K&K Pure Mini Distortion

BigLicks67

I started noticing distortion coming from my K&K pure mini pickup, so I checked the transducers (see image below) and they seemed attached okay, but a right messy job, does this look like superglue or some kind of putty? The pickup was already in the guitar when i bought so I've no idea who installed it. When I stringed it back up the distortion had stopped and the only change was I'd tuned back up to standard from being a semitone down. Anyone any ideas?
https://i.imgur.com/92VrUCx.jpg

MartinB

It's hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like it could be a superglue install with some of the putty that's used to align the transducers against the jig during installation left on the back of the discs.

Mechanical rattles can often sound like distortion with piezo pickups - one possibility is that a ball end wasn't fully seated and was rattling, and tuning down and up again reseated it. Or that a cable was touching a brace. Issues like that can be annoying to track down if they're intermittent.

ICBM

Yes, that's quite a messy install with too much superglue, so it's squeezed out onto the tops of the elements and stuck to some of the putty that's used to hold them to the installation tool - but too much glue is probably better than too little, and it won't be the cause of the problem.

I would agree with MartinB that it's likely to have been a mechanical issue, or possibly a dirty or corroded contact in the jack. If I remember rightly they don't ground the third (ring) terminal - doing so is a good idea since it removes a bad contact to the plug sleeve as a potential issue.

BigLicks67

Okay, many thanks for your replies.
One thing I have noticed with this pickup is a popping sound when unplugging from the amp.
If I get any further problems I'll check the jack socket and maybe have to get the soldering iron out.

Longtallronnie

ICBM said:

Yes, that's quite a messy install with too much superglue, so it's squeezed out onto the tops of the elements and stuck to some of the putty that's used to hold them to the installation tool - but too much glue is probably better than too little, and it won't be the cause of the problem.

I would agree with MartinB that it's likely to have been a mechanical issue, or possibly a dirty or corroded contact in the jack. If I remember rightly they don't ground the third (ring) terminal - doing so is a good idea since it removes a bad contact to the plug sleeve as a potential issue.

The install manual makes a point of saying the glue should ideally ooze out around the transducers to ensure enough has been used so not surprising if there’s excess!

Pretty sure my recent install looks worse lol.