape vs glue - but to me, the tape sounds at least as good, and makes for a trivially easy install. I have not experienced the difficult installs people are reporting, sticking the pickups on with tape is really easy. I use 2 clamps, so I can clamp both pickups at once, let sit overnight and it's ready to go. Much easier (and less stressfull) than hovering over your guitar with glue. It is important to get the pickups sitting flat and square on the sound-board - it's easy to rock them slightly which won't result in good conduction. And of course, as I found out in my first installation attempt, the bridge plate must be clean and not have been exposed to superglue.

You can definitely tweak if you want to (a big pro), and I have moved the pickups several times in one guitar (the one I used in the ToneDexter demo I did), but that's due to obsessing, not that it sounded "bad" before. It's so easy to do, the temptation is just there...

One thing to note is that variation in results comes with the territory with SBTs. Any SBT is inherently going to work better in some guitars than others - and that's without accounting for personal taste. (Actually, that's probably true of all pickup types.) We have lots of different guitars, lots of different pickups, lots of different ears. Different people are going to like different combinations.

I'm especially happy with the Trance thru ToneDexter. My latest Trance install, in my Ryan Mission (which had a Barge-cemented Trance at one point), sounds really good to me, especially with ToneDexter, better than the Hamblin I used in the TD demo video.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by TranceAudioInc

Hello, everyone! I’ve got some specific and general comments on this thread...

Martingitdave: I'm curious if you ever contacted us about the difficulties with your installation. If we did talk about your guitar and situation, I'm sure that we would have had a number of questions about your installation experience and your particular instrument, and probably would have been able to make some suggestions that would help produce a better result for you. I'm not seeing anything in your posts here (or in our phone logs) to suggest this has happened. I see that you created a chart at one point where you listed our system as an extremely difficult installation based on your experiences, although others have chimed in to disagree.

Now, if you did call and we were unable to help you with your installation troubles, then I am truly sorry, and I would stress here that this is not the typical experience our customers have. Even though you have moved on from owning a system, I would still really like to hear from you to discuss your experience in the hope that we could understand what might have gone wrong, and potentially improve our installation instructions.

Petty1818: I think you might have emailed us a while back (maybe when planning on purchasing a volume/tone wheel assembly?) and that we made a number of attempts since then via email to get you to call us or allow us to call you so that we could help you with your installation but for whatever reason, we have not been able to reach you.

In recent posts you mentioned that you still don't have what you consider to be a satisfactory sound with your installation, and that you have a hiss when you turn up the system (these symptoms are most likely related). However, we don't have anything in our recent phone logs that would suggest you’ve contacted us, although I've noticed you previously mentioned that you were planning to call us; we’d be happy to hear from you!

In our experience, customers who have difficulty getting a good sound from their installation often have missed or misunderstood a part of the instructions, or may have decided to improvise/improve part or all of the installation following advice from others, or have a mechanical problem with their instrument that can often be easily corrected by them or a local repairperson. Usually they will try a reinstall (possibly repeating the same unintentional mistakes), continue to get poor results until they run out of the adhesive and end up being incredibly frustrated. We can help diagnose these problems (no judgment), and have a good success rate in doing so when our customers run into trouble.

But in order for this to happen, YOU NEED TO CONTACT US.

I know I've said this here before, but I'll repeat it again:
We're here to help you.

It's very important to us that our customers are happy with their system, and we will do what we can to solve any difficulties, but we won't know about any problems unless you actually contact us.

There's just not enough time for us to monitor the forums, and we've been lucky to have customers and business associates call or email to notify us when they see something that needs to be addressed. (Many thanks to you!)

You can call us at: 831/688-9699 and email us at: [email protected]

I'd like to take this time to wish everyone Happy Holidays, and thank all of our wonderful customers for another amazing year (24 and counting!) here at Trance.

(By the way, we have something coming very soon in the New Year that's really cool, so keep an eye on our Facebook page and website!)

Hey Gary,

I will be on Christmas break for two weeks starting next Monday. I will hopefully have a chance to call and sort this out. I think the frustrating part is that I followed the instructions to the point where I would read each step over 2-3 three times before even moving to the next. I felt as though I was fairly thorough with it all. As you know, the process is not overly quick so it's difficult to sit down and try it again.

I do believe that the hiss is most likely a result of a transducer not being fully secured to the top. It could account for the lack of bass and thin/bright tone. Hopefully my next install yields better results.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

I have had several Trance systems installed using the Barge cement (installs done by Gryphon), and I have several now installed with tape. It was too many years apart to claim I can A/B the sound, but one measure is that neither of my Barge cemented installs lasted - I gave up on them and removed the pickups. I think all 3 guitars I have with tape sound excellent. The cement installs were the stereo system, which you would think would be "better", but for what it's worth, I think the Trance M system with the tape sounds better.



Gary would be the one who knows best here - I imagine he has AB'd the tape vs glue - but to me, the tape sounds at least as good, and makes for a trivially easy install. I have not experienced the difficult installs people are reporting, sticking the pickups on with tape is really easy. I use 2 clamps, so I can clamp both pickups at once, let sit overnight and it's ready to go. Much easier (and less stressfull) than hovering over your guitar with glue. It is important to get the pickups sitting flat and square on the sound-board - it's easy to rock them slightly which won't result in good conduction. And of course, as I found out in my first installation attempt, the bridge plate must be clean and not have been exposed to superglue.



You can definitely tweak if you want to (a big pro), and I have moved the pickups several times in one guitar (the one I used in the ToneDexter demo I did), but that's due to obsessing, not that it sounded "bad" before. It's so easy to do, the temptation is just there...



One thing to note is that variation in results comes with the territory with SBTs. Any SBT is inherently going to work better in some guitars than others - and that's without accounting for personal taste. (Actually, that's probably true of all pickup types.) We have lots of different guitars, lots of different pickups, lots of different ears. Different people are going to like different combinations.



I'm especially happy with the Trance thru ToneDexter. My latest Trance install, in my Ryan Mission (which had a Barge-cemented Trance at one point), sounds really good to me, especially with ToneDexter, better than the Hamblin I used in the TD demo video.

Doug, what do you use to make the jig? Cardboard?

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Doug, what do you use to make the jig? Cardboard?

I used cardboard for the first several I installed. It'd be nice to find something of consistently the right quality - some cardboard works better than others. The most recent installs, I didn't use a template, I just reached in a stuck them in place, looking at the placement using a mirror. I'd certainly recommend following the instructions exactly, but once you've done a few, the template seems less necessary, to me at least. My first installs, tho, the template was handy for experimenting, I made several, with minor variations (closer to the bridge pins, further away, etc), and that made it easier to be sure I was really moving them the way I intended.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

I used cardboard for the first several I installed. It'd be nice to find something of consistently the right quality - some cardboard works better than others. The most recent installs, I didn't use a template, I just reached in a stuck them in place, looking at the placement using a mirror. I'd certainly recommend following the instructions exactly, but once you've done a few, the template seems less necessary, to me at least. My first installs, tho, the template was handy for experimenting, I made several, with minor variations (closer to the bridge pins, further away, etc), and that made it easier to be sure I was really moving them the way I intended.

Thank you Doug. I’m debating dipping my toe in the water again. However I have a K&K in my current guitars. I’d have to do some sanding. :-)

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Thank you Doug. I’m debating dipping my toe in the water again. However I have a K&K in my current guitars. I’d have to do some sanding. :-)

I tried that and failed, Gary told me no reasonable amount of sanding would work. I know Maury has been successful on his guitars.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

I tried that and failed, Gary told me no reasonable amount of sanding would work. I know Maury has been successful on his guitars.

Ah, then I shall practice my zen attitude and be content with what I have. I’m strongly considering the Tonedexter in the future. I’m actually having some modest success with the K&K and Zoom AC-2 DI. Works well for my 6 and 12 string guitars. Not the audiophile quality stuff we are discussing here, but it’s working. Meh. :-)

[Petty1818]

Random question, but has anyone ever tried installing the K&K pure mini with the Amulet M red tape? The red tape is so thin that I would think it would work well with the K&K transducers, especially if the same clamping method was applied.

[Charmed Life Picks]

Hey I was at an open mic the other night and my battery was dead in the Trance unit. Is this a common problem? I hadn't played this particular guitar in a couple months.

Thanks,
Scott

[SalFromChatham]

Hi. New Amulet VT owner via a Gibson AJ.

Any new consensus on these pickups?

Thanks...

[BT55]

I’ve installed quite a few pickups in acoustic guitars. From K&K’s to Elements to Anthems. I’ve always researched the best procedure before starting any installation. I never had to remove and reinstall a single one. I have not installed an Amulet. After reading the experiences of the respondents I doubt that I will recommend one. I’m sure that the installers did their research and followed the instructions. To read this many installation problems tells me that the installation instructions are “faulty” or that there is a problem with the product.

[MaurysMusic]

Originally Posted by BT55

I’ve installed quite a few pickups in acoustic guitars. From K&K’s to Elements to Anthems. I’ve always researched the best procedure before starting any installation. I never had to remove and reinstall a single one. I have not installed an Amulet. After reading the experiences of the respondents I doubt that I will recommend one. I’m sure that the installers did their research and followed the instructions. To read this many installation problems tells me that the installation instructions are “faulty” or that there is a problem with the product.

I can’t speak for those people who’ve had problems, but I’ve instakked many, many amulets and in my professional experience, the installation instructions are not faulty & the product is top tier. My .02 of course.

[MaurysMusic]

Originally Posted by Charmed Life Picks

Hey I was at an open mic the other night and my battery was dead in the Trance unit. Is this a common problem? I hadn't played this particular guitar in a couple months.

Thanks,
Scott

I’ve been hugging regularly with mine, and haven’t noticed any battery issues —for what it’s worth.

[Petty1818]

My take is that you either love the tone or hate it. I ripped mine out recently as I was sick of trying to make it sound good. The problem for me is that the amulet has this distinct high end presence and piezo quality that I just don’t like. I hear it with almost every demo I find and I even hear it with professional musicians like Paul Simon. I am kind of surprised that no one ever mentions this. It’s a bright pickup, even with adjustments made to placement. There’s just something about it that’s hard to work with.

As a comparison, I just installed a schatten hfn and the tone is much warmer, woodier and with a nice clarity and low end. It is installed exactly where I had the amulet so not sure why the amulet was so bright.