L.R. Baggs iBeam

Pickup features: Active Bridgeplate transducer. As below...
Impedence or other specs: See Below...

Model of guitar or bass: Lowden Jumbos, O35 and O32
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: N/A
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup: See various reviews below...
You musical style(s): Fingerstyle
Reason for pickup change: No change, multiple iBeams purchased.

Perceived output level: See below
Tone: The tone is unreal -freaky natural, as mentioned below. Very good balance, with a slight tendency towards a 250 to 400hz bit of _boom_, at least in Jumbo guitars.
Sonic evaluation: This is a follow up review to my rather long winded original review (the first one at the bottom of this page). At this point, I have had the fortune of hearing multiple different installations in guitars of varying quality, recording a few tracks for a compilation CD and playing over a hundred shows since my early preliminary review of the active iBeam. I can now feel confident recommending the iBeam enthusiastically. A few comments: As other reviewers have rightly noted, an EQ will help you get the most out of the pickup. In the Lowdens (both of them) The sound is perfectly useable plugged direct into a mackie 1202. I slightly roll up the high and low pots on the board -giving the net effect of a slight dip in the mids and go to town. Both Lowdens are extremely balanced guitars, however. I would not run with ?fluffy? the pet cort jumbo without the Para DI given any choice. Even with the high end instruments, the Para DI adds a lot of control over the shape of the sound. None of my EQ changes with either Lowden are radical, but I do boost very subtly at both ends of the spectrum and cut a bit at 300-400Hz on the more expensive guitars. When I do, I get a sound that I can easily live with live or on disk. That pretty much sums it up. As we split shows with other singer/songwriters -all of whom seem to use under saddle piezos or piezo/mic combos- the general consensus is that they want what I have got in their own instruments. The ibeam kills undersaddle pickups, at least as far as realism is concerned. This pickup does a phenomenal job of amplifying the character and tone of your guitar. When I have amplified an el cheapo, I ended up with a very high fidelity el cheapo sound. When I amplified an Austraillian Blackwood Jumbo, I ended up beyond words. Also, your speakers make a lot of difference in the over all outcome, as expected. Studio monitors, good headphones, AER amps, and bi and triamped PA set ups sound really convincing. Fender Twins much less so...
Other observations: I have been advised (the folks at Baggs actually read these reviews, btw) that the adhesive used on the double sided pads that come with the iBeam will cure over a three to four day period -during which time the sound mellows out and becomes more realistic and less crispy in the trebles. This is definitely my experience with the three guitars that I personally use that I have installed the iBeam in.
Also, the jig that comes with the iBeam is now transparent (to make line-of-sighting the saddle and pickup easier) I mention this to point out that the folks at Baggs are not above improving a product even after it is already successful. To that end, the battery holder is now a pouch that velcros to the side of the guitar rather than the ?launch lock? holder that comes with heel block screws (although, in truth this is a non-issue -velcro works just as well on the ?launch lock? clip -but this way the dim of wit wont be tempted to use the screws on their Guitars...)
This pickup stands up very well to the two and three source rigs that touring pros use in their guitars, and it is easier to dial in and EQ than a stereo or two endpin jack rig. The beam also allows one to use a wireless and still get a decent reproduction for large hall applications if need be. In all, a valuable addition to the effort to get great acoustic sound on disk or out to the public.

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

Comments: Of course, I sit behind the speakers, but my wife -who has sat in front of a lot of great "Name" players over the years- says that it is the best live sound around. Bias? Probably...undoubtably actually, but the iBeam/Lowden O live sound combination is hair raising by any standard.

Pickup features: Active
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Takamine F360
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: N/A
Other pickups on guitar: NO
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): FOLK, ROCK
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Very good output... slightly higher than Fishman's at same amp level
Tone: NATURAL
Sonic evaluation: TAKAMINE F360 (1978 Japanese model, no original electronics)
FENDER ACUSTASONIC 30

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: MOSTLY FOLK, ROCK (60's 70's some current).

Comments: I find the LR Baggs 2001 IBEAM a very natural sounding pickup. I have always been interested in obtaining a pure "ACOUSTIC" sound and find that this pickup very well complements my equation of the nearly perfect "ACOUSTIC" set up. (I am leaving some room for future miraculous products and technologies... or current, but out of reasonable financial reach i.e "expensive", solutions)
The installation was quite simple, except for one very damaging error in drilling the strapjack. I strongly reccomend that you leave it up to a professional installer, even if you think you are very handy. It's not worth taking the chance of damaging your guitar. If you insist in doing it yourself, please save yourself some grief and make sure you 'gradually' increase the size of the strapjack pin hole.

I also have a Takamine F340 with a Schaller passive pickup and the difference between the 2 setups is like night and day. Definitely worth getting the preamp (i.e. active version) model.
I thought my Amp was wimpey (although very natural sounding)... but really it was really due to the passive pick-up combination. Worth considering when justifying the extra cash for the active version of any p/u; after all, you have probably already spent considerable money for the guitar and amp... why not go for the full treatment?
Before purchasing the product, I researched it quite well and compared it to the comparable Fishman active pickup (which I was set on buying first) using 2 Taylors 514s (1 with Baggs and 1 with Fishman) and 2 Larivees D05s. In both cases, and in two different locations (one smaller setting, the other was a larger venue, completely open space) the Baggs pickup just sounded better. In both cases I used primarily the Fender Acoustasonic 30 amp for the test.
One thing worth stating is that when testing under louder volumes, I got some feedback from the Baggs p/u in one of the stores, mostly due to its more microphonic nature, but haven't been able to reproduce that at home, even in close proximity and with the amp volume at 10.
The other point that I would like to make has to do with the amp. When tested against Yorkville's acoustic 100 Watt amp, the Fishman pick-up seems to have fared better than the Baggs. When purchasing the amp, I had earlier dismissed the Yorkville amp and favoured the Fender because of its more natural tone, even if the Yorkville was a more powerful amp, had some effects built in and was comparatively priced. It just did not sound as natural. In any case, I believe that you must also carefully consider the combination p/u amp/pa that you will be using to get the sound you are after before purchasing. (In my case, I think that if I had bought the Yorkville amp instead of the Fender, I most likely would have chosen the Fishman instead).
I must stress that these are subjective reasons for choosing the equipment that I did, but I (and my friends agree) believe that, at least for me, that elusive acoustic "holy grail" just may have been found in the current setup that I have.
I hope this review will be of help to others as I felt it necessary to share it with all as a thanks to the many other reviews that I have used time over time for selecting and evaluating products, especially musical gear.

Pickup features: tried passive and active models
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: tacoma road king, noble mini jumbo
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: ???
You musical style(s): most all styles
Reason for pickup change: Was looking to amplify my live sound.

Perceived output level: the active was hot enough but the passive was, ah, not good
Tone: the active was brittle in the high end, no matter where i moved it, it didn't work, the passive was, uh not good
Sonic evaluation: I was using it through my live rig which is stellar, daedalus, hafler amps and allen and heath board. I recorded these pickups into my digital recorder, using same eq settings as that i believe is the truth beyond any visual bias i may have. I don't know, all the other reviewers love theirs and i am competent at the install, it truly sounds better than their under saddle version but man, it doesn't sound like the guitar. The recordings bore that out.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: fingerstyle blues, classical stuff, rock, it didn't work it's mojo, had to eq the heck out of it to get it sounding reasonable and then put the right verb on it to smooth it out.

Comments: I am happy that i didn't have to go through the pain of buying these things and then finding out they were the one legged man in the butt kicking contest. I have been playing nearly 20 years and am able to make good sounds, I also compared it to the b band soundboard transducers and it was better, but i got the K&k pure western passive sound board transducers and OMG!!!! that was it, i took the other stuff back, not finicky about installation, i plugged in passively and recorded the same guitars and have let over 40 people hear it, without telling them which is which, they all picked the k&k. So i wish baggs all the luck in the world but, i wouldn't buy one.

Pickup features: Acoustic Undersaddle transducer
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson CL 35 Deluxe
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Baggs Piezo
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Acoustic - Duh!
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Wanted to udate my previous review with the iBeam in this guitar. I was able to get much better performance from the ibeam when I took the piezo and any shims I had out of the bridge slot and fitted a saddle so it just sat on the wood at the bottom of the slot.
Tone:
Sonic evaluation:
For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: Pickup sounds great with the bridge setup this way. Still not quite "natural," but good enough to use without the massive eq treatment I was doing before.

Pickup features: Active Transducer
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Taylor 410
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Fishman
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Singer-songwriter..Folk Rock?
Reason for pickup change: Hate peizo plastic quack

Perceived output level: Seems like plenty. More than enough.
Tone: Might be a little thick with low mids.
Sonic evaluation: I am using a Taylor 410 with the Baggs I Beam pickup, through the Baggs Paracoustic DI into a SWR California Blonde.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I am after a fat acoustic sound that serves well in ensemble or solo. This gear seems like it will do the trick. I feel like it is serving up a full spectrum of tones, and that just remains for me to EQ it competantly.

Comments: So far I am very happy with the pick-up. I would probably replace it without looking further. I have played guitar for 24 years, and have a Les Paul, a Strat and a bunch of amps and stomp boxes. Over the last few years I have spent alot of my playing time on my acoustic. I wanted to get back into playing live, but knew the fishman that I put in a few years ago had the standard "plastic" sound, and I thought there must be some solution. Reviews here and elsewhere pointed to the IBEam/Paracoustic DI combination as being really natural sounding. I went ahead and plunked down the cash and put them in. Wow, what a difference. The new pickup is capturing my sound remarkably well. I sometimes hear some of that peizo sound, and when I play hard and loud to hear myself in an ensemble situation (meaning over the drums) I feel like the tone deteriorates. But I really think that's true even unamplified...my guitar just sounds better when played more softly.
In order to really judge the quality of the pickup alone, before I took out the old pickup I set up my brand new SWR California Blonde Amp and plugged my guitar into the Para Acoustic DI. I then fiddled around for a few hours, trying to get the very best tone I could out of the Fishman pickup. I began to wonder if I had really needed to spend the money on the I Beam, because between the SWR amp and the Baggs DI box I was feeling really happy with the sound. It still sounded plasticky though, so I stopped and put in the I Beam. I don't know if I got it in the right spot or not (I couldn't use the installation jig that came with the pickup because my Taylor doesn't have end pins that go through the body. But when I restrung it and plugged it in, I immediately knew the money had been worth it. I had to fool with all the EQs again, but right away I knew that this was a new class of pickup.

Pickup features: ACTIVE
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Larrivee DR03
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: check www.lrbaggs.com
You musical style(s): fingerstyle and using pick
Reason for pickup change: n/a

Perceived output level: Sounds miked. Pretty hot active model.
Tone: crisp, I have a rosewood full body guitar which is bassy and the pickup projects that. EQ is the key.
Sonic evaluation: I'm using a Fender Blues Deville which is not designed for acoustics,
but suprisingly it sounds great. I plan to buy the LR baggs DI Eq/preamp to complement my rig. It sounds great through at PA or mixing board. It resists feedback faily well.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I think it is fine for soloing or strumming with a pick, changing picks drastically changes the tone.

Comments: I'm sold on LR baggs after this unit.I would recommend having it professionaly installed if you have no good wood working skills. I can't imagine it getting much better that the ibeam.

Pickup features: Under bridge contact transducer. Active version.
Impedence or other specs: na

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson CL 35 Deluxe Cutaway (discontinued unfortunately. Great guitar)
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: Baggs piezo, Dean Markely Humbucker
Other pickups on guitar: na
Artists using this pickup: Jackson Brown helped create it but uses something similar but higher quality.
You musical style(s): Fingerpicking Buckingham or Zeppelin to any pop covers to ACDC to my own acoustic based stuff.
Reason for pickup change: Piezo hater. I've been waiting maybe 7 years for a viable affordable alternative. My experiments with small mics did not go well, mics were boomy and I thought too much potential for interference. Dean Markley humbucker was a joke, in my opinion, and then stopped working. Thought about the DM single coil, which I've heard and liked at times, but then there's the hum..

Perceived output level: Not hot. Average? Hard to compare as its the only acoustic pickup I have.
Tone: Tone is hard to peg, because chances are you will have to eq the hell out of it like I did, and I'm not exaggerating. I guess I'd say perhaps a tad tinny compared to the k&k demo mp3s on their website.
Sonic evaluation: With these ibeams, you have this great potential for acoustic reproduction, but you have to have the attitude that you're going to spend a lot of time tweaking, and I think you have to go through a serious eq (preferably multiband parametric and/or notch). Someone looking to just "plug in and go" for open mics or similar venues is not really going to get the benefits. Having said that, I will also say that with the ibeam installed well and optomized through good equipment, it can compete with anything out there, and the difference between the ibeam and the actual sound of the guitar will probably elude most people. Set up right, it's really that good. Other people do make similar products so you may want to shop around.
Installation was difficult, and it took a couple of goes to hit the sweet spot. Also, the foam adhesive pads that come with the pickup make installation smoother, but I don't see how they could help transmit vibrations accurately. I voided the warranty by using removable glue instead. Oh well. Once installed optimally, eq is necessary; first, to notch out frequecies that feedback (I had two bands that needed notching, and even the touted baggs DI didn't quite get it right) and then to boost high mids and trebles for natural overall tone, "airy" acoustic quality, and attack. I used a Lexicon MPX 1 signal processor, which has a four band eq, plugged into a Layla 24/96 into my computer running cool edit 2000 (cool edit has a frequency analysis graph that eliminated much of the guesswork for the feedback notching). I notched up to -12 DB at 125hz and 158hz, and boosted 7dbs at 1250hz and 4dbs at 13khz. The lexicon reverb was kind of the icing on the cake. Sounds a little more glassy and present than the real thing, but still natural, not electric. Occasionally get a faint piezo-like contact noize, but not much.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Still occassionally catch faint glimmers of piezo-like tone on slides and picking when I'm not paying attention. Mostly when my technique is poor. Other than that, same situations where you would play acoustic are all appropriate. Presence and dynamics are great. Sustains well. Thought about adding a mag but no, it's just right.

Comments: I'd try other transducers if I parted ways with this one, Baggs is a latecomer to this technology. But the tone is good, often as I'm sitting here playing it I'm thinking it's better than recordings I've done with a large diaphragm condenser through a tube preamp. Of course, when you throw in the expense of the lexicon unit it's almost as much money. If the sound was this good just plugging straight in, I'd give it a 10.

Pickup features: Active with built in pre-amp
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: James Goodall Rosewood Jumbo
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Fishman Acoustic matrix
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Fingerstyle, blues, open tunings/Celtic
Reason for pickup change: I wanted something that would be less "nasal" than a piezo and help capture the dynamics of my instrument--without adding a microphone and extra gear.

Perceived output level: Plenty of head room--somewhat more output than the Fishman. Used with the Baggs D.I. box, you will panic your sound person.
Tone: The tone is balanced and clean across the spectrum--needs EQ to reduce strident mids
Sonic evaluation: James Goodall Rosewood Jumbo--Baggs paraEQ D.I. box--Crate CA125D. Though I'm pleased with a warmer, more natural sound, using the Baggs D.I. box really puts the icing on the cake. The bass is tight and round, and I can put a lot of sparkle into the high end. Though I think the pickup stands well on its own, the added ability to shape your sound with the Baggs D.I. box makes this one of the best sounding combinations I've heard. For my taste, I like to hear "treble in the bass" and "bass in the treble"--this setup delivers both.I still beleive that a microphone and bridge pickup blended together is the "holy grail" of acoustic sound, but this is as good as it gets for a stand alone bridge pickup.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I think this product is a good match for my style (fingerstyle/blues/open tunings). If you want to cut through the mix with loud, tight bluegrass licks, I recommend the Fishman bridge pickups.

Comments: I definitely would replace the pickup if lost or stolen. I've been playing professionally and for fun for 26 years. I also play a grand concert Goodall, fender strat, and fender tube amp with NOS tubes. I compared the Fishman line--particularly the Rare Earth magnet/mic combo--and chose the Baggs because I don't want to hassle with feedback in higher volume gigs. The Baggs was also less expensive.
For me its a no brainer to add the Baggs D.I. box if you really want control of your sound. Its really worth reading their blurb on setting the gain, and caution is advised for those who plug the D.I. output into an amp. Be sure to turn down your amp's gain so you don't cook your input stage.
Baggs claims that this pickup would be incredible if mixed with a magnetic pickup. I really wish they had manufactured the I Beam so that adding another source to it is easier. I also think that the battery clip was somewhat cheesie compared to what comes with Fishman products. I'm not convinced that owners of high end guitars really want to screw the battery clip to the neck block, (or put any holes for any reason anywhere), or hide the serial number. Otherwise, the installation directions--complete with jig and diagrams--were very well done, and took me about 30 minutes with only a crescent wrench. Finally

Pickup features: Passive
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Collings SJ
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Fishman Rare Earth Blend Mic
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Jackson Browne
You musical style(s): Folk, Blues, Country, Ragtime, Rock
Reason for pickup change: Looking for natural acoustic sound.

Perceived output level: This pickup being passive needs a preamp to boost output level.
Tone: Balanced
Sonic evaluation: This is the pickup I've been waiting for! This is the most natural sounding pickup I,ve ever heard, it sounds like a studio mic. I am using a Fishman Model G preamp which I already had, and it sounds great through my Studiomaster Power House 8-2 PA!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I finger pick and flat pick and I can't conceive of any style this pickup would not be suited for , if your looking for a natural sound.

Comments: I would buy this pickup again in a heart beat! If you're looking for the natural sound of your acoustic guitar, then your search is over in my opinion! I've been playing guitar now for 37 years and have been playing at open mics for several years. Since I started using this pickup, I've had several people comment on how great it sounds. They are thinking about having one installed on their guitars.The installation was easy, but I did not install the strap/jack in the peg hole like most people. Since I personally don't believe in modifying my guitar, I made a small block of wood with a 1/2 inch hole to which I put the strap/ jack into and used double sided adhesive tape to stick it to my pick gaurd. I also installed the pickup directly under the saddle and have not tried to reposition it yet to see if I can improve on the sound.

Pickup features: Active (built-in pre-amp inside end pin)
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Larrivee DV-10
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: LR Baggs Dual Source
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Jackson Browne /
You musical style(s): Pop / folk
Reason for pickup change: Looking for true acoustic sound-

Perceived output level: output is hot witht he active model, not at all if you buy the passive model- I tried both
Tone: Phenomenal tone- airy, open, like a sensitive elctret mic, my Larrivee DV-10 has half dead strings- and the tone was still still shimmering
Sonic evaluation: I use a Crate CA 125D, a very good acoustic amp with tons of guitar tailored parametric EQ etc. Note: it is nearly essential to use one of LR Baggs pre-amps or better yet- the LR Baggs Paracoustic Direct Box combo. )I may sound like a Baggs sales person- but I'm not- I just like pro quality gear. I had the passive model installed first and then tried it in the store into the Crate 112 Acoustic amp- it sounded terrible (it neede a clean pre-amp boost etc.) Then I had the active installed- it has plenty of true tone and a hot signal. I took it homw- plugged it into the paracoustic Direct box and marvelled a the ultra pure / airy and compeltely transparent tone. I will make my final judgemetn, when I change to a fresh set of strings- but I did have some boominess centered on the C and D note frequencies. While I am very impressed with the tone and features of this cutting edge pickup- I am considering adding a Sunrise soundhole magnetic pickup to fatten up the sound with a flavor of that mag coil sound. This is an expensive set-up adding the sunrise (another $220 installed) and is not really necessary. I have been trying to get real acoustic sound for 25 years and I'm 90% there. Most people with be blown away with it alone- but for the purists dream, even the installation manual says- that by adding a mag pickup (the active model can receive a low impedance only pickup- read mag only - wired directly into the end pin circuitry) You then use a stereo 1/4" cable that splits to two seperate guitar cords. The manual states- for "pristine" sound add a mag pickup in this way. The sound is fairly pristine already, it is so transparent though, it seems to lack a little punch. All that said- since my playing style is primarily flat-picking / with alternating strumming etc., when you fingerpick using the I-beam alone, the sound is absolutely studio perfect! I've never heard anything like this. Anyway, reminder- consider the PAracoustic pro an essential when using this pick-up. Holy-grail acoustic sound? For finger picking- definitely! For strumming- closer than anything I'ver ever heard. I cna't imagine anyone saying that dosn't sound like a guitar. Highest recommendation!

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

Comments: I am an amateur player, churches, front porches etc. I've been playing for 25 years and have used countless different pick-ups- Shadow Triple Play, LR Baggs Dual Source, Bartolini,Ovation etc.
See my above notes for my long commentary. Phenomenal pickup- does require a good pre-amp /direct box.