B-Band A2.2

Just adding to my review below, and all tips from everybody else.
The installation of UST, saddle and bridge slot is crucial. THE BEST solution to get high output, and optimum contact is to saw and split you bridge into SIX pieces! ONE FOR EACH STRING. Then they have their sole individual string pressure to rely on. Especially if your guitar top is curved carved or arched the slightest. Then the bass strings pressure on the bass side of the bridge doesn't win - seesaw like -over the high e-stings pressure, giving that one less pressure.

BUT! This is NOT just for B-band. That could be applied to almost any piezo and under saddle pickup as well.

I still recommend ALL acoustic guitar manufacturers to start build every bridge like that. Like it's on most electrics, individual pieces. Then if you get that one along with some intonation possibilites were home free.

See other reviews around here for feautures. Already been mentiond

Installed a Preamp 2.2 and AST 1470 and UST 29L onto a BABICZ acute series acoustic. Probably the easiest one to install anything on, since NOTHING is glued ever onto their soundboards or top. Minimal modification, drilled a whole that is wider, like the spacing for thier special bridge which enables you to do intonation for yourself, had to carve a bit so the UST goes along with the bridge when that is moved. A drill/reamer needed to pin end hole jack too. A bit finicky it was. Unwieldy and not entriely straighforward. A bit to delicate to install.

The Babicz came with no preamp or piezo. LR Baggs are the only options on these. I liked to have BBand so I installed it myself.

Output level is decent. S/N decent. Running it through PA and recording project studio, where a conventional mic picks up too much environmental noise.

The MAIN thing about this thing is no matter how hard you lean in and hit your guitar with a strong flamenco THWACK on full chord with the heaviest pick you can find, it won't choke and get that quacky "piezo quack". It has dynamics and then some, BUT - as with all 9v driven amps, and active pickups - a tiny limiting and compression effect can be detected. It's subtle.

Now, it has too many wires to go inside so it's very hard to NOT let them touch each other or against anything. This renders some resonant frequencies and hard to tame frequenices. When I opened it up again, I hade to take macro shots with a tiny digital camera and see which wires touched which wires. Unwieldy and finnicky job to get them out of the way. And their troubleshooting section in the manual consists of too many "if this, do this" to be really a smart solution. You have almost to have the skills of a professional gynecologist to pursue anything. Their tips with saddles, bridge, and adding things in the bridge slot to get proper balance is just too way unwieldy.

Why should it be that hard to make something that has greater tolerances of a guitars topology?

The MIX section, with the AST and UST is the best one. The UST brings bottom and top, but the AST actually brings more top-top (?!). I mean high end frequency from the guitar top. This is what it does to get rid of the dreaded piezo sound. What I do not know if this unit is at its peak, or if the volume is too low. I have maxed everyhting out, and it doesnt hum or rattle or hiss. But I do not know if I could maek a tighter fit and contact between the UST and the saddle. I can't tell if I have the OPTIMUM installation. Or optimal volume. From the AST, I think so, that can't be altered once you've set it.

Sound is clear and has a full frequency range. And thanks to the AST - which hade to be placed differently than usual since it was a Babicz guitar - it has a nice acoustic body tone to it. The ATTACK respsonse of the bass could be better, and I've heard other installations that had better response. Hence my reservations if I have enough output and contact yet. But those were made on large jumbo guitars of even more high end quality, so I can't compare really. If I were to put something hard in the slot of the bridge then the contact would turn firmer still.

You can noodle around on this guitar without getting fatigued of the amplified sound. It has a tad tendency to feedback, especially when AST is brought in. Little wonder. Then you just mix the mix pot to UST only and get rid of the feedback. You only get a slight change in frequency and more pronounced attack and bass response but that's a trade off one can live with.

If it were stolen, I would probably shop around for alternatives. This was a deal, a shop closing down had a sale, and I just coulnd't resist this, since this what I was looking for. About a third of the list price. Having played for 40 plus years, mostly folk, classical, Windham Hill stuff and so on.

I love the sound of it, since it has no "piezo quack" but absolutely hate the installation bit of it. With wires that has no lead or guide how to put it (upside down or what?!??!) and a way too finicky job with three different major things you should fix into you body cavitiy. The PreaAmp unit, the BAttery Unit (way unwieldy), and the "remote control" with pots. As if that aint enough, the output jack and the two pickup transducers. Well, it just takes that if you want to hide everything.

But I think there should be no problem in inventing stuff which wires can be fastened and touch each other without interferring with sound or perfomace. This is what bother me the most. Wires CAN be seen through the soundhole of the guitar, no matter what. They don't touch each other now.

I think - this is not ONLY B-band of course - manufacturers have to come up with some alternative to all these twin transducers and unwieldy preamps and especially the wiring thing. It's way too fiddly to install, and even when that is done, there's nothing to tell you if you made an OPTIMUM installation of it. Sound get's decent and no hiss and no hum, but could it be made better? Then you have to strip it off and ruin the AST and start all over again.

Verdict: A little too delicate to install. And this delicacy means that - maybe - in the middle of a gig, something get loose from inside and start to touch on something else. Feedback and unpleasant resonance as a consequence. But if all this is ok, say you buy a guitar with this B-band installed from scratch, then it's a fair deal and a tremendous sound. But other's have been shying away from the "piezo quack" sound by now as well, so this is not the only one around by now.

Yairi classical guitar

Output level is decent; tone is quite flexible - contrary to what others say, I assume it is the UST that deals with the highs and the AST that deals with the lower end, but I may be wrong. Anyway, being able to balance between the two is good for achieving the kind of tone you like. It's certainly not perfect though, but is quite clean.

BIGGEST ISSUE FOR ME (ALSO WITH THE CORE 99 B-BAND I USED TO HAVE INSTALLED) IS A HISS ISSUE. SIGNAL TO NOISE WAS NOT HIGH ON THE DESIGN AGENDA. HISSES LIKE SAUSAGES ON A BARBEQUE COMPARED TO THE P/U I NOW HAVE INSTALLED. LIVE, IT'S FINE, BUT HIGH QUALITY RECORDING, THIS IS A MAJOR PAIN.

THE CONTROL POTS ON THE SOUNDHOLE-MOUNTED PCB ARE FLIMSY - ONE STARTED TO TURN INFINITELY, BUT I CURED THIS BY PUSHING IT DOWN ON TO BED IT BACK IN AND IT WAS FINE.

GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE

PITY ABOUT THE S/N RATIO

DECENT PRODUCT ON THE WHOLE...

A dual source pickup system consisting of an under saddle transducer (UST) and an acoustic soundboard transducer (AST) with an onboard preamp blender with individual gain controls for each pickup source.A soundhole mounted volume and blend control make this an easy unit to get your best sound out of. B-Bands XOM crossover mix circuitry blends the best frequencies of each pickup source into a complex and rich acoustic sound, accurately reflecting your instruments tonal characteristics.

I installed The B-Band A2.2 into a brand new Yamaha FG730S. All that was necessary for installation was to enlarge the hole at the strap button to receive the strapjack and also the drilling of a small hole in the end of the bridge slot for the UST. Piece of cake! I did extensive research into the different acoustic pickups available and found that, for the money, this was by far the best available. $200.00
I have a Martin JC16RGTE that I was searching for a new pickup system to replace the Fishman Blender. So, I tried out the B-Band A2.2 in the Yamaha-what a find! I'll be installing B-Bands retrofit A-10 system in that guitar soon.

There is plenty of power, so much so that when adjusting the gain pots on the preamp, I turned the UST gain back a long ways to achieve what ,to me, was the best blend with the AST and the truest acoustic sound. Very natural tone, absolutely THE best I've found- makes my $300.00 Yamaha sound terrific!
I play alot of fingerstyle but also love to strum and jam.I play through a Yamaha Magicstomp acoustic pedal and get exactly the sound I want. I use an Ultrasound AG-30 amp also.
I recored a CD on my computer 2 years ago and was ok with the results fron the Martin with Fishman- but now I only wish that I had had the B-Band then! So much better! So much more natural! And I'm comparing the $1500.00 Martin with the $300.00 Yamaha! It's ALL the B-Band, believe me, because the Martin is a SWEET guitar.

Have been playing guitar for 40 years now. This is the best I've ever played. Very satisfied with this pickup.
Here's something very important- PATIENCE!!! the results are NOT instantaneous. It will take you time to familiarize yourself with this unit and find your guitar's sound. But when, and it will, it's set you'll love it.

b-band ust

Martin D-28 (1971) I have used this pick up for 4 years now.Great sound but I was having slight balance problems,low E and high E always louder.Talked to B-Band rep. sent me new R series ribbon ,didnt solve it, tryed clay shim-terrible'results.Finaly spent a few hours shimming with ordinary writing paper (one srip under ust.one above leaving out the E strings ! WOW perfect balance and a lot hotter I'm happy again.When it's right, IT'S WONDERFULL!

I have already reviewed the original product - in part - and now I want to follow up with aN updated review. This is the A2.2 system, BTW, with the UST and the AST pups, blender knob, etc..

Still my Larrivee OM5.

OK, here is where I want to offer up some insight to other installers, and note that B-Band has updated their UST pup if you didn't know.

I'll start by saying that my older version UST seemed to go south on me. I say 'seemed to' because at his point I realize that I may have been mistaken when I say that it had broken. After replacing it with the new one and getting it up and running, I am thinking that somehow the original install was just marginally working and some odd circumstance or bump to the gtr caused it, the UST, to fail. ??? Which is to say that my original UST may actually still work but I am not going to test it at this point to find out. What happened was this: I suddenly lost most of the bass frequency from my gtr signal at a gig after someone else demo-ed my gtr. So I contacted B-Band here in the USA. I found a person there who was very helpful, Pekka is his name. And actually, he was incredibly helpful, not anything like what the other reviewer suggested. After some email diagnosis, he sent me a new UST pup. I was very grateful here considering that this system is over two years old. Thank you Pekka @ B-Band!

But here is where I learned something that I may have missed before, regarding the install of the UST.

It might seem obvious, but the saddle needs to sit very solidly on the UST. Everything looked perfect in my case, all pieces were mating properly, flat saddle slot, flat saddle - PERFECT! BUT THE NEW UST DIDN'T WORK VERY WELL. Plugging the system into the amp, with the UST sticking right out of the gtr saddle slot, I could touch the UST and make a very loud noise. SO THE UST WORKED - BUT I HAD VERY LITTLE SOUND OUT OF IT WHEN I PUT THE STRINGS ON THE GTR. ?? I thought about this and decided to slightly angle the bottom of the saddle, maybe 2 degrees off 90 degrees, towards the tuner side, so that the saddle would sort of 'lean' into the UST when the strings were on. It was hardly anything at all, the adjustment to the saddle bottom, but the UST lit up like a Christmas tree, delivering gobs of the most awsome bass frequencies I have ever heard from this gtr. ?? I have to think at this point that my first install, although the UST worked, was flawed somehow - even though it seemed to work OK for two years. They have improved the new UST so maybe it is some of that, too? At any rate, I want to tell the other reviewer that said he didn't get much if any bass from the UST, that he might have made a mistake with the install. Do yourself a favor and go back to the bottom side of your saddle and angle it slightly. If you question whether the UST is putting out some bass frequenciy, or that it is not very powerful, then just plug the pup in, leave the saddle out, and touch the UST. Doing this, you should quickly see that your install is somehow flawed - NOT - the UST.

When this system is installed properly, there is nothing out there that can touch it. You can flat pick the gtr to death and never hear it bark, play softly and hear the most beautiful electrified acoustic gtr tone you have ever heard. I loved this system originally - even if I may have had a flawed install of the UST? - but I love it even more today.

OK, this was a follow up review. I would not be without this system, obviously. It is sincerely amazing. The controls perform flawlessly after two years of heavy turning and the jack still performs as if new, very solid on all fronts.

Honestly, coming back here to this review section, I thought there would be so many people reviewing this system that I would never find my original review!! Wow, what is wrong with this picture? Buy this system if you want the very best pup system for your acoustic gtr - AND MAKE SURE THE UST IS INSTALLED CORRECTLY!!!

Active pickup system with two soucres and an on-board control

an OM with spruce top and koa back and sides

The sound is very true to the tone of the guitar. Maybe a little too true since the guitar is not stellar. The tone is clear, and the AST is not as prone to feedback as most soundboard transducers or mics.

Between Highlander, Fishman, Taylor expression, LR Baggs iBeam, and LR Baggs Dual Source, this is the best I've used.

two pickups, volume control, and blend control w/ a notched EQ. One pickup is under-saddle, the UST. the other is a soundboard pickup, AST.

I installed this in a Koa OM style guitar with a struce top. This modification was very easy. placement of the AST pickup was simple. the whole system doesn't take much more effort than a typical under sadle. If you want to replacve your undersaddle (ie fishman matrix) with this pickup, it will not require any additional drilling.

The sound is great it's very natural sounding. I hate the typical under-saddle piezo pickup, but both the under-saddle and the AST sound great. no quack. each one individually could get a 10, but with both... this is a great pickup.

I've tried many pickups there's always something...
Highlander- difficult installation
K&K bulky- off board preamp
Fishman- quacky tone
LR Baggs i-beam - difficult to position
LR Baggs dual source - on stage with monitors you can't use the mic at all.
Taylor expression - noisy w/ low battery life, unreliable

This pickup, easy installation, great tone, low noise, good battery life, low feedback. I have no complaints

Pickup features: Active
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Yairi DY-61
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced:
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: The output level is adjustable since the A2.2 has a volume/gain control. It also has a mix control that balances the two pickups. The output level is more than adequate since it has an active preamp powered by a 9v battery.
Tone: The tone is excellent since you can balance the two pickups. The AST (Acoustic Soundboard Transducer) is very bright and I find that I have to tone it down more towards the UST side. The preamp has their XOM technology which is just a fancy term for a crossover between the two pickups. The AST handels the high tones above 700hz and the UST handles the low tones below 700hz. Being able to control the balance between the two pikups really lets you dial in the perfect tone.
Sonic evaluation: Sonically, the pickups sound great. The AST picks up every single tiny sound while the UST seems to be more muted, but maybe that is just the crossover working.
Three great things about this pickup combination: 1) It sounds great 2) It is easy to control your own volume and tone. 3) You can't even notice that it is installed.
If you have an expensive instrument that you do not want to do major surgery on, this is a great way to add unbelievable sound to it.
I installed this myself and I consider myself to be mechanically inclined. If you are going to do it yourself, take your time. The most tricky parts of the installationa are:
1) Making sure the drill bit does not hit a brace when you drill a hole for the UST. It is difficult to estimate where the hole beneath the bridge will come out by just feeling around inside your guitar. Mine came out fine and it was about 3/4" from one of the braces. When you drill this hole, just make sure that you stop when the bit makes it way through. Definitely install the UST FIRST! You do not want to accidentally drill through the AST.
2) Make sure that the UST and AST do not touch. The lead for the UST comes out of the hole in the bridge and you just have to make sure that the AST does not touch it. There was not much room to work with, but I was able to make sure they did not touch.
3) You may need to trim the cardboard template that they provide. Try positioning the AST several times making sure sure it does not touch the UST.
4) Take is slow drilling the hole for the strap-jack. I did not have a reamer, but I progressively made the hole larger using multiple drill bits. I finished with a 1/2" wood bit. I put making tape on the bottom to prevent any scratches.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play at home, at coffee houses, and in a church service.

Comments: I would buy this again in a heartbeat. I also considered the Baggs Imix, but it was more expensive.

Pickup features: UST and AST pickups with preamp and soundhole volume/mix control
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Gigson J-45
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: b Band UST/mike combo
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): fingerstyle, folk, blues
Reason for pickup change: I wanted to be able to run a mono output and eliminate the occasional feedback problems I got with the microphone.

Perceived output level: pretty good as far as reproducing a natural acoustic tone
Tone: AST pickup is too bright and must be turned down
Sonic evaluation: I play through a Boss AD-3 then right into the board. The signal is weak and the volume at the board must be cranked.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play lots of fingerstyle. Other than the problems I described abolve it's a pretty good system.

Comments: Here's the problem. A few months after I installed the system the volume/mix contol unit broke. It's pretty flimsy.I've been emailing B Band for two months. They keep saying they'll send me a new control unit but I haven't seen it and don't expect to. Horrible customer service! I can't play the guitar, so I'll probably pull the system out and try a Highlander. I've put this B Band in two other guitars, and now I'm just holding my breath.

Pickup features: Two transducer system, with preamp and volume + mix controls
Impedence or other specs: Medium output

Model of guitar or bass: Larrivee
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Medium, more than ample to drive a mic or amp input
Tone: Balanced, with a blend knob
Sonic evaluation: Larrivee OM5, medium concert body. Straight into PA, recording console, or Fender Acoustasonic Jr amp.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Blues, Pop rock

Comments: This is a great setup. What else could you need? The install was a thoughtful experience, not what I would call 'slam dunk', but very do-able. I did not follow the previous reviewer's suggestion to placee the inside gtr pup along the 'bass brace' - How could this be done without the pup sitting half-on and half-off the plate that sits under the saddle? Unless you were to move it much further away? This doesn't make a lot of sense to me, the suggestion, but the author seems to know what he is talking about. Maybe a follow up from him then? At any rate, I would be curious to know how he was able to try this pup in a few different positions, because once this baby is down, it is very much down? Eh?
So, yes, then, if he assured me that he did try it in the factory position and then made another decision based on personal experience, then I would maybe give it a go. The thing is, the factory placement sounds great to my ear, why change it?

Pickup features: Dual Source Preamp w/Vol & Blend (requires the SBT & UST elements)
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Santa Cruz DPW, Taylor 710LTD, Martin OM
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Most everything that's been made.
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): All
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Medium Output
Tone: Acoustic; woody; resonant!
Sonic evaluation: Plugged into multiple PA's, an Ultrasound amp, AND direct recording...
Very easy to get a great acoustic tone. The SBT offers the woodiness (better than the iBeam) while a little bit of the UST yields presence and directness. Very easy to control with the onboard Vol & Blend. Good feedback resistance (even better than a Taylor ES and Baggs M1!).

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: Overall, this is the best gigging setup I've used (and I've installed just about everything). Offers the best attributes of a dual source setup with the ability to blend and control volume onboard - all without cutting holes into the guitar OR using an outboard preamp/blender. It can be as easy as one guitar and one cable! Offers the ease of the Baggs DS, but with significantly better tone, less feedback, and nicer looking controls (not so big and obtrusive).
About B-Band: I've been using the B-Band elements and preamps since their introduction ~10 years ago. Compared to everything else I've tried both in the past AND recently (USTs, SBTs, & Mags by Baggs, Fishman, PUTW, KKSound, Taylor ES, Sunrise, etc), my guitars sound truer and more acoustic! The A2.2 couples the best attributes of B-Band's SBT & UST designs to a fantastic sounding preamp w/a great interface. For me, the A2.2 is their best sounding and best designed product to date!
Installation Tip:
1) For the SBT installation (and I've done a bunch using the B-Band 1470, Baggs iBeam, & PUTW #27), position the element on the bridgeplate ALONG the bass brace. Tone is consistently better than when mounted on the plate underneath the bridge saddle.
2) The battery holder that is presently included with B-Band's preamps is cumbersome. Until B-Band switches back to the metallic battery clip w/a velcro security strap (THE BEST), I'd recommend some other method (perhaps even a standard battery clip from Radio Shack affixed w/3M red 2-sided tape).

Pickup features: Dual active pickup system with UST and AST features AND clever soundhole volume and mix between the two pickups sources.
Impedence or other specs: Very unobtrusive system with easy installation.

Model of guitar or bass: Guild D30
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: None
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Christian Worship and Praise
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Normal
Tone: Balanced and natural with the luxury of using one or both sources.
Sonic evaluation: I just put this baby in myself and have yet to test it out in our church's PA system, but thus far, this pickup sounds awesome - I've plugged it into one of my home Fender amps and it comes through nice and clear. This is such a nice pickup without the intrustive cutting and sawing into the side of the guitar!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Rock, folk, hard strumming with some ballads here and there...mostly Christian contemporary rock-edged music.

Comments: OK, this is going to be the standard by which most pickups will now be judged. I was previously in love with the Highlander IP1 for how it sounded and combined the under-saddle sound with the nuances of the guitar's soundboard, but this B-Band A2.2 may surpass it in terms of live control with the soundhole volume and blend controls. I took the risk of purchasing this pickup without previous reviews of it and I also decided to install it myself. The B-Band website was VERY helpful in terms of guiding me step by step through the installation - and I saved $100.00 in the process! I was very close to buying the A2 from B-Band a few months ago because of the dual pickup system and because I heard that Larrivee was installing them on their top-of-the-line guitars. But this A2.2 surpasses that system with their XOM technology and the ease of blending it on the guitar itself without having to reply on an additional mixer. I'm totally psyched to get this pickup going and I will report back in 6 months to a year to give you all a progress report. God bless.