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  #1  
Old 11-22-2016, 08:47 PM
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bnjp bnjp is offline
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Default Taylor 615, which Baggs pickup?

Here are my choices.

L.R. Baggs M80
L.R. Baggs Anthem
L.R. Baggs Lyric

Taylor 615 is a Jumbo (J200 style) with maple back and sides and a spruce top.
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Old 11-22-2016, 09:39 PM
jseth jseth is offline
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If you, a) love the sound of the guitar when playing unplugged and/or, b) don't plan on playing plugged in a whole lot...

Then I can't, in all conscience, recommend the Anthem or Element from Baggs... I have the Anthem SL system in two of my guitars and the installation DEFINITELY affects the unplugged sound and volume in a negative fashion...

I have not heard an overwhelming response about the Lyric pickups; seems some folks love 'em, but many complain of a decided lack of low-mids and bass response...

The M-80 would be the least invasive of them all; I can't comment on the sound as I have not played through one...
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Old 11-22-2016, 10:27 PM
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One can hardly be more comprehensive, more detailed, or more helpful than Doug Young's Pickup Tests. http://www.dougyoungguitar.com/pickuptests/ Here is his Youtube test of the M80. (There may be others.)

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Old 11-22-2016, 11:21 PM
alohachris alohachris is offline
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Default Annhhh! No Baggs

Aloha Bryan,

If you like the natural sound of an acoustic guitar & want to bring some semblance of it to a live amplification signal chain, then I recommend that you avoid ALL LR Baggs pickups as well as UST & Dynamic pickups for a primary system.

There are more natural sounding systems out there that I prefer, including dual-source pickup systems (with an internal mic) that I truly prefer for gigging.

And let's not forget to discuss pickup choices within the context of your live signal chain and the controls you'll need to apply a pickup system WELL in a variety of live gigging situations & venues.

Questions, Bryan: Play solo or band? What is your live signal chain? Styles of music you play? Pro or hobbyist player. Play mostly home or out? Why only Baggs for your choices? Type of guitar?

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Old 11-23-2016, 06:18 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alohachris View Post
Aloha Bryan,

Questions, Bryan: Play solo or band? What is your live signal chain? Styles of music you play? Pro or hobbyist player. Play mostly home or out? Why only Baggs for your choices? Type of guitar?

alohachris
I play in church typically with a band. Straight into a direct box to a PA. Those three pickups are available to me and free. So that's the reason for my choices.
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Old 11-23-2016, 06:36 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is online now
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My vote would be Anthem. My experience with single source microphones and soundboard transducers is they too often need equalization to get a basic decent tone which you won't find out until it is installed. I personally don't like the idea of supporting a heavy magnetic pickup with the nice (soft) spruce top of a high end guitar (just my prejudice).

I recently installed a Mi-Si Trio in my main gigging guitar which is based on the Baggs Element UST, and I noticed no change in its acoustic properties. The Element UST is factory installed by many guitar manufacturers and I think they would not put their product at an acoustic disadvantage if they felt there was one.
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Old 11-23-2016, 08:29 AM
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Well as a full-time gigging musician that plays a wide range of material with a variety of dynamics I find the M80 very versatile, with great features, a nice percussive tone, and complimentary to my D18 tone, especially in flesh fingerstyle...and it is not invasive nor does it affect the unplugged tone so it stays in all the time. I sometimes add a touch of Bodyrez depending on venue and that really adds an even more natural timbre by a bit of mid scoop & slight compression. Here is a sample of an original using just M80 thru Loudbox Mini recorded with just camera mic...good combo for this guitar & it replaced the M1A I originally had in it, so maybe it may work well for your application.




Best wishes in your search!
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Old 11-23-2016, 06:50 PM
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Decided to install the lyric. Sounds good through the acoustic amp, but the test will be on Sunday with the PA. Thanks for the help!

I didn't want to install the undersaddle so that eliminated the Anthem. The M80 is too sensitive to body noise (by design) so I decided against it.
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Old 11-23-2016, 08:47 PM
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Let us know how you like it, will you? Nice to have access to those options!

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Old 11-25-2016, 07:10 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cotten View Post
Let us know how you like it, will you? Nice to have access to those options!

cotten
It sounds great to my ears. The Lyric is a nice option if you like the sound of your guitar. Because it's a mic, you can't really get more out of it than your guitar can give you. I have the same pickup in a Guild M20-GAD and it couldn't be more different from the Jumbo. I don't like the Lyric in cheaper/laminate guitars, but they sound good in guitars that have a good acoustic sound.

I'm running it through a Sansamp Para Driver which fills the tone out even more.
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