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  #1  
Old 11-30-2019, 06:40 AM
capefisherman capefisherman is offline
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Default OK, I get it. Dazzo content

After reading the glowing reports here I went ahead and ordered a set of Dazzo's (two of the pick-up units for guitar, as recommended, #70). Here's my experience.

First of all, I am pretty obsessed with tone. Although I know a good quality mic is the best option this is just not practical for me as I play a wide variety of gigs and must have a pick-up equipped guitar due to space limitations and many other issues.

For the last ten years I've had my regular guitar tech (Martin, Taylor, Gibson and Fender certified; he is a magician as far as I'm concerned!) install about two dozen K&K's in various guitars. I always use a RedEye pre-amp and presently am running through an ACUS OneForStrings 8, which I love.

But.... although I can't find any info to support this, I am convinced that K&K has changed their design. For one thing, the pick-ups themselves look entirely different than the thin, white wafer-like contact pick-ups they used to use. The upshot is that the last two Martins I've had the newer K&K's installed in didn't sound nearly as good as my older ones. I'm confident this was not an installation issue, my guy is VERY experienced with K&K's. So it was time to try something new in my recently purchased Martin M-36.

Teddy at Dazzo was great about answering my questions and even quickly refunded my money when I mistakenly hit the "buy" button for his pre-amp.

However, Dazzo's website is something that looks like it was done in the year 2000, difficult to navigate and somewhat confusing. Also, when the two pick-ups arrived that was it: just the two pick-ups with wires attached, no connected end jack as with K&K. So I had to buy the jack from them - no big deal but it seems for what they charge for their units the jack should be attached. My guitar tech did that but he commented that the wires are VERY thin and somewhat difficult to solder in the right places on the jack.

But here's the good part. Running the rig I mentioned above, the sound is fantastic, even and quiet across the board and as close to the sound of a mic as I've heard, better than the older K&K's. Plus of course, no batteries to worry about.

So if you're considering a new pick-up I heartily recommend the Dazzo system. Know that you will need to do some soldering to connect a jack. Even though the linked YT video on the Dazzo site goes into great detail on pick-up placement I couldn't find anywhere that either showed or described the soldering process. Maybe I just missed that.....

Looking forward to putting my new Dazzo-equipped M-36 through its paces at my regular cafe gig tomorrow!
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Old 11-30-2019, 10:14 AM
Ken Carr Ken Carr is offline
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Let us know how the Dazzo pickup worked out for you in performance. I am considering getting a new pickup to replace the Lyric in my main guitar. I am leaning towards the Dazzo or the Schatten HFN. I would like to know myself if anyone has tried both of these and how they compare.
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Old 11-30-2019, 12:32 PM
Gordon Currie Gordon Currie is offline
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Congrats on the Dazzo install. They are truly a high quality SBT.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Carr View Post
I am considering getting a new pickup to replace the Lyric in my main guitar. I am leaning towards the Dazzo or the Schatten HFN. I would like to know myself if anyone has tried both of these and how they compare.
Dazzo and Schatten both have a similar sound profile to me - slightly microphone-like, airy, 3D. I would give the Dazzo a small edge but it is difficult to compare directly and meaningfully. I think because they are more alike than different, most people will decide based on price (Dazzo is more expensive) or install ease (Schatten is easier for self-install and for removing and reinstallation).
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Old 11-30-2019, 01:17 PM
jwellsy jwellsy is offline
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What internal mic pickup would complement a Dazzo in a jumbo guitar, in low volume applications?
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Old 11-30-2019, 01:36 PM
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Mbroady Mbroady is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ken Carr View Post
Let us know how the Dazzo pickup worked out for you in performance. I am considering getting a new pickup to replace the Lyric in my main guitar. I am leaning towards the Dazzo or the Schatten HFN. I would like to know myself if anyone has tried both of these and how they compare.
I have not tried the Dazzo but I have replaced a K&K with an HFN. The K&K that was removed was part of a dual source set up (Mini & Mic). So I have the HFN running through the onboard K&K pre-amp which combines the HFN and the K&K mic. IN addition, I have the onboard separate EQ for each source. I do find the HFN to have a more airy acoustic sound then the K&K but I do add a small bit of low end. When Blending the HFN with a bit of mic it sounds absolutely stellar.

On a side note. At first the HFN was well balanced. But after about 3 weeks I lost some volume on the Lower end. I assume the tape did not stick well. I will be removing and reinstalling with putty in a couple of days.
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Old 11-30-2019, 06:33 PM
Vancebo Vancebo is offline
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I am a committed Dazzo user for a few years now. Once I got trained by Teddy himself, I got pretty comfortable installing the pickups myself. He has got his installation procedure down pretty well. As long as you have the right bass response to your liking the mids are always warm and the treble is clear and not harsh or brittle. There is nothing not to like unless you want an electric sound.

He knows that his website is not the greatest. He wants to encourage people to call him so he can make sure they are happy. The whole endpin thing is a bit confusing. He would of had that attached if ordered that way. He is just a one man operation making pickups and answering the phone and repairing and rebuilding cars on the side. Excellent mechanic too.
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Old 11-30-2019, 07:27 PM
guitarman68 guitarman68 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jwellsy View Post
What internal mic pickup would complement a Dazzo in a jumbo guitar, in low volume applications?
I use a DPA 4061 and really like it. For many the finest internal mic you can buy. Expensive, but you should look for used ones. K&K Silver Bullet is a good option too, but the newer ones only run on 5 V. That's what I read here at AGF. Still have some older ones. I find them quite impressive for far less money than a DPA.
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Old 12-01-2019, 07:28 AM
jwellsy jwellsy is offline
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Just did a Reverb search for Dazzo, zero results. I take that as a testimony on how beloved they are.
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Old 12-01-2019, 03:55 PM
Petty1818 Petty1818 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jwellsy View Post
Just did a Reverb search for Dazzo, zero results. I take that as a testimony on how beloved they are.
I was very lucky to find one used. Unfortunately it ended up being a terrible situation as the seller sold me a damaged pickup but Teddy was amazing to deal with.

I was doing some experimenting and tried installing the Dazzo using the Schatten putty. I made sure the putty was as thin as possible but the results were disappointing. The output is insanely weak. Now this was just a fun experiment but I want to try the Amulet tape next.
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Old 12-01-2019, 04:03 PM
SpruceTop SpruceTop is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Petty1818 View Post
I was very lucky to find one used. Unfortunately it ended up being a terrible situation as the seller sold me a damaged pickup but Teddy was amazing to deal with.

I was doing some experimenting and tried installing the Dazzo using the Schatten putty. I made sure the putty was as thin as possible but the results were disappointing. The output is insanely weak. Now this was just a fun experiment but I want to try the Amulet tape next.
Scott, face it, Bro, it's the Epoxy or nothing but I hope the Amulet tape works for you. If it does, I may order a Dazzo 70 system. Thanks for trying different mounting media!
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Old 12-01-2019, 04:11 PM
Petty1818 Petty1818 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SpruceTop View Post
Scott, face it, Bro, it's the Epoxy or nothing but I hope the Amulet tape works for you. If it does, I may order a Dazzo 70 system. Thanks for trying different mounting media!
Yeah I am trying to avoid the epoxy for sure. It's interesting though how some pickups need to be as close to the bridge plate as possible but others can use putty or tape. The Amulet tape is incredibly thin, I am surprised it isn't used more with the Dazzo. I will try it this week and report back though.
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Old 12-01-2019, 06:46 PM
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sunnaudio sunnaudio is offline
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Default Dazzo with 3M 3615 tape

Hi All,
I just wanted to add to this and say that I used the 3M 3615 tape to mount some Dazzo's (found at many auto and hardware stores).
The tape did not work that great on a couple guitars, Taylor and a cheap Luna, but it worked nicely on the Recording King. The main issue is the tape will loose some bass. The Epoxy is still the preferred way to mount these so far resulting in less attenuated bass, richer sound, allowing more sound to work with.

Here is the clip of the Dazzo's with 3M tape with about 30% mic blended through our new MS-2 stereo preamp going direct.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80bp2bIQczs

More clips to come....
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Old 03-27-2020, 09:20 PM
Bluesdale Bluesdale is offline
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This looks like the right Dazzo thread to pose a question or two.

I recently installed my 2nd Dazzo in a Martin M-30 (0000 size top). The M series has 16" wide tops and they are lightly braced for good movement. My first install is in a Martin HJ-38, also a very wide resonant top and sounds excellent.

In the M-30 I am replacing a K&K due to feedback issues in a small band. I'm finding the same issue with the Dazzo and it seems a bit wolfy. Neither my Sunn Audio preamp nor me RedEye have a parametric mid control. Maybe I need a UST to get off of my lively top.

Two things have been suggested by a reputable pickup dealer (not Dazzo). He suggested try reinstalling the Dazzos with either a) superglue gel to offer a small amount of dampening, or b) reinstall with red double stick tape or c) put a strip of super sticky specialty masking tape (orange) on the bridge plate and glue the transducers to that. He warned I may lose some volume but I can always turn my volume up.

Anyone have a comment on those recommendations?

OP - capefisherman, how is your live gigging going with regard to feedback on your M36?
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Last edited by Bluesdale; 03-28-2020 at 07:55 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old 03-27-2020, 09:48 PM
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I'd contact Teddy for advice.
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Old 03-28-2020, 11:02 AM
Vancebo Vancebo is offline
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Hi Bluesdale, I don’t know how much I can help but I will try with some very obvious solutions but don’t take it wrong please.

I use Dazzo 60s in my big dread. I use a Sunnaudio stage DI as well. I go into a Bose S1 at home. In this setup. The little Bose speaker is so highly compressed that the bass and the woofy low mids can come out massive at times. The Dazzos work best through a flat PA speaker. The Bass knob on your DI has only a 6 dB change in volume. Don’t be afraid to turn that down. Here’s the difference. Turning down the Bass doesn’t cut everything out below that centered frequency. It still allows some sub bass sound to come through to keep that fullness of sound. This can be either good or bad depending on your situation. Sunnaudio’s new preamp has an adjustable mid cut and an adjustable high pass filter. Anyway, don’t be afraid to crank that down.

Teddy and the Sunnaudio folks have recently did a lot of experimenting with various applications, as mentioned in the thread earlier, the tape application seemed to reduce the bass response a bit. That there may be your solution. Otherwise, the reason they use epoxy is because it sounds the best. Don’t buy into people’s fear of epoxy when thousands of people glue pickups in their guitar using superglue without blinking an eye. Boggles my mind really.
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