Pickup Recommendation?

[jimmay]

Hi all,

Just looking for some recommendations. Here's the situation: The top of my Ibanez AC240E has lifted/arched a tad, causing the bridge to slightly bend. Thus the saddle now lacks a little pressure on the low and hi Es, effecting the stock piezo. That is, the output level on those strings is noticeable lower.

I took it to my tech and he said he can either rework saddle and/or bridge to re-level, or we can install an alternative. He mentioned the LR Baggs Element is far more forgiving to that kind of problem. I mentioned to him that in addition to the pickup issue, the preamp location on the guitar sucks, as my shirt keeps moving the sliders while playing. Add to this, the guitar is a tad feedback prone.

So....as this is not an expensive guitar and I don't want to keep chasing a moving top (do these keep moving or will it stablize?), what would some of you more experienced folks recommend?

- fix saddle/bridge, leave stock piezo, tape down sliders, hope top stablizes?
- install the LR Baggs Element with soundhole volume control? The Anthem seems too expensive for this guitar.
- install a different pick up alternative? LR Lyric? LR iBeam? Other brand?

I hope to talk to my tech later in the week and would like to be somewhat knowledgeable about the alternatives, pickup types to avoid, brands, etc.

Any thoughts are appreciated!!

--Jim

[Vancebo]

There are folks here who can give you more authoritative answers. There may be more options.

I wouldn't ever put a saddle pickup in a guitar where there isn't two perfectly level surfaces. Those can both be remedied by routing the saddle slot. The saddle itself should be fine. That is not an expensive job. There is no telling if the top will continue to belly up. Your humidity levels could be fluctuating depending on where you live. I suppose there can always be some movement.

In my opinion, it is not worth putting money in this guitar other than basic maintenance. If getting a new guitar isn't an option then the above suggestion may be best.

As for feedback, try the phase button if you have one. If not, lower your bass slider a bit until you have no hint of feedback.

[jimmay]

Thanks for the quick reply, Vancebo.

Yeah, I hear yuh on the $$ thing. I don't want to put a lot of cash into it, but I love this guitar, even if it is a cheapie. I'd be willing to put $100 in to keep it gig worthy. Especially if I can take an aftermarket pickup back out and use it again elsewhere.

[jricc]

Is a soundhole pickup an option for you? In other words, do like/dislike them?
That would be an easy one to move to another guitar, should u ever decide to sell guitar. There are a lot of good ones, Baggs, Fishman, DiMarzio Angel.
Good luck.

[jimmay]

jricc, soundhole pickups are definitely an option...

Would it change the type of strings I would have to use? I use Elixirs and was a tad concerned the coating would effect how the pickup works...

[Mandobart]

SBT's like JJB or K&K are the way to go. Sound much better than any UST. Use any one of many external preamps available at the click of the search button. You can couple a JJB PPS-200 with a Behringer ADI21 or K&K pure preamp for under $150. It will sound way better than what you currently have.

[Ed-in-Ohio]

Originally Posted by jricc

Is a soundhole pickup an option for you? In other words, do like/dislike them?
That would be an easy one to move to another guitar, should u ever decide to sell guitar. There are a lot of good ones, Baggs, Fishman, DiMarzio Angel.
Good luck.

Another enthusiastic vote for a good soundhole pickup. I have the DiMarzio passive Angel in one of my guitars and I love it.

[guitarsnpucks]

Originally Posted by jimmay

Hi all,



Just looking for some recommendations. Here's the situation: The top of my Ibanez AC240E has lifted/arched a tad, causing the bridge to slightly bend. Thus the saddle now lacks a little pressure on the low and hi Es, effecting the stock piezo. That is, the output level on those strings is noticeable lower.



I took it to my tech and he said he can either rework saddle and/or bridge to re-level, or we can install an alternative. He mentioned the LR Baggs Element is far more forgiving to that kind of problem. I mentioned to him that in addition to the pickup issue, the preamp location on the guitar sucks, as my shirt keeps moving the sliders while playing. Add to this, the guitar is a tad feedback prone.



So....as this is not an expensive guitar and I don't want to keep chasing a moving top (do these keep moving or will it stablize?), what would some of you more experienced folks recommend?



- fix saddle/bridge, leave stock piezo, tape down sliders, hope top stablizes?

- install the LR Baggs Element with soundhole volume control? The Anthem seems too expensive for this guitar.

- install a different pick up alternative? LR Lyric? LR iBeam? Other brand?



I hope to talk to my tech later in the week and would like to be somewhat knowledgeable about the alternatives, pickup types to avoid, brands, etc.



Any thoughts are appreciated!!



--Jim

You can’t go wrong with LR Baggs. I recently put an Anthem in my acoustic and it is such a pure acoustic sound from the pickup. I’ve heard good things about K&K, but I have no personal experience with the company.

Ty

[jricc]

Originally Posted by jimmay

jricc, soundhole pickups are definitely an option...

Would it change the type of strings I would have to use? I use Elixirs and was a tad concerned the coating would effect how the pickup works...

Hmmm, not sure about the Elixir coating. Most of these modern pickups are made to be used with phospher bronze or bronze strings.

I just recently picked the same Ibanez 240 as yours, without electronics. I also picked up an inexpensive Fishman NEO D single coil. I happen to like it's slightly electric sound. The strings it came with are coated EXP Daddario strings. I don't care for them, but the string to string balance is very good on the pickup. So the very thin coating on the EXP doesn't affect the balance with this particular pickup.

[MrErikJ]

You can't talk guitar straps on this forum without someone telling you that the solution is to throw out all of your current stuff and get a K&K pickup...

I would address the set-up issue first and make sure that's resolved. If you liked your pickup enough but want something slightly less sensitive to structural flexing, the Element or iBeam are pretty affordable and high-quality choices. If your guitar has a barndoor preamp, I believe Baggs makes a preamp for the Element called the Stagepro that could replace your current one. I use the LB6 which Doyle Dykes used the Stagepro with to good effect as well.

I recently acquired a passive iBeam for my "strummer" Guild. I've heard it's toneful but prone to feedback so I'm gonna give it a test run and see how it works. I generally find a good preamp with EQ and a soundhole cover can overcome most of these problems but we'll see.

[jimmay]

MrErikJ...

Yup. That's verbatim what my tech recommended. Check bridge/saddle first. Fix and/or potentially replace with the Baggs Stage Pro Element (less sensitive to saddle pressure variations). I was just a bit reluctant to spend that kind of cash on a $400 guitar.

First step is to hear back from him when he verifies the bridge status, I suppose.

[jimmay]

UPDATE - tech called. Apparently the dude who did my fretwork and lowered my action did a hammed up job. A badly installed shim was causing the problem.

Sweet! Thanks for the info, though. I'm sure I'll put it to good use soon enough.

[Tony Done]

When I was gigging I used a combination of magnetic and UST piezo through an external preamp-mixer. These days I have come to prefer a soundhole pickup, a Baggs M1 active or home-made. If you do go for a soundhole pickup, get ones with adjsutable poles pieces, as good string-to-string balance is more difficult to achieve with acoustic strings. However, any kind of acoustic strings should work fine with adjustable pole pieces.

[jricc]

Originally Posted by jimmay

UPDATE - tech called. Apparently the dude who did my fretwork and lowered my action did a hammed up job. A badly installed shim was causing the problem.

This is great news, happy for u.

[jimmay]

thanks jricc and all!

:-)