Kepma AcoustiFex Go, Acoustic Guitar Pickup, Preamp and Effects System

The outstanding feature of this pickup is that it amplifies your guitar's sound, without plugging into an external amplifier. It does this with a small transducer that adheres to your instrument's back. You get delay, and reverb, plus the ability to blend an electric pickup sound, with a small microphone that picks up the acoustic sound coming from your own guitar body. You can also plug-in with the usual 1/4 inch jack. In my opinion, the Kepma pickup is much better then the sound generated by piezo pickups, which can sound odd, and make a kind of "quacking" sound. Best of all, even though my monitor was 3 ft from me on stage, there was no feedback from the Kepma. It's also great that you can use the pickup/amp temporarily, before you drill any holes into your guitar body. After trying it out on stage, I've decided to make the installation permanent. The only slight drawback is that it does cover up half of the sound hole. Of course, many pickups do that. This mutes the sound when not using the device; however, all you have to do is turn it on and the true voice of your guitar is unchanged, yet louder. The battery is replaceable, and holds it's charge for many hours, and there was plenty left after 4 hours onstage. Surprisingly, it doesn't take long to recharge via its USB connection (about 3 hours). Customer service is outstanding, and though they don't have online purchasing as of yet, they will be up soon (as of this writing in September 2019). I accidentally ruined the transducer while trying to remove it from my Breedlove Acoustic Bass (yes it did work on the bass). I should have used a plastic paint spatula to get underneath the adhesive, but not doing so broke the voice-coil off the transducer. They shipped one out to me within a day of my email inquiry...not even Amazon, the gold-standard of customer service can top that (though they frequently have as good a response). I have a few other guitars that I'm thinking of fitting with one of these Kepma pickups, but I want to check out their line of guitars first. Enjoy.

Easy to install and sounds really good! Build quality is great for the price. Very easy to figure out and use. This is exactly what I was looking for. Just some fun onboard effects for my acoustic. I was gonna go with Tonewood but it seemed kinda big and a little pricey, so I gave this thing a shot and im happy I did! The chorus and reverb make my guitar sound unreal and the delay is so fun to play around with. I just love it! It’s def a conversation starter and It honestly spoiled me cuz now acoustics never sound as good as mine. Lol I’m really glad this product was made and I am happy to support them! I just wish I had came up with the idea. lol if only! (Slaps knee) Do not hesitate! Buy it! You will not regret it!

Installation: First and foremost -- NO SOLDERING!! Thought I'd put that first for those who want to skip on. I wish I had better feel for where the device goes on the inside of the guitar. I felt like if I place it wrong it's not going to sound right. Other than that the installation wasn't bad, but with the end pin it would be nice to have something to help you pull it through. What I do is ruin a cheap 1/4 cable by removing all the rubber or plastic so that it's small enough to fit through the end pin hole, and feed the cable through the hole until you can reach it in the sound hole. Plug it in to the endpin jack and pull it through. Put a very small amount of thread lock on the strap button that screws on -- it will come lose with playing, and all my acoustic guitars do that with this kind of jack. The rest is just simple, plug in the two jacks and it works. Sound Unplugged: This is why I gave it only four stars. From a player's standpoint the change in the way my guitar sounds is subtle. I wasn't impressed off the bat, I'll be honest and I nearly packed it back in the box. I've got a good, all wood guitar with an excellent spruce top that sounds great on its own. And if you've got a Martin, or Taylor you know what I am talking about. It adds that needed spark and makes it sound just a bit better. So I really notice now when I don't turn it on, so in the guitar it stays. Sound Plugged in: This is worth buying as it's one of the best sounding pickups I've owned, and I've had a Fishman rare earth, I used on a Martin. Then again, I have three pickups. My original setup had a Piezo with a microphone that plugged in with a 1/8 inch jack -- which is the size of the output jack on the Kepma. So I plugged the Kepma into that, so I have the PIezo and the Kepma mic, and Magnetic pickup, and the three of them blended together sounds very nice. I can also blend the piezo and the Kepma, and use the 5 band EQ of my onboard electronics. All in all it's a nice unit. The only other thing I really don't like is the big green light -- I don't need that. a smaller and much dimmer light is what I'd prefer as it stands out on a dark stage. black electrical tape fixes that too.

I have never been a big fan of pickups for acoustic guitars because I always find that the warm acoustic sound is gone as soon as I plug it into an amp. I was facinated that this product actually worked without an amp. I added just a bit of reverb and/or chorus and my Larrivee still sounded unplugged but actually projected the sound better. Even with the chorus set at max the acoustic feel is still there albeit sounding more like a 12 string than a 6. The basic install was pretty simple. I decided I would leave the output cable dangling out of my soundhole for the start as my Larrivee does not have a strap button and I would have to drill one to install the output plug. Here is where I ran into a problem. Moving/jiggling 1/8" output plug slightly created a loud cracking sound through the amp. I tried one of my own cable and did not have the same issue. Unfortuantely my cable is not suitable for permanent installation as it lacks the plug that would fit into the hole that held the guitar end pin. Because it worked so well unplugged, I was reluctant to pack up this unit and send it back to amazon. I did, however, want to get this issue resolved so I decided to email Kepma directly explaining the problem and got a response back within one hour. They would send me a new cable but wanted me to try something first. CVlean the 1/8" plug with steel wool (in my case, fine sandpaper) and wd40. Worked like a charm. No noise what so ever. Having resolved the noise issue with the output, I decided to install the cable permanently. Before I did I watched several youtube videos on drilling a new hole in my guitar. Turned out to be a pretty simple job. Getting the plug into the hole was not. This has nothing to do with the pickup but rather a combination of my arm size and the sound hole size. There was no way I could get my arm in far enough to push the plug through the hole. I ended up pushing a coat hanger through the hole and taping the plug to it. After 3-4 attemps I got the plug through and fastened. If you hope to install this pickup permanent on your guitar I suggest you reach into you guitar and see if your hand will reach the spot where the output plug will be fastened, Either that or find someone with small arms and a long reach.

I have used soundhole acoustic pickups before from other manufacturers- no names here...and, working backwards, this is one of the finest sounding and articulate sound hole pick ups I have ever used. Even the way it is set up coming from the factory- so you don't have to " fuss" with the small screws- is great. I especially like the reverb. and the tone is crystal clear, through my Schertler acoustic amp. I opted NOT to drill the hole in my guitar to install the cable INSIDE the guitar, but the connecting cable coming out the sounddhole outside the guitar is manageable- you just have to avoid stepping on it when it's in the rack. Some points to note: 1. I tried to install this pup into the soundhole with the set of existing strings attached, albeit loosened as much as possible. Because of the " back end" part of the pup ( with the effects), it was very hard to position and secure with the strings on. I ended up slightly scratching and roughing up the soundhole, as I was trying to moce it around and position it for installation. 2. Bottom line- I had to remove the strings on the guitar completely to properly and equally install the pup in the opening. The actual installation (without the strings) was perfect. 3. Make sure that you connect the EXTERNAL wire/cable that comes out of the bottom of the pick up to the pup BEFORE you install it- it is just about impossible to get your hand UNDER the pup after installation ( through the soundhole), to push the cable pin into the pup- as it is underneath the unit. ( Many of these sound hole pick ups have the cable coming out of the side. 4. Suggestion: the producers should provide some kind of " clip'on" clip that will slide over the guitar wall on the lower side of the side hole so that the plug cable can be " clipped" onto the lower sound hole wall to keep it out of harms way. Overall, the packaging was excellent, die cut foam for the pieces, a nice box for all the peripherals, and , as stated, once installed, a joy to use.

Easy Install (from a guitar tech point of view) - Beautiful effects enhancement to my Washburn dreadnought acoustic, yet still retaining the natural sound of the guitar - Increases the overall ambience in a room without using any external amplification - Unlocks many possibilities in pushing the envelope of playing options of songs - The full saturation of the Chorus turns a six-string in to a twelve-string sounding instrument (i.e. playing the intro to the song "Wanted" by Bon Jovi becomes realistic) - The variance of the Reverb from light to deep saturation allows for recreating many classic folk and rock tunes with authentic precision (from James Taylor to Pink Floyd). Love the enhancement! Mark

Just fitted this, and wow, the sound is truly remarkable. and that’s without connected to an amp. Points to note; you need to have a 1/2 inch reemer to drill out where you remove the strap pin. (Not a problem, Amazon have them ). Use a cordless drill as you will be then be able to control the speed better. Keep an old string to pull through the end pin and make sure you have the correct size washers in place before doing this. (Included.) Once through , put the other washer on then tighten the nut and then, I would put a bit of loctite on the strap end as you screw it on, as I found it does get lose as you put on/ take of your guitar. Now when play with the preamp on, you’ll fall in love with it, it is amazing , and just wait till you connect to your amp…WOW. Love this unit some much that I’m contemplating buying another one for my Ibanez. My Blueridge truly sounds amazing with it. Just connected wifi transmitter to it and W O W , sounds even more amazing thru my amp. Update…. Just bought my second one… One thing I have noticed, Is that my strap comes off of the installed pin end , so make sure to fully engage your strap to that pin end. (The space allowed could be bigger .)

Found it had nice sound and enjoyed the novelty of it. But I returned it because I felt the cost was way higher than the value. I would have kept it if the price was about half listed