Yusuf Islam - acoustic pickup?

[Petty1818]

Hi everyone,

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know what current pickup Yusuf Islam is using in his Gibson guitars? I was just watching his performance at the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame and quite liked his tone. It has a hint of piezo so it could just be a simple UST. However, when Yusuf strums alone his guitar sounds quite nice, it's the backup guitar player who plays fairly loud with an obvious UST equipped guitar that drowns out Yusuf at times.

Anyway, I did some research and in 2011 Yusuf had the Trance Amulet installed in his black Gibson acoustic. However, he doesn't seem to use that guitar anymore live. I also watched videos from 2013 and it looks like he has the Fishman Matrix blend system installed. At very recent Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame performance it's clear that the Fishman is no longer installed.

I just wanted to ask to see if anyone has anymore info!

[LargusThe3rd]

Saw this on his Facebook page. Looks like he has the LR Baggs M1A in a couple of guitars. Gibson J45 & 12-string Guild.

[Petty1818]

I noticed that as well. However, those guitars only seem to come out for a few songs. I would love to know what he's actually using in his main guitars. Thanks for posting though!

[LargusThe3rd]

I think he just recently switched all of his guitars over to the Baggs pickup. Here is a full concert from a couple of days ago...every acoustic guitar he plays has the M1A in it!
http://youtu.be/j5k8tyDpQyk

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by LargusThe3rd

I think he just recently switched all of his guitars over to the Baggs pickup. Here is a full concert from a couple of days ago...every acoustic guitar he plays has the M1A in it!
http://youtu.be/j5k8tyDpQyk

Thank you for posting the video! I am surprised he switched over to the M1. It's a great pickup but I didn't think that it would suit Yusuf's style of playing. It seems as though he has switched pickup systems for almost every tour that he has done since returning in 2007.