LR Baggs Dual Source User Manual

L.R. BAGGS PICKUPS

DUAL SOURCE

INSTALLATION MANUAL & USER'S GUIDE

483 N. FRONTAGE RD.

NIPOMO, CA 93444

WWW.LRBAGGS.COM

1.PACKAGE CONTENTS

One (1) Dual Sou rce pream p
One (1) Dual Sou rce mic
One (1) R ibbon Trans ducer
One (1) prewir ed stra pjac k assem bly
One (1) Batter y Bag
Three (3) self -stick wi re clip s
One (1) Remote Contro l
One (1) Remote Contro l cable

2.OVERVIEW AND CAUTIONS

The Du al So urce is d esigned to support most acoustic g uitar pi ckup s and popul ar mini-mi crophon es. If thi s unit was pur chased a s the Dual
Source S ystem, it wi ll include our Ribbon Transdu cer a nd Dual So urce mic. No soldering wi ll be needed. If you pu rchased only the preamp,
conne ctor s are p rovided f or the mic and pic kup. D o no t use t he m ic chan nel for a s econd p ickup.

We reco mmend th at thi s system be ins talled by a profes sional dealer/ins taller. We do not provi de insta llation advice or su ppor t for hom e or
hobby ist inst allatio ns. Instal lers: please r ead the instruc tion s carefully b efore pro ceeding. We will n ot b e responsib le for any dama ge to the guita r
or pers onal inju ry r esultin g from inst allation, impro per insta llation , use or misuse o f the produ ct .

3.INSTALLATION

1. Strapjack install ation: Drill a 1 /2" hole in the ta il block using a step dr ill.
Cover the area you are drill ing with masking tap e to prot ec t the fin ish.

Remov e the stra p ring, reta ining nut and one washe r from t he e nd o f the jack .
There should still be one star locki ng washer, on e flat washer an d a nut
remai ning on the mi d sec tion of the jack. Bring t he jack dow n into the sou nd
hole and thro ugh your pre-dr illed hole in the tail block. Using the interna l nut
(be sure to include th e flat and st ar washers), set the prop er depth that will
allow t he smaller th readed se ct ion at the end of the jack to protr ude out of
the end of the guit ar. When the jack is f ully seat ed in the tailblo ck, there
should be abou t 2 thr eads o f the small t hreaded section remai ning i nside the
hole. With the jack in place, lay the re maining wa sher over th e thre ads and
attach the external reta ining nut until it's tight. Finish by attach ing the strap
butto n (it should cov er the ret aining nut and washer) carefu lly so as to not
crack the finish of the gui tar by asse rtin g too m uch pressur e.

2. Pi ck up in stall ation : Install th e pic kup at this ti me by fol lo wing th e
instruc tion s provided with the pickup. I f you are using any pickup oth er than
the Ribbon Transd ucer, attach t he mini-p lug (p rovided) to the pi ckup wire
after it has been installed. The picku p wi re sho uld be long enou gh to reac h
throu gh the sound hole t o facili tate t he sol dering. Cover the top of the guitar
to prot ec t it. R emove the b lack t hreaded barre l from t he plug and slide it over
the wire with the thre aded s ec tion faci ng t he e nd o f the wire; forgettin g to do
this may cau se seve re head aches. Now solder the hot w ire (th e inner par t of
the coax ) into the small, tube-s hape d area in the center of the plug. Bend the
groun d tabs around the shiel d wi re and solder the shi eld wire to the m. Clip
the excess s hield wir e, a nd firmly screw the barrel onto the plug.

fig. 1

smaller threaded

section protrudes

fig. 2: m ic connector

signal wire signal wire goes in the side with the #1

push pins all the way into the
connector until they snap into place

shield/ground wires

tail block

3. Micro phone setup : This system is engin eered for the Dual Sourc e mic, but
will suppor t most other popular internal mini guitar mic s wi th the sta ndard
two-w ire connection. If you are inst alling a mic othe r than the Dual Source mic, consul t the mic owner's manua l for the pro per conne ctio n. Attach
the con nector to the wi re at this time as follow s:

A: The Dual Sourc e Preamp kit p rovid es t wo s mall m etal crimp pins and a brown p lastic conn ecto r for the mic. Crimp the signa l wire i n one of the
pins (r efer to your m ic's manual to ident ify the wir es), and the ground and shield wi res tog ether in th e ot her one, as shown in f igure 2 .

B: Now slip t he cri mped wires int o the brown connector so they snap into place. Th e signal wire needs to go into the s ide mark ed with a "1" (see
figure 2). The pream p provide s nine volt s on the signal ( pos.) pin for the mic, making ph antom power f rom an outs ide sourc e unneces sary. Se t the
mic asi de at thi s time an d conti nue with step 4. Place ment of the mic wi ll b e compl eted la ter, af ter the preamp is inst alled.

4. R emote Con trol se tup: The Re mote Cont rol Modul e consi sts of a blac k circu it b oard an d th e anodized alumi num top p late forming two halves of
a clamp that mount s on the top edge of the soundhol e. Connect the ribbon cabl e (prov ided) to the ZIF (zero inse rtio n force) socket connec-to r on
the bot tom sid e of the re mote modu le in the same man ner as sh own in figure 3.

Pream p insta llation: The preamp should be mount ed on the back surface of
the guitar, with the pre -set con trols on the uni t a ccessible thro ugh the sound
hole (see figure 4 for correc t place ment). Just before you moun t the preamp,
plug in the outpu t jack, pic kup, mic and ribbon cable for the Rem ote Control
to th eir recep tacl es on t he c ircuit board.

Note: It is vit al that the r ibbo n cable be in the correct p osition when i nser ted
into t he ZI F (zero i nser tion force) soc ke t connec tor ( see f igure 3 for proper
alignme nt). Clean al l dust and oi l from th e area inside t he gui tar where the
pream p will be mounted, remove th e ba cking from the vel cro and pres s the
unit into pla ce. Be caref ul to leave eno ugh space betwe en t he p reamp and the
brace below the preamp for wir es and connectors.

6. Battery bag: Stick the double-sid ed adh esive to an ea sily accessib le spo t
inside the guita r. The batter y can then be chan ged by opening the flap on
the bag and pull ing out t he batter y.

7. Remote Control insta llat ion: Adjust the t wo top scre ws and bottom scr ew
until the top and bott om p lates are parall el w ith about a 1 /8" gap. Be sure the
top pla te drop s fr eely over the LED before yo u ti ghten the s crews. Do not pus h
or adj us t the po sit io n of t he LED. Push the plate over t he edge of the
soundho le as far as it w ill go. The sc rews are padde d and will pr ovide the
prop er po sition for th e R em ote w hen t hey t ouch the in si de edge of the
soundho le. On a few guitars you might hit a brac e, so eithe r m ove the remote
to mi ss t he brac e or ex pand the sc rews to c lamp over it.

fig. 3

Ribbon cable with

contacts facing you

ZIF connector

front view

press here

unlocked locked

Sl ip th e rib bon ca ble in to th e Z IF
con nect or with the sil ver c onta cts on t he
cable a nd the fron t sid e of the s ide of the
con nect or facin g you. The con nect or mus t
be in the un locked posit ion to ins ert the
cable. Whe n th e ca ble is fir mly seated pres s
dow n on both sid es of the locking clip to
secure t he c able.

Lightly tighten the two top plate scre ws, adjust the bott om screw if necessar y
to make the two halves parallel, then tighten t he top screws en ough to hold
the rem ote sec urely i n pl ace.

Be sure the knobs rotat e free ly. If they bind agains t the top plate, back the top
screw s of f and inc rease t he l ength of the botto m screw. This wil l raise the edg e
of the top pla te and free the knob s.

8. Mic placement : Depe ndin g on which mic you are using, the placemen t and
the method of locatin g the "swee t spot" will var y greatly. If you are usi ng any
mi cr ophon e o ther than the D ual Sou rc e mi c, fol low the m anu fa ctu rer's
instruc tion s for your mic .

For pla cement of the Dua l So urce mic:

A. Fashi on a simple plac ement to ol ou t o f a wire coa t han ger or 12- to 14­gauge coppe r wi re. The too l sh ould be ab out 1 1/ 2' to 2' lon g an d have a U
shape at one end f or light ly grippin g the small foam block that house s the
mic.

B. A ttach the too l to the mic by wrap ping i t arou nd the base of the foam b lock
and inser t the mic into the ins ide of the instrume nt. Temp orarily unp lug the
pickup from the preamp so all you will hear is the mic. Now string th e guitar.

C. Plug the guitar int o a P.A. or similar sound sour ce using a sta ndard mono
cable. Set the ster eo/mono switch loca ted on the circui t boa rd to mono. Tu rn
up the "vol" and the "mic" knobs on the Remote module, and graduall y bri ng
the vol ume of the P.A. to a co mfortable level. With the guitar o n its back, strum
the open strings and move the mic around to the back si de of the guitar with
the wire tool until the optimum spot is loca ted in the guita r. Th e best locatio n
for this mic is general ly s omewhere in the lower sec tion of the guitar under or
behind the bridg e (s ee figu re 5 for recomme nded plac ement).

fig. 4: p reamp placement

Leave enough sp ace bet wee n t he
pre amp and the bra ce to the right
so th at ther e's roo m for t he
co nnec tion and wires
to plug in.

fig. 5

D. Whe n you 'v e found the opt imu m positi oning, l oo k i ns ide t he guitar,
caref ully obser ve the po sition of th e mic and uns trin g the guitar. The sweet
spot on some gui tars is a sma ll area, and a half inch in any dire ct ion can make
signifi cant dif feren ce. Remove the mic from the wire tool and plug the pick up
back into the preamp. Before you plac e the mic in position, firs t clea n the area
where i t will be mounted so it is fre e of any dust or oil. Remove the backi ng
from the velcro and place the mic inside the guitar precise ly on the sweet
spot. Be careful to place the mic in a way that won' t kink or sever ely bend the
wire as i t exits the foam blo ck.

9. Finishing to uc he s: Se cure al l wire s with th e clips prov ided, res tr in g the
guitar.

10. Dual Sour ce setu p and tes ting : If thi s install ation is empl oying the comple te Dual Sou rce System wit h the Ribbo n Transduce r and the Dual
Source mic, set th e control s on the pr eamp to match the default s ettings s hown on the prea mp label.

11. Othe r pi ckup s an d mi crophones:

A. S et t he mono /stereo swi tch to mono.

B. For the LB6 ser ies of pic kups, set the pick up high/low gain switch to low. Most other pop ular picku ps on the mark et will work b est in the low

gain position as well. But, since you can 't be absolute ly cer tain, tr y it in both
positio ns to s ee w hich on e is right for you r situati on.

C. A g ood starting poin t for t he mic low c ut knob is abo ut 10:00 , as shown on
the Dua l Source label.

D. With the two knobs on th e Remote Control turned all the way down, plug
into your sound system wi th a standard mono cable and gradual ly bri ng up
the vol ume on the Remote Control . This will give you the pi ckup sign al only.
Gradual ly bri ng up the leve l of the "mic" knob to he ar the ble nd of the mic
and the pickup.

E. Esp ecia lly tr y the mic phase swi tch in each pos itio n to see which soun ds the
be st wi th you r m ic. Now you c an ex per im ent w ith th e o ther c on trols to
achieve the be st overall sou nd.

fig. 6

A

B

C

D

U S E R ' S G U I D E

The Dual Sou rce is eng ineered primari ly for use with the Ribbo n Transduc er
and our Dua l Sour ce microp hone. All contr ols are pre -set at the fac tory for t his
use. Feel free to experime nt wit h the sett ings or other picku ps and mic s. If you
lose your way just return to the Ribbon Tra nsducer and Dual Sou rce mic and
ma tc h the s witch es and the p ot to th e s et ti ngs s hown on th e l ab el. The
contr ols mounted directly on the preamp a re inten ded to be utilized as “set it
and leave i t” control s. However, the y can be switche d by exten ding a tool such
as a pe ncil's er aser en d th rough t he sound hole.

Note: When the Dual Sourc e pream p is moun ted in the rec ommended location, the pre-set controls are accessible through the sound hole. The
best to ol we h ave found for adjus ting them is a pen cil erase r. The e raser h as the perfect su rfac e to gr ab the sw itches and turn the kn ob.

If you a re u sing the Dual Source with the Ribbon Transducer and the Dual Source mic, the d efault settings are on the label on top of t he pre amp.
The c ontrols of the R emote Con trol have di fferent function s in mono a nd s tereo mod es.

The l etters in f ront of each con trol de scription corres pond with the letter s in figure 6.

A. Ste reo/Mon o Switch:

Mono: The “mon o” or m ix mode i s designe d for h assle-fre e live perf ormance and recording w hen you want t o plug in and play.

To Use: Confirm that the “stereo/m ono” swi tch is in the mono positio n and plug in a “s tand ard” cable. In this mod e the two dia ls on the Remote
Control m odule func tion as a master volu me (“vol” knob) and a micro phone volume (“mi c” kn ob). The " mic" d ial allo ws you to add t he amo unt of
micro phon e you desire to the mix. Full cloc kwis e is picku p onl y and full counter-c lockwise bring s in the mic. Once the blend is satisf ac tory, use
the mas ter vol ume to control everything with one k nob.

Stere o: T his mode prov ides i ndep endent buffered outputs for the mic and pickup. It is u seful for recording and for achiev ing the ideal live sound.
You can use indi vidu al outbo ard EQ and effects for each c hannel. Fo r live work , a mic- blended system often prese nts problems with feedback in
the mon itors. I n st ereo mode you may send the pi ckup alone to the feedback -prone stag e monitor s, but u se as much mic in t he mains as you wish
to ge t th e perfect “hous e mix”.

To Use: For th is opt ion flip th e “Stereo/Mono” switc h to Stereo, and plug in a stereo cable or stereo Y cab le into the two muted channels of
whate ver outboard gear you’re playi ng thr ough. The live pick up signal is routed to the “tip” a nd a liv e mic signal goes to the “r ing” contacts of the
strap jack . The stereo switch als o chan ges the way the Remote Control functions. T he “mic” k nob become s the mic-on ly vol ume and the “vol ” knob
becom es t he pick up-o nly vol ume.

B. Pickup h igh/ low gain sw itch : Thi s switc h ma kes it po ssible to u se a pick up o ther than the Ribb on Tra nsdu cer wit h the Dua l So urce, such as the
LB6; however, we do not re commend u sing the iBeam with t he Dua l Source. The high gai n position is s peci fically eng ineered f or use with the
Ribbon Transducer w hich h as a low level of output . S ome magnetic soundh ole pickups also work well with the high gain setting. Almo st all piezo
pickups are best i n the low gain p osit ion.

To Use : Co nfir m that th e switch is in the c orrect posi tion. It wil l be appa rent if you get it w rong: th e signal will be v er y qu iet and f ull of noise if t he
switc h is in the low posit ion when used with the Ri bbon Transduce r. Converse ly, most other picku ps will be loud and disto rted when used with
the swi tch in the high po siti on.

C. Mic pha se switch: The ph ase switch changes the polari ty of the mi c signal. Its purpos e i s to optimi ze the blend between your chosen p icku p
and microphon e when the Dual Source is used i n mono mix mode. We s uggest the m ic place ment d ecision be m ade using headphon es and with
the picku p unpl ugged prior t o se tting the mic phase, as the mic positi on will influen ce the phase re lations hip. The lowes t frequen cies will be
most affe cted by this phase rel ationsh ip. It will be appare nt w hich phase sounds bes t when you flip the switch . However, the best sound may not
be the “ best ” phase in every situ ation. For ins tance, in a live situa tion, the low frequ ency cancel lation betwe en an out-of -pha se mic and pick up
provi des a measure of feedbac k resistanc e. Here, the low fr equency confl ic t be tween t he two sign als acts as a shock ab sorber to dampen
feedb ack. This effect is ofte n helpful whe n using a live mic. In the s tudi o, with headp hone moni tors, having th e mi c and picku p in p hase with e ach
other w ill usual ly resu lt i n the w ar mest an d ri chest ble nd of the two.

Pleas e note that when the mic and pickup are mixed in phas e with each other, the mic will seem nearly twice as loud as when they are out of
phase. You will not need as m uch mic l evel wi th an in- phase mix to get a nice b lend.

D. Mic low cut filter : This rotar y control allows for fin e tunin g the low freq uency res ponse of your chosen mic. The range of control will allow
adjustm ent of t he low cut -off frequency from 2kHz to 100Hz. Th e nice st sound is usuall y achieved by using as m uch microph one bass as possib le
without indu cing boom iness or feedback. In mono mix mode a higher cut-off frequ ency is advised than when in stere o. The lows of the pickup
and the mic reinforce each other whe n they are m ixed together, so i t is easy to get too much bass. A gre at strate gy t o mini mize feed back is to l et

the pick up handl e most of the low frequenc y dut ies. Pickups are usually less prone to boomine ss and feedbac k than microphones, s o try setting
the mic low cut to arou nd 100 0Hz (app roximat ely 9:00), the n boost the bass con trol on the P.A . The bass control will t hen have l ittle effec t on the
mic but will a dd w armth to the m ic w itho ut i nducing fee dbac k. T he c orrect low freque ncy cut-of f will also vary with the pre ferred mic phase and
from venue to venue. I t is useful to have a tool handy (such as a p enci l with an eraser ) to adjus t this control at soun d chec k. The mic bass default
setting, shown on the labe l, is quite safe when used wit h the Dual Sou rce mic . It has been prove n to give good results under a wide varie ty of
condi tion s.

Onboard cont rols: The Remote Control soundhole -mounte d controller gives you fingertip access to your volum e and mix with out the need to
cut any holes for k nobs o r to perma nently attach any thing to the guit ar. We have done e xt ensive rese arch to provide an anchori ng sys tem for the
Remote Contro l that will not ha rm the gu itar fin ish; howe ver, there is a sligh t chance th at the felt-back ed module can alter cert ain fini shes.
Remov e the Rem ote Co ntrol from time to time and inspec t the area w here it i s locate d to ma ke su re you r finish is satis fact or y. We di sclaim
respo nsib ility for any damage to t he instru ment re sulting f rom the use of thi s product.

Batte ry status LED: The batter y statu s LED remains on at all times when the unit is plugg ed in. As the batter y wea kens the lig ht will grad ually
dim. Wh en it becomes di ffic ult to see, replac e the bat tery.

Power sw itch : The output j ack acts as an on-of f switc h; plug it in and it’s o n, unp lug it an d it is o ff.

Con nectio n: Ther e is a ZIF Socket on both the Remote Contro l and the prea mp. Shou ld you need to remove the Remo te Contro l from t he p reamp

for a ny reason , just l if t the loc king t abs on eith er end of t he ZIF co nnector h ousi ng and ge ntly pull the ribbon cable ou t. Be sure that you have the
silve r side of the ribb on c able fa cing the co nnector pin s, a s shown in figure 3, and ins er ted fully i nto the soc ket before you lock the housing.

S P E C I F I C A T I O N S

Size: 3.3" x 2.3" x 1. 9"
Weight: 1 .4 oz wit h batte ry
Batte ry Type: Single 9V
Batte ry Life: 200 + hours ( alkaline)
Curre nt Co nsum ption: 2.3mA
Signal to Nois e: -92dB u nweight ed
Output Level : -10d B
Output Impedance : 1200 ohms