#1
|
|||
|
|||
Thoughts On The LR Baggs HiFi's Tone
I've now installed two of the new LR Baggs HiFi Acoustic-Electric Pickup Systems in two guitars: a Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special and a Larrivee D-50. Both guitars have the same basic construction but the D-40R Blue Grass Special has a Sitka Spruce top and Indian Rosewood back and sides with a satin finish and the Larrivee D-50 has a Moon Spruce top and Mahogany back and sides with a gloss finish. Both guitars came with factory-installed D'Addario Light-Guage Phosphor Bronze strings.
Overall, I like the tone of the LR Baggs HiFi but something I hear when wearing headphones is some distortion when playing more aggressively on both guitars. This distortion isn't as noticeable when playing through an amp or PA speaker and the amplified tone sounds darn good. I'm beginning to think that LR Baggs has included a "saturation" feature in the HiFi's preamp which is similar to what is in their LR Baggs Acoustic Session DI pedal and Element Session VTC. I can guarantee you for certain that if the HiFi's transducers were to be fed into a Trance Dual Mono M endpin preamp you wouldn't hear any distortion whatsoever no matter how aggressively you hit the strings with a flat pick. So, given my thoughts, I still really dig the LR Baggs HiFi Pickup Preamp System. Have any players out there delved into the LR Baggs HiFi Pickup/Preamp System's tone as I have? I would love to hear your thoughts on the LR Baggs HiFi and I'm sure potential buyers of the system would too.
__________________
Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 Last edited by SpruceTop; 07-01-2023 at 03:31 PM. |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
I think Aaron Short said it best. Buy from an easy return retailer and send it back if you don't like it. I'm going with what I've liked six times before.
__________________
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 |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
As for my own thread-starting comment, I think the new LR Baggs HiFi ain't bad, it's just not the best system out there. For passive systems, I'll go with your six-time and soon-to-be seven-time enthusiasm over Dazzo systems. If folks feel lucky today--All You Punks Out There--with their installation skills, then the James May Engineering UltraTonic 3.2 is also an excellent passive system choice. My personal favorite active system, given its excellent Smooth, and Real HiFi Tone, is the Trance Amulet Dual Mono M Systems. Frankly, who in their right mind would install a Trance Amulet M system for $279 to $379 in their $4000 to $20,000 guitar when they could install a K&K Pure Mini for $130 and EQ the living "h" out of it to get a good amplified tone with a costly outboard preamp? Answer: Many!
__________________
Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 Last edited by SpruceTop; 07-02-2023 at 09:15 AM. |
#4
|
||||
|
||||
The Hifi works great for my Live gigging. It sounds excellent. Here is a recording from my gig last night.
__________________
Martin DC-18E (Ambertone) Martin HDC-28E Martin D-18 (2015) Collings D1 Traditional Emerald X20 Fender CS '63 Telecaster Custom Collings I-35LCV Collings I-30LC Collings 290 www.heartsoulaz.com |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Never mind. Saw it on you other post. Anyway, nice playing and sounds really good. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Would love to hear the HIFI with a Trance pre.
__________________
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, ... Last edited by Peter Z; 07-02-2023 at 09:12 PM. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
GREAT sound. I mean that’s just a single source SBT.
__________________
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, ... |
#8
|
||||
|
||||
Thanks Peter. Yeah, for a single source PU, it is very musical to me. Nothing is perfect and neither is the HiFi, but it amplified a very high end guitar without intruding on its natural inherent acoustic tone. That is awesome.
__________________
Martin DC-18E (Ambertone) Martin HDC-28E Martin D-18 (2015) Collings D1 Traditional Emerald X20 Fender CS '63 Telecaster Custom Collings I-35LCV Collings I-30LC Collings 290 www.heartsoulaz.com |
#9
|
||||
|
||||
Gary. You are a pro.
I’d buy that pickup simply on your say so. Nice recording.
__________________
i got tired of updating my guitars. |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
1) As you've mentioned, maybe the HiFi's transducers are creating the "crunch," or saturation as I've mentioned; or 2) The LR Baggs HiFi's preamp just isn't up to handling strong signals without adding distortion; or 3) The LR Baggs HiFi has a built-in "saturation" effect that comes on the harder the guitar is played. I hear this saturation effect as sounding rounded and not harsh.
__________________
Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 |
#11
|
|||
|
|||
Gary, your entire rig sounds great and I wish I could play like you!
__________________
Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 |
#12
|
|||
|
|||
Lovely, Gary. My wife heard it from across the room and called it “heartbreaking”.
Heartbreakingly beautiful, of course. Is that an original piece? The guitar sounds great, too. You don’t have that Collings in your sig. :-) Cheers, _RP |
#13
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Playing through your Bose S1, Fishman Artist or something else? Sprucetop, didn't mean to hijack your thread...but I have enjoyed your demos and think you have the HiFi dialed in on your Larrivee.
__________________
-Joe Martin 000-1 Rainsong CH-OM Martin SC10e sapele My Band's Spotify page https://open.spotify.com/artist/2KKD...SVeZXf046SaPoQ Last edited by jricc; 07-02-2023 at 04:06 PM. |
#14
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
__________________
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, ... |
#15
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
__________________
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 |