#1
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LR Baggs Lyric in D-18
So, I installed my second Lyric pickup. The first went into a Martin CEO-7 and works fantastic.
This time I put it into my D-18MD. Install is as simple as can be. The Lyric seems to be on the very bright side, so I had to turn down the presence setting to almost zero. With the CEO-7 it was a bit more, around 15%. When I plugged it directly into a mic channel of the mixer I had to reduce highs with a low shelf starting from 7kHz upwards by 6dB. It also needed a dip from 2-4kHz by 3 dB. Then I plugged it into the HX Stomp and that into the mic channel. BAM! Absolutely no EQ needed aside from a - not needed but useful - lowcut at 90Hz. That made me curious because LR Baggs states that the Lyric mic is low impedance and can be plugged directly into a mic channel. Then I found out low impedance means 3,7 ohms in this case. My mics usually are in the range of 50 - 250 ohms. Conclusion: The Lyric can work without a DI box with certain guitars but it seems to be better to have a higher impedance input. I have one Anthem SL in a Gibson Hummingbird, two Anthems (Gibson SJ-200, Guild D55) and the two Lyrics. All of them do their job perfectly and much better than the many pickups I had before. LR Baggs might just overthink the range of the presence pot.
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Martin D-18MD, Martin OM-21, Martin CEO-7, Martin J-40, Martin 000-1, Guild D-55, Guild D-140, Gibson SJ-200, Gibson Hummingbird, Gibson Frank Hannon Love Dove, Gibson Southern Jumbo, Furch Gc-SR Red Deluxe, Furch Yellow Masters Choice, Larrivee P-03ww, Kawaii piano, mandolines, drumsets, doublebass, Fender Jazzbass, ... |
#2
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Very interesting. I pretty much gave up on mine after the installs in the dreadnoughts sounded thin and poor. I am sure with the right outboard gear it can sound great. My hope for the Lyric was for it to be plug and play into a flat guitar input and I never got that. Very pleased to hear you're getting great results.
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"Lift your head and smile at trouble. You'll find happiness someday." |
#3
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Dave,
the Lyric should sound good in a guitar input since that has (or should have) a higher impedance. Anyway, in case you try again, test it with a DI box. A simple passive one should be enough. Also, did you try to turn the presence back a good amount or completely? I once made a bad install of an Anthem SL in a 000-1 and blamed the poor pickup. But i obviously made a mistake when drilling the hole for the undersaddle pickup. I installed the same pickup in a Hummingbird and it sounds great. Otherwise I‘m really happy with the Anthems and Lyrics. Before I had my best results with a few Aura and also a ToneDexter but the Anthem/Lyric sounds much more natural.
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Martin D-18MD, Martin OM-21, Martin CEO-7, Martin J-40, Martin 000-1, Guild D-55, Guild D-140, Gibson SJ-200, Gibson Hummingbird, Gibson Frank Hannon Love Dove, Gibson Southern Jumbo, Furch Gc-SR Red Deluxe, Furch Yellow Masters Choice, Larrivee P-03ww, Kawaii piano, mandolines, drumsets, doublebass, Fender Jazzbass, ... |
#4
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The Lyric lacks low end, and that's why it is better in a two pickup system.
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2007 Martin D 35 Custom 1970 Guild D 35 1965 Epiphone Texan 2011 Santa Cruz D P/W Pono OP 30 D parlor Pono OP12-30 Pono MT uke Goldtone Paul Beard squareneck resophonic Fluke tenor ukulele Boatload of home rolled telecasters "Shut up and play ur guitar" Frank Zappa |
#5
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That's the only reason why I ripped it out of my Taylor. Other than that, it was my favorite pickup system. It just felt and reacted unlike any other pickup I have tried.
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#6
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Strange, I pull some low end out with the CEO-7 and leave it flat with the D-18. My Lyrics are more bright than lacking low end. More bass and feedback becomes a problem. It seems the mic is very guitar sensitive.
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Martin D-18MD, Martin OM-21, Martin CEO-7, Martin J-40, Martin 000-1, Guild D-55, Guild D-140, Gibson SJ-200, Gibson Hummingbird, Gibson Frank Hannon Love Dove, Gibson Southern Jumbo, Furch Gc-SR Red Deluxe, Furch Yellow Masters Choice, Larrivee P-03ww, Kawaii piano, mandolines, drumsets, doublebass, Fender Jazzbass, ... |
#7
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I have two guitars where the Lyric is the mic in a dual mic/pickup system. They sound absolutely wonderful in that context. I don't like the Lyric by itself.
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#8
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What is the second source in those, if you don’t mind my asking?
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#9
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I would be very much interested in a Lyric-SBT solution. Like the Anthem but instead of the undersaddle element a K&k-like piezo on the bottom of the Lyric that just sticks on the bridgeplate. No drilling of another hole, nothing between the saddle and the top, no change in acoustic sound and a very easy install. Should be possible, don’t you think so?
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Martin D-18MD, Martin OM-21, Martin CEO-7, Martin J-40, Martin 000-1, Guild D-55, Guild D-140, Gibson SJ-200, Gibson Hummingbird, Gibson Frank Hannon Love Dove, Gibson Southern Jumbo, Furch Gc-SR Red Deluxe, Furch Yellow Masters Choice, Larrivee P-03ww, Kawaii piano, mandolines, drumsets, doublebass, Fender Jazzbass, ... |
#10
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I use a lyric in my D-18 and it sounds awesome. As far as “needing EQ,” isn’t that what all those little knobs are for anyway?
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2015 Martin D-18 1982 Martin HD-28 2013 Taylor 314ce 2004 Fender Telecaster MIM 2010 Martin DCX1RE 1984 Sigma DM3 Fender Mustang III v2 |
#11
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Quote:
I have no problem with using an EQ since I run all our instruments into a digital mixer. And even a cheap Behringer XR has a wonderful 4-band full parametric EQ in addition to low and high cut. And it costs less than some/many one channel pedals. I was just surprised, I didn't want to use any EQ on the D-18 with the Lyric. Usually I need alle Eq bands for acoustic guitars and sometimes double bass.
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Martin D-18MD, Martin OM-21, Martin CEO-7, Martin J-40, Martin 000-1, Guild D-55, Guild D-140, Gibson SJ-200, Gibson Hummingbird, Gibson Frank Hannon Love Dove, Gibson Southern Jumbo, Furch Gc-SR Red Deluxe, Furch Yellow Masters Choice, Larrivee P-03ww, Kawaii piano, mandolines, drumsets, doublebass, Fender Jazzbass, ... |
#12
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In one an LR Baggs LB6. In the other an Element.
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#13
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Aha. Cool. Thank you!
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