L.r. baggs radius

[Trey Young]

Hey there, has any one installed the Baggs Radius p'up permanently (drilled out the endpin and attached the transducer to the under side of the top)? If so did you just place the p'up directly under where you had found the sweet spot on the top? Are there any other helpful hints you can throw my way before I take the plunge? I'll be installing this on my Elkhorn A-5 model. I've been using the p'up on this mandolin for about 2 months now and have found the sweet spot to be exactly where the owner's manual suggested, and have tried 2 other places (both a slight move towards the bass side of the bridge). Thanks in advance.

[Barb Friedland]

I haven't done the permanent install on my Baggs p'up yet but I believe the suggested spot is indeed on the back side of the sweet spot. That's what I'm planning on and it makes sense to me.

[mandroid]

See: http://www.tapastring.com/vintagejack.htm

Don't even have to ream out to 1/2"for a 1/4" jack, then.
tapered end pin with 1/8" jack , [&matching cords too]

[Sheryl McDonald]

Our band mando player did this on his Gibson F9. The sweet spot was to the G string side of the bridge -- between the tailpiece and the bridge. Now he is finding that he can't have one volume for chopping and solos. I guess a foot switch will fix that issue.

[lenf12]

mcH said: "Now he is finding that he can't have one volume for chopping and solos".

What do you mean by this statement? Doesn't the LRB Radius respond to differences in playing dynamics, chop vs. solo? I would have guessed that if he set the overall volume for soloing (relatively loud) and then chopped with a lighter touch, he could avoid using a volume pedal. I could be all wrong. Please provide more info.

Thanks,
Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[EdSherry]

Len -- With a mic, as well as physically playing louder/softer, you can move toward the mic to get louder (leads), and away from the mic to get quieter (chops, etc.) #With a pickup, the only way to control volume is by varying your playing technique. #That's much harder to do, especially since a chop (which you want to sound quieter in the overall mix) is inherently louder (acoustically) than a lead line. # Lots of musicians (including me) use a volume pedal or a footswitchable preamp (on/boost for leads, off for rhythm) to deal with the problem. #Hope this helps.

[UnityGain]

mcH said: "Now he is finding that he can't have one volume for chopping and solos".

What do you mean by this statement? Doesn't the LRB Radius respond to differences in playing dynamics, chop vs. solo? I would have guessed that if he set the overall volume for soloing (relatively loud) and then chopped with a lighter touch, he could avoid using a volume pedal. I could be all wrong. Please provide more info.

Thanks,
Len B.
Clearwater, FL
Its tough. The diffrences in volume between chopping and chords and single note melody on a mandolin can be big. Look at a bluegrass player playing into a mic, they can still be heard chopping a few feet from the mic, but when they solo they get in close. And its not so easy to just "chop softer".

I've used a radius for a while now and I can say that its really tough to balance between lead any rythum. If you set to lead volume, you have to be really careful with chops and they start to sound thin and weak if your not cafeful. Its also really easy to chop too loud without realizing it. On the other hand, if your set to a volume where you can get a good strong thick tasty chop without peeling the paint off the walls, you dont have enough volume for solos without bad form. There is a middle ground, but I found that I kept diging in too much on my chops and lost sublty in my solos.

I would definatly have gotten a volume pedal if I had not started using my mandobird 8 string electric prettymuch exclusivly, and one of my favoirite things is that it has a volume knob. I should point out I dont play true bluegrass and I have electric guitars and drums to compete with so your situation may be diffrerent, but even when the band does more mellow acoustic stuff I had issues.

[mandroid]

FWIW. I saw a black box that Schatten's CDN company made up. Plug, plugs into the end pin jack ,
has a volume control pot in it, and then the cord plugs into that.

qualifies for K.I.S.S. cred.

a very DIY possible project.

[UnityGain]

FWIW. I saw a black box that Schatten's CDN company #made up. plugs into the jack , has a volume control pot,
on it, and then the cord plugs into that.

qualifies for K.I.S.S. cred.

a very DIY possible project.
I belive you can also get carmpenters jacks with a volume knob built in, but I hate hate hate my carpenters jack.

[mandognome]

Its tough. The diffrences in volume between chopping and chords and single note melody on a mandolin can be big. Look at a bluegrass player playing into a mic, they can still be heard chopping a few feet from the mic, but when they solo they get in close. And its not so easy to just "chop softer".

I've used a radius for a while now and I can say that its really tough to balance between lead any rythum.

Ditto, but this is true with any pickup. A compressor helps lesson the issue--and you don't really notice it if it's set right. A volume pedal would perhaps be a preferable solution if stage volume varies widely.

[lenf12]

Thanks to all for the explanations/insights. I had been using a Rigel A Plus Deluxe through a Digitech effects pedal with a built in volume pedal and an ART tube pre-amp into the amplifier or mixing board. I would set my overall volume level on the effects, pre-amp and amplifier and vary my playing technique to get the volume I needed at that moment. I didn't use the volume pedal feature as much as I thought I would. Now I just go from the mando to the pre-amp straight into my amplifier or the PA and like the tone and the simplicity much better.

I had been looking at the LRB Radius for amplifiying an old Gibson F-12. Guess I'll keep on looking for something else instead.

Thanks again,
Len B.
Clearwater, FL

[Jim Nollman]

I'm looking at this Radius system, and also at the LR Baggs mic/element dual source system. Has anyone tried both? If so I'd love to hear a critical comparison.

[Mike Bunting]

Is there a good volume pedal that will work with lo-z cords like a mic cord and not affect the sound too much?

[mandroid]

I'm thinking , Re Volume pedal : they are made for the guitar market,
But if you replace the TR in and out jacks with stereo jacks , the volume Pot effects the + , signal lead,
and then you can run the return , -, signal lead thru and the ground connection, also,
from one jack to the other.
I think the stereo pedals are made to do the same thing to 2 TR signals simultaneously .
any of them work as a R/L Pan between 2 inputs?

[Jim Nollman]

I use an Ernie Ball Volume Pedal, and like it just fine. It has two outputs, one of which I use into a tuner.

[Fred G]

I use a guyatone speed cable which has a little slide on the jack to control volume. it is also self shorting so I turn it all the way off and pull it out to switch to my fiddle and it does not pop.

http://guyatone.com/Speedcable.php

[Jonmiller]

Stupid electronics! Once you start, it's endless-esp. when you have a a few instruments on stage (guitar, banjo)-pre amps, direct boxes, cords, mics. I've bought more gadgets and pickups over the years.
And then when you have a couple mandolins-you need to install a p/u in each if you want to use them. I've heard expensive guitars played through a cheap piezio p/u that sounds like a ill duck.
The "Bladerunners" (are they still together?) would perform with the old style one mike method, (the bass had a seperate mike), and it was great!!!!!