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Installation Guide & Owner‘s Manual
Vicente Flamenco Doble Guitar System
© 2014 Carlos Juan * www.carlosjuan.eu * e-mail: [email protected]
INSTALLATION MANUAL
ATTENTION - the limited (5 years) WARRANTY does not cover:
- Misuse, unauthorized modifications & external causes such as wrong voltage or wrong polarity (no 48V phantom allowed).
- Short or damage of Coaxial Transducer joint or shortage due to unexperienced installation or shortening of transducer without top
and/or joint isolation, pushing it through too tight channel (in the bridge towards slot ) and effects due to wrong 2mm channel
(towards saddle slot on E6 + E1): angle must be 45 degrees on both sides, never 90 degrees!
- We recommend that this system is installed by a professional luthier / installer.
- We will not provide installation advices or support for home or hobbyist installations.
- We will not be responsible for any damage to the guitar or personal injury resulting from installation, improper installation, use or
misuse of the product.
PACKAGE CONTENTS
• Endpin-mounted 2 ch. active preamp
• Coaxial round (1.8mm) transducer that mounts under
the saddle
• New CS (carbon housing ) sensor that sticks / double-tapes
inside on top for golpe (preferably behind bridge on E1 side)
• Both transducer and sensor are presoldered on mini plugs
(plug & play installation)
• Two soundhole-mounted rotary controls for two
independent signals
• Battery clip, 2 screws, double tape, two cable clips
• Installation Manual
DOUBLE VIP PREAMP
• Endpin-mounted 2 ch. active preamp
• MID + GAIN pots for personal tone adjustement
• turning pots clockwise increases the effect (+dB)
• MID (transducer) ca 80% open, if under 50% guitar
will sound more tiny and will have less „body“
• GAIN (transducer) ca 80-90% open, depends on
players right hand strength, this is the „input“ gain, if
system distorts due to heavy playing lower down to ap
propriate gain that is clean (gipsy players hit heavy)
• MID (sensor) ca 20-30% open for Flamenco guitar, if
open too wide golpe will be too „bassy“
• GAIN (sensor) ca 20-30% open for guitar top (golpe),
if open too wide it may be louder then transducer
MANUAL TABLE OF CONTENTS
(suggested Step-by-Step procedure)
1. Endpin Installation
2. Saddle, Slot, Routing
3. Bridge Modification / additional strings holes
4. Sensor Placement
5. Battery Placement
6. Gain Pots Placement
7. Endpin Preamp Adjustement
8. Connections to Audio Equipment
9. Troubleshooting
10. FAQs
______________________________________________________________
It is not difficult to install a system, but it takes the right tools and materials,
and you have to know what you’re doing.
______________________________________________________________
STEP 1
Drill a Ø 12mm endpin-hole (diff. bit styles, e.g. staggered or go with reamer up to 12mm)
wood endblock
Ø 12mm
Adjust inside nut (1) that larger threads stop just below the outer surface of guitar. outside. Tighten the smaller outside nut that smaller threads should be flush or slightly out (2) with strap-button (3) - ATTENTION:
otherwise you may not get signal on TIP !! Finally tighten the strap button.
1
3
2
wood endblock
Preamp
A stick as this is very helpful for adjusting the threads positions & later the preamp pots w. guitar stringed.
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STEP 2
Saddle - Slot - Routing
GENERAL RULES (with the transducer under the saddle):
- saddle must sit at least 50-50 % inside/outside
- even better 60% inside and 40% outside or more
- make a marking on saddle with guitar stringed before proceeding
- count 1.7 - 1.8 mm for transducer height
- if slot is not deep enough, route it deeper as necessary on the full width
FIRST drill two channels for transducer on E6 and E1 sides
- (coax) transducer channels MUST be 45 degrees, never 90 !
- if channel is 90 degrees the coax will produce unwanted energy (feedback)
- drill the channels as much as possible near the slot corners
- coax must enter the channel FREE of any pushing (damage makes a short on top !)
- router bit should be 1.8mm (squared or round head) on the LEFT side of the slot
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VARIOUS COAX (SLOT) PLACEMENT SITUATIONS
ALWAYS FOLLOW THIS RULE : saddle is sitting snug-fit inside the slot 50-50% or more „in“ then „out“
- 2mm slot needs no routing channel, 0.2 mm on coax sides won‘t produce any feedback (due to empty space)
- 2mm to 3mm slot needs ROUTING of 1.8mm channel (square-shaped or round-head bit) ON THE LEFT
SIDE !! means on the side of the neck, this is where diagonally the (strings) pressure over the saddle happens.
- 3mm slot situation can be solved by super-gluing a 1x1mm material (wood or plastic bar) on the right side.
This way you‘ve „filled-up“ the empty space next to coax transducer, which would produce feedback and
damage strings balance, coax should never lay free in a slot wider then 2mm, it will not get the right pressure.
STEP 3
Bridge Modification / additional strings holes
WE RECOMMEND
- six additional strings holes on tie block (bridge)
- creates a more optimal break angle (pressure) of the string over the saddle for OPTIMAL pickup performance
- it is easier to change the strings without scratching the top plus no risk of the string slipping out if done right
- strings will hold longer and guitar will get more sustain, acoustic strings balance (gain) is hearable better
- long drill + steel bar are self-made, bit is 1.6mm, steel bar is hold by its nail in original hole to avoid slipping
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STEP 4
Sensor Placement
- find the place of your choice outside on guitar outside
- check various spots with sensor plugged into preamp
- no need to use doble tape attached, rather ask your tech to hold it and move
- once you‘re sure you‘ve found a „sweet spot“ glue the sensor inside o same place
- hold the sensor for 40-60 seconds w. hand or holder as shown and doubletape it
- special acrylic transparent double-tape is supplied with each system
- if any when in future you‘d love to remove the sensor use hot knife to split the tape
from wood, this tape holds over 50kg and holds perfectly (golpe hitting....)
- adjust the sensor MID + GAIN pots on preamp now or later (see stick above) by
push-pulling the preamp through soundhole with stringed guitar plugged in
- if you don‘t want to install coax transducer under saddle you can as well perform
„only“ with sensor attached outside or inside the guitar, this is still better then any
other sensor existing on the market, preamp is double and can be used for 2 sensors
STEP 5
Battery Placement
System is delivered with a CLIP (picture 1) that screws on neck heel (screws included).
2. custom battery holder 3. custom battery compartment for easy access from outside
4. battery bag with velcro 5. custom solution 6. battery tester that plugs into endpin for easy testing
CLIP supplied
BATTERY TESTER
through endpin
BATTERY BAG
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STEP 6
Gain Pots Placement
We recommend hot glue for double-pots PCB to be glued near soundhole inside
STEP 7
Endpin Preamp Adjustement (with stringed guitar)
We recommend using a (selfmade) long stick that acts as guitar cable plug (head) and PUSH the preamp until
soundhole, pull it out through soundhole, plug the Y-cable (not included) and adjust each signal separately.
Before you adjust the mini pots (signal input) on preamp, be sure that gain pots (signal output) on soundghole
enge are fully open. Adjust bot input levels o preamp so that transducer and sensor get same output levels.
Probably you‘ll end up with 80-90% transducer and 20-30% sensor open (clockwise from zero). Middle pots
(gain) preferably 60-80% on Transducer and 20-30% on sensor (otherwise sensor/golpe will be too „bassy“).
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STEP 8
Connections to Audio Equipment
Y - CABLE (not included)
PICKUP
SENSOR
Y-cable plugs into Endpin jack (preamp) for two separate (mono) signals.
- TIP (on Y-cable) = PICKUP
- RING (on Y-cable) = SENSOR
- If using a MONO cable only the PICKUP will be activated (working).
- BATTERY is turned ON only when a cable is plugged into the endpin jack
- Test the battery before concert, if under 7.5V system will work, but its time for change.
- First soundhole-pot on „neck side“ controls the PICKUP (output) gain
- use quality double DI-box to preserve the superior quality of the System (e.g. Radial Eng).
NOTE: If you wish SENSOR to work on mono cable - just plug it into the PICKUP input on preamp and
plug the transducer on SENSOR input for y-cable performance of both.
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