Sunnaudio MS-2 Review/Demo - Page 2

Cuki79 · #16 10-16-2020, 11:56 PM

Aaron, before you send it back, use the separate FX loop to bring some IR to the K&K and add a true stereo reverb Plugin on the recording as Doug Young does with his Ventris.

Then grab your jaw from the floor.

Lol
Cuki

PS:Could you achieve the same with the EAE stompmix 4? of course it is digital But the features are similar (apart from the M-S decoding and dip switch modding) for like half of the price.

Petty1818 · #17 10-17-2020, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

Thanks. It took me back a little!! Great tone. The K&K has been impressing me lately. I just wish it wasn’t installed with glue. That’s another reason I’m interested in the Trance now.

The glue is a letdown but I just haven’t been blown away by the Amulet. It has a distinct tone that I am not in love with.

Br1ck · #18 10-17-2020, 02:36 PM

I don't get the reluctance to glue pickups on. I've seen Teddy Randazzo pop off K&Ks and have the glue residue cleaned off in minutes. Heck, I took one guitar back with the epoxy glued Dazzos, and he popped those off and cleaned and reglued another set in easily.

Petty1818 · #19 10-17-2020, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Br1ck

I don't get the reluctance to glue pickups on. I've seen Teddy Randazzo pop off K&Ks and have the glue residue cleaned off in minutes. Heck, I took one guitar back with the epoxy glued Dazzos, and he popped those off and cleaned and reglued another set in easily.

Some people have found that the superglue gets into the wood and makes it difficult to get the best out of other systems when installed (Amulet). For me, glue is a worry because I do a lot of the installations myself. It might be easy for Teddy to remove pickups but in my case, I am not a big fan of having to try and rip off glued in pickups. As you know, placement with SBT’s can be a bit of an experiment. The hesitation with the Dazzo for example is installing it, finding out something is not right and having to then take the pickups off without damaging them and then remove the glue residue.

Doug Young · #20 10-17-2020, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Br1ck

I don't get the reluctance to glue pickups on. I've seen Teddy Randazzo pop off K&Ks and have the glue residue cleaned off in minutes. Heck, I took one guitar back with the epoxy glued Dazzos, and he popped those off and cleaned and reglued another set in easily.

My aversion to super glue started when I found that it wasn't possible to clean it off well enough to install pickups like Trance over. The superglue can be cleaned off to look perfectly clean, but even with sanding afterwards, the Trance pickups don't adhere well enough to sound right - even if you use Barge cement instead of the tape. Tells me that the superglue has had a deeper effect on the wood, which is what Gary at Trance explains. It's not that I wouldn't do it, but does give me pause, and makes me ask if I'm sure that out of all the great pickup options out there, do I really want the only one that requires superglue? SBTs especially are a gamble, every guitar is different, so you never know if it's really going to work. With superglue, you're a bit more committed than with other choices.

I've had Teddy remove both K&Ks and his pickups multiple times, and yes, it's easy, tho the idea of soaking the bridge plate with brake cleaner doesn't exactly get me excited....

rockabilly69 · #21 10-17-2020, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Young

SBTs especially are a gamble, every guitar is different, so you never know if it's really going to work.

The most true statement I've ever read on this forum!

Br1ck · #22 10-18-2020, 02:20 PM

I guess my perspective is never wanting to remove Dazzos except the one time we thought a set might be too bassy, but decided to test it in the real world, so we ended up with a different set.
Six guitars so far, but I'm not chasing the Grail. Very good will do.

Doug Young · #23 10-18-2020, 02:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Br1ck

I guess my perspective is never wanting to remove Dazzos except the one time we thought a set might be too bassy, but decided to test it in the real world, so we ended up with a different set.
Six guitars so far, but I'm not chasing the Grail. Very good will do.

I've been thru so many sets with Teddy, partly because I started with him very early. We'd try different things, some worked well, some didn't. He always wanted to upgrade as he made improvements and I was happy to let him experiment and tweak to dial things in, so even when things sounded good, he'd be the one saying, I think I can find a better match for that guitar, and off we'd go with yet another set. The current set in my Martin seems darn near perfect, but it was down to even two different wood casings (sassafrass and cocobolo) for the pickups to where Teddy was happy with them.

Vancebo · #24 10-19-2020, 08:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by meb

I have not tried the MS-2 or Felix, BUT I tried the Alix and returned it; I tried
the Bix and returned it. I have been using the sunnaudio Stage DI for
about 3 years now. To my ear, the Stage has a more full-bodied and naturally
detailed presentation than the Alix or Bix. I wonder how the sibling
comparison translates to the big brothers......

I have a Stage DI and an MS-2. They sound the same but with added features. I believe on the MS-2 there is more adjustment capability in the Treble and Bass knobs.

Vancebo · #25 10-20-2020, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Young

I've been thru so many sets with Teddy, partly because I started with him very early. We'd try different things, some worked well, some didn't. He always wanted to upgrade as he made improvements and I was happy to let him experiment and tweak to dial things in, so even when things sounded good, he'd be the one saying, I think I can find a better match for that guitar, and off we'd go with yet another set. The current set in my Martin seems darn near perfect, but it was down to even two different wood casings (sassafrass and cocobolo) for the pickups to where Teddy was happy with them.

We got lucky with my D18 Modern Deluxe with the carbon fiber bridge plate. He tried 60's in Cherry and tucked them in tightly near the bridge pins and now it is the best plugged in sounding guitar I own.

Br1ck · #26 10-20-2020, 01:43 PM

I have the first set of 50s in my D 35, and a mix and match set in my Texan. I think that was 70/60 set. For certain. the Dazzos and SunnAudio is a great combination.

Petty1818 · #27 10-20-2020, 07:34 PM

I have to be honest, the more I hear about Dazzo installations, the more I want to just avoid it. It sounds like those of you who love the pickup were able to meet with Teddy and have him install it and it doesn't really sound like it was a quick process. I think that's another reason why glue can be a pain. It just doesn't make me feel all that excited to install a Dazzo, find that the tone is off a bit and then have to use brake cleaner to get it off.

Doug Young · #28 10-20-2020, 07:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I have to be honest, the more I hear about Dazzo installations, the more I want to just avoid it. It sounds like those of you who love the pickup were able to meet with Teddy and have him install it and it doesn't really sound like it was a quick process. I think that's another reason why glue can be a pain. It just doesn't make me feel all that excited to install a Dazzo, find that the tone is off a bit and then have to use brake cleaner to get it off.

It doesn't have to be a pain. The reason I've had a lot of installs is because Teddy was doing it, and he's a perfectionist and experimenter. This is the same thing that comes up with the Trance. Everyone gets scared by people talking about tweaking the placement. You do it because you can. With K&Ks, you stick them on, and you're done, there's no going back, no fine tuning the placement. You're either happy or you're not. With Trance, you often end up saying "that sounds really good! So good, that I wonder if I can do even better...". I wouldn't personally do that with Dazzo's because it's not as easy, but Teddy would. He has lots of different models. So you try one, and it's "man that sound good!, I wonder if it would sound even better with a 60 on top and a 70 on the bottom? Or maybe a cocobolo casing would bring out the sparkle a bit more?" and so on. But you don't have to, you could treat them like K&Ks, pop them in the recommended spot and go play, and they'd sound good. All you do is glue them onto the saddle line, the same as every other SBT.

Vancebo · #29 10-21-2020, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug Young

It doesn't have to be a pain. The reason I've had a lot of installs is because Teddy was doing it, and he's a perfectionist and experimenter. This is the same thing that comes up with the Trance. Everyone gets scared by people talking about tweaking the placement. You do it because you can. With K&Ks, you stick them on, and you're done, there's no going back, no fine tuning the placement. You're either happy or you're not. With Trance, you often end up saying "that sounds really good! So good, that I wonder if I can do even better...". I wouldn't personally do that with Dazzo's because it's not as easy, but Teddy would. He has lots of different models. So you try one, and it's "man that sound good!, I wonder if it would sound even better with a 60 on top and a 70 on the bottom? Or maybe a cocobolo casing would bring out the sparkle a bit more?" and so on. But you don't have to, you could treat them like K&Ks, pop them in the recommended spot and go play, and they'd sound good. All you do is glue them onto the saddle line, the same as every other SBT.

I installed a fellow forum members Dazzos myself. We documented it here. He was very happy with it. But when Teddy visited through this area Teddy insisted he try it again and made it better. We thought it was good to begin with.

Vancebo · #30 10-21-2020, 07:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I have to be honest, the more I hear about Dazzo installations, the more I want to just avoid it. It sounds like those of you who love the pickup were able to meet with Teddy and have him install it and it doesn't really sound like it was a quick process. I think that's another reason why glue can be a pain. It just doesn't make me feel all that excited to install a Dazzo, find that the tone is off a bit and then have to use brake cleaner to get it off.

It’s not a pain. If you talk to Teddy about the process, you will get happy results. Once they are on, and you think there is too much this or not enough that, call him up for recommendations and try again. Popping them off undamaged is easy. Cleaning the glue with a razor, epoxy remover and a cloth is 15 minutes. I have installed most of my sets and been happy. Only adjusted or swapped out a couple. Remember one size fits all doesn’t exist. These actually have flexibility to adjust to your ears, gear, usage, needs, etc. I am not sure you can say that about too many pickups on the market. In my experience and observations with Teddy, if he is not perfectly happy with it, the time it takes to remove and reinstall has indeed been worth it. Even when I thought it wasn’t necessary. If I have installed 15 of these, only two I have installed again. Teddy has reinstalled a couple for me because he thought he could make it better when I thought it was already good.

I realize I hijacked this thread. Those Sunnaudio preamps are the dream. I am requesting a single channel version of the MS-2 someday. I think it will be a price point more people can buy into. You won’t get the mid side feature, but not many including myself will use that. Well, never say never.