L.R. Baggs LB12 Pickup for Acoustic Guitar

L.R. Baggs LB12 — Unitary Saddle Pickup for Twelve-String Guitars

The LB12 applies the LB6 principle to the twelve-string guitar: the pickup is not fitted under the saddle, the pickup is the saddle. On a twelve-string that distinction matters more than anywhere else, because the octave courses and the unison pairs load the saddle very unevenly. Casting the sensing elements into a one-piece saddle puts every course directly on its own sensor, which keeps the octave strings from disappearing behind the fundamentals and preserves the shimmer that makes a twelve-string worth amplifying at all.

Feedback Resistance on a Loud Stage

A twelve-string has a large soundboard under considerable string tension and is therefore an easy instrument to send into feedback. The LB12 inherits the answer Lloyd Baggs found in the early 1980s: two of the sensing elements are wired in inverted phase, so body resonance picked up equally by all sensors cancels itself out while the string signal does not. The result is a pickup that stays clean at volume, without the thin, filtered sound that notch filters and aggressive EQ produce.

Output and Signal

The LB12 is passive, has no controls of its own and needs no power, yet its output is strong enough to go straight into most amplifiers and effects. When you want volume control at the instrument or a balanced feed to a PA, the L.R. Baggs LB Pre endpin preamp is built specifically for the LB series and adds a thumbwheel volume control.

Fitting and Setup

The saddle slot is normally re-routed to the length and width of the pickup, and the saddle material can then be shaped to set action and intonation exactly as the original saddle did. The sides and the length of the pickup must never be sanded, filed or shortened. Every pickup is performance-tested in a guitar fixture before it leaves the factory, and professional installation is required.

Specifications

• Type: Unitary saddle pickup — pickup and saddle in one piece, saddle replacement
• Instrument: Twelve-string acoustic guitar — the six-string steel version is the LB6, the nylon-string version the LB6X
• Active/Passive: Passive — external preamp optional
• Controls: None
• Power: None required
• In the box: LB12 pickup