Breed love installing K&K twin internal.

[Girouardfan]

How diffcult is this? I've never done anything like this would it be crazy to attempt on my own? Can someone walk me through the steps on here who has done it?

[Timmando]

I have installed this in two different mandolins. It is not too bad of an installation. The worst part is drilling out the endpin hole to the proper size. Just do it slowly and with a sharp drill so you don't chip the finish around the hole. After that I ran a wire with a loop end thru the hole, into the sound chamber of the mando. Wiggle it around until you can work it thru one of the treble holes. Then take that loop end and insert it into the pickup, so that it is kind of snug in the hole. Put the pickup thru the treble hole into the sound chamber, slowly guide it into the hole you drilled by gently pulling the wire. Once it is thru the hole, attach it to the body using the washer and nut. Now you need to fish around thru the treble hole and find the little transducers. Once you have them you can attach to the underside of the top, just below and above the bridge, with either the sticky pads provided, or if you are brave at this point, use the superglue. I first used the sticky tape to make sure I had a good spot that sounded good. That tape held for a week or so and eventually I had to use the superglue. Just put a drop of the superglue on the gold transducer, put a piece of the sticky gum on the back of the transducer, then place it inside the mando using the provided L tool (allen wrench). Hold it in place securely for a minute at least. That should do it for you, they work really well straight into the mixer.

[Folkmusician.com]

All of Tim's instructions apply, with a couple of exceptions. Most Breedlove's will have the endpin hole pre-drilled to accept an endpin jack. The endpin is glued into the tailpiece (it does not touch the ovesized endpin hole). I usually take the tailpiece off, chip away some of the glue, and then tap the pin out with a small hammer. You can probably twist it with pliers to break the glue and then work it out, I just prefer to do it the hard way.

Easy enough so far as there is no drilling required. And now for the gotcha..... Most jacks have the correct amount of threads to work perfectly with a thin stamped tailpiece. The Breedlove tailpiece is thick, meaning there may not be enough threads protruding past the tailpiece to thread the strap button on. Well, it will thread on, but the jack will be recessed just enough that a standard 1/4" jack will not fully insert.

The options: Find a jack with longer threads, don't use the strap button, or make/buy a 1/4" cable that will fit into the jack. Some insert cables (used for patch bays in recording studios) will work. Lastly, you can drill out the tailpiece.

[Girouardfan]

After its installed and its in replace of my normal strap holder. In the future when I want to change my strings do I unscrew the jack? Is it possible for it to fall inside my mandolin making it nearly impossible to retrieve?

I hope you understand what I'm asking? I wish someone has a video of there breedlove with a k&k twin pickup on it i just want to see how it fits, etc.

[Folkmusician.com]

I have installed a couple of K&K twins in Breedlove's but never took pics. I think I can give a good example though.

Once installed, you would not need to remove the jack unless a wire broke or something went wrong.



There is a large hole( the same width as the endpin jack on the K&K) underneath the tailpiece. The tailpiece has a hole the same as the small end of the jack, but you need to remove the endpin, which is glued into the tailpiece. Once this is done, the end of the jack slides into the tailpiece and the nut is tightened holding it into place.

Here is how it mounts to the tailpiece. Note the strap button. This barely allows a 1/4" cable to insert far enough to get contact.



The Breedlove tailpiece is thicker than the stamped tailpiece above. So it will look something like this with the nuts threaded down all the way. Note how far inset the jack is. This will not allow a normal 1/4" cable to plug in.



So this is not quite as simple as it should be....

You can drill out the tailpiece to allow the jack to protrude further. If you do this, you will have to fiddle around with getting the jack in just right for the depth to work correct and everything to stay in place. The hole in the mandolin is not large enough to clear the inner nut if you tried to use a nut on either side of the tailpiece. You have to either enlarge the hole to allow the nut to fit or put the nut on the backside of the hole.

[Markus]

I didn't have that problem when I did mine a few years ago, Robert - I wonder if K+K changed their post length.

Like you mention - I didn't have to drill anything, just remove the tailpiece/bridge/etc and remove the endpin. I did have to take a rasp to the tailpiece for maybe a minute to slightly enlarge the hole to make it fit. I was impressed that BL drilled the endpin to fit this and make it easy.

I do know that when I called K+K they knew all about installing them in Breedloves - I wonder if OP will contact them they couldn't find a solution to the thicker tailpiece. Just throwing out ideas ... but perhaps they have a solution for this already.

As with any good project, measure twice as you only cut once. Take it slow, careful, and you'll likely be just fine.

[Folkmusician.com]

I am trying to recall what jack they use. I don't have one here right now. How much thread sticks out past the strap button?

The images I posted are from a Radius jack.

[Girouardfan]

Wow thanks for the demostration I can't wait to get mine all set up. I love my breedlove I think they are underated and should be more popular than they already are.

[jefe214]

I know this thread is a few years old but thought this may be useful to some new Breedlove owners. My 2016 FF Crossover did not come pre-drilled with an enlarged hole. Thankfully I had a 1/8"-->1/2" step bit (~$19 at the hardware store) from previous K&K installs. I carefully drilled straight through the tailpiece and end block without a problem. Nice clean hole.

[colorado_al]

I know this thread is a few years old but thought this may be useful to some new Breedlove owners. My 2016 FF Crossover did not come pre-drilled with an enlarged hole. Thankfully I had a 1/8"-->1/2" step bit (~$19 at the hardware store) from previous K&K installs. I carefully drilled straight through the tailpiece and end block without a problem. Nice clean hole.

Nice!
How do you like the 2016 Breedlove Crossover FF? I'm hoping to play one sometime.

[jefe214]

Nice!
How do you like the 2016 Breedlove Crossover FF? I'm hoping to play one sometime.

I love it. Great tone & playability. Much louder than my Driftwood which I've been playing the last 11 years. The adjustment to the wider nut took a little getting used to particularly with closed chords. Definitely worth testing out if you get the opportunity.

[jefe214]

I know this thread is a few years old but thought this may be useful to some new Breedlove owners. My 2016 FF Crossover did not come pre-drilled with an enlarged hole. Thankfully I had a 1/8"-->1/2" step bit (~$19 at the hardware store) from previous K&K installs. I carefully drilled straight through the tailpiece and end block without a problem. Nice clean hole.

A few picks of the endpin jack portion of my install. The transducer part is the same as others you've seen. Total time was only around 30-40mins including a beer break

[napochan]

OK so it's been a few years since the last post on this thread, but it's exactly what I'm currently researching. Thanks! I brought my 2015 Breedlove American KF to a local luthier to install a K&K Mandolin pickup and he was concerned about the high offset position of the tailpiece. I appreciate his caution and hope the above photos from 2013 apply to my model. It seems the tailpiece construction may still require modification to accept a standard 1/4" plug though.