Late to party .. LR Baggs Venue DI

JakeStone · #1 05-19-2019, 09:02 AM

As with many acoustic players getting the sound "right" in Live situations is not always easy. Especially for me at the moment.. being fairly new to acoustic only gigs.

Playing out is so much different than the controlled music room at home. Things change from one gig to next.. Guitars can be finicky at times... Plus the venue often chooses the area to set up which is not ideal. Not to mention the room's acoustics or outdoor environment, weather etc all come into play.

I have been using the Boss VE8 for solo shows.. which works out OK. I am not in love with it. But it does the job. Adds some "spice" for guitar and vocals. Plus the ease of setup and battery power, built-in looper. Can't complain too much.

However, I am also playing in a variety situations, Duo, Trio and occasionally full band. I tried the Boss VE-8 a couple times and it fell short. Hard to make guitar cut through. Especially on leads... Plus very difficult to tweak the VE-8's limited EQ on fly.

I did a little research and yesterday scored a LR Baggs Venue DI. I know there are plenty of choices out there.. But I hear nothing but good things about this unit and it is very well reviewed.

Last night's Trio gig.. Simply Plugged in my acoustic. Set everything to 12 noon. Boost was at 2/3 up (6 db?). All I can say, my guitar sounded fantastic.. Boost worked killer on solos. I did end up tweaking some during show... But what really threw me over the edge with joy... Was I got to play a few songs alone and I was amazed... My 2018 Epi Hummingbird Pro with stock pickup was huge! Very warm sounding yet with brilliance I never heard from it before. (PA Bose L1 Compact with Bose S1 Pro + XR12 mixer)

OK! As always when I write these reviews.. I am on honeymoon and we'll see how it goes. But first impression the Venue is very cool!

So..... Any advice on setting it up properly. The manual is OK. But I need to learn more about "EQing" live guitar. Suggestions or Tips or Tricks welcome in the thread.

Here's a review video from Tony /Acoustic Life.

SpruceTop · #2 05-19-2019, 09:30 AM

The LR Baggs Venue DI is a really good preamp. I do, however, wish Baggs would add 48-volt Phantom Power to the Venue, If they did, I'd buy another one!

MrErikJ · #3 05-19-2019, 10:38 AM

I didn’t care for the Venue initially and stuck to my Para and PZ Pre but came back to try the Venue again and I love it. It has great tone, headroom, flexibility and, I agree, they should ditch the tuner so it can run on phantom. The tuner is an outmoded feature with today’s excellent clip-ons and the convenience and quality of running on phantom is far more appealing to most players.

That said, I can live with the AC power which is far easier than trying to find something compatible for the Tonebone PZ series (which is why I sold mine, despite their high quality).

ljguitar · #4 05-19-2019, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JakeStone

…So..... Any advice on setting it up properly. The manual is OK. But I need to learn more about "EQing" live guitar. Suggestions or Tips or Tricks welcome in the thread.

Hi Jake

The Venue is really an updated and more user friendly version of the Baggs ParaDI (with labels in english and updated electronics).

The way I have been setting up new rooms is hooking my looper into the chain and recording about 3 minutes of several styles of music (picking, solo, fingerpicking, strumming) and then starting the loop and going out to the sound tech's booth and listening with him/her.

That way I'm hearing the guitar the way I set it for stage amps and the way he/she has set it for the room.

The Venue is technically a preamp with DI (Direct Box) capabilities. I don't use a Venue, but another equally good preamp, and I always pull a separate feed off the Preamp straight to the PA and another straight to my stage amp. That way I can adjust the EQ, volume etc on my stage amp without affecting the house mix.

The the house tech can set the room without being afraid I'm going to mess up his/her mix.

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RockerDuck · #5 05-19-2019, 11:50 AM

I'd buy another one if they fix the tuner. I use a Fishman platinum EQ which has a great tuner.

ljguitar · #6 05-19-2019, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RockerDuck

I'd buy another one if they fix the tuner. I use a Fishman platinum EQ which has a great tuner.

hI RD

I HATE floor tuners. From my perspective, the audience is 'out there' not 'down there' and I like to maintain at least a semblance of eye contact even when tuning.

I don't think either the Fishman Platinum or Venue have very good tuners. None of them hold a candle to a lot of other floor tuners which work better, quicker and more accurately (and can be seen outdoors).

JakeStone · #7 05-19-2019, 03:53 PM

Yeah.. I read about the tuner on the Venue being weak point. So I tried it last night at gig. It was indeed unusable .. not sure what why they couldn’t fix it.

On a positive note the switch is also a mute. So it allowed me to use my headstock tuner quietly. Win!

SoggyBottomBoy · #8 10-22-2022, 06:12 PM

Here's my best advice... bring a power supply.

Mine eats batteries (or perhaps my batteries are all **** near dead to begin with).

Other than that, it's just about perfect or you're looking up to a Radial to upgrade. Good luck on that price-tag for a likely imperceptible difference.

Rudy4 · #9 10-22-2022, 09:03 PM

My playing buddy bought one and asked me to try it out to see what I thought of it.

It worked well for his K&K Pure Mini equipped guitar and the tuner worked acceptably well. Since a solo player might be feeding a powered monitor with this I wish they would have included a good single knob reverb.

SalFromChatham · #10 10-22-2022, 11:38 PM

I owned one, and thought it was great.

Yes the tuner stunk.
Yes the boost rocked.

Perfect tool for a soundhole pickup as well, like the Baggs M1 passive.

I recommended it to my buddy bought his three weeks back, and he loved it too.

Stratcat77 · #11 10-23-2022, 09:48 AM

I’ve been using a Venue for a few years now. Love it.

Mr.Woody · #12 10-31-2022, 10:44 AM

Bought mine when they came out in 2009 and never play acoustic live without it!!!!!

b1j · #13 10-31-2022, 11:12 AM

Interesting read; good to hear folks see benefits from this.

May I turn to this august body for a little primer on what is gained by using a DI, compared to just plugging into an amp? I’m thinking of playing in small rooms with a Loudbox Mini. My guitars have the pickups listed in the signature line.

Thanks for enlightening me!

SpruceTop · #14 10-31-2022, 01:22 PM

I never had problems with the tuner when I had a Venue, what did I do wrong to make it work?

Stratcat77 · #15 10-31-2022, 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

I never had problems with the tuner when I had a Venue, what did I do wrong to make it work?

I agree. Mine works fine. Only issue is sometimes if it’s been on for a while (I use it to mute when on a break) I may have to switch it off then back on. Otherwise works fine for me.