Finally got a chance to really play with my Christmas present--the new Baggs iMix pickup that was just professionally installed in my Comstock a couple of weeks before Christmas....Wow!!!! It's the same pickup that Paul W. puts in the acoustics he's been building.
I have always loved playing my Commie, and now I love it even more plugged in! The pickup is great in every range, and sounds super played softly (really picks up the subtleties in fingerpicked songs nicely), and absolutely rocks when strummed loud and hard. The pickup is really two pickups in one unit, a treble and a bass, and they can be balanced anywhere between the two. This pickup also has stereo capabilities, although that doesn't do me much good right now, as my PA system is mono....But could be fun once I upgrade, LOL!
And after a long spell of not playing guitar very much (vacation, and catching up with the home business and other projects), it sure feels great to pick up a Ric again.... Or is that pickup a Ric?
"Once I've held and played the best, baby, I won't settle for less!"
Congrats, Melibee! I know you've been hanging out for your 'electric' Comstock for a while..... I'm so pleased for you that it's a great result.
Fantastic that you're able to put some time back into playing as well. I usually miss it after only one day...... unless my fingers are so sore I can't play anyway!
I would be over the moon just to own a beautiful instrument like your Comstock, but it must be heaven to have one with, by all accounts, such a great pickup.
“We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” - Albert Einstein
"You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother" - Albert Einstein
Just got done playing some more....really! And my fingers are sore, and that's a good thing!
And instead of taking the electric I thought I was going to take to church tomorrow, I will be taking my Comstock--the songs in our set sounded great on it; for some reason I just couldn't get them to feel or sound right on three different electric Rics, LOL! I'm really, really liking this new setup, folks!
"Once I've held and played the best, baby, I won't settle for less!"
How is it installed, Melissa? Is it one of those piezo strips that go under the bridge with a small condensor microphone or is it something else altogether? I'm just curious about what the installation entailed.
I have half of that solution in the form of the LR Baggs Active Element (under-saddle transducer) in my J-45. A similiar solution to yours is the K&K powermix pure system, which allows an external pre-amp and mixer, which is nice, since you don't need a battery and extra stuff in your guitar. My experience is that, if you play loud, you will have to favor the UST, in order to avoid feedback. I have also found that mixing a mic with any pick-up gives the best sound and feel.
Paul W build Ric acoustics ? Hmm ...
"Say what you like about the tenets of national socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos." - Walter Sobchak.
The K&K also allows you to individually EQ the UST and SBT (sound board transducer), by adjusting pots on the external pre-amp. This is important, since EQ plays a large role in shaping the plugged-in acoustic sound. Not sure how the K&K UST stacks up, as I know from experience that the Baggs is a good one, but K&K has received very high marks for their pure western mini SBT. I have the mini in my Guild 12-string, and it's pretty impressive.
"Say what you like about the tenets of national socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos." - Walter Sobchak.
The 730L/12 that I put together for myself was the first guitar that I installed an iMix into. Last April John Hall and I had a pleasant conversation about acoustic guitars, and he recommended the iBeam from Baggs. I recall that he was especially enthusiastic of the well-thought-out mounting scheme that Baggs had come up with.
I did some research on the Baggs website and found the iMix, which combines the iBeam with a second transducer, provides a preamp module with a good deal of EQ flexibility, and also gives the player stereo capability and the opportunity to balance the two pickups "on the fly" via the soundhole controls.
I have lots of fun tweaking the controls on mine. The two pickups aren't bass and treble, strictly speaking, but are designed to home in on different parts of the frequency spectrum, and are located in two different areas of the guitar's body.
The 700S/12 that I built, which both Paul Kantner and Marty Willson-Piper played at RIC75, had the older RIC/Baggs single-element pickup. Marty's set featured the guitar running through the Bose PAS; the sound was lovely. This older setup has a volume rolloff and a tone control that does more than merely rolling off the treble, and is amazingly flexible despite its simplicity. Baggs still sells it, but no longer has the special aluminum "RIC" soundhole bracket for the control pots.
I offer the iMix, installed as one of the options on the Rickenbacker acoustics that I build. John Minutaglio, for whom I built guitar #4, asked for the iMix, and from his remarks above, is quite happy with it. I recommend it as well.
“I say in speeches that a plausible mission of artists is to make people appreciate being alive at least a little bit. I am then asked if I know of any artists who pulled that off. I reply, 'The Beatles did.”
― Kurt Vonnegut
