Magnetic Pickup Recommenations
 

I’m considering hitting a few open mics and would like to find a magnetic pickup to use with my vintage Gibson L00. Looking for something that could easily be installed and removed, have a decent sound, and be easy to dial in—i.e. pretty much plug-and-play. I don’t want to modify my guitar or haul any outboard gear. I other words throw the pickup on my guitar, plug into the PA and have the sound man (if provided) quickly dial me in.
Suggestions? Thanks

Schertler M-AG6. (With the S-MIC-M if you can extend your budget...)

This thread can now be closed :-)

Dimarzio Black Angel. Very close to the excellent Sunrise Mag and way cheaper!

* I've tried many over the years since first using them in late 70's and found that I highly recommend a model with adjustable poles. I don't care how you slice it, if you want string to string balance from guitar to guitar; adjustable poles are essential for dialing in an enjoyable tone and a balanced sound, period.

** It also matters the style of music you play, your style of attack and the body size of guitar to match with the mag...If you enjoy a percussive style and finger style, then a dual source mag with mic or the body-sensing dual source-ish ability of the Baggs M80 works very well. However in a dread body with large cavity and more resonance you have to dial in the pickup a bit more via pole adjustments, soundhole placement, and some surgical mid cuts to zap the hollow growl of some mids due to the cavity.

*** Also you need to determine if your going to use an outboard preamp thus getting a passive or active mag.

**** I prefer the Baggs M80 because of the ska percussive way I play, plus I love the articulation and immediate response it has as well as zero quack that UST's can have. But it took me awhile to dial in, especially because I use it in my D-18...but boy does it sound warm, phat and articulate! The trebles have a nice oomph with out being shrill or overly bright; just a nice presence. Of course proper eq and pole adjusment make all the difference.
The added features of being able to switch between active and passive is nice, plus battery indicator, easy installation and it looks vintagey with the ivoroid/cream color on my D18.

***** The M80 is a great choice in the same price range. The Dimarzio Black Angel is another good choice for the way I play...both are lighter than the Sunrise and they don't dampen the unplugged sound.

Here's a sample I've posted before:



Best wishes,

eric

Nice tone though I'm not sure "ska percussive" are the best words to describe it :)

Thank you! ...this is one of my finger style pieces, not one of my reggae/ska tunes which I play a lot at my shows. Here in this vid I wanted to demonstrate the warmth, articulation, and organic sound of the M80. No outboard eq either, just plugged straight into a Loudbox Mini.

I can also recommend the baggs m80. I also have the sunrise and the sb2 buffer
For it.neither of these requires outboard gear so they are good for open mics.
If I had to choose between the two for sound I would take the sunrise over the m80. But if you are a percussive player the m80 shines here.

As a side note . If you have ever walked into an open mic with a kk or similar equipped guitar and just plugged in you’ll
Know what a disappointment it can be depending on the hosts equipment and ability’s. The mag pickups generally sound
Better plugged directly in than most piezoelectric. . I think with the right outboard gear and your time invested in learning said
gear,the pickups like KandK are much more natural sounding. And to my ear a better choice.but for plug and play you can’t beat
pickups like the m80.

Thanks all--I play some fingerstyle, some "cowboy chording", as well as swing type chord deals. It seems that a mag pickup with a mic built in might require more fuss to set up vs just a straight pickup, or am I wrong? Again, I want to pop in a pickup before leaving the house, plug into the PA and quickly get a decent sound, and take it out when I get home. If my solo career takes off I can look at more elaborate setups down the road, lol.

Sorry this isn't a direct answer to your question but in my year or so of being active on this forum, one thing is certain and it's not a personal opinion, all you have to do if follow the maneuvering of your favorite posters to see it's true: you can try as hard as you possibly can to figure out the absolute best pickup, pickup augmenter (preamp, EQ, Tonedexter, etc) and best amp or PA. But no matter how hard you try, your chances of getting it right the first time are basically nil. So be psychologically prepared to make a fair amount of moves until you're (almost) satisfied. And don't get too crazed sweating any one decision.

I thoroughly dislike the sound of magnetic pickups but somehow persuaded myself to buy the Baggs M1 (active) when I was caught short with a dead UST. While it still sounds substantially magnetic, particularly higher up the neck, I find the "contact" feature of the M1a which blends in some of the body sound tips the whole system over into acceptable. I've actually come to quite like it.

Despite repeated warnings to the contrary it should also be noted that it makes a pleasant noise when out through a carefully constructed wavemap on the Tonedexter. Not a mic'd up guitar but musical and interesting none the less.

I'm not in a position to do a comparison with the m80 mentioned earlier but have read several reviews that say the m80 is a step up on all measures.

I started with the M1A in my Lowden years ago and liked it as well. Then went to M80 in two of my stage guitars. The M80 brings a few more features and more importantly a bigger low end...both wonderful mags tho!

Are you sure you want to take your lovely vintage Gibson L-00 to an open mic? Is that your only guitar? I have a 37 L-0 that is a bit fragile to leave the house but for fiddling around the best sound I have had at home with mag pickups is with a simple Fishman Neo D Humbucker...really easy to slip under the strings BUT absolutely no volume level at all! I run it through a preamp for boost. (I also enjoy the mic blended with a little bit of mag on my Fishman Rare Earth Blend, but that can be tricky for a number of reason - tight fit and the mic gets turned off as soon as the feedback begins.......

Hey Eric, how much level does the M80 give you on the passive setting? And how often do you need to change the battery, take it out and turn it over to do this? Is that right? Why don't they put the battery on the top? My Rare Earth is the same - have to take it out of the guitar to change the battery on the back! Must have been invented by the Mother In Law....

My best plug and play guitar is my little Maton SRS808 with dual system then a Martin with Aura + and then....lug things like preamps, mixers boxes for all the other guitars I am very fortunate to have!


I am going to get a Baggs M80 just because Eric likes it!



BluesKing777.

Two that I like, as mags go, are the Fishman Rare Earth (blend, preferably) and the Duncan MagMic. Both seem to get overlooked for some reason. They still sound magnetic, but assuming that's what you want, I've heard both sound very good. The mic in each goes at least a bit of the way toward taming the mag sound.

Yo BK,

* I use my M80 in active mode 100% of the time setting the on board volume to 5 so as to give me some headroom for solos....I have tried the passive mode a few times and the output drops dramatically and disengages the volume control which does not work for me on stage unless it's an emergency due to battery dying. However, I keep spares and with the on board indicator it's about dummy-proof as I monitor it so I've had no emergencies with battery life.

** I change the battery on the M80 once a year, but I unplug the cord to conserve and my D-18 is in rotation with my 000-18e Retro and MIJ Tak KC70...and yes the battery being on the bottom warrants removal to change it, but eh, it's not like I have to do it often so it does not bother me too much; but yeah it can be a PITA (and so can a Mother In Law! LOL!)

*** I always caution folks when I recommend the M80 as to being patient while getting it dialed in because it may not be for everyone and their particlar guitar model; especially a highly resonant one...remember it's almost like having a dual source on all the time. So dialing it in with your eyes closed using your ears is crucial:
#1 by placing it far enough forward just before you lose the 5th fret harmonics...and DON'T overtighten screws, just snug works fine!

#2 Adjust each pole with ear, don't obsess with look of height, go by trying to equalize the volume...since the B is the hottest start there, my B pole is completely removed. Next do the high E till it sounds even with the B. My high E pole is about halfway up. Once those two are balanced move to the G, D, A, and low E accordingly.

#3 If you have a highly resonant guitar or one with a large cavity, you may want to pad the mounts a bit to reduce the body sensing aspect of the pickup to reduce the mid honk and/or hollowness it may add depending on the guitar...I personally don't pad mine as I like the percussive tone and am able to dial out the mids with some cut via my Loudbox Performer's mid control and notch filter. If I need further surgical mid cuts I have a Boss AD-2 that works wonderfully.

#4 Some folks find themselves hitting the pickup when they play and thus making a clicking noise...I never had that issue because I strum forward the soundhole, finger pick just south of center of soundhole and flat pick even a bit further south; but some may have to adjust their technique.

**** So you can see why I caution folks with the above with my recommendations, but I love the M80, the immediate response, zero quack, warm, full tone is very articulate and the trebles are punchy, not weak or distant like UST's and SBT's can be respectively. The M80 still has mag characteristics but is way less mag sounding than most I've heard and used; and quite natural in some applications...it is my favorite for finger style and the M80 DOES NOT dampen the unplugged tone imo.

***** With that being said, I have really come to love the F1AP in my 000-18 Retro, it sounds the most like the unplugged guitar, however, the trebles lack the punch that the M80 has...and I don't mean brightness, but rather round and punchy; especially with my BlueChip TP40.

I've posted this live vid before to demonstrate not only the pleasing tone of the M80, but my technique in the different places I attack the strings...this particular venue has some challenging acoustics so I was quite happy to get this sound there:



Here is a sample of the unplugged tone with plain ol' Martin M540 PB 12 to 54 lights tuned to standard to show no dampening affect, thus I leave mine in 100% of the time unless to change battery...pardon scratchy vox on a morning after a week of shows:



****** Of course I posted earlier a plugged in finger style demo, so I think all this stuff gives you a good idea of what your getting into with the M80. It can be pleasing plug n play once dialed in and further enhanced as I said with some further fine mid eq adjustments. Like I said it may not be everyone's cup o' tea, but after some patient dialing in, the M80 works for me; plus I like the way it looks, kinda retro ;) ...the other upside for me personally is that I've kept my classic D-18 so that when I stop performing for a living, the M80 is out in two seconds and my D-18 remains organic and unaltered which was part of my reasoning for not using other more invasive systems. It's a balancing act with some compromise to get a pleasing, working stage sound translated from a high quality unplugged tone guitar model such as the D-18 and the like.

eric

Great playing and singing, Eric!

(Again!).

Before I rave on and forget, for your thin Martin Aura + problem, this Baggs pedal got a good mention in Guitarist Magazine - they implied it is one of those hard to define pedals but that they would never turn it off once using it. It may just do the trick?

https://www.lrbaggs.com/align-series...acoustic-pedal

Or get the D18E Retro as well, ha ha!

Now, I am going to buy the Baggs M80 soon, on your rek. In the interests of science! ( I have 4 mags - neo d hum, REB, Blackstack and a 50s DeArmond).
I am interested to hear the body rez bit on my guitars and playing. I think a mag sounds better with strumming than fingers. I have a house full of guitars and only a few have pickups permanent.

Stringmaster the OP must have this one in mind now! Or with the ease of install, probably out playing somewhere with it!


BluesKing777.