Anyone know if adding the LR Baggs I Beam to the guitar changes the tone or muffles the volume in any way? I always worry about that with an under saddle one so I thought I'd ask about soundboard transducers.

I’ve heard that it does, to some small extent, because it has some weight to it. The K&K- which I happen to think is much better pickup anyway- weighs essentially nothing. That said I’m sure whatever affect the ibeam has is probably bordering on unnoticeable. On the other hand, I think Sunrise has a very big affect on acoustic tone. And although most techs disagree, it’s hard to imagine an under the saddle wouldn't have some impact. Maybe a lot with some of the bigger rubber ones....

What Eric said; I've had K&K in three guitars, and could detect exactly zero difference in tone with the pickup installed. Great pickup.

The K&K gets a lot of mention here, but if you are worried about the permanent affect on acoustic tone, another option might be the Schertler DYN-G. It's a sound board transducer that can be mounted permanently inside the guitar or can be mounted temporarily on top of the guitar.

The ability to move the transducer around allows you to tweak the tone, and it leaves no mark once removed.

--David

I have an I-Beam in a Braz LoPrinzi dread, a Highlander under-saddle transducer in my OM and the K&K in the C-10. There was no change in the unplugged sound of any of these after the install.
BTW, the K & K was the last one added and best by a very noticeable margin. The Highlander is OK but the I-Beam may go in favor of another K & K.

I am leaning towards the K & K. Wondering if the passive one is fine with an external D.I. box such as my Highlander pro acoustic or Baggs para acoustic. One shop close to me swears the best one for acoustic guitars is the trans audio system. I guess it has three pads that get adhered to the under side of the top and then has it's own cable and outboard pre amp box. Lot of stuff and pricey at $600 with the install. Maybe the K & K is better than the I Beam and not as expensive or intrusive as the trans audio.

I used my K&K straight into the board with no pre-amp and it worked and sounded great. I'm going to get one installed in my new (to me) D1A and I'll probably go ahead and get the K&K XLR pre amp with it just so I have some EQ options at my fingertips. One of the things I love most about the K&K is that it's not intrusive and there's not battery or anything.

quote:

Originally posted by OMfan64:
I am leaning towards the K & K. Wondering if the passive one is fine with an external D.I. box...

Using the K&K Mini into an acoustic guitar amp, I’ve gigged with the Baggs pre, the Dtar Solstice, the K&K Pure XLR, and a Countryman active DI box. I still prefer it passive, but with some extra eq.

Since I’m not using long cable runs (just a single ten foot George L) I really don’t seem to notice any benefit from the buffering, so really the only thing I’m getting from the pres is eq, and I can get better eq elsewhere.

I use just a little MXR six band eq stomp box going into a Fishman Loudbox 100, sometimes a powered PA speaker... I use that one because I’m kind of a slacker and don’t want another wallwort at gigs, and it fits in my gig bag.... but I have used more powerful eq, parametric and graphic, and that really bring that pickup to life.

All that said, If you’re just running into an unknown PA, you should always have an active DI on hand. I like the Countryman a lot, my second choice would be the Baggs.