Krivo Pickups floating

[deacon Mark]

I check a few older threads on these pickups, and they clearly are the slimmest ones in the bunch. I have spent the last 2 weeks going through various pickups and trying different ones. I needed a few for repairs on guitars I am doing, and I like to see how they react on my own guitars. These are all floating pickups. My first question is do any of you have a Krivo and how do you like it. I bought with one with mount tab and will put it on the pickguard with heavy duty double stick tape. I then run a wheeled volume pot only and 1/8 jack. I just order one that is the last of my doings that have happen since Christmas.

Earlier I tried a Kent Armstrong Slimbucker with above same set up. Frankly it sound fine and is not noisy at all. The basic issues is the mounting lugs are underneath and wipe out any gain from being super thin. This would be the best option if the wires came out the side like a Dearmond. I also tried a few of the reissue Dearmonds I have. I have both the 1100 and 1000 which is flat no polepieces. I can tell you there is a difference and I find the 1000 actually sounds better to my ears. Compared to the originals they are in the ballpark and not worth it to pay 5 times the cost for a pickup.

I also tried a full size Kent Armstrong neck mount and it sounds fine. In fact the more comparisons I made the more I keep thinking I am splitting hairs. In the end right now in all my comparisons the Dearmonds still win. I have Bartolini on my Heritage Johnny Smith that is exceptionally nice sounding. In the end I after spending long hours comparing, I think Occam's Razor is the answer. Too many things can get in the way of simplicity.

For the record I normally never use a tone control and recommend that when customers ask about options but I do have to put them in when requested. I would like to hear what others might have in Krivo or even the reissue Dearmonds.

[marcwhy]

Hey Deacon!
I think Jim Soloway had one on his "Emerald" guitar a while back (the Krivo is standard on them), so hopefully he'll jump in!

[JazzNote]

i'm not sure but i got a hint that you may be looking for a extra-slim PU. The Dommenguet Jazzbucker is the slimmest i've ever seen. If it is of any interest to you, i can measure how slim it is exactly, i have installed one on my Heritage GE. It's a fine sounding PU. Boris Dommenget Guitarmaker handmade Guitars and Pickups

[Jim Soloway]

Hey Deacon!
I think Jim Soloway had one on his "Emerald" guitar a while back (the Krivo is standard on them), so hopefully he'll jump in!

Loved the guitars, hated the electronics. The Krivo was absurdly sensitive and picked up everh contact with the top. Emerald has revamped their electronics and that's probably a good thing.

[Stringswinger]

I have a couple of the early Krivo pickups (Nuevo and Djangobucker). They are unpotted pickups that are VERY microphonic. While they work for a Gypsy guitar application (they are balanced well with Argentine strings) , I way prefer a Dearmond 1000 or 1100 for an acoustic archtop application.

[deacon Mark]

I bought the PAF and hoping it is not real microphonic. It is designed for electric jazz archtops. I am assuming it is a bit different than the ones that are just attached with putty. A demo on them was fine. We will see I will report back.

[kevmoga]

I spent some time with a Krivo PAF mounted to the Pickguard on an acoustic archtop and while I mostly liked the sound, I could not deal with the microphonics. Unfortunately my experience with the PAF mirrored what others said about the other Krivo models. The slightest touch of the pickup, the Pickguard, or the top came through the pickup. I’ve moved it on and replaced it with a BJB and am much happier. Perhaps someone with a more disciplined and refined right hand technique might get along with it and I hope it works out for you.
LOL, I don’t know why autocorrect wants to capitalize Pickguard , but I’m too lazy to correct it.

[vernon]

I have the Krivo humbucker for resophonic guitars on my dobro and it works really well in solving that amplification problem. It is, indeed, quite expensive at $229!

[Woody Sound]

Loved the guitars, hated the electronics. The Krivo was absurdly sensitive and picked up everh contact with the top.

That's odd for a magnetic pickup.

[Woody Sound]

Many years ago I picked up (ha!) one of these for barely a song, I mean a few $. It was sitting in the bottom of a parts drawer in an old music store. It was marketed as a dobro pickup, they later gave it the name "Hi-Tek." Even though it was originally meant for dobro, it sounded absolutely phenomenal on my GJS. I still have it in my own parts drawer. It's so great, I can't bear to part with it. It's one of those "might need it again some day" things.

Barcus Berry hi-tek - Google Search

[deacon Mark]

So now the big update. I got the pickup today. Just a note the on the bright spot despite all the problems we have with Government the United States Postal Service is top notch. I got this from Oregon mailed on Friday regular mail, to Illinois today.

This first obvious is that it is the thinnest pickup in on the market. Easily went under the strings and would work on about anything with a shallow neck angle. It sounded fine pretty much like most other PAF's and was dead silent. I did not experience any microphonic sounds that others had said the pickup was known for. I even tapped the pickup and tried to get those types of sounds and nothing. It is a little wider than I would like but you cannot have everything.

Now the big story is I did not end up using on this particular guitar. In fact, truth be known the Dearmond 1000 reissue I had sounded just as good. In fact, a bit better bass response not quite as good on the high end. Nobody would really be able to tell the difference. The Dearmond was a bit hotter pickup too and confirms for me the reissue Dearmond's are quite good. Save you money and do not spend for the super expensive originals.

In the end the Krivo is good but really, I am dearmond person. They are still thin and not nearly as wide. I now have the Krivo that I guess I am going to keep it could work on some other guitar. Sometimes the various parameters of putting a floating pickup on a guitar differ. One may work better than another in how all parts interact. I even rigged up the Krivo on my Heritage Ghost build D'a NYer, to compare it with the Dearmond 1100 reissue with the polepieces adjustment. They are close but the gold-plated Dearmond looks way better and sounds a bit better in the bass. One note is that I think the reissued of the Dearmond 1000 without the polepieces adjustment actually sound fatter. I would get that over the 1100 in most cases.

This is what is leftover. I might add that you really are splitting hairs so say one sound completely superior to another. This includes Kent's handmade by himself and the imports.

1. Kent Armstrong Slimbucker..........yes sounds good no noise
2. Krivo PAF......
3. Kent Amstrong PAF regular made by Kent himself not an import.
4. Johnny Smith Kent Armstrong humbucker import

In the end if you are looking for any floating pickups any of the above can be had, the price will be cheaper than a new one for sure. Save the thread look me up when it happens.