My First Dazzo (& 000-18)!

[AeroUSA]

I am working on a review of the new Sunnaudio DI and also have a chance to check out the Dazzo pickups. Follow my channel for more coverage and comparisons!

[Petty1818]

Thanks for the demo! After listening to your demos of the K&K, Trance and Dazzo, I have come to the conclusion that all can sound great and in most cases, it's just a matter of applying eq to get them to sound fairly similar. The Dazzo really reminded me of the K&K, but a K&K that's perfectly eq'd. I think that's where the Dazzo and Amulet win out a bit.. they are a little more "plug and play". I know Dazzo users will jump on me for saying that, but it's just what I hear.

[Vancebo]

The strength of the Dazzo is in the live sound. I hope we get to hear the Dazzo through a PA speaker. That’s the best.

[PANDAPANDELO]

The more I hear pickups samples you make, and the more I test them myself, I came to the conclusion that a great preamp for shaping the sound is one of the most important pieces in that puzzle.

K&K, Amulet, Dazzo... they all sound great! Give me a Felix2 and I can make the magic happen' with all of them.

I have never played in the Amulet, but I have played the Dazzo and now I have a K&K Trinity in my HD28, and I achieved great plugged in acoustic sounds with both.

[Gordon Currie]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

The Dazzo really reminded me of the K&K, but a K&K that's perfectly eq'd. I think that's where the Dazzo and Amulet win out a bit.. they are a little more "plug and play". I know Dazzo users will jump on me for saying that, but it's just what I hear.

Actually, as a Dazzo owner, I get what you are saying. That is exactly why I ended up going for a Schatten HFN, then a Dazzo.

I used to have K+K pickups. I began to grow weary of having to EQ them so radically to get an optimal sound. And, as a working musician, there are still too many situations where there is NO time to apply EQ fixes (festivals come to mind).

If I was using a microphone that demanded the same level of EQ fixes to make it sound good, I would replace it quickly. I finally asked myself why I wasn't doing the same with the K+K.

So your statement doesn't seem outrageous at all. And if K+K works in someone's guitar without EQ, then no reason to get a Dazzo, Amulet, Ultratonic etc.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by Gordon Currie

Actually, as a Dazzo owner, I get what you are saying. That is exactly why I ended up going for a Schatten HFN, then a Dazzo.

I used to have K+K pickups. I began to grow weary of having to EQ them so radically to get an optimal sound. And, as a working musician, there are still too many situations where there is NO time to apply EQ fixes (festivals come to mind).

If I was using a microphone that demanded the same level of EQ fixes to make it sound good, I would replace it quickly. I finally asked myself why I wasn't doing the same with the K+K.

So your statement doesn't seem outrageous at all. And if K+K works in someone's guitar without EQ, then no reason to get a Dazzo, Amulet, Ultratonic etc.

Thanks for that! I honestly worry sometimes that I come off as negative towards pickups so I hope I never offend anyone. I just really hear a very similar tonality when I listen to the K&K, Dazzo and Amulet samples.

For a year or two, I did use the Amulet in my Taylor and I still have a K&K in my Larrivee. The Larrivee hardly gets used live so the pickup has stayed mainly due to the fact that I haven't gotten around to changing it and it works fairly well in that guitar. What I can say is that when I would use the Taylor, I would literally plug in and I was good to go. The K&K was a bit more of a gamble. The Dazzo and Amulet definitely excel in that department.

I was surprised though at how similar the Dazzo and Amulet were in the demos that Aaron did. It makes me want to revisit the Amulet, especially now that systems like the TD and VP are out to take out a bit of the piezo tone that I get with hard strumming. I do also have a Dazzo that has never been installed so it comes down to whether or not I want a simple install with the tape (Amulet) or if I want to finally give the Dazzo a try with glue... decisions, decisions!

Aaron, I would love one day if you could do a K&K, Dazzo & Amulet comparison review and maybe throw the Anthem in there since I know you love that system haha. I know that's a big ask, but I seem to remember you having all but the Dazzo in different guitars.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

Thanks for the demo! After listening to your demos of the K&K, Trance and Dazzo, I have come to the conclusion that all can sound great and in most cases, it's just a matter of applying eq to get them to sound fairly similar. The Dazzo really reminded me of the K&K, but a K&K that's perfectly eq'd. I think that's where the Dazzo and Amulet win out a bit.. they are a little more "plug and play". I know Dazzo users will jump on me for saying that, but it's just what I hear.

That was my experience with Dazzo and K&K. Dazzo is still a piezo (the same piezo if I am not mistaken), but their placement and construction give them a "mechanical EQ" advantage. Once you plug them into the proper 5-10M ohm preamp, you don't need much EQ, if they were installed well. They sound great.

For K&K fans, I make the following argument. Since you need the preamp for Dazzo anyway, I've argued that a K&K can be EQ'd to sound the same. It's not rocket science, but it's also not trivial. And you'll need a good preamp with EQ and a ~1M ohm input impedance. K&K can be used in a range of impedance from 500K ohm to 5M and still sound good. Any higher and you need that low cut.

Dazzo needs the same 5M range from 5M to 10M omh.

The ONLY advantages that K&K has over Dazzo are cost, (perhaps installation familiarity), and the ability to use low impedance sound equipment in a pinch.

[AeroUSA]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

Thanks for that! I honestly worry sometimes that I come off as negative towards pickups so I hope I never offend anyone. I just really hear a very similar tonality when I listen to the K&K, Dazzo and Amulet samples.

For a year or two, I did use the Amulet in my Taylor and I still have a K&K in my Larrivee. The Larrivee hardly gets used live so the pickup has stayed mainly due to the fact that I haven't gotten around to changing it and it works fairly well in that guitar. What I can say is that when I would use the Taylor, I would literally plug in and I was good to go. The K&K was a bit more of a gamble. The Dazzo and Amulet definitely excel in that department.

I was surprised though at how similar the Dazzo and Amulet were in the demos that Aaron did. It makes me want to revisit the Amulet, especially now that systems like the TD and VP are out to take out a bit of the piezo tone that I get with hard strumming. I do also have a Dazzo that has never been installed so it comes down to whether or not I want a simple install with the tape (Amulet) or if I want to finally give the Dazzo a try with glue... decisions, decisions!

Aaron, I would love one day if you could do a K&K, Dazzo & Amulet comparison review and maybe throw the Anthem in there since I know you love that system haha. I know that's a big ask, but I seem to remember you having all but the Dazzo in different guitars.

I plan to do this after I’m done with my testing and review. Stay tuned!

[Vancebo]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

That was my experience with Dazzo and K&K. Dazzo is still a piezo (the same piezo if I am not mistaken), but their placement and construction give them a "mechanical EQ" advantage. Once you plug them into the proper 5-10M ohm preamp, you don't need much EQ, if they were installed well. They sound great.

For K&K fans, I make the following argument. Since you need the preamp for Dazzo anyway, I've argued that a K&K can be EQ'd to sound the same. It's not rocket science, but it's also not trivial. And you'll need a good preamp with EQ and a ~1M ohm input impedance. K&K can be used in a range of impedance from 500K ohm to 5M and still sound good. Any higher and you need that low cut.

Dazzo needs the same 5M range from 5M to 10M omh.

The ONLY advantages that K&K has over Dazzo are cost, (perhaps installation familiarity), and the ability to use low impedance sound equipment in a pinch.

I believe I was playing K&K before most here on the forum. I am from Oregon and a local store suggested I try them. I came on here to boast how good they were. I always dual sourced them with a mic. To my ear, the K&Ks always had a piezo sound even through a speaker. I thought it needed a bit of mic mixed in for it to get the rest of the way to the authentic sound I was looking for. Then there was all of the EQuing I was always wrestling with. I never was one of the lucky ones that got that balanced sound out of the box.

As you can hear in Aaron's video, when recorded direct, that piezo sound is in the Dazzo. Everything changes when you plug it into a speaker. For whatever reason, that piezo quality disappears. I couldn't tell you why. I can't wait for Aaron's demo.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by Vancebo

I believe I was playing K&K before most here on the forum. I am from Oregon and a local store suggested I try them. I came on here to boast how good they were. I always dual sourced them with a mic. To my ear, the K&Ks always had a piezo sound even through a speaker. I thought it needed a bit of mic mixed in for it to get the rest of the way to the authentic sound I was looking for. Then there was all of the EQuing I was always wrestling with. I never was one of the lucky ones that got that balanced sound out of the box.



As you can hear in Aaron's video, when recorded direct, that piezo sound is in the Dazzo. Everything changes when you plug it into a speaker. For whatever reason, that piezo quality disappears. I couldn't tell you why. I can't wait for Aaron's demo.

You were indeed the first, if not one of the first. And we appreciate your experience with Dazzo. In fact my trials with Dazzo were based on your results. I did the installs myself and didn't have the same results as you. But my experiences were my own. I'm glad we can all share them here on this open forum.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by Vancebo

I believe I was playing K&K before most here on the forum. I am from Oregon and a local store suggested I try them. I came on here to boast how good they were. I always dual sourced them with a mic. To my ear, the K&Ks always had a piezo sound even through a speaker. I thought it needed a bit of mic mixed in for it to get the rest of the way to the authentic sound I was looking for. Then there was all of the EQuing I was always wrestling with. I never was one of the lucky ones that got that balanced sound out of the box.

As you can hear in Aaron's video, when recorded direct, that piezo sound is in the Dazzo. Everything changes when you plug it into a speaker. For whatever reason, that piezo quality disappears. I couldn't tell you why. I can't wait for Aaron's demo.

I think too that it depends a lot on what type of player you are. I play in a celtic band and on certain tunes, I have to do aggressive strumming. It's a controlled aggressive strum but my strings are getting hit fairly hard. With the Amulet, I for sure heard a piezo tone come through the PA speakers. From listening to Aaron's video, I hear that same thing from the Dazzo. Not a knock at all as I think they are both incredible but I don't think you can ever fully rid of a pickup of some piezo qualities.

I can't remember if you ever tried the Amulet though? I would love to hear a Dazzo/Amulet test to see how similar/different they really are.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by AeroUSA

I plan to do this after I’m done with my testing and review. Stay tuned!

That's great, thanks Aaron!

[Groberts]

All of these can be made to sound good. Agreed. I've gone on record as being a nay-sayer of the K&K. For me, it's just too particular and too much work to get it to sound great. And I have gotten it to sound great. But I had to EQ it, use a high pass filter, Notch filter to tame feedback etc. After all that effort. to was gapped. bout still lacked the 'air' and sweetness of a pick-up that has an internal mic.

[MaurysMusic]

Aaron, I really liked the sound of the 000-18 Dazzo in your unboxing vid. I listened through my Bose Mini Soundlink II. I'm more confuses than ever, though about 60, 70, 80 models. Teddy said he put a 60 in the 000-18 but I'd have thought 60 is for a bass-heavy rosewood dread. What did I miss?

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by MaurysMusic

Aaron, I really liked the sound of the 000-18 Dazzo in your unboxing vid. I listened through my Bose Mini Soundlink II. I'm more confuses than ever, though about 60, 70, 80 models. Teddy said he put a 60 in the 000-18 but I'd have thought 60 is for a bass-heavy rosewood dread. What did I miss?

Good point! I wonder why he opted for the 60? IMO, that guitar would benefit from a bit more bass (when plugged in).