Talking about pickups....

Fingers

Has anyone ever tried an LR Baggs I-Beam in a GJ guitar. Supposeldy it attaches using an adhesive under the bridge on acoustic guitars but I am not sure if the construction of a GJ guitar will accommodate it.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics ... ystem.html

I noticed this in the specs.... ".....adhering to the bridge plate beneath the soundboard. It weighs only 8 grams (1/3 ounce), and won't alter the unplugged sound of the instrument."

Jack

Fingers wrote:

Has anyone ever tried an LR Baggs I-Beam in a GJ guitar. Supposeldy it attaches using an adhesive under the bridge on acoustic guitars but I am not sure if the construction of a GJ guitar will accommodate it.

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics ... ystem.html

I noticed this in the specs.... ".....adhering to the bridge plate beneath the soundboard. It weighs only 8 grams (1/3 ounce), and won't alter the unplugged sound of the instrument."

I don't know...with the arched bridge of Selmacs, will there be enough contact to make it work? I think that's the main question, especially since it attaches beneath the soundboard. It might be worth looking into the Schatten line as a comparison, since they also install inside the body, but have models designed specifically for Selmer-style guitars.

best,
Jack.

BluesBop Harry

I second Jack's Shatten suggestion.
Check 'em out: http://schattendesign.com/HFN-S-Series.htm

You could also look into mounting a Schertler Basik or DYN-G internally and wiring it to a endpin jack.

Jeff Moore

I put an I Beam on a Hodson 503 (long scale oval hole) and it worked just fine. That was many years ago though so my values may have changed. The I Beam seemed more detailed sounding to me, almost to complex and rich in high harmonics, but also not real present, like having to much reverb.

The I Beam wants to live on a bridge plate under a fixed bridge guitar. If I remember right there's nothing but top plate under the center of the bridge on Selmacs. No bridge plate. So I glued it right to the top plate centered under the bridge.

K&k offers a archtop pickup that doesn't require any drilling or cutting. I've got them on a couple "working" guitars and their very good.

I'll be curious to hear how your I Beam works. Mine had a pre-amp built into the endpin jack requiring a half inch hole in the butt of the guitar. Ouch! but it was reliable as long as I had use for it. There must have been a battery somewhere to run the pre-amp but I don't remember how or where I rigged that onto the guitar?

Fingers

Thanks for all the input. The Schatten looks good. I do not have an iBeam....I have been wanting to get one for my acoustic.

constantine

I have a Schatten HFN-S2 for sale if you are interested, I will pm you.

Matthias Lenz

I had an I-Beam in one of my flattop guitars. The I-beam definitely sounds more natural than a piezo-type system does, but that brought up some issues :

1. finding the right spot for placement

in some places the string balance was really bad. At it´s best the high e string would still not come out loud enough, whereas the d string was always too punchy. Replacing this thing several times was quite a hassle, and I bet it´s even more on a selmac, because the "easy install" tool won´t work due to missing string pin holes.

2. Sound will always need heavy EQ

I always had to cut bass and midrange out a lot if not completely. You then had somewhat of a sparkling, silky and natural sound. I got the best results with a Schertler amp because of the reson-filter that clears up a lot of the woofiness.

So, with some "learning how to handle" it finally worked nicely on flattop, but I´d recommend to stay away from it with a selmerstyle guitar. It´s just not made for it.

I lately tried out the Schertler BASIK and DYN-G and chose the Dyn-G, because that was REALLY easy to install and provided an unaltered sound straight away. The C-Dyn is actually the same system as the Dyn-G, but to be installed inside the guitar. It´s also in the middle between the Basik and Dyn-G price. And the BASIK, which is the cheapest Schertler pickup, was also very good, in fact a lot of GJ players seem to prefer it to the DYN-G. It´s said to have more "edge" and "cutting power".

Good Luck !

Fingers

Thanks all...great input..thanks to Constantine..I PM'd you back.

Thanks Matthias...very in depth...interesting as I was going to get an I-Beam for my Taylor. Great info.

frater

IMO considering how good and cheap is the Basik, if you're into GJ, gotta have one... (I wouldn't use it on my Taylor though, its tonal range seems just perfect for Selmacs)