B-Band UST

Pickup features: Electret under saddle strip with two channel end-pin preamp for accoustic guitar
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Fender GC23s flat top, steel string, grand concert sized 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, laid back country rock (think JJ Cale
Reason for pickup change: N/A

Perceived output level: Medium
Tone: Balance, warm but clear. Very natural, NOT quacky, NOT plastic piezo
Sonic evaluation: I either go into a Carlsbro Sherwood Classic accoustic amp, or into a mixer (using a Behringer Ultra DI box) and into the PA.
I tried or listened to lots of piezo under saddle systems before I bought the B-Band (which is under-saddle but NOT piezo)- to me they all sounded the same - generic piezo sound which I have heard referred to as "quacky" - I would describe it more as "plastic twangy". It's not a sound I like.
I can only describe the B-Band as beautiful - warm but clear and tight sonorous bass; rich, non-nasal mids; sweet, transparent highs. As you have probably guessed I simply love this pickup I have been playing on it now for about four months and no disillusion has set in - I still love the sound which hits me whenever I plug in and hit that first chord.
I gig in small pubs out in the wilds of Gloucestershire and Wiltshire (yep I'm big in Little Sodbury!) and I play with quite a few different musicians and both they and the punters frequently comment upon how nice the guitar sounds - which is, of course, very pleasing.
I make judicious use of some delay and chorus (very sparing)and the sound comes through still nice and natural.
In some numbers I do get a bit infront of myself and hit the old guitar pretty hard but the sound does not distort or overload it just gets . . . er . . .louder!
I did notice on most of the other pickup systems which I tried (for example Fishman Accoustic Matrix) that - as well as that distinctive touch of piezo plastic in the sound - the b string was also disproporionately loud; this was also true of the b-band and I think it is a well recognized problem when putting a pickup system into an accoustic (is it just me or is the b string the problem string on most guitars?). B-band make some suggestions in the literature which came with the pickup (by the way the literature and fitting instructions are truelly excellent - clear, well written, and well illustrated, 10 out of 10 - which really makes a change for technical literature which I have found to be normally totally crap! why don't technos learn to write?)
The suggestion which I followed up to relieve the b string problem was to raise the string slightly behind the saddle with a little offcut of saddle material from an old saddle. Effectively, you break the tight angle of the string passing down to the bridge pin into two steps (wish I could do you an illustration) but the main point is that you ease slightly the pressure of the b string pressing down onto the saddle. It works! this simple little mod really tamed the b string and brought it into balance.
If I haven't described this very well e-mail me and I'll try to do better.

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

Comments: I'm actually very picky about the sound I want for what I do. I know sound is a very subjective thing and it's very hard to describe what you want until you've heard it! but for me the b-band is about as near to perfect as I could wish for. It's a well thought out, intelligently delivered product and I can't see that I'm ever going to want to change. Every time I sit down to play I'm delighted by the sound it gives me.
I am just beginning to experiment with recording (I've got a little Fostex hard disc recorder) and of course - what I have immediately learned is that you can't put the guitar straight into the recorder - it just doen't work - it sounds thin and unnatural - so I'm now trying various amp sim and preamp systems (tried a Behringer V-amp - hated it! see my review herein). I am hoping to try the valve based Behringer UltraGain Mic100 and the DBX mini pre - both have valves in them and both have seperate channels for guitar and voice - I shall report. So far my experiences with digital modelling kit have not impressed me much and that's why I'm trying out valve based stuff.
However, just to repeat my delight with the b-band - I love it.