L.R. Baggs iBeam Adhesive Question

[seratone]

I recently pulled out an L.R. Baggs iBeam pickup system and replaced it with a Takamine tri-ax.

I never liked the iBeam (but I'm keeping it around for another guitar if it potentially comes my way).

When I first had it installed in wouldn't stay 'stuck' I had the local shop epoxy it to under the bridge saddle. Would that have effected its tone?

I also used mono cables for it instead of Stereo - would that have made a difference?

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by seratone

When I first had it installed in wouldn't stay 'stuck' I had the local shop epoxy it to under the bridge saddle. Would that have effected its tone?

Almost certainly, tho it's hard to say if it would be better or worse - a matter of taste. When the ibeam first came out there was a store in Santa Cruz that was advocating using standard 3M foam tape instead of the thinner stuff Baggs supplied, because it softened the tone a bit. It's not surprising that the way you attach a pickup like this can have a pretty big effect. You can even hear differences with pickups that are glued in between the initial install and after the glue dries and hardens.

[patmatt]

Of course the mono cable is going to hurt the performance of the pick up. I use the Ibeam and love it. Not as "hot" as the element. Use it in my Bourgeois JOMC. Lovely sound!

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by patmatt

Of course the mono cable is going to hurt the performance of the pick up. I use the Ibeam and love it. Not as "hot" as the element. Use it in my Bourgeois JOMC. Lovely sound!

The ibeam is a mono pickup, so there's no point of having a stereo cable, and it might not even work, depending on the jack installed. I don't know about the iBeam specifically, but Baggs has a tendency to use mono jacks, (they do in the Anthem, for example) that won't activate the power with a stereo cable. If this was a passive iBeam, that wouldn't be an issue, but there'd still be no benefit from using a stereo cable with a mono pickup.