Axe bracing and LR Baggs ibeam

[Gerald]

I have an Avalon A32J with a Fishman Ellipse blender. I like the mic with the blender but not the piezo and so I am thinking of fitting an active LR Baggs Ibeam transducer. This sticks to the underside of the bridge with double sided tape (unlike a piezo which sits under the saddle, that is, onto top of the bridge - hope you understand). You need 3 inches of open space under the bridge to stick it on. Is there enough room for this the Axe bracing? I will keep the fishman as is and add another jack socket somewhere to have a 3 pickup option (gooseneck mic, piezo and iBeam transducer). Thanks in advance! Love the guitar by the way!

[riverdog]

Hey Gerald,
I have that same pickup in my Goodall and it fits and sounds great and it should fit in your Avi, it would in mine; but JB will probubly give you a definitive answer. One thing to remember is the placement is between pins and soundhole under saddle for optimum results. This, however, is slightly inconvenient when I am changing strings because I like to feel that the ball end is seated properly against bridgeplate and with the pickup there it is a little awkward getting my finger between them. It is a big tubelike pickup, about the length of your saddle. With the thickness of bridgeplate combined with the tape it should clear. Hope it works out for you; enjoy!

Riverdog

[Gerald]

Thanks for the reply and advice. The A32J is a nylon string, so no holes through the bridge for the pins. I have read the iBeam is easy to fit if you have string holes and trickier on a nylon-string. Any thoughts?

[JB]

Hi Gerald,

First of all you need to feel inside the guitar to confirm if your soundboard has the same bracing pattern as in the photo ... this pattern has been used for sometime now but there are some with no extra strut splitting the bridge plate.

3 inches is only 76mm so you should have plenty of room.

As far as I remember LR Baggs have a notched iBeam for this type of soundboard.

[Gerald]

Thankyou for this photo - it is very helpful. This is the bracing I have. However, I do not think the iBeam will fit. The 3 inch transducer has to be fitted parallel to the bridge, and basically directly under the bridge. The scale on your photo shows there is no 3 inch (76 mm) space available with the above orientation/location. The notched iBeam you mention has the notch in the centre and perpendicular to the 3inch length so I do not think that will work. Shame. Oh well, thanks very much for your very prompt and helpful reply - what service!

best wishes, Gerald

[Ross A]

There is a classical version of the iBeam that has a 'tunnel' that allows it to stride the braces.

[Gerald]

I have now bought a K & K Pure Classic with Pre-Phase internal pre-amp. This consists of 4 transducers that stick on the bridge plate inside the guitar directly under the saddle. This is an amazing pick-up with a beautiful sound. The thing that really impresses me is the detail in sound I am getting. Instead of just the fundamental note, I am now getting all the overtones I usually hear only when playing un-amplified - but now they are coming out through the amplifier. Amazing! Also, the fundamental note has no “quackinessâ€

[Rick Jones]

K&K are great, glad you found a solution!