Repair- installing a K&K mini 

This word "vacation".... please explain. :)

Cool!! Glad it helped.

I use the tool I'm most comfortable and efficient with. I get tired of turning that big reamer so I use the drill. But on bridge pins, I _start_ with the drill and then finish with a hand-held reamer. The difference is that the end pin reamer has a stepped stop so you really can't go too far. The bridge pins have to FIT.

Made me smile. Thanks.

@@Bryankimsey hello Kimsey, would a Mitchel's PlateMate interfere with the sound in any way of a k&k mini like the one you installed ? Thanks

If you're gluing the pickups to the plate itself and then, yes, because you just moved the pickup farther from the saddle and put a piece of brass between it and the wood. I don't mind the PlateMate... I've used them on my personal guitars... but never with a K&K. Personally, I'd slot the bridge and dump the PlateMate.

are you using it with the preamp that sold separately or you straight to your amp

Good choice! :)

Thanks!!!

P.S. I also dislike any & every under-saddle pickup. They do not sound good to me at all.

Pickup installation is grueling work!

"Old"? I can be a mean SOB, too. Here's my other channel: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-fBPzTFA4CBw.html

No way!!! Seriously???

Never mind, I paid attention I promise lol. You answered my question 22 minutes in on the video.

It's a standard pickup jack with a fat button... so, yes, it does.

You don't have much choice. Either overhang it or glue a little extension. I've done the overhang and I've also pushed the elements off to one side or the other. 50's Martin D's are the same way... super small bridgeplate.

@@Bryankimsey thank you Bryan. BTW, how did the overhang K&K that you have done sound?

Oh.... it's a little tricky. Mirror in the bottom so you can see what you're doing. A 1/4" chisel. Flip it so that the angled part of the tip is on the bridgeplate. Put the tip RIGHT up against the element and HARD against the bridgeplate. Push and twist. I have about a 75% success in popping the element off w/out ruining the pickup. Then I have spare heads (being a K&K dealer....) that I can solder in to replace the ones I ruin.

You probably have a loose transducer that didn't stick.

You'll hook up the K&K to the existing preamp? The impedance won't match. You'll get some sound but it might be too boomy to EQ out. You'll need to do some soldering, too.

@@Bryankimsey Sorry, I wasn't clear. I'm wanting to replace the existing system and only use the K&K. Thanks!

Ask K&K. But I bet you'll have an impedance mismatch and it won't sound good.

If you are happy, go for it. Difficult to remove from spruce top, though. Be aware of that.

No telling. Usually when that happens, a pickup element is loose and not glued on tight. And if you're too close to your speakers, you're gonna get feedback without a soundhole feedback buster. How loud is "loud"? Like... concert level?

I suppose so, but it's really nice to pull the template UP thru the pin holes and hold it while the glue sets. I think I'd come up with some golf tees, dowels, old bridge pins, bamboo skewers, pencils, or ???? before I tried pinning down from the top. Back in the day, I used to just place them by hand.

@@Bryankimsey You can just take the bridge pins out after positioning the pickup and feed them through from the underside when you put it inside the sound hole. But the chop sticks idea is better. I'm in Cambodia now...no shortage of them!

To some buyers, ANYTHING affects the value. To others, who gig with the guitar and need a pickup, no. I wouldn't ream out an original, valuable guitar... I'd use a Vintage Jack. But I wouldn't gig with an original, valuable guitar anyway. I'd use a "gig guitar".

Would you alter a D28cw by reaming out the end pin?

Yes, if I was going to gig with it on a regular basis. And a CW is a great gig guitar. It's not "too valuable" but sounds great, looks great, and would be perfect for gigging.

No. The heads are all the same.

You'll need a 1/2" hole. If you have a regular tapered endpin and you can't stick your little finger all the way thru, you'll gonna have to drill.

GoPro Session 5. No longer made. Any GoPro type camera would be just fine. I use them to record dirt bike and MTB video too. :)

www.stewmac.com/luthier-tools-and-supplies/types-of-tools/reamers/endpin-jack-reamer/

Yes and I explain in the video why I don't use it but you can. Basically, the one they supply is adjustable. I do so many that I use a non-adjustable one and sticky putty that's reusable so I don't waste time adjusting and applying sticky paper.

With a 1/4" chisel placed firmly against the base of the pickup. Twist. I can get them off in 1 piece about 75% of the time.

@@Bryankimsey one piece...you mean they break 25% of the time? i want to sell a guitar, but keep the pickup.

That's correct. It's a thin layer of copper on top of a piece of plastic and you can _easily_ separate the two and then you've ruined the head. Me.... I have extra heads on hand and can repair them, but you have a good chance of ruining the pickup. I use a mirror, a light, and a 1/4" chisel and have done dozens upon dozens of them.

@@Bryankimsey So truth is that I may sacrifice an o-so-tiny bit of bridge plate in order to remove the transducers?

Not if you're careful. What'll happen is the chisel won't be quite hard against the bottom of the transducer (it's hard to tell, what with the wires in the way and inside the guitar, and all that) and when you pop it, the chisel will rip the foil off the base. Given the risk... honestly, I'd just get another one.

Sometimes but I wouldn't count on it. I have about a 75 percent success rate. I also carry spare heads so that I can rebuild damaged ones.

@@Bryankimsey okay thanksss

If I had a uke in hand, I could. I don't. I'd probably make a hook looking jig that I could reach in with.

Several of them. I use one in my gig mandolin and had one in the shop 72 D-18. They work fine but you have to deal with the 1/8" cable adapter. For a real gig guitar... I'd drill the hole. I drilled the hole in my #1 Proulx OM/D because it is a working instrument.

Hello Brian and thank you kindly for making so many valuable videos. I have a question please. I have had K&K pure mini pick-ups installed in 3 Martins. The transducers were all mounted with the wires facing forward toward the neck. I found an amazing D-28 Marquis & took it to a new to me acoustic music shop that sold and installed the K&K with the Vintage jack. When I got the guitar back home I noticed the acoustic tone seemed a bit less there & muffled slightly. I removed the strings and placed a mirror inside. I saw that the pickups were mounted with the wires facing the rear soundhole of the guitar. I was concerned. I next noticed that the three pickup wires were all gathered together and attached to a small fastener glued to the top of the inside bout of the guitar. The wires were pulled tightly from the pickups to the point they were attached to the top of the bout. I pulled gently on them to relieve a bit of the tension & create a bit of slack in the wires. I felt this tightness was interfereing with the ability of the bridge plate to vibrate freely. I restrung the guitar and noticed an improvement in the acoustic tone and the plugged in tone. I am somewhat of a perfectionist and would like to know if I should have the transducers removed and have the K&K transducers reinstalled with the wires facing forward as I see in every installation video & the K&K instructions? I also understand the wires are supposed to loop down toward the back of the guitar & out to the end pin & not be attached or glued anywhere inside. I am also willing to have the wires cut & soldered together to the vintage jack so they are shortened to eliminate excessive slack? I would buy new K&K pickups as the existing ones may be damaged when pryed off the bridge plate. The bridge plate can also be damaged if not done very carefully. Lastly, I noticed that small globs of squeezed out superglue were left & not cleaned away during the installation. My thoughts are not to add any more tension on the wires coming off the bridge plate than necessary. And not to add any more mass than necessary to the bridge plate as every little bit negatively affects vibration & tone & extra gobs of glue gathered around each transducer adds weight and is indicative of sloppy workmanship. It is easy to remove glue squeezeout during the early part of the installation. I highly regard your opinion. Should I have the installation redone on my Marquis? This is driving me nuts & I have been bothered by this since the installation was done about a year ago. I just need to know if my thoughts are credible & and I don't want to offend the shop that installed my K&K as the owner is a decent family man but I do not know the tech. I also bought an AER amp & the best k&k preamp from them. I was just shocked and disappointed when I heard my guitar and then seen the transducers were mounted backwards. Im not trying to throw the installer under the bus or create hard feelings, but I offered to pay whatever they asked & have to ask if this is the best they could do and if you think it would be better to have the pickup removed and a new one installed & the excess glue cleaned up & the wires routed according to the K&K instructions that mirror your very good installation video. Thank you again for any opinion you care to offer. Best regards, Todd

Keep your "reply" on your own thread and not another one... it's harder to find the way you did it. Easy stuff first... I don't worry about the excess glue. You _can't_ wipe it off w/out disturbing the drying element and I like to see a little squeeze so that I know I got enough. That's not going to cause any issues. You _will_ need to clean up the old glue before you re-glue, if you go that route. You can _sometimes_ remove the elements by using a chisel or a single sized razor blade: umgf.com/removing-a-k-k-pure-mini-t224814.html Contact K&K and they'll probably sell you extra heads. I definitely prefer the wires running _forward_ to the neck and wired straight to the Vintage Jack just to eliminate excess wire in the guitar and to keep them from rattling on the back of the guitar. I just published a video on the Vintage Jack and I suggested doing exactly that. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-FRTVjo7iEYI.html Re-install is up to you but I would, at the least, wire straight to the Vintage Jack and keep them suspended in the air inside the guitar.