LR Baggs M80 pickup - thoughts pls
 

Anyone have any experience of these?

How does it compare to the Anthem, Anthem SL, Lyric, Element?

Is the sound closer the the mic pickups (faithful / natural) or the piezos (a bit electronic / processed).

I have one and I'm thinking of putting it on an all mahogany Martin dreadnought (D15M) (or if I get it a Larrivee L-03R).

Any thoughts / comments welcome.

Thanks.

LR Baggs M80 pickup - thoughts pls
 

I had one for a while. My take on it is that there are two things you want out of a mic on a guitar. One is sensitivity to percussive tapping, and the other is “mic air”. The M80 did a good job of picking up percussive tapping. Where I felt it was lacking was in picking up the ambient “mic air”.

I used to always carry around an EQ pedal to filter out around 200Hz which I I felt was too strong on this pickup. I also found it amplified clothing rustle and squeak.

Is the sound closer the the mic pickups (faithful / natural) or the piezos (a bit electronic / processed).

I would say very much the former (natural). I use one on my D17 all the time and love it.

You can always just put it in your guitar and run the jack input out the soundhole to see if you like it. I did that and then got the guitar modded to accept the input through the strap button hole once I was happy it was a good solution for me..

I also like how easy it is to take it out if I'm not going to plug in, and replace it.

I often use it with a tech21 acoustic fly rig if not going through my own acoustic amp.

Here you go........https://youtu.be/xWWrumsoP8k.

I gig in local bars and restaurants about 6 times a month. I found that if you
Need volume that piezos like sbt pickups (kk dazzo,) tend to get overwhelmed
easily in these loud situations.I think mainly because the sheer volume of the
Room vibrates your top and this is picked up by the kk along with the regular
Good vibrations if you will. Mag pups don’t do this. I’ve tried many over the years and the m80 is my favorite. I run it passive. I’d say the sunrise is my
Close second favorite. If you want “air” use a mic. The m80 s vibration sensor
Gives me enough air. And of course percussive when needed. I think it the most
“Natural” sounding mag pup out there. But the sbt like kk sound better.
But only at lower volumes. And you absolutely need some kind of preamp and eq
outboard to tweak the kk into its zone. The m80 I’ve plugged directly into
A board at an open mic and it sounded good. You can’t do that with a kk.

^I agree with all of what Yarmonter has said.

nother quick point, which may be obvious, you can get any of your guitars fitted with the input and swap the M80 in and out on the fly. The input kit is sold separately and is not expensive. It takes me a minute tops to extract mine from a strung guitar or to put it back in.

Thanks guys.

I think I'll be happy to use it now.

did you ever end up using it? how do you like it now that time has passed?

Hi Lakewood_Lad, I just picked up a used M80. I've been using an M1a which is pretty good too. But I like the M80 a bit more, it's a little warmer in the mids and not as hyped on the top end as the M1a.
I'll be gigging it tonight in my Gibson G-00.

If you haven’t already done so search the forum for posts about the M80 by member noledog.
He posted some instructions on how he went about setting up his M80.
I don’t remember all the details but one I remember is he would slide it back from the neck side of the sound hole until he got the most pleasing sound and clamp it there.

Hope this helps. _Roger

I also liked the M80 better than the M1A.

But if you have a different preamp on the floor anyways, I’d suggest getting the simple M1 Passive. I have used both on my D15.

LR Baggs M80 pickup - thoughts pls
 

I put the M80 in my 000-18 about 5 months ago and I will never go back. I love the **** thing. I gig twice a week and I love how consistent it is. I do use a pedalboard with effects as I like to loop and solo, but man I love the sound out of the M80. I have the VTC in my L-00 and one of these days I’ll be swapping it out for the M80.

The M80 has both active and passive modes on the same pickup model. If you want to use a floor preamp, just move the M80 switch to passive mode.

I'm torn between the M80 or the Mag Mic!!

do you have demos of your guitar with the M80 on?

Personally, I would choose a magnetic pickup mic combo over the M80. The Mag Mic, Fishman Rare Earth Blend, or Shertler AG6/S-mic are all very good.