B-Band AST 1470

Submitted at: 9:04, 10/25/2003

Product Info

Pickup features: 1470 AST - Condenser acoustic soundboard transducer and A1 - endpin preamp
Impedence or other specs:
Price Paid: US $$95.00
Purchased from: Locally owned music store

Instrument

Model of guitar or bass: 2003 Gibson J-180
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: None
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s):
Reason for pickup change: The Fishman Active Matrix I & II are the industry standards for acoustic guitar amplification. If you play in a live band through a PA you know that these pickups are the most reliable and consistent. However, I was looking for something a little bit different; more warmth, more resonance, more characteristics in addition to attack and decay.

Sound

Perceived output level: Hot output. Nothing atypical from your 9-volt active systems.
Tone: The tone is a lot more acoustic sounding than I expected. It's definitely an improvement from what I'm used to hearing. You do NOT need to EQ it like you would for an under-the-saddle system. It sounds great straight out of the guitar into your mix. We have two acoustic guitars going into the board - one a taylor 4 or 5 series with a fishman prefix system and the other a gibson j-180 special edition with the b-band AST. We'd been playing the taylor for quite some time and when we first plugged in the gibson we were pretty impressed. It was much more natural sounding. However, the one disadvantage the AST has is that there isn't as much percussive attack. Some people see this as a negative aspect of under-the-saddle pickups, but for live full band settings, that percussive quack sometimes adds a little bit of flavor to your mix. The AST is also not as tight as the fishman under-the-saddle. That could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on what you're looking for. I'll say it's more a musical/flavored/lively pickup, but a less rhythmic/percussive/attack-decay pickup. By attack-decay, I mean that rubberbandish characteristic associated with under-the-saddle pickups.
Sonic evaluation: PA system. Mackie board, crown amps, lexicon effects processors, and JBL speakers/subs. Your mix can only be as good as your setup.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Christian rock/contemporary Worship. Full band - the works.

Overall Rating

Comments: If it were stolen, I'd want to know who did it and why they didn't take the whole guitar. I have a good background in live sound for relatively large audiences; acoustic guitars, electric guitars, amps, effects, microphones, and my specialty is equalization. When I pickup a guitar I don't just hear a qualitative tone when I strum or pick, but a spectrum of frequencies. The B-Band is contoured optimally for this pickup. You won't need to fiddle too much with the EQ, much like you would for a fishman matrix. Contour 320 down and it gets rid of mud (makes it sound crisp), 1K down gets rid of harshness, 600 down gets rid of honk, contour 800 up when something sounds really nasally. The Fishman Matrix always need 1K contoured down for a warmer sound at high volumes; B-Band is pretty good with EQ set flat IMO.

On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this pickup a: 10 Fantastic value

Submitted by: Eddie Choi <eddiechoi79@msn.com>