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B-Band A-2 and UST

Summary
Price New B-Band A-2 and UST @ Musician's Friend
Manufacturer URL www.b-band.com
Sound 2.0 (1 response)
Overall Rating 10.0 (1 response)
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Product: B-Band A-2 and UST
Price Paid: UNKNOWN
Submitted 03/29/2008 at 09:23am by G C

Features :
I installed the B-Band A-2 and UST. replacing my Fishman rare earth blender pickup. I used the pickup in conjunction with the Fishman Platinum pro pre amp EQ.

Instrument :
I installed it in my Blueridge BR180 acoustic. Replacing my Fishman Rare Earth Blender pickup. I used the pickup in conjunction with the Fishman Platinum pro pre-amp EQ.

Sound : 2
I play soft rock strum and picking styles. the pickup had an almost chorus, phase kind of sound. Picking was fine but I was not at all impressed. Kind of a swishy sound. I'm going back to my Rare Earth pickup. The only reason I had switched was the Rare Earth picks up a buzz and hissing sound at times do to the humbucking pickup.

Overall Rating : No Opinion
I've been playing the restaurant scene for twenty years and I am picky about getting the best sound I can.


Product: B-Band A-2 and UST
Price Paid: ?90 something
Submitted 03/25/2004 at 02:08pm by Peter Pollard
Email: littleboots at onetel<dot>com

Features :
Pickup features: Under saddle electret accoustic guitar pickup with 2-channel end pin pre-amp
Impedence or other specs:

Instrument :
Model of guitar or bass: Fender GC23s (small body flat top accoustic)
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: N/A
Other pickups on guitar: N/A
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Sort of bluesy, jazzy, laid-back rocky ......(OK! OK! .....I DON'T KNOW!)
Reason for pickup change:

Sound : No Opinion
Perceived output level: Pretty loud
Tone: Best I can say is clear, full and balanced; good rich accoustic tone
Sonic evaluation: Fender SC23s through either a Carlsbro Sherwood Classic (by the way - a very beautiful amp!) or DI'd (Behringer Ultra DI) into my mixer and into the PA

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Nearest indication I can give is sort of J.J. Cale'ish but perhaps less coutryfied more rocky/bluesy

Overall Rating : 10
Comments: If it were lost or stolen I would weep for a while and then replace it. I'm actually very picky about tone - I just can't live with a naff sound. I tried a lot of under saddle p'ups - all piezo's and frankly they all had that generic piezo 'plastic' sound (some refer to it as 'quacky' but to my ears it sounds plastic.
B-Band is NOT PIEZO - it's electret (I'm not electronics engineer but I am told that electret is a different technology to piezo). I also listened and tried lots of guitars with piezo p'ups - again there was not a great deal to chose between the high end stuff - they all had the piezo sound - and the cheapo kit sounded - er - cheapo!
The B-Band just sounds beautiful - that's all I can say - beautiful warm, harmonically rich and balanced accoustic tone. Very clear string separation, very tranparent treble, deep but clear bass. My guitar is not a particularly expensive or special guitar (but yes....I love it) and I am a pretty average guitarist, but virtually every gig I play I get comments from musicians and punters alike about how good the guitar sounds - which of course makes my day!
When I first installed the B-Band (and it is very easy to install - the supplied booklet of instuctions etc is excellent) the b-string was pretty dominant (a common fault on amplified accoustics) - B-Band in the suppied booklet make some suggestions to rectify bad string balance and the solution which worked for me was to raise the angle of the b-string behind the saddle - I just placed a small piece of rosewood under the string behind the saddle as it angles down to the bridge pin - this raises the string a little behind the saddle and thereby reduces the downwards pressure of the string on the saddle. It worked perfectly, quietened the string down without losing any tone or intonation - very simple and effective solution.
Can't recommend the B-Band highly enough - it's definately superior to any piezo I heard (even the very expensive stuff) and it is a well designed and intelligently delivered bit of kit.


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