K&K Sound Pure Mini, Installation Manual

Page 1: ...1 T H E P U R E P I C K U P Installation Manual Pure Mini for Steel String Acoustic Guitar ...

Page 2: ... as you can and DO NOT INSTALL THE PICKUPS IN ANY OTHER LOCATION including the back side of the bridge plate towards the endpin jack This position will definitely not sound as good On extremely small bridge plates the transducers may overlap by as much as 1 16 1 5 mm on the cable side of the pickup Do not overlap more than that and it is always preferable to have no overlap at all Please read thro...

Page 3: ... any possible health hazards accidents injury any lost profits or other incidental or consequential damages even if K K Sound Systems Inc has been advised of the possibility of such damages or for any claim by another party TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 Package contents 4 2 Tools supplies needed 4 3 Superglue vs peel and stick installation 5 4 Preparation 6 5 Installation 5 1 Jig installation for pin bridge...

Page 4: ...photo from left to right Jig remove protective foil before use White pin golf tee Putty remove protective foil before use Double sided tape for peel and stick install 2 TOOLS SUPPLIES NEEDED Superglue gel any brand of Cyanoacrylate glue will do as long as it is gel Electric drill for endpin jack mount Drill bits at least 3 8 10mm and 12mm for endpin jack mount endpin reamer or Forstner bit Pliers ...

Page 5: ...guitar Superglue gel bonds the pickups to the guitar on a molecular level For players who absolutely do not wish to use superglue on their guitar we supply some very thin double sided tape for peel and stick attachment Please note that using this method will result in about 30 loss of volume and tone quality compared to the superglue mount If you choose to proceed with peel and stick installation ...

Page 6: ...entirely and can quickly re install them after the pickup is installed Place the guitar on a table use a blanket underneath so you can comfortably put your hand into the sound hole and feel the internal structures underneath the bridge with your fingers Locate the X bracing and the bridge plate The size of the bridge plate and the bracing of your guitar might be different from the bracing structur...

Page 7: ...PE We recommend using a 12mm FORSTNER drill bit to drill out the screw hole This one makes the nicest cut and is most gentle to your guitar You also may use a step by step method to widen the hole to 12mm Use several ascending size drill bits in succession Make sure to use self centering drill bits used for metalwork not the single pointed drills for wood STANDARD TAPER PRESS FIT ENDPIN Pull out t...

Page 8: ...photo below for proper orientation Push the pin about of the way through the jig The pin should fit very snugly you may have to use some force or even file it down a bit to press it into the hole If the pin fits too loosely please use some superglue to secure it Wipe off excess glue and let dry 3 Insert the flat end of the white pin into the high E string pinhole Slide the brown golf tee through t...

Page 9: ...orm a small ball and stick it on top of the jig above the point where the saddle and high E string intersect Note On the high E string we place the pickup directly under the high E string for the G D string pickup and A E string pickup we place it between the strings 5 Place one pickup on the putty with the golden side facing up and press the pickup to the putty It should hold the pickup in place ...

Page 10: ...and forefinger The golden part of the pickup should be facing up and away from the palm of your hand 7 Move the jig inside the guitar through the soundhole Stick the golf tee into the high E string hole from the outside with your other hand and try to feel it protruding to the inside with the thumb or index finger of your jig hand This process helps you identify the correct pinhole on the inside ...

Page 11: ...den side of the pickup and glue it in Please ensure that the putty still holds the pickup firmly in place after the trial run Use a fresh piece of putty if necessary Use a good amount of glue and spread it generously over the golden surface of the pickup You should use enough glue to cover the entire surface of the pickup It is best if some glue oozes out around the pickup as you install it The mo...

Page 12: ...kup We recommend using a rag or cotton swab to wipe off the excess superglue around the pickup and then remove the putty from the pickup If there is some small amount of putty residue left on the pickup it will not present a sound problem If you get superglue on your fingers the easiest way to remove it is to let it dry and then buff it off with some fine sandpaper or a nail file 12 Please use fre...

Page 13: ...tube along the pickup cable can now be slid about 1 2 inches from the pickup heads to keep the cables together Once the endpin jack is mounted and before it is fully fastened give it a twist or two to form a loop in the pickup cables to keep them from touching the soundboard or bottom of the guitar When done correctly there will be no need to secure the wires with clamps ...

Page 14: ...for all 3 pickups Use a fitting nail toothpick or the drill bit itself that s what I do to stick it through the reference holes so that it will extend about or so inside the guitar and act as a guide on the inside Use this guide as a side stop for your 2 outer pickups The 2 outer pickups are going to be placed with their outer edges right next to the guides Once the outer pickups are in place you ...

Page 15: ...rtip see photo below The golden side of the pickup is facing up This makes holding on to the pickup and aiming inside the guitar a lot easier Practice placing the outer pickup discs right next to one of the guides in the reference holes Later when doing the actual installation you will have to firmly press the pickup to the bridge plate to allow the excess glue to ooze out around the pickup s edge...

Page 16: ...up will have only minor effect on the final sound and it would be beneficialincasethecenterpickupisbadlymisplaced FINAL INSTALLATION Apply superglue gel to the golden underside of the first pickup Spread a generous layer of the gel with the tip of the tube so it will cover the entire surface Now install the first pickup to its corresponding position at the high E string as practiced Press it down ...

Page 17: ...nt gluing is the number one cause of unsatisfactory sound for this pickup Don t worry the superglue gel will not dry immediately after it is applied to the pickup You will have more than sufficient time without rushing things A generous amount of gel will actually be good for several minutes The gel will only set after contact with another surface The superglue gel even allows for a few seconds of...

Page 18: ... against the nut or as far as it goes as tightly as possible This step might take a few tries to get the right spacing Insert the jack from the inside into the endpin hole Tip a chopstick or something similar helps to get a hold of the jack and guide it through Attach outside washer and nut and tighten Attach the strap button Important Make sure that the strap button screws in ALLTHE WAY over the ...

Page 19: ...ou may damage a pickup during removal You have to carefully test the pickups after removal and cleaning You can purchase single replacement transducers from us if needed The glue residue on the bridge plate can be removed with fine sandpaper or you can carefully scrape it off with the scraper blade If done correctly there should be no damage to the bridge plate or to the inside surface of the guit...

Page 20: ...e volume There should not be any missing taps There should not be any loud crackles If the pickups test out fine you can reinstall them Make sure that all glue residue is cleaned off the wood of the bridge plate or guitar top Smooth the wood surface until it is perfectly straight and clean 9 TROUBLESHOOTING MY PURE SYSTEM SOUNDS WEIRD AND HOLLOW This is probably an installation issue First check i...

Page 21: ...elps a lot Our PowerMix Pure System would actually be the best choice for high volume situations Impedance mis match issue Acoustic amps and most competitors preamps are designed to work best with undersaddle pickups or other very high ohmic piezo pickups They feature extremely high input impedance 5 10 meg which boosts the bass response Most competitors pickups need this high input impedance to b...

Page 22: ...S ARE LOWER IN OUTPUT A defective transducer is not likely We thoroughly test each of the transducers several times during production It is more likely that it is an installation issue There are many factors that can go wrong during an installation but the one factor that seems to be dominant is that not enough glue was used This may result in the pickup only being partially bonded to the bridge p...

Page 23: ...ing THE PURE PICKUP JACK IS TOO SHORT FOR MY ENDBLOCK This seems to be the case in some vintage guitar models Unfortunately longer jacks are not available on the market What you can do is either not use the inner nut but use the inner washer against the screw cap only Or you can eliminate the screw cap but in this case you would have to unsolder the wires and then re solder them Usually eliminatin...

Page 24: ...24 92798 Cape Arago Highway Coos Bay OR 97420 USA Phone 541 888 3517 Toll free 1 800 867 6863 kksound com ...