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L.R. BAGGS PICKUPS
483 N. FRONTAGE RD.
NIPOMO, CA 93444
WWW.LRBAGGS.COM
OVERVIEW AND CAUTIONS
We recommend that this s ystem be inst alled by a professional deal er/instal ler.
We do not pr ovide install at ion ad vice o r su pport for home o r ho bbyist
in sta lla ti ons . In sta lle rs: pl eas e r ead the in str uct io ns caref ull y b efo re
proc ee ding. We will not b e r esponsi bl e f or any damag e t o the gu it ar or
pe rs ona l injur y r es ultin g from in st all at ion, i mp roper i nstal latio n, us e or
misuse of the pr oduct.
Befor e beginn ing, check to mak e sure that the str ing sp acin g of the pick up
match es that of the guitar. String spacing sp ecificati ons are availa ble on the
back of the pack age and on our website - - www.lrbaggs. com.
In most cases it is necessar y to re-rou t the saddle slot to equal the length
and the width of the pick up.
Do not sand or file the sides, or sho rten the length of the LB6, LB6 X or LB12.
This will void the warran ty.
fig. 1
fig. 2
He at gen er at ed fro m a b el t-san di ng t he t op s urf ace of the picku p ma y
damage it; if a b elt s ander is used to shape the top surface of the saddle,
proce ed slow ly a nd with cau tion.
Never grind any part of t he pickup to make it fit .
I N S T A L L A T I O N I N S T R U C T I O N S
1. Posi tion the pickup latera lly for corre ct string balance by lay ing the pickup on its side on top of the stri ng at the saddle. There should be an
equal a mount of saddle ou tside eac h E-strin g. M ark the b ridg e where each end of the p ickup fal ls.
Note: If the pic kup is an LBC (cla ssic al), the rul es a re slight ly dif ferent. The Length of the LBC is desig ned to be cut down to fit the bridg e; you can
remove up t o 1/4" (6. 5 mm) from each end of the pickup. Center the pick up laterally over t he str ings as abov e and note how far it hangs over the
ends of the bridge. Use a jeweler's saw to remove t he e xcess fro m each end of the pickup; mak e the initia l cut throug h the bottom (br ass) side of
the pickup and rem ove all bur rs that are lef t from the cut. Even the smalle st burr left on the bott om surf ace of the brass co uld have a negat ive
effec t on the stri ng b alance. Finish t he ends g ently wit h a file. Not not grin d or saw the end s of f. See th e LB C notic e below for more inform ation.
2. The existing sadd le will be used a s a guide to duplicate the action wit h the new sad dle/picku p, so if any change s ne ed to be made to the actio n
or t he com pensation , d o that using the old saddle now. After you a re s atisfied w ith the action, scribe a lin e along the e ntire leng th of the s addl e
(while it is sti ll in the slot) al ong the t op surface of t he bridge (see fig ure 1). Remove the s addle and set it a side to be used later.
4. Re-ro ut the saddle slot to a width of 1 /8" to the end marks on the bridg e (fro m step 1) t o a m inimum depth of 3/16 ". This dept h s n ecessar y t o
provi de support for the sadd le and to prot ec t the bond betwe en the brass cha ssis and the saddl e. An abso lutely flat sur face on the flo or of the
saddle slo t is crucia l t o achieve the best results f rom the picku p, so be sure t o use an a dequ ate flat routing fixture and sharp cutter. The cutting
tips of a 1/8" Dreme l router bit s are soft, dull easily and will leave fillet s in the slot. These fillets wil l keep the pickup from conta cting the bottom
of the slot full y and cau se sound and balan ce prob lems.
5. Gen tly press the p ickup int o the slot unti l it is firml y se ated. Make sure t he wire d oes not bind in any way. Th e pickup sh ould b e a loose p ress fit
(not sloppy) . Do not wedge the pickup into the slot. If the pickup does bin d on the sides, you may caref ully hand -san d the sides of the pic ku p
against a hard, flat sur face with 150 grit sandpa per. Sand gradu ally, checking your progr ess frequen tly and be careful to ke ep t he p ickup cool. Do
not attempt th is on a b elt sander.
6. With the pic kup full y seated in the slot, scribe a line alo ng the f ront sur face o f it as it exits the top surface of the bri dge (the s ame as in step 2).
Remov e the p icku p from the slot by pulling straigh t up. Do not crimp the wire.
7. Place the old saddle next to the pic ku p, mat ch the scr ibed lin es from step 2, and trace the top conto ur from th e old saddle ont o the new
saddle/ pickup. Re -coil the wi re on the pickup and carefully belt- sand the sha pe into the new sad dle (b e care ful no t to ove rheat the pi ck up).
Inton ate the new saddle and place it in the slot.
8. R un the le ad wire to a fully shielded hack or a shielde d inter nal buffer/ preamp. You may connect t he L B6 to m ost exist ing int er nal pre amps.
This picku p nee ds no step -up or pre ampl ificati on when used directly into most music al instrum ent amp lifiers. By nature, howe ver, i t is an ult rahigh impedance device, and it will lo ad some preamps, effects, equaliz ers, studio boards, ste reos, tape recor ders, wire less trans mitters or any
device with less than a 2 meg input impe dance. T his will result in a hard, bright, nasal sound qual it y that is very un pleasant. We recommen d the
use of a high-qu ality active direc t bo x such as o ur Pa ra D.I. into a ful l-range PA system with re verb fo r be st resu lts.
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IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR LBC USERS
To e nsure tro uble -fre e in stallat ion:
1. The LB C pi ckup is made e xtra l ong to acc om mo date the va ri ou s sa ddle
lengths of classi cal guitars. To main tain proper str ing bala nce, you mus t cut an
equal amount from each end of the pickup. For example, if it needs to be a
total of 1/4" sh orter, cut 1/ 8" from e ach en d.
2. Suppo rt the lengt h of the pickup on a flat sur face a nd c ut e ach end off with
a jeweler 's saw, st arting on the brass side. Gently sand or file any rema ining
burrs. Do not grasp the pickup in a vise whil e cut ting and do not grind or
power san d. D o no t ba nd-saw the ends of f!
After install ation, if you notice distor tion (particular ly with unwound strings
on guitars wi th low action and/ or st ring an gle), you might be experi encing
what we call "nyl on s tring roll. Unli ke s teel strings that stabi lize t hemselves by
weari ng a a small groove in the saddle, nylo n strings a re softer t han the sad dle
and will not bite into it. The unancho red s trings will roll and t ravel on the
saddle when vibra ting. The p icku p will amp lify the rolling motion and add thi s
to th e so und.
To rem edy this pr oblem, b e su re that the top of the sad dle is basicall y flat with
slightl y rounded fro nt and back edges (see figure 1). The front of th e sadd le
should be highe r t han its back edge (as high as th e string angl e w ill allow
without having the str ing in midair over the back of the sadd le, as shown in
figure 3). Then cu t a shallow v-sha ped g roove in the saddl e (appr oxima tely
half the thi ck ness of the s trin g) for each string to rest in. This will h elp anchor
the str ings firmly i n the sad dle.
fig. 3
correct
incorrect
incorrect
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