LR Baggs Pickups

[Marshall]

Relentless Innovation in Acoustic Amplification - says their website. My chuckle comment is they have 9 different acoustic pickups shown.

9 ?

Pretty much the description on all of them is how wonderful they are.

I know. I know. There are many different tastes out there in the world. But, really, they can't all be the best.

[Mbroady]

One of them is the best..........for somebody...maybe.

Pick up preferences are almost as varied as are guitar preferences.
I happen to like LR Baggs as a company. They have a good research and development philosophy (hence the 9 pickups), their products are reliable, and their customer service is excellent.

[martingitdave]

I've enjoyed (been susceptible to) their marketing enough to have purchased a number of their pickups over the years. I can't say that any of them stuck. I do like the LR Baggs Voice Print DI pedal. It's like your NUX pedal, Marshall, but uses the iPhone for the training. It also has some nice feedback and tone shaping controls, along with blending. It is, however, 2x the cost of the NUX.

[Marshall]

I've had the M1a, M80, Lyric, HiFi, and maybe another one in there. Multiple copies of some of them.

Oooh. The iBeam too.

[jricc]

I like what @MBroady said, "One of them is the best..........for somebody...maybe."

For me, Baggs products work for my needs.

Currently, I have an M1a soundhole for a backup and/or emergencies.

An Element VTC in my Martin SC10e sapele.

An Element Pro barndoor in my Rainsong CH-OM. All serviceable and consistent sounding.

[fazool]

Their pickups are very good and have a variety of offerings for different uses.

I love their passive M1 in my Taylor 12-string.

I am completely convinced that (for my ears) the LR Baggs Gigpro (beltclip style) preamp and its two-channel sibling the MixPro is the best sounding acoustic guitar preamp I've ever heard.

They discontinued those for some reason - I think the form factor is not popular.

I wish they would fit one of those inside a guitar.

I've actually been tempted to modify a guitar and put a Gigpro as a built-in internal amp - mounted like a Taylor ES1 system.

[Nick84]

I’m a fan of LR Baggs gear. I think the element with session preamp in my Lowden is great.

I’ve always loved the pairing of an M1 pickup with Session DI.

I like the lyric with a venue for recording. Don’t think it would work live for my use.

And even though I’m based in the UK I’ve found the customer service exceptional.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by Marshall

Pretty much the description on all of them is how wonderful they are.

If they put you in charge of their marketing, what would you change?

[Petty1818]

I don't know, nine different pickup options kind of confirms the; "relentless innovation of acoustic amplification". At the end of the day it's just marketing. Everyone does it. You can't really just call out Baggs.

On a side note, when you think of all the acoustic pickup manufacturers out there, Baggs has to be on top in terms of what they offer. I also can't think of another company that has offered so many new pickups and innovations over the past 10-15 years. The only one close would be Fishman, but they haven't really innovated since the Aura came out over 20 years ago. They tend to just offer pickups they already had but as part of a dual source.

[guitaniac]

I’ve used and appreciated half-a-dozen Baggs products. I never-the-less wish they’d been “relentless” enough to complete that stage guitar project which Charlie Worsham teased us with (on only one occasion) on instagram. It was a thin-bodied, Kirk Sand style stage guitar with a special pickup system.

[SammyP]

I’ve had an Anthem system since 2015 in a Gibson Hummingbird Pro and have never considered trying something else in it because of how good it sounds, which is mostly due to the TRU-MIC. The guitar came with just an Element, but I wanted more from it. The two mix well together anywhere from 50/50 all the way to the TRU-MIC end of the mix dial.

I more recently added their Align Series Reverb pedal, and I like it much better for reverb on an acoustic than anything else I’ve gotten it from, including my Midas and Allen & Heath digital mixers and Mesa Rosette combo.

And their customer service has been excellent when I’ve had questions, needed new adhesive pads for the mic and wires, and had an issue with the output jack causing batteries to go fast as if a cable was permanently plugged into it. They quickly sent me a replacement jack that time and the adhesive pads a couple months ago for that 2015 purchase.

[ScottyMac]

In my book, I love Baggs' commitment to innovation, improvement, and development. What we see in their product line are layers and generations of pickups and electronics that have been developed over time. Some things I like better than others.

Frankly, I've never experienced a pickup system that sounds as good as the acoustic itself without electronics. I just sort of pick the electronic sound I like best and run with it. Right now, very interested in the new Duet system slated to be released this summer.

I've been using the Baggs Venue pedal for years in live settings and love it. Most recent addition last year was the Baggs Align Session pedal, which adds a bit of 'beef' to the tone.

Also used in several guitars has been the K&K Pure...a good pickup that although sounds a little 'quacky' to me, can be improved with proper impedance match and a bit of eq.

[Petty1818]

Out of curiosity, what was the overall point of this thread? Marshall, you haven't really replied to it since posting it.

[Marshall]

Originally Posted by Brent Hahn

If they put you in charge of their marketing, what would you change?

(just kidding)

[Marshall]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

Out of curiosity, what was the overall point of this thread? Marshall, you haven't really replied to it since posting it.

Oh, so now you expect a point.


. . . , actually there's no point. Just noting that they all can't be "the best pickup ever." It seems a little strange they have so many totally different pickup types out there. Nothing wrong with that. Just seems odd. As I said before, I've tried many of them. And liked them in a manner of saying. But I'm always (seemingly) hunting for something better. Therefore I should be granted stock in the company by now.