Dazzos!!!

[jseth]

I just had a set of Dazzo 60's put in my new (to me) Goodall Concert Jumbo!

Made the drive up to Salem, with my Bose L1 Model II in tow, and met Vancebo at his lovely home... Vance has installed many sets of Dazzo pickups, and Teddy Randazzo refers to him as his "Oregon installer"... Vance volunteered to put the pickups in my Goodall, and I really can't thank him enough for his work and knowledge of those pickups!

Like most things, this didn't go as easily as it should have. The guitar had a K&K installed previously, and although the bridgeplate had purportedly been cleaned, that was not the case... so Vance had to work for quite a while, just removing the detritus of those old pickups and the vestiges of the superglue used for their installation.

Once that was accomplished, the Dazzo install was fairly easy and quick. When I finally got the guitar re-strung and tuned up, I was amazed at how good they sounded through my L1... on the overall Flat setting, with no eq, a completely "dry" signal, these pickups sound REALLY GOOD! There's a lot more depth and character of the guitar coming through.

When I've tried to get a decent sound with my old Goodall w/ K&K's in it, I could never quite get there... it sounded "okay" but that was all. I figured I'd need to have an external mic on the guitar along with the pickups, if I wanted to get a good sound from them. I had even tried putting a K&K PURE XLR in between the K&K's and the T1 mixer I use for the Bose, but it still didn't give me what I wanted to hear.

In marked contrast, the Dazzos sound so good that I don't think I'll need an external mic at all... they almost sound as though there's already a mic on the guitar, along with the pickups!

A big plus is the fact that I don't need "yet another" preamp in the signal chain. As I said, they sounded GREAT with no eq'ing or any delay or reverb. I'm really excited to get out and play again where I can use that Bose rig so I can further dial the Dazzos in and add a touch of effects to them.

I'm so stoked by the sound that I'm looking forward to having a set installed in my Angus 12 string as well, and pulling the Anthem SL out of that guitar!

It meant the world to have Vance do the install. Would have been quite a daunting task if I were doing it myself; I'm pretty sure I would have screwed it up, but good!

So, thanks again, Vancebo, and Teddy Randazzo, for making such a remarkable non-invasive pickup!

These things are the Cat's Meow!!!

[Petty1818]

That's great to hear! I got a Dazzo with the internal Sunnaudio Line driver and volume control late last year but haven't installed it yet! I have two jacks on my Taylor and I am currently running a Fishman Matrix into the Tonedexter with fantastic results. However, I kind of want another pickup for those times when I don't have the TD pedal with me. The glue does always worry me with the Dazzo but it seems easier to remove than the K&K superglue.

I just can't decide if I want to keep the line driver attached as it also has the battery, or make the Dazzo passive. Did you struggle with placement at all? I will most likely do the install myself.

[jseth]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

That's great to hear! I got a Dazzo with the internal Sunnaudio Line driver and volume control late last year but haven't installed it yet! I have two jacks on my Taylor and I am currently running a Fishman Matrix into the Tonedexter with fantastic results. However, I kind of want another pickup for those times when I don't have the TD pedal with me. The glue does always worry me with the Dazzo but it seems easier to remove than the K&K superglue.

I just can't decide if I want to keep the line driver attached as it also has the battery, or make the Dazzo passive. Did you struggle with placement at all? I will most likely do the install myself.

As for the installation, I would DEFINITELY talk with Vancebo... he's gone through a couple dozen installs, both by himself and with Teddy Randazzo.

We had to move one of the two transducers slightly to give a bit more high end on the treble side, but the bass side unit was perfect out of the gate!

After having the Anthem SL pickups in both my Angus guitars, I am staunchly opposed to having a preamp and battery inside my guitars... those Sunnaudio units are REALLY good preamps, and I know that Teddy Randazzo worked with them to be certain they'd "fit" his Dazzos. Unless you have an abhorrence to having a battery in your guitar, I would certainly be inclined to use it, especially since you already have it right there!

I've not experienced the Tonedexter, but I am thrilled with the sound of the Dazzos, straight into my Bose T1 (setting = overall flat preset, all eq flat!). I can't vouch for the sound if you're not using one of the T1's...

Good luck with your install! I imagine that, with a bit of experience working inside your guitars, that it's not that difficult to do. I know that after they've been installed, removing them is a lot easier than the K&K pickups, and the Dazzos will still be functioning/usable, which doesn't appear to be the case with the K&K PW.

[Vancebo]

John, your are too kind regarding my installation skills but you were right on regarding the resulting live sound. At the end of the night, you were happy, and that was worth it, but I was very jealous. I have been installing Dazzos for three or four years using an acoustic guitar amp as the reference point during the installation. The Dazzos were designed with a full range flat PA speaker as its ideal reference speaker. The Bose L1 delivered that well. That was such a good sound with no EQ. I used to have that very same Bose L1 model 2 and I sold it before I really got into the Dazzos too much. Now I wish I had it back.

What we learned is the remaining disks of the K&K were removed with careful prying with a razor blade. It took time but the bridge plate was undamaged. Three circles of superglue residue remained. I made sure that the surface was smooth and found that the epoxy adhered to the bridge plate perfectly in spite of the residue. There is a textbook location of where to place the two sensors. Teddy will be glad to send a photo. There is a process of using your high and low E strings to guide with placement that is a little more involved and uses your ear to adjust positioning. It’s a little more involved to fine tune but i wouldn’t call it difficult.

Thanks for sharing your CD. I find it ironic that the title track is Behind The Mask. You probably didn’t know how much your metaphor from 1998 became literal in 2020. You’re right that the piano and B2 work was excellent and I should mention that your acoustic guitar work was excellent too.

[jseth]

Well, thanks Vance, for the kind words about my CD... no, I had no idea that "Behind the Mask" would have such relevance to today's world when I wrote that song!

I know you were knocked out (as was I) by the sound of the Dazzos in the Goodall CJC, just straight into the Bose T1 and then the L1 Model II. I love that it sounded so good without any "wet" or any equalization... maybe you should get a hold of another L1 Model II? As I mentioned to you, the L1 Soloist is also quite good, and very nearly as loud and strong as the Model II...

Thanks so much for your patience with removing that old K&K PW; really glad that the epoxy for the Dazzos worked fine over that small bit of residue from the K&K glue. I can't wait to get out and do some shows with that pickup! And to get a set for my 12 string!!! Hopefully, you'll be willing to the install on that guitar, as well... nothing on the bridgeplate except whatever the Anthem SL's True-Mic is stuck on there with (tape, I think?).

[Br1ck]

Welcome to the club of true believers. Six sets of Dazzos and counting. It's hard to get people to believe the no EQ aspect of the Dazzo experience, especially among K&K users. That alone would be worth it to me, but the sound improvement is dramatic. There is a whole industry of pre manufacturers that live on the need for massive EQ structure.

I also would suggest a SunnAudio product. I run the EQ on my Stage DI flat, but the circuit just makes the signal sound so, well, studio quality.

[Vancebo]

Ditto on the Sunnaudio. When you can start gigging again hit up some of those HP engineers to do some house concerts an splurge for that MS 2. You can hook up both your six and twelve strings at once.

I had actually started looking at those Bose products again. That T8s looks very good. It will be awhile before concert gatherings can happen. Maybe someone will be unloading their Bose.

[Petty1818]

jseth, you mentioned having to reposition one of the transducers. Was it a challenge to pop it off and remove the glue? I have heard that repositioning is not difficult but it seems like a bit of work.

[guitarman68]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

Welcome to the club of true believers. Six sets of Dazzos and counting. It's hard to get people to believe the no EQ aspect of the Dazzo experience, especially among K&K users. That alone would be worth it to me, but the sound improvement is dramatic. There is a whole industry of pre manufacturers that live on the need for massive EQ structure.

I also would suggest a SunnAudio product. I run the EQ on my Stage DI flat, but the circuit just makes the signal sound so, well, studio quality.

Same here: Six sets of Dazzos and counting. No EQ necessary. I pair it with a SunnAudio MS-2 preamp. Dazzos are also awesome on mandolin, mandola, fiddle, cello ... Everytime I tried it the result was superior to any pickup I tried before.

[jseth]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

jseth, you mentioned having to reposition one of the transducers. Was it a challenge to pop it off and remove the glue? I have heard that repositioning is not difficult but it seems like a bit of work.

We didn't have to remove them, as the adjustment was made before the epoxy had hardened... just moved the treble side transducer a fraction to increase high end a bit...

Vance told me that, when the glue is set and hardened, the overall tone is warmer than first blush would indicate... so we set the Dazzos accordingly.

He showed me the way to remove them; there's one side of the triangular shaped transducer that is smooth, with no scoring, and that's where one would "pop" the unit off, if need be. Didn't sound all that difficult, but I don't plan on doing it anytime soon!

Although it was a bit of pain to slack strings, remove them from the bridge, re-install the low E, put the Dazzo in, tune up, check the sound, etc... it is obviously worth the effort, given the result... and, it only needs to be done on the initial install. A bit of a hassle, sure; but well worth it to get a sound that I really like.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by jseth

We didn't have to remove them, as the adjustment was made before the epoxy had hardened... just moved the treble side transducer a fraction to increase high end a bit...

Vance told me that, when the glue is set and hardened, the overall tone is warmer than first blush would indicate... so we set the Dazzos accordingly.

He showed me the way to remove them; there's one side of the triangular shaped transducer that is smooth, with no scoring, and that's where one would "pop" the unit off, if need be. Didn't sound all that difficult, but I don't plan on doing it anytime soon!

Although it was a bit of pain to slack strings, remove them from the bridge, re-install the low E, put the Dazzo in, tune up, check the sound, etc... it is obviously worth the effort, given the result... and, it only needs to be done on the initial install. A bit of a hassle, sure; but well worth it to get a sound that I really like.

Perfect, thanks for that! I wasn’t sure if you had completely removed the strings, installed them and then had to quickly put the strings back to check the tone. I will definitely just loosen them. Maybe just leave the high E and low E in place and remove the other strings.

[Br1ck]

Shout out to SunnAudio for replacing the volume pot in my Stage 1 gratis. It may have been damaged hitting the knob on the floor. Wasn't an obvious dropped it and it quit thing. It has been dropped a time or two. Anyway, great customer service.

[Vancebo]

I believe Teddy has the correct installation video up on you tube but I haven’t checked in awhile.

Start with a low E string tuned. Place the sensor that is postitukned in between the low E and A string. Once placed in its approximate position, compare the unplugged sound to the plugged in sound and try to make them similar. I go for a somewhat brighter sound because the sound will warm up as the epoxy hardens. When the glue is still wet, you have a couple of minutes to move it around and make changes. Once that is hardened a bit, go to the hi E string and do the same process.

[jamison162]

Good tone reports, Dazzo is on the top of my list to try out. I've emailed with Teddy a couple of times on recommendations.

So, I am assuming you used the preferred "5 min." (or 6) epoxy Teddy recommends?

Any chance you could post a photo of the bridge plate..gotta mirror and flashlight handy?

[Br1ck]

If you want the total Dazzo experience, do exactly as he says using the glue he uses.