Acousticologist Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 I recently got anew J45, and took it out for it's first gig. The balance of the Baggs Element was way off, and landed up using another axe for the job... (shoulda tried it at home first huh?) The tone was very BASS heavy, and could barely hear the treble strings. Does the LR Baggs have different shades depending on how the under the saddle sits?? Should I adjust that, by slightly sliding it left or right?? Or should I shave the bass end off from under the Saddle to achieve better contact with the treble side and the pickup? Anyone done adjustments with the Element here before?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Madman_Greg Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 How is the guitar balanced acoustically, have you mic'd it ? If that is OK, then use EQ, you can always take frequencies away but never add them. Madman_Greg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acousticologist Posted February 18, 2011 Author Share Posted February 18, 2011 How is the guitar balanced acoustically, have you mic'd it ? If that is OK, then use EQ, you can always take frequencies away but never add them. Madman_Greg It's more Ike this: The volume level of the "e" string is louder than the "a" string. The "D" string sounds way too quiet, and the high b and e strings are hot and in your face with snap. Just need to balance the overall sound... To get a consistent volume level between strings Not sure what the best way to do this is.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoonerBuckeye Posted February 18, 2011 Share Posted February 18, 2011 It sounds to me like your bridge saddle is not perfectly flat or is too tight in the saddle slot. Try pushing down on the saddle all the way across its length and see if that improves the sound. If it does not, then remove the strings and take the saddle out and check the "trueness" of the bottom of the saddle. Lay the saddle on a level surface and check to see if it sits flat on the surface. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burgardj Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 I actually just got a brand new J-45 yesterday with basically the opposite problem. Unplugged the guitar sounds even and awesome. Plugged in, the b ad e strings on the treble side ring much louder than the other 4 strings, which seem well balanced. Saw the post about the saddle possibly being to blame, so hopefully when I replace it with a Colosi bone saddle it will correct itself. A little disappointing, but I can smooth it out with my LR Baggs Para DI box. Love the guitar though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bscha Posted February 23, 2011 Share Posted February 23, 2011 After fighting uneven string balance on undersaddle pickups for years I finally went to the dark side and switched to a Fishman rare earth sound hole pick up. The magnetic pick up has to have a heavy eq applied, but actually sounds very good. Much better for aggressive strumming than any undersaddle pick up that I have ever tried. Feed back issues and string balance issues have been completely solved. However, to get back to your post, I have had issues with baggs pickups in the past. They seem to be very, very sensitive to the saddle. I could not get my low E ironed out and had to replace the pickup. Good luck, and be careful shaving down one side of the saddle to compensate for loud strings. The idea is to get the saddle perfectly flat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acousticologist Posted February 24, 2011 Author Share Posted February 24, 2011 after struggling through a couple gigs (and when i say struggle, i mean putting the 45 away and grabbing something else) because of this problem, I ordered the LR baggs dual source, with the Ribbon transducer. I know people say the Ribbon isn't as good as the Element, but Had the Ribon installed on a Southern Jumbo, and I just loved the tone plugged in and acoustic. it inspired many songwriting sessions. So I will be trying that when it arrives. As a "just incase" I ordered the Fishman matrix infinity in the same order. Currently using the Martin 000C-16GTE, it comes standard. and that my go to "live performance machine" Lastly, tried out the Baggs M1 active. And after a bit of EQ'ing, pulled an inspiring tone. just worry the cable connecting the jack to the pickup under the strings could fall out. (if you've used one, you might understand) with many summer shows on the horizon, hopefully I will get this ironed out soon, and I can put the 'ole martin to rest and start using the 45.... mmmm, how dreamy..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefty Guy Posted February 24, 2011 Share Posted February 24, 2011 It's more Ike this: The volume level of the "e" string is louder than the "a" string. The "D" string sounds way too quiet, and the high b and e strings are hot and in your face with snap. Just need to balance the overall sound... To get a consistent volume level between strings Not sure what the best way to do this is.. I had exactly the same problem with my 2005 J-45 but can't remember what the pick up was. I ended up changing it for a B-Band one & its now perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 Bozeman QC was always better than such, but there is more than one new J-45 instrument with like problems mentioned in this thread, so it raises a question. There are no #2s anymore; they are shipped. Saddle, groove, cut, placement and/or element issue. I think, SoonerBuckeye, hit it and gave you a good course of action as a starting point. Or, take it back now. Hard thing to do, huh. How about letting us know. I am looking at that same instrument. You just scared me. Good luck. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverok Posted February 25, 2011 Share Posted February 25, 2011 I got my J-45 (with the LR Baggs) new in 2006. I had a similar problem, but probably not as extreme as what you are experiencing. With mine, it was more like the D and G were low, moreso than the B and E being high. I took the strings off, lifted the saddle, put it back on, pressed down on the middle of the saddle, re-strung it, and I've been happy with it ever since. Not too scientific, but it seemed to have helped. I also have a 2005 J-100 with the Fishman, which seems more balanced, and a little sweeter plugged in, overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burgardj Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 I recently got anew J45, and took it out for it's first gig. The balance of the Baggs Element was way off, and landed up using another axe for the job... (shoulda tried it at home first huh?) The tone was very BASS heavy, and could barely hear the treble strings. Does the LR Baggs have different shades depending on how the under the saddle sits?? Should I adjust that, by slightly sliding it left or right?? Or should I shave the bass end off from under the Saddle to achieve better contact with the treble side and the pickup? Anyone done adjustments with the Element here before?? OK, so this weekend I replaced the TUSQ saddle and plastic end pins with vintage-dyed bone replacements from Colosi. I had the same type of problem with my J-45 being unbalanced plugged in. Don't know if it's the bone, or just having pulled the old saddle out and seating this one snugly in it's place, but it is now very evenly balanced plugged in, and sounds even better unplugged. Definitely worth the minor investment to really make this guitar shine. It will take you all of about 30 minutes of patient sanding to fit the new saddle. End pins drop in perfectly. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted March 7, 2011 Share Posted March 7, 2011 Good to hear it seems to have worked out. The Baggs element pup was one of the things that's held me back on getting the new J-45. I have had nothing but problems with Baggs product and their below par customer service. Now have fishman undersaddle pups in both my gigging guitars and combined with a fishman Aura spectrum its been a dream tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nedray Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 I'm on my second J-45--Custom Rosewood this time. Both came with the Element and both had the same problem you describe. The Baggs website has some instruction on this, which is basically to just keep tearing the strings off, readjusting the ribbon and putting it back together until such time as it happens to get placed just perfectly, at which point the element sounds great. It's a pretty significant PITA, which is telling me to go with a different pickup. I hear great things about the K&K--think that's where I'll start. So your problem is not unusual--just unpleasant Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogeye Posted November 25, 2011 Share Posted November 25, 2011 I recently got anew J45, and took it out for it's first gig. The balance of the Baggs Element was way off, and landed up using another axe for the job... (shoulda tried it at home first huh?) The tone was very BASS heavy, and could barely hear the treble strings. Does the LR Baggs have different shades depending on how the under the saddle sits?? Should I adjust that, by slightly sliding it left or right?? Or should I shave the bass end off from under the Saddle to achieve better contact with the treble side and the pickup? Anyone done adjustments with the Element here before?? Don't shave anything and no need to change saddles. Most of these problems can be solved simply by detuning the guitar pushing the saddle firmly into the slot and then retuning in the proper order. Tune the middle two strings D and G first. This puts the proper pressure on the saddle to seat itself and it will stay in place. Then the A and D string. Then tune the two E strings. Most people tune the low E string first. This is a big wound string and pushes down on the saddle and the saddle can come up in the slot on the treble side causing the saddle to lose contact. Some problems can come up when the low E string is tuned and the wound portion of the string can actually pull the saddle out of the slot a bit and cause the bass responce to be be less than the other strings. If you follow the tuning instructions the saddle will seat properly and everything will be just fine. Most music stores will change strings and not follow the correct proceedure and then you will notice the problem so if it just shows up after a string change just follow the tuning proceedure and all will be well. The same proceedure should be followed for guitars with no pickup. It just keeps thing sorted out and your guitar will sound like it was designed to sound. If this doesn't work then see your dealer or a luthier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jihoon Kim Posted November 27, 2011 Share Posted November 27, 2011 K&K Pure mini is also very good in natural sounding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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