Gearank

The LR Baggs iBeam is a transducer pickup that attaches to the bridge plate of your guitar (where you poke your strings into).

It sits directly in front of the ball end of the strings (towards the tuning pegs).

Key Features

• Type: Transducer / Contact
• Required Mods: Endpin, Gluing to Bridge Plate
• Installation Difficulty: High
• Controls: Volume

Pros

Users note that the pickup reproduces treble frequencies well without sounding tinny. Some describe the tone as being like a close-miked tone or the actual sound of their guitar as they hear it acoustically.

Cons

It might not fit into some guitar bridges. Lacks a tone control. Users also note to reserve this pickup for your best sounding instrument as it does not offer any enhancing features for less-than-stellar guitars. Installation is said to be easy but to get the best tone, proper positioning of the pickup under the bridge plate is a challenge.

Overall

The LR Baggs iBeam is designed to mimic the response of a microphone. A quote from the website sums this up: “A key advantage over typical bridge plate sensors is the iBeam’s ‘cardioid’ like response pattern that inhibits feedback and string squeak while selectively admitting rich tone producing vibrations.” Jargon aside, this means that the design limits feedback while improving the overall frequency response. If you're looking for a tone somewhere between a transducer and a microphone, the iBeam is a good choice.

Although this was previously on our recommended list there are more highly rated options available which you can see in our guide to The Best Acoustic Guitar Pickups - Active & Passive.