L.R. BAGGS PICKUPS
DOUBLE BARREL
INSTALLATION MANUAL & USER'S GUIDE
483 N. FRONTAGE RD.
NIPOMO, CA 93444
WWW.LRBAGGS.COM
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Package Contents
2. O verview and Cautions
3. S trapjack Installation
4. P ic ku p In st al la ti on
5. B at te ry Bag Installation
6. M icro ph on e In st al lation
7. U se r' s Gu id e
1.PACKAGE CONTENTS
One (1) Double Barrel system assembly
One (1) Battery Ba g
Two (2) self-stick wire clips
2.OVERVIEW AND CAUTIONS
Th e Do ubl e Bar rel sys tem is a n al l-d isc ret e, cl ass A, du al- cha nne l
pickup/microphone system t ha t is built right on to a four-pin strapjack. It pa ir s
the Ribbon Transducer with our own FET co nden se r mi ni -m ic a nd features
independent buffere d outp ut s for the pi ck up and mic c hann el s. The preamp
powers the mic, maki ng p ha ntom power from an outside source u nn ec es sa ry.
Caut ion : If you a re r unnin g th e outp uts of t he Dou ble Bar rel in to a
prea mp t hat provide s phantom p ower for an onb oard micropho ne, b e
sure to turn phanto m po wer off.
The Dou bl e Barrel circ uitr y is specifically tun ed for th e L.R. Baggs mini-mic, but an alternate non- tu ne d mic inp ut is als o provided to allow th e
Double Barrel to be used with most other popular mini-microphones. Connections for alternative microp hone s are discussed in sec ti on 6 .
We recommend tha t this system be installed by a profes si on al dealer/installer. We do no t provide ins ta ll at io n advice or su pp or t for home or
ho bb yist insta llation s. In stall ers: ple ase rea d the i nstru ction s caref ully before proce eding. We w il l not be res ponsi ble for any prod uct o r
instrument damage, or personal injur y resulting from installation, impro per in st al lation, use or misuse of the product.
fig. 1
smaller threaded section protrudes
tail block
3.STRAPJACK INSTALLATION
1. For proper installation, this jack requires a cl ea n 1/2" h ole in the tail block of th e inst rument. If the gu it ar h as t hi s hole, procee d to s tep 2. If n ot,
star t by pla cing a piece of maski ng tape on the outside of the instrument ov er the drilling area (to avoid ch ip pi ng the finish), dril l a small pilot
hole in the tail block and then follow with a s tep dr il l.
2. Remov e th e stra p ring, re tain in g nut an d one wash er f rom th e end of the jack. The re s ho ul d stil l be one star locki ng w as he r, one f lat wa sh er a nd
a nu t rema inin g on the mid section o f the jack. Bring the jack down int o the sound hole and through your p re -d ri ll ed hole i n the tail bloc k. Us in g
the intern al nut (be s ure to in cl ud e the flat and star was hers ), set the pro per depth that will allo w the smaller th re ad ed sect io n at the end o f the
jack t o protrude ou t of th e end o f the g ui ta r. When th e jack is fully seated in t he ta il bl oc k, there should be about 2 threads o f the s mall threaded
section remaining inside the h ol e.
4.PICKUP INSTALLATION
Notes:
1. For o ptim um performance of this pickup, t he saddle slot mu st hav e a clean, flat surface free of any d eb ri s or ove r- sp ray fr om the finish. The sl ot
must be a minimum of .1 25 " (1/8") deep but we suggest a depth of .187" (3/16") to avoid excessive saddle tilt (s ee figure 5, which illustrates
exc es si ve tilt).
2. I ns ta ll in g a .0 90 " pi ck up i n a .1 20 " sl ot i s no t recommended.
3. D o no t remove the black material that is affixed to the bottom of the pickup.
4. Avoid unn ec es sa ry hard ben ding of the pickup. Re peated removal and replacement of the pickup duri ng the course of the inst allation is not
advised.
5. Do not use shims under the saddle or pickup as a re me dy for stri ng balance
problems or to adjust the action.
6. Fai lure to secure the loose end of the picku p under the bridge will prod uce
bizarre audio consequences and even tu al ly r ui n th e pi ck up.
fig. 4
7. The quality of sound, output level, balance and fee db ac k re si st an ce are all
determined by how well th e pickup ma tes with the saddle and the bri dg e.
Uneven or par tial contact between the saddle and t he pickup will cause a
bo om y sound with low o utput, excessi ve b ody sen si tivit y and poo r strin g
balance.
Installation:
1. Remove th e st ri ng s from the guitar. To du plic ate the st ri ng hei ght exac tly,
scribe a line alo ng the front edge of the saddle where it extends above th e
bridge. The li ne will l ater be u se d as a guid e when removing m aterial from the
bottom of the sa dd le to compensate for the thickness of the pickup (.025"
total).
2. Remo ve th e sad dle to dri ll the hol e for the pic ku p. The drill bit nee ds to be
as large as the saddle slot will allow. Inspect the inside of th e guitar and note
the position of the braces in relation to the saddle slo t. Drill at either end of
the slot on the side that will enab le you to avoi d all braces as you pene trate
the top, as shown in figures 2 and 3.
3. Fee d the pickup i nto the s lo t from in si de the guitar wi th the yell ow side up.
Insert in g a toothpick or similar obj ec t through the hole from th e o ut si de is
helpful in finding th e location of the hole on t he inside o f the g ui ta r. S and the
bottom su rface of the saddle on a belt sand er until the scr ib e line (from ste p
1) is ju st s li gh tl y above the br id ge top. Finish s an di ng t he b ottom by h an d. It is
best to do th is ag ai ns t a machined flat s ur face with fine s an d p aper. Use a
straight edge with a strong light sou rce to inspect the flatness of your saddle.
Import ant: The f it of t he saddle i n the s lo t is the sing le most i mp or tant fact or
in t hi s install at ion. It is c ru cial that t he bottom o f th e slot an d the lower
surf ace of the sadd le be f lat to make even contact with t he pickup. The sa dd le
should fit in the slo t loose eno ug h to be ab le to be jus t pulled ou t with your
finger ti ps. If it is too tight or bi nd s at all, t hi s will have a ne gative effect on the
string balance. Li ke wise, if the saddle is too loose, it wi ll ha ve a substantial
forward tilt when under stri ng pres su re, causing it to make poor contact with
the pickup (see figure 5) .
proper saddle-pickup contact
(saddle lean exaggerated)
fig. 5
improper saddle-pickup contact
(saddle lean exaggerated)
fig. 6
fig. 7
A saddle that f it s correc tl y in the slot will have a slight for ward t il t un de r
string pressure (se e fi gu re 4). It is nec es sa ry to comp en sa te for this angle by
intentionally sanding a sl ig ht tilt in the bottom of the sad dl e so that when it
leans for ward it sit s flat on the pick up (see fig ur e 3). The saddle material can
be a k ey e leme nt i n curing stri ng bal ance p ro blem s. This pi ck up r es po nds
most f avorably to a rigi d saddle material s uc h as Micart a or bone. Using softer,
more flexible mater ials m ay cause the outside str in gs to be lower in volume than the other strings.
If you a re r ep la ci ng t he s addle, prepare the bottom of th e new one as explained above (se e step 3 ). Place it i n the slot a nd s crib e the same l ine on
the front of it like th e orig in al saddle. To d upli cate t he action, lay the old s addl e on the new one, match up the scrib e line s, and trace th e shap e of
the old saddle onto the new one. We re commend either bone or M ic ar ta for your saddle. Softer mater ials tend to sound overly boomy.
4. Insert t he p icku p all the way into t he slot, pl ac e the sadd le on top of it a nd tem porarily s ecure it with a p ie ce o f tape. Remove the ba ck ing from
the adhesive on the end of the pickup hanging inside the g ui ta r an d at ta ch i t to t he b ri dg e pl at e or t he u nd er si de o f the top as s hown in figures 6
or 7. Be careful not to place the adhesive ov er t he b ri dg e pi n ho le s.
5. C ho os e a lo ca ti on for the wire clip and secure the pickup wire.
5 . B A T T E R Y B A G I N S T A L L A T I O N
Stick the double-sided adhesive to an easily-accessible spot inside of t he g ui ta r. The battery c an t he n be r em oved by opening the flap on th e ba g
and pulling out the battery.
A wire clip has been prov ided to secure the battery b ag w ire to the inside of the guitar.
6 . M I C R O P H O N E I N S T A L L A T I O N
The L.R. B ag gs mini -m ic ro ph on e is designed to be positioned on the inside of th e gui ta r, against the back an d gen erally in the lower half of the
guitar. Figure 8 shows a recommended mic placement; use this as a starting point.
1. To p os it io n the mic, fash io n a simple placement tool out of a wire c oat hang er or a measure of 12- to 1 4-ga ug e copp er wire. The tool s ho ul d be
approxi mately 1 1/2 feet long and have a U s ha pe a t on e en d for lightly gripping the small foam block that houses the mic.
2. Att ac h the U-sh ap ed p ortion of the tool to t he foam an d posi ti on t he m ic on
the back of the inside of th e gu it ar. If you haven 't a tt ac he d a batter y yet, do so
now.
3. Plug th e guitar into a sound syst em wi th a s te reo Y cable. The mic sign al is
on the ring contact of the ste reo plug. To find the bes t loc at io n for the mic, it
is be st to have th e pic kup vol um e com pl etely off, and list en to the mic signal
through he adph on es. Lay the guitar on its back and str um the open strings
while you mov e th e mi c around inside the guitar with the wire tool.
A quicke r wa y to determine the be st mic placement is to ru n the mic signal
through an EQ such as our Par a Acoustic D.I. , boo st in g th e mi dr an ge around
70 0 Hz by a pproxim ately 9 dB be fore li steni ng to t he mi c. Bo ost ing t he
midran ge fre qu encies will h ighl ight the tone s that are resp on sible for the
midrange "honk" that inte rnal m ic s ca n prod uce.
fig. 8
mic
to batt ery bag
In cr easin g the m idran ge freque ncies will l ikely result in an un satis fac to ry
tone, but this temporary EQ setting is only for tes ting purposes. As you mov e
the mi c around th e the inside of the guitar, you will disco ver that th ere are
Pickup
fig. 9
small midrange nulls where the honk is mi ni mi zed. The be st pl acement will
have th e gr eatest minimizing effect on this sound.
4. Once the best pos itio n has bee n selected, look ins id e the gui ta r, car ef ul ly
note the p os it ion of the micropho ne, and unstr in g the guitar. Remove the
microphone from the guitar and stick the microphone to the velcro piece.
Clean the area of any dust or debris, pe el th e b ac king from the velcro, and
Alternative mic connection:
Bridge both solder pads with
positive wire
carefully adhere t he mic precisely o n the sweet sp ot . On some guitars, this
area will be ver y s mall , and a h alf- in ch movement in any di rect io n can make a
significant differe nce.
Pickup
Alternati ve microphones:
The preamp in the Double Ba rr el will work we ll with and power most popu la r
mini-mic capsules that use two -wire connections. When using an al ternative
mi cro pho ne, u se t he man ufa ctu rer 's rec omm end ati ons for w iri ng and
placement. To connec t an a lt er na ti ve mic to the preamp, unscrew the shielding
Stock microphone
ca p fro m the prea mp an d car efull y de- solde r the micr op hone. Solde r the
positive wire from the n ew mic across both mic in pu t pads. Bridging these tw o
solder pa ds as shown in figure 9 wi ll defe at the contour for th e L.R. Baggs
mini-mic and provide a flat inp ut for the alternative mic.
Caution: Use a pencil t ype soldering iron o nl y. Do n ot use a s ol de ri ng gun. Be careful when soldering -- excessive heat can perm an en tl y damage
the solder pads.
Be sure to thread the mic wire through the shielding cap before sol de ri ng. Ma ke sure all of the wires are secured with the wire clips provided,
restring the guitar, an d th e in st al lation is complete.
Be sure to test the Double Barrel in both mono and stereo modes. Plug in a standard mono cable and you should hear the pickup signal o nl y. Then
use a stereo Y cable to te st t he s pl it s tereo func ti on . The pickup signal will be on the tip contact and the mic signal will be on the ring contact.
7 . U S E R ' S G U I D E
The Do ub le Barrel is a two-channel mi crophone/picku p system that pairs ou r Ribbon Transducer wi th our pr op ri etar y internal FE T condenser
mini-mic. It has independent buffe red outputs for both the picku p an d th e mi cr op ho ne, which pres erve these com pone nt s' f id el it y an d el im in ates
crosstalk. Th e pr ea mp p owers the mic, m ak ing phantom power unnecessary. The preamp is built into our St rapjack Plus, ma king it possible to have
mono, stereo and on/off switching all in one jack.
Battery Life : Th e Double Barrel provides r ou gh ly 500 hours o f use between ba tter y changes. A lternative microphones ca n affect batt er y l ife. The
jack acts as the sw itch for the preamp, so w henever the system is pl ug ge d in, th e battery is in u se. C ha ng e the batte ry when you begi n to noti ce
distor ti on i n your signal during hard strumming. The weaker the battery b ec om es, the more not iceable this distort ion wi ll b e.
The syste m ca n be u se d in e it he r mo no o r stereo mode:
Mono: By plugging in a standard mono cab le, you will automatically have the pickup signal by itself. This is id ea l for live situations when you
don't have the time or reso urces to set up a stereo blend, or when you simp ly want to plug and play. The Double Barrel is engi ne ered to get the
best perfor mance out of th e Rib bon Trans du ce r, and should not require additional outb oard eq ua li zation wh en used with a hig h- qu al it y PA. Th e
EQ avai la bl e at t he m ix in g bo ard should be adequate to fine tune your guitar to the ro om's acoustics.
Stere o: Access the ste reo feature simp ly by plugging in a st ereo Y cable. The pick up signal w il l be found on the ti p cont act and t he mic si gn al on
the ring. This m od e provides pristine, all-discre te class A bu ffered outputs for both the mi cr op ho ne and the pi ck up. It is useful fo r quality
recordi ng and for achi eving the optimum live sound. You can use i nd iv id ua l outboard EQ and effec ts for each cha nn el . For live work , this will
allow you to send just the pick up signal to the feedback-prone stag e monitors and all ow more of the micr op ho ne in the main speakers for th e
ideal house mix.
Summed to mono: This is an exclusive Double Barrel feat ure that will mix the pickup and mic together into a mono signal. When used wi th our
mini-mic, the su mm ed mix will be approxi mately 2/3 pic ku p an d 1/3 mi c. When us in g al te rn at ive mics, the blend ratio and phase relationship
between the two will change, possibly causing the mix to be unusable.
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