Official Luthiers Forum!

A customer is coming by in about 1 1/2 hours.
He's talking about getting an I-beam p/up installed. (In a Guild D-55)
Here's my red-faced questions:

Who makes 'em, what installation secrets should I be aware of, and how much $$ would be a fair price to ask?
(He already owns the pickup.)

If you have some fairly ready answers, they would be most welcome!

Thanks,
Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

That's an LR Baggs product. Installation is cake. Drill your 1/2" hole in the end and CA glue it to the bridge plate below the saddle. I think the system retails for about $150.

Bless you, Paul.
How much would you charge to install, knowing that the p/up is already owned by the guitar's owner?

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Maybe $50. There's not much to it. If it's for a friend, maybe some good beer.

Thanks again, and may you be doubly blessed!

Steve

Oh yes, I did glance at their web page, and the p/up has a self-adhesive stick-um.
Is that supposed to be good enough to hold in perpetuity?

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

Steve
The I beam doesn't even need CA. It has a 3m adhesive strip on it. Just
remove the protective cover and stick it on. That particular 3M adhesive is
very strong. It actually gets stonger the longer it is on. You have some
ability to remove it when you first position it, but over time it seems to hold
on stronger.

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Ah so...somewhat like a B-Band.
Thanks, Andy. (You're not such a lazy dog, you know?)

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com

The I-beam will not fit on all guitars. I had a Martin brought in that had insufficient room between the bridge pins and the x-brace for the pickup.

Barry is so correct. Depending on your X brace angle, sometimes there is not
enough room for the beam to fit on the bridge plate in front of the bridge
pins. I have made several guitars that had this issue. For those I have been
using the K & K pure westerns. Actually I prefer the K & K on all of my
guitars.

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Andy Z.
http://www.lazydogguitars.com

Steve, I-Beam Active has a little volume control that mounts just inside the sound hole. It just sticks right on with its own adhesive strip. It may add 30 seconds to the install...

Long

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"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man.” -Heraclitus of Ephesus

Ah yes, I forgot about the volume knob. That might take an extra 45 seconds because you have to remove a wire tie from the wire.
Also, I was getting the Ibeam and Pure Western mixed up. Pure western has an adheasive stip but it is worthless. Yes, Ibeams adhesive is nice and will work fine.

Ok guys, the owner showed up with an I-Beam dual system. I know that's not the correct nomenclature, but you know what I mean. It has the beam, plus the under saddle transducer. Plus the preamp, plus the volume/blender knob, plus a battery bag, plus the jack, plus a gaggle of wires. I'm going to have to knock out a wall to get all that stuff in there. But it looks fairly straight-forward.
Good point about tight spacing (behind the "X"), I'll check that out when I get back to it.

Thanks again, compadres.

Steve

_________________
From Nacogdoches...the oldest town in Texas.

http://www.stephenkinnaird.com