L.R. Baggs iBeam

Pickup features: Active Endpin preamp w/extra input 9volt powered
Impedence or other specs: High Impedance

Model of guitar or bass: MARTIN
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Mic
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): PRAISE & WORSHIP, FINGER PICKING AND STRUMMING
Reason for pickup change: Wanted to reproduce the sound of the guitar without the hassel of a Mic. Also did'nt want the Fishman Quacky sound.

Perceived output level: Excellent Reasonably high out put zero distortion
Tone: After I found the right placement It's very balanced and natural sounding
Sonic evaluation: I love it. It sounds like my guitar only louder. It took about 20 minutes to throw it in and another 20 to move it to the sweet spot. (luckily it come with extra adhesive) I bought it with a Baggs Para Di. It let me dial in the sound and places me in control instead of the guy working the board.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Strumming and finger picking playing for over 20 years and finally found somthing that works for me.

Comments: I have a couple other acoustic which I've just ordered Ibeams for.
I haven't found anything to hate about it. I can get it to feedback on the low end if I don't used the Para DI but it did the same thing mic'd has alot of Bass. anyway I've looked for a while and to me this is the one to get.

Pickup features: Active
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Martin D-16GT
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): flatpicking, fingerpicking country-rock, folk
Reason for pickup change: Wanted an alternative to plastic piezo sounds.

Perceived output level: It's at least as hot as the fishman prefix plus I had in another guitar. Plently of output.
Tone: balanced to slightly bassy. The ibeam was not difficult to eq though. A slight cut in bass in and 6 dcb at 1K worked good.
Sonic evaluation: I was reluctant to install the ibeam myself but after reading the instructions was fairly sure I could do it. I did have a guitar tech drill out the strapjack hole as this was something I did not want to take a chance with. I used the provided jig which proved helpful. I am not a wiz with technical stuff but I would say that if you have even modest ability in the this department you could probably do it yourself and save some bucks. I positioned the ibeam toward the bridge pins so the saddle was just on the edge of the pickup. I also offset the ibeam towards the treble side of the guitar about 2mm which was a good thing since the ibeam tends to get a little boomy in my guitar. Upon plugging the guitar into the PA I was quite pleased. It also sounds very good in my Marshall AS 50. The ibeam is much more natural sounding than any piezo pickup I have heard or played through. You will probably need to cut some bass and mids with this pickup but not much. I haven't tried moving the ibeam from where I originally positioned it and probably won't unless I hear another similar guitar with a different placement that sounds better.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: fingerpicking, flatpicking - country/rock/folk

Comments: I'd say the ibeam is a big improvement over any piezo. The sound is very natural and open. L.R. BAggs recommends using one of it's pre-amp systems with it and I imaging it would improve the sound and will probably spring for that sometime down the road. I like the fact that I didn't have to cut up my guitar to install it as the endpin jack has the preamp in it. I would say that a volume control would be very useful and wonder if Baggs could provide that along the lines of their dual source system so it just clamps on the soundhole? The sound is microphonic and will feed back at very high volumes so a notch filter or phase will be helpful if you are playing loud. Bottomline, this is a great pickup and I would recommend it.

Pickup features: I-Beam Active bridgeplate transducer
Impedence or other specs: Not certain

Model of guitar or bass: Lowden Dreadnaught
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: Don't know that
You musical style(s): All Styles, blue grass and fingerpicking
Reason for pickup change: I needed to amplify my sound and wanted what i thought would be a natural sound. not quite

Perceived output level: the level is very hot
Tone: it depends where you put it, after using up all the adhesive strips i said forget it.!!!!!!!!
Sonic evaluation: The thing requires too much playing around, the jig isn't accurate. It is much too finicky for me. Damn, i just want to play not screw around with this. I use a trace elliot TA100

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Mainly blue grass, but fingerpick too. Doesn't work for me, does not sound like the guitar

Comments: If it were stolen, i would only ask the thief to leave at least half my money there so it wasn't a total loss. I have been playing 30 years. I want to be able to plug in, i would love that if the pickup worked as claimed, i don't like that it is not what it was supposed to be. I am looking at a couple more transducers and will see if their claims are true. I am still searching for a better pickup one that will give me the sound of the guitar.

Pickup features: active
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Taylor 710
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: n/a
Other pickups on guitar: n/a
Artists using this pickup: ?
You musical style(s): Rythm, mostly praise and worship
Reason for pickup change: Wanted to add a pickup without piezo weakness
and without mic feedback problems

Perceived output level: Strong output, I have to reduce DI box gain substantially
Tone: balanced
Sonic evaluation: I have a Taylor 710 (spruce) and am running the ibeam through a Baggs paracoustic DI then into the house system. The pickup sounds greaty by itself, but the combination with the Baggs DI is great. Sounds great with settings flat, and you can perfect the tone from there to get almost anything you would want from an acoustic.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play praise and worship at church and the clarity and balance are perfect

Comments: I would definately replace this one. I'm even considering puting the same one in my 12-string. I have been playing for about 15 years and also own a Washburn 12-string. I love the warm accurate sound of this pickup. Our drummer commented on it immediately and others noted the sound difference as well. Other members of our team play an Ovation and a Takamine. Neither one sounds even close. Before this pickup I was using a mic because I didn't like the sound of other methods of amplification. I almost bought a mic/piezo combination, but thought that I didn't like them seperate, so why would I like them blended any more? Now, I would never use a mic again, the ibeam is so accurate and simple. I installed it myself just following the directions.

Pickup features: Active contact microphone
Impedence or other specs: 600 ohm output impedance

Model of guitar or bass: Larrivee D-19
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: EMG ACS magnetic soundhole pick-up
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup: Don't know
You musical style(s): Country/acoustic rock
Reason for pickup change: Better acoustic sound

Perceived output level: Very hot: much hotter than the output of my Steinberger bass passive pick-ups
Tone: Very naturally acoustic
Sonic evaluation: This is a follow-up to my previous Ibeam review. I have purchased a second Ibeam to put in my Larrivee (my first Ibeam went into a Guild JF30). I have used the Ibeam equipped Larrivee with a very good PA system and through an Ibanez acoustic guitar amp.
When the Ibeam was first installed in the Larrivee the sound was extremely bright. It's not that the string balance was incorrect: the Ibeam simply was not picking up the lower frequencies of the guitar. I tried the Ibeam in several locations and settled on a radical relocation from the recommended position: the Ibeam is now placed so that the center of the pick-up is located near the low E bridge pin and oriented in parallel with the bass leg of the main X brace. This makes the Ibeam at a 45 degree angle to the saddle.
In this location the Ibeam output is very representative of the sound of the guitar. I use the same minor equalization as with the Ibeam equipped Guild and get the same accurate picture of the particular guitar sound.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play a variety of acoustic styles including country, blues, and acoustic rock.

Comments: The comments in my previous review are still valid with three additional pieces of information. The first concerns the radical departure from the typical Ibeam location that was necessary to mate with my Larrivee. I was under the impression that the Ibeam should be located within a very small area roughly under the saddle. I understand, after communicating with Baggs, that this is not always true: the location may vary considerably depending on the particular guitar.
The second piece of additional information concerns the lack of sufficient end pin thread to extend through the end block of my Guild. I thought that the end pin and metal circuit board cover cylinder were one piece. It turns out that the circuit board cover is a separate piece and that all I needed to obtain enough end pin thread to extend through the Guild end block was to unscrew the cover several turns.
The third comment concerns a volume control for the Ibeam. This is the one feature that I sorely missed when switching from the EMG magnetic sound-hole pick-up. Baggs is planning to ship a version of the Ibeam with the control module mounted in a big hole in the side of the guitar. The control module includes volume, but cutting a large hole in order to obtain volume control is undesirable or downright unacceptable in many cases. I certainly had no intention of cutting a hole in the side of my Larrivee.
I received a solution from Tim Perkins at Baggs: he attached a diagram of a volume pot addition to the active Ibeam circuit board to his email. While it took some very fine soldering work, I did it! I now have a small 10K pot mounted on a circuit board and attached to the inside edge of the sound hole of my Guild with some double-sided tape. The pot provides the volume control I needed and it works great!
The only serious deficiency of the Ibeam is now fixed with this addition.

Pickup features: Active Endpin preamp w/extra input 9volt powered
Impedence or other specs:

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

Perceived output level: Reasonably loud no distortion
Tone: EQ via preamp balanced very close to the natural sound of the guitar
Sonic evaluation: 70's Martin d-28 w/ Para Di directly into the PA. This is the first pickup that actually reproduced my sound. I can't say enough about it.

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

Comments: I've tried a bunch of different pickups. This is the first one that I feel reproduced the sound of the guitar without changing it. It also did'nt kill the acoustic sound like a saddle transducer does.
No quack little feedback and sounds good!

Pickup features: Passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Martin 000-R
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: NA
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Finger Style Rock/Blues
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: It is true that this pickup capture the natural sound the the guitar, but the passive model does not have enough output. It needs a preamp!!
Tone: I'm using EQ from the Acoustisonic Junior, but I feel that if there was not EQ available this pickup displays the natural sounds of the guitar. If you guitar sucks then so will your sound.
Sonic evaluation: I'm using a Fender Acoutisonic Junior. I have to push the amp to 9, or 10 to get some gain out of the pickup.

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

Comments: If it were stolen, or destroyed I would replace it with the active model. I have been playing for about twenty years. I love the natural sound that I get from this pickup. It truly sounds like a good instrument Mic. I'm sure I will love it even more with a preamp.

Pickup features: Active contact pick-up
Impedence or other specs: 600 ohm

Model of guitar or bass: Guild JF30
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: EMG ACS
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: I have no idea.
You musical style(s): Country/Acoustic Rock/Fingerstyle
Reason for pickup change: I was looking for a more natural acoustic guitar sound.

Perceived output level: Typically hot output with active pre-amp.
Tone: Very naturally balanced acoustic
Sonic evaluation: So far I have played the JF30 (Guild Jumbo maple body) through a very good sound system (Carvin mixer/31 band eq set using spectrum analyzer/Carvin power amp/Yamaha S115 speakers). I am looking forward to trying the guitar through my Ibanez acoustic guitar amp and through the church sound system I plug into on Sundays.
The sound quality is excellent. I have been using acoustic guitar pick-ups of various kinds since 1977 including a Texas Instruments contact pick-up, a Washburn guitar with built-in piezo pick-up which did not last long and was replaced with the Fishman thinline style, Baggs LB6 and LB12 pick-ups with various pre-amps including the duet system, and the Baggs RT (ribbon transducer) system. While I found the RT system to be very good and a significant advance over earlier piezo types, it still had the characteristics typical of piezo pick-ups: an unnaturally fast attack leading to excessive percussion effects and an excessive mid-range (approximately 850 hz) that required a significant reduction (12-15 db) to make the sound reasonably natural.
In recent years I had switched to magnetic sound hole pick-ups including an old DeArmond (surprisingly good sound but very susceptible to hum due to the single coil design) and the EMG ACS. While the sound was not natural, the attack was more natural and the sound could be shaped to be pleasing.
I purchased the iBeam last night and installed it this morning. It is significant to note that this is the first pick-up I have ever been able to use without any extra equalization: I plugged the guitar into my PA system and played. It is likely that I would eventually tweak the sound slightly (there is a slight boominess, an occasional tiny mid-range honk, or a high frequency presence that is a little too noticeable), but these are miniscule compared to the major equalization that was always necessary to get any of the previous pick-up systems (piezo or magnetic) to be acceptable.
Indeed, the iBeam is so good that there are two factors that greatly outweigh the performance of the pick-up.
First, the sound system or amp through which the pick-up is played will undoubtedly color the sound far more than the pick-up. I expect that the majority of my future equalization will be related more to the PA/amp than the iBeam.
Second, the iBeam is sufficiently accurate in reproducing the sound of the guitar that it now becomes possible to make the guitar sound better through the sound system than it does naturally. This is similar to shaping a singers voice (increasing certain frequency areas and decreasing others) until the singer sounds better through the PA system than without amplification.
Several other characteristics are worth noting:
1. There is no indication that the guitar/iBeam system is prone to feedback. I do not typically use a loud amplifier system, but I was using the iBeam with louder than normal volume and sitting directly in front of a speaker without any sign of feedback.
2. The iBeam attack is very natural: it is much like using a microphone. Sometimes my playing technique includes thumping the heel of my right hand on the guitar bridge on the downstroke of a strum: the natural result of this technique is a rhythmic thump. The iBeam accurately produced the same result (similar to a kick drum): it was very nice.
3. The iBeam/pre-amp combination seems to be very quiet. I have not tried the system in a recording environment yet, but there is no noticeable noise through my PA set-up.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Country/acoustic rock/fingerstyle: the iBeam works very well with all of them.

Comments: I am very well satisfied so far and will likely buy another one to put in my Larrivee. I have been playing for 25 years and presently own a Larrivee D19 with EMG ACS magnetic pick-up, a Taylor 555 with Baggs RT system, a Guild X170 hollow body electric guitar, an Ibanez acoustic amp (two 10's/two tweeters: very good amp), a Carvin AG100D acoustic amp (one 12 and a tweeter: very lousy amp), and a PA system.
While it is possible that something better will come along someday, the iBeam is by far the best that I have used so far and it is much better than any piezo or magnetic pick-up that I have heard.
Installation was pretty simple. I did not use the installation jig included with the system: I simply attached two pieces of foam double-sided tape to the side of the iBeam next to the high and low E bridge pins (the tape was nothing more than a spacer to keep the iBeam from touching the bridge pins), placed the high and low E bridge pins into the bridge to use as a stop for positioning the iBeam, and stuck the iBeam to the bridge plate. I shifted the iBeam position off center toward the treble side of the bridge by about .200" which is a little more than the amount recommended by Baggs, but the location seems to work.
I may experiment in the future with different pick-up locations but the present location sounds quite good. Because the Guild bridge pins are so close to the saddle location, the iBeam is positioned essentially under the saddle. I may try a position closer to the sound hole at some time in the future.
I have three minor complaints/suggestions:
1. The thread on the barrel of the end pin jack/pre-amp is not long enough for use with the end block of my Guild guitar. In order to get enough of the jack extending from the guitar I had to omit the inside flat washer and lock washer. An additional .100" of thread would be more than adequate.
2. I wish the active iBeam system had a volume control. I play both guitar and bass in my church worship band and often switch between the during the service. I am sure that the active iBeam output is going to be much hotter than the passive bass output and a volume control would allow me to easily match the volume of the two.
3. The iBeam only includes two spare pads for attaching to the guitar. As a result, you are very limited as to the number of places you can try the iBeam unless you purchase 10 more pads. While most people will probably leave the iBeam in the first place they try it, others will want to experiment. Why not include 4 or 5 spare pads with the pick-up.
These are relatively minor concerns. Overall, I am very well pleased with the iBeam.

Pickup features: Active endpin preamp
Impedence or other specs: Don't know

Model of guitar or bass: 37 Martin 00-18
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: I don't know
You musical style(s): mainly fingerstyle
Reason for pickup change: Well i was looking to get away from using a stage mic.

Perceived output level: the output was fine, very hot, although the sound is not real distinguished, it tends to be boomy or thin depending on which angle you put it in at. I tried the jig but was unsatisfied with the sound.
Tone: It is either boomy with thin highs or sort of characterless without eq
Sonic evaluation: i am using the powered mackie speakers and a 1402vlz board. I am not unhappy with the sound but also not really happy with it. I was told how natural is sounded by another fellow who uses them, never heard his rig but thought i would give it a go. I have to really bend the eq to get some stuff happening, there has got to be an easier way. I was apprehensive about drilling the endpin out, it is a 37 Martin 00-18 and is a great instrument, balanced and tingly, a great fingerstyle guitar.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play fingerstyle, altered tunings and such and i am getting tired of using mics, because i also do gigs with a jazz band, and use this guitar as it sounds great chunking chords. I think that the pickup would work best for situations of solo guitar but is not articulate enough in a band setting to really sound distinguished.

Comments: I don't think i would buy another one, and i will probably remove this one and continue the search, i know there has got to be a pickup out there that is simple and works well. I have been playing for 34 years and can get around on the guitar. I like the fact that i can plug in and not use a mic, i hate the fact that it doesn't really sound like my guitar, that's why i shyed away from undersaddles, i got the guitar because i loved it. i have compared it to the bband with a single transducer and it was not as good as the ibeam. I chose the baggs because i have owned his products in the past and always thought they were very high quality. I will probably look at another manufacturers bridgeplate transducer very soon. I am still searching for the pickup of my dream, if anyone reads this and you know of something better, tell me.

Pickup features: passive bridgeplate transducer
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Larrivee Om, Webber Om, Gibson L130
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: None
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: ????
You musical style(s): All styles
Reason for pickup change: Just wanted to see if it was better than what i was using

Perceived output level: It was not real hot passively but through my preamp could get enough gain
Tone: It was good sounding with some serious E.Q. although i noticed it was brittle in the high end, i let the adhesive cure as specified but still was not completely satisfied
Sonic evaluation: I am using a P.A. and also an acoustic image acoustic amp

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Fingerstyle, classical, jazz, rock, country, it is better than most things out there but not the best

Comments: I wouldn't purchase the ibeam again, although if it was the only bridgeplate transducer i would. It is truly better than any of the undersaddle pickups i have heard. The reality is however, that the pickup doesn't completely do what a pickup should and that is transfer the sound of the guitar to whatever source you are using. I had to use some serious e.q. I am currently using the K&K trinity system but on some gigs, just plug in passively with it and it does what a pickup should, transfers the beautiful sound of my instruments through the Amplified source i am using and i am able to run it completely flat, letting me know that i am hearing from my p.a. what i hear in my guitar. I would imagine that the active I-beam is better than the passive as they can pre set the e.q. to compensate and then let the player do the final adjustments, as i said if it was the only bridge plate transducer i would use it but it is not and so with my experiment finished, i have concluded that the k&k is far superior in every way.