L.R. Baggs Element Active System

This is the second time I've fitted the L. R. Baggs Element Active System in my carved-top 5 course citterns and the results have been consistently outstanding each time in terms of power, clarity and evenness of response. I also find it an easy system to fit in an instrument in which internal access is restricted because of the smaller sound-hole but the flexible nature of the transducer allows it to be passed up easily through the top and floating bridge. My customers love its performance and so, as a professional luthier, it ticks all my boxes.

I gave this 4 stars because I like the LR Baggs iBeam active pickup system better for ease of installation. However, the iBeam won't fit a smaller guitar like my Martin OOO-18 making the Element system a necessity. Drilling the bridge hole was simply making sure no braces were hit below deck but sanding down a saddle perfectly is always a pain. Nevertheless, the Element went in easily and works fine.

If you can eq the bottom end out of this pickup its great..installed in my walden(maybe the version with vol/tone would be a better choice)

This is a great pickup. I like it better than the RTS2. The RTS2 will noticably change the sound of your guitar acoustically. It is a soft strip so naturally it will dampen the sound. The element doesn't have this problem.
It holds a sound quite true to your guitar and will handle stage volumes even when you are playing with a bassist and drummer.
Volume balance can be a problem as with any under the saddle pickup, so be prepared to do some dickering. Be happy and thank the builder if you don't have to.

Simply the best pick up ever ....

Having installed and used several transducer pickups in the past, I installed the Element Active in a customers guitar fully expecting to have to use some type of external preamp in order to get the amplified signal to sound reasonably close to the quality of the "room" tone of the guitar. I was surprised to find that his pickup/pre is quite an improvement over the past Baggs and most other systems from other manufacturers.

It doesn't generate an over-EQ'd signal and having the miniature volume control mounted in the soundhole (an inovation that's been around for a while with LRB but still a natable feature) makes it pretty non-invasive for those who are concerned about damaging or the devaluation of a vintage instrument. The only noticeable alteration is drilling out the endpin to accept the preamp/jack.

It's actually pretty simple to install and requires very few tools so the less experienced tech can do it themselves with care and minimal tools. I typically recommend and install the iBeam but now I have both systems here in the shop and would feel completely comfortable endorsing both of them.

One other note, I've successfully installed the preamp internally and connected a small shielded cable and mini jack on the outside of a vintage 64 J-45 to avoid drilling any visible holes on the guitar. It worked quite well & I'll post some photos later on.

Useful in that it will fit the more obscure saddles like tenor guitars and mandolins etc. Only draw back i would say is that its a little light on the bass end. Other then that very nice

To update my previous review, Stew Mac was kind enough upon reading my review to offer a credit if I returned this pickup. I did return it, and so I give the five stars above for customer service (thank you, Larry), but still only one for the product.

I installed the LR Baggs Element Active (a Christmas gift) into my Gibson WM-45 last weekend, and had a chance to play it through the PA with a band yesterday. The reason I asked for this pickup over the K&K pure western or others was that it allegedly held up better before feedback in a band setting. What a mistake!

The WM-45 already has 90 degree holes for a Fishman Matrix, so I had to drill another hole (diagonally) for the pickup entry into the bridge slot, plus the extra area for the pickup at the other end of the bridge. (I am not a professional repairman, but I have installed Fishman and Duncan USTs and know what I'm doing.) The result? The EQ is boomy, and the high E string output isn't balanced with the B string -- it has less output. I don't have a Para DI (it has an active preamp, built in, right?) so I tried to use my Dano Fish & Chips EQ to fix things (with boost off), and instead, there are ugly loud pops every time I hit a string or chord with more than an average strum. It kept feeding back oddly on upper strings while playing at an average volume with the band through the PA on a flat setting.

I get better results with a cheap Dean Markley soundhole pickup and the Fish & Chips, and if I could return the pickup for a refund, I would.

I have installed several undersaddle pu's. I believe this was the easiest ever. I had the strap hole already bored and I had to fill in the saddle slot and re cut because of a depth problem. I cut a new saddle and fitted put new strings on and the pickup is highly responsive.

In the past I have used fishman,martin, barcus-berry, schatten, peizo pickups. This one seems to me to be less fragile than any of the others and the sound hole volume control is a great plus.