What is best passive pickup to go with LRBaggs PADI?

[rbachman]

Thanks all .... I hope that I can have the b***ls to put something other than a Fishman in it!!

I've never heard any other installs in a guitar. Never heard a bridge-mounted live!

What can I say!! Stone me if you must!!

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by rainsong

Do yourself a favor and spend the extra money on an active one like the Baggs Element or similar. They are only $100. Guitar ampflification guru Rick Turner talked a whole thread on why, even with a nice preamp like the PADI, it is MUCH better to have an active pickup in the guitar, not only for gain but for buffering issues etc. I'm sure Gary (Guitaniac) can perhaps steer us toward that discussion if he is reading this.

It should be mentioned that the signal from a passive mag pickup will tend to travel much better down a long cable than the signal from a film or crystal pickup (because of the mag pickup's much lower output resistance). I've never been a big fan of the mag pickup sound, but have to admit that the passive Fishman Neo-D, which only costs around $50, works pretty darn well with a decent preamp like the PADI. (Even better with my D-TAR Mama Bear. )

For a crystal or film passive pickup, however, I believe that the best results come with using a preamp (for impedance buffering, and sometimes amplification) as close to the pickup as possible. A PUTW Power Plug (a little preamp w/volume control, which plugs right into the guitar jack) is currently one of the best solutions for those who don't want a battery in their guitars. It has an adjustable gain control, so can work well with a wide variety of ceramic and film pickups - the crystal K&K pickups being a possible exception, because of impedance matching issues. (The Power Plug, like the Baggs PADI, has an input impedance of 10M ohms. K&K's Dieter has advised that the K&K pickups work best with an input impedance of less than 1M ohm. It should be mentioned, though, that some K&K users have claimed good results with the PADI - especially with the mini-Pure Western pickup.)

Here's a link for the Power Plug.
http://pick-uptheworld.com/preamps.htm

A good (less expensive) source would be Shoreline Music.
http://www.shorelinemusic.com/amplification/putw.shtml


Its interesting to note that I've used both the Baggs LB6 passive crystal in-saddle pickup, and the Baggs Hex passive in-saddle pickup, with a PADI in the past. I used to think that I was getting pretty decent results from running down a guitar cable to the PADI - especially with the Hex, which puts out an extremely strong signal. I was surprised to hear a noticeable improvement (clearer, richer, stronger bass end) when I started using the Hex with the PUTW Power Plug. (Because of the Hex's strong signal, its necessary to turn the Power Plug's gain way down.) I now agree totally with Rick Turner on the advantage to preamping crystal and film pickups as close to the pickup as possible. That doesn't necessarily mean, however, that one wouldn't want to use a second device (like the PADI) in the signal chain also - for tone shaping and/or phase inversion when needed. Many people use the PADI with active onboard pickup systems. That's essentially the same thing as using the PADI with a passive pickup/Power Plug combination.

Hope that helps.
Gary

[jonahdsage]

i've been using the passive m-1 with the PADI a few months now. I've had lots of people tell me that it sounds fantastic live (i'm thoroughly pleased with it). Recently people having been saying things like "it sounds real good when you strum it -- your fingerstyle, though, sounds PERFECT! what setup do you have it's amazing!" or something like that. It's a great combo

jonah

[rainsong]

I have read a lot of good things about the M-1. The fact that Makigogi prefers it to the Element that came with his guitar says alot, since I think the Element system in my Rainsong sounds great (Through a Fishman Aura)

[Seegs]

I don't know my experience with the M1 and PADI in my Tacoma DM18 was less than stellar...I could not dial out the middy/honkiness no matter what I did...even though its magnetic and IMO tends to impart its own sound on the guitar does the M1 seem to favor certain guitars over others??

Chow,
Seegs

[Daddyo]

My LR Baggs passive iBeam sounds great with my LR Baggs PADI. You have to be aware of stage volume, though.

[guitaniac]

It should be mentioned that a high quality, relatively short (8' or less) guitar cable will work best if one is taking a passive ceramic or film pickup, or a passive iBeam (an accelerometer) to an outboard preamp like the PADI. I suggest the Kordex cables which PUTW sells.

Gary