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  #31  
Old 08-08-2018, 11:51 AM
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noledog noledog is offline
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Originally Posted by Marshall View Post
I have an M80. And a couple of M1As. They're not in use at the moment. (Tonedexter changed that). But the Baggs are pretty good.

But the thing I don't like is that bright hunk of ivory plastic shining out of my guitar soundhole. So with each of the Baggs pickups I've used, i disassemble the screws. take off the plastic cover. and spray paint it matt black, and screw it back together and install it on my guitar.

You can buy a Takaminie version (Tri-ax I think) that comes in black. But they cost $60 to $80 more than the Baggs unit, and it's the same pickup with a black plastic cover. So I just painted mine.

* Gee Marshall, can ya make your picture any larger?

** Well whatever floats your boat, cuz I don't want a big black hunk of plastic shining in my soundhole! ...I prefer the creamy, ivory look on my aged sitka top; looks a bit more retro and less techy. Either way it's nice that you can get it in either color; the ivory and brown M80 at $249 and yes, the Takamine Triax branded black and brown version for $289; or paint it purple, green, red

*** Btw as a member of the Tak forum too, I was told that the Triax has some frequency mods compared to the M80 as it's designed to work as a second source with the Cooltube or CT4DX preamps. Don't know in what way, but I have plugged my M80 into the Cooltube on my Tak and it worked fine...vanilla or chocolate?

**** Yo Marshall, the black really does look nice with the coloring of your guitar.

eric
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Last edited by noledog; 08-08-2018 at 12:49 PM. Reason: spelling
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  #32  
Old 08-08-2018, 05:50 PM
BluesKing777 BluesKing777 is offline
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I don't care anymore if it looks like baby poop brown, if it sounds good! I have had all kinds of monstrosities sticking out of acoustics over the years. I do think the black ones 'disappear' more, and especially on my all black Waterloo.

I am still using my Fishman Pro-EQ with the same setting I had earlier, will have to save for an Align or 2, but meanwhile I have taken the clamps off my Baggs M80 so I can squeeze it into a few guitars I have that are electronics virgins. I put a strip of gaffa tape on each end to try the guitar out and I have found that: I am glad I didn't get it permanently installed by a luthier in some of these guitars because I don't like it at all in some....

BUT then the 1993 Lowden S35 was calling me and even though it has a recently installed K&K which I very happily run to my Tonedexter with nice results, I just couldn't help trying the M80 in the smallish soundhole.......

And it sounds sensational!

Variance in sound must be to do with the height of the pole pieces in the particular soundholes but it must be more than that.....


Previous pic of highly technical M80 installation in Martin OM18V :








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  #33  
Old 08-08-2018, 05:51 PM
jparis51 jparis51 is offline
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Hey Eric,

Thanks so much for doing this video, the part about sound hole placement was a revelation to me. I use a Sunrise and like a lot of folks seem to do I had it all the way forward in the sound hole. So I loosened it, played the 5th fret harmonics like you showed and slowly moved it back. Well I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to hear those harmonics rise up in my headphones! I found the sweet spot, tightened the pickup, played a chord and wow... never sounded better. I'll need to adjust my playing mechanics a bit but it'll be worth it, and I suspect anybody using any kind of sound hole pickup should try this exercise.

Thanks again,
John
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  #34  
Old 08-08-2018, 05:58 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BluesKing777 View Post
I don't care anymore if it looks like baby poop brown, if it sounds good! I have had all kinds of monstrosities sticking out of acoustics over the years. I do think the black ones 'disappear' more, and especially on my all black Waterloo.

I am still using my Fishman Pro-EQ with the same setting I had earlier, will have to save for an Align or 2, but meanwhile I have taken the clamps off my Baggs M80 so I can squeeze it into a few guitars I have that are electronics virgins. I put a strip of gaffa tape on each end to try the guitar out and I have found that: I am glad I didn't get it permanently installed by a luthier in some of these guitars because I don't like it at all in some....

BUT then the 1993 Lowden S35 was calling me and even though it has a recently installed K&K which I very happily run to my Tonedexter with nice results, I just couldn't help trying the M80 in the smallish soundhole.......

And it sounds sensational!

Variance in sound must be to do with the height of the pole pieces in the particular soundholes but it must be more than that.....


Previous pic of highly technical M80 installation in Martin OM18V :








BluesKing777.
Hey Bromeo,

If you want an Align EQ, call AGF Sponsor Jerry at Pacific Guitar Sales, great guy best prices, (AGF discount) & free shipping:https://www.pacificguitarsales.com/c...qualizer-pedal
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  #35  
Old 08-08-2018, 08:29 PM
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Originally Posted by jparis51 View Post
Hey Eric,

Thanks so much for doing this video, the part about sound hole placement was a revelation to me. I use a Sunrise and like a lot of folks seem to do I had it all the way forward in the sound hole. So I loosened it, played the 5th fret harmonics like you showed and slowly moved it back. Well I was shocked, shocked I tell you, to hear those harmonics rise up in my headphones! I found the sweet spot, tightened the pickup, played a chord and wow... never sounded better. I'll need to adjust my playing mechanics a bit but it'll be worth it, and I suspect anybody using any kind of sound hole pickup should try this exercise.

Thanks again,
John
Hi John,

* Thank you so much for chimin in and for the kind words! Glad to hear that your Sunrise is singin even sweeter, finding that sweet spot makes a huge difference for sure.

** Do you use any outboard gear combined with your Sunrise? And on another note do you feel the Sunrise affects your unplugged tone? ...I've had folks inquire to me about that and I can assuredly say that the M80, (that weighs about 8oz.), does not impede the unplugged tone of my D18. These two fine mags get compared a lot, they both sound excellent imo.

Thanks again

eric
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  #36  
Old 08-10-2018, 11:24 AM
jparis51 jparis51 is offline
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Originally Posted by noledog View Post
Hi John,

* Thank you so much for chimin in and for the kind words! Glad to hear that your Sunrise is singin even sweeter, finding that sweet spot makes a huge difference for sure.

** Do you use any outboard gear combined with your Sunrise? And on another note do you feel the Sunrise affects your unplugged tone? ...I've had folks inquire to me about that and I can assuredly say that the M80, (that weighs about 8oz.), does not impede the unplugged tone of my D18. These two fine mags get compared a lot, they both sound excellent imo.

Thanks again

eric
Oh I have so much outboard gear it's embarrassing, I anchor an electric band with upfront acoustic rhythm guitar and boosted leads so my setup is a little esoteric. I love the Sunrise, even more now after tweaking it per your advice, but while I'm severely allergic to piezo quack I'm also pretty far removed from the "my guitar only louder" camp. I do plug first into an SB-1 preamp before a series of Pettyjohn and Strymon pedals.

I have an M80 (actually a Takamine Tri-Ax) but it's not quite as happy with my hard strumming, although I agree it's a great pickup and I love the way it works with your percussive playing style. For me picking up the body sounds wouldn't be a good thing!

The weight of the Sunrise is unfortunate, but I've found that by tightening the mounting brackets as lightly as possible the impact on tone is minimized. I use the Sunrise as a single source so maybe it's only about what the pole pieces are hearing anyway. I do frequently record into a mic and take out the Sunrise when I do. I play a Taylor 316ce, although I special ordered it without electronics so I guess it's a 316c!

John

Last edited by jparis51; 08-10-2018 at 12:17 PM.
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  #37  
Old 08-10-2018, 12:13 PM
MrErikJ MrErikJ is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jparis51 View Post
The weight of the Sunrise is unfortunate, but I've found that by tightening the mounting brackets as lightly as possible the impact on tone is minimized. Of course I use the Sunrise as a single source so it's only about what the pole pieces are hearing anyway. I
What's interesting is that, on the Sunrise site, Jim claims that the Sunrise couples with the top of the guitar and sense its resonance. It's obviously not as sensitive as the M1 and M80 but it does have a more acoustic tone than most mags. I'm curious if its stacked coil design is a primitive version of the floating-coil sensor design Baggs advanced.

Lloyd Baggs says he developed the LB6 when he took apart a Takamine pickup and thought "how can I make this smaller and better?" I'm curious if they also disassembled a Sunrise and said "ok, how can we make this smaller and better?"
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  #38  
Old 08-10-2018, 01:03 PM
jparis51 jparis51 is offline
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Originally Posted by MrErikJ View Post
What's interesting is that, on the Sunrise site, Jim claims that the Sunrise couples with the top of the guitar and sense its resonance.
True, I had forgotten that. I edited my post to "maybe it's only what the pole pieces are hearing" although examining the pickup it's hard to see exactly how that's going on, or for that matter how the SB-1 can "access the coupling feature," but I love the sound so I'll take his word for it! I've tried plugging my Sunrise into high end preamps and still prefer the pixie dust I get from the SB-1.

John

Last edited by jparis51; 08-10-2018 at 02:49 PM.
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  #39  
Old 08-10-2018, 08:00 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marshall View Post
I have an M80. And a couple of M1As. They're not in use at the moment. (Tonedexter changed that). But the Baggs are pretty good. But the thing I don't like is that bright hunk of ivory plastic shining out of my guitar soundhole. So with each of the Baggs pickups I've used, i disassemble the screws. take off the plastic cover. and spray paint it matt black, and screw it back together and install it on my guitar. You can buy a Takaminie version (Tri-ax I think) that comes in black. But they cost $60 to $80 more than the Baggs unit, and it's the same pickup with a black plastic cover. So I just painted mine.
It looks great Marshall but that strap looks cool too. Who sells that?
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  #40  
Old 08-11-2018, 12:32 PM
MrErikJ MrErikJ is offline
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Originally Posted by jparis51 View Post
True, I had forgotten that. I edited my post to "maybe it's only what the pole pieces are hearing" although examining the pickup it's hard to see exactly how that's going on, or for that matter how the SB-1 can "access the coupling feature," but I love the sound so I'll take his word for it! I've tried plugging my Sunrise into high end preamps and still prefer the pixie dust I get from the SB-1.

John
I’m not an engineer but I’m curious if it doesn’t have something to do with the rail-voltage or that preamp. I think it’s 18volts and 1mohm input, I’m curious if that voltage and impedance headroom allows all the subtleties that the pickup reads to become audible in a way a lower voltage or lower impedance preamp couldn’t. Who knows. I could be making things up.
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  #41  
Old 08-11-2018, 10:33 PM
Marshall Marshall is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by noledog View Post
* Gee Marshall, can ya make your picture any larger?

** Well whatever floats your boat, cuz I don't want a big black hunk of plastic shining in my soundhole! ...I prefer the creamy, ivory look on my aged sitka top; looks a bit more retro and less techy. Either way it's nice that you can get it in either color; the ivory and brown M80 at $249 and yes, the Takamine Triax branded black and brown version for $289; or paint it purple, green, red

*** Btw as a member of the Tak forum too, I was told that the Triax has some frequency mods compared to the M80 as it's designed to work as a second source with the Cooltube or CT4DX preamps. Don't know in what way, but I have plugged my M80 into the Cooltube on my Tak and it worked fine...vanilla or chocolate?

**** Yo Marshall, the black really does look nice with the coloring of your guitar.

eric
I don''t know how to control picture size here. Sorry about that.

From a distance a "black" pickup almost disappears. To me a bright ivory color jumps out so you hardly see the guitar. But sure, it's a matter of individual taste.
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  #42  
Old 08-11-2018, 10:41 PM
Marshall Marshall is offline
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It looks great Marshall but that strap looks cool too. Who sells that?
Thanks.

Yeah i fell in love with that strap. I have 3 of them. I can't remember where I got it. On line somewhere. I just googled American Flag guitar strap, and clicked on images, and found it. I ordered one. Liked it so much I ordered 2 more. That was 3 or 4 years ago.

I'll see if i can find it.

I think this is it

https://www.amazon.com/Buckle-Down-G.../dp/B00JG75R7E

Or this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/USA-Rugged-...sid=m570.l1313
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  #43  
Old 08-12-2018, 05:45 PM
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eBay has it! Appreciate!
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  #44  
Old 08-12-2018, 06:50 PM
BluesKing777 BluesKing777 is offline
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Having a guitar or 2 to compare different stuff is great sometimes. Swapping around the Baggs M80 has highlighted a couple of things for me.

So the soundholes are all different sizes! Tricky, as the pickup won't fit some guitars at all. Who knew, eh?

Then for example I put the M80 in my Waterloo WL-14X - fits great, sounds great, no need to alter the pole pieces - all balanced...ran it to my Fisman EQ-'er, everything easy!

Soundwise, my '93 Lowden S35 is captured perhaps even better by the M80, except I have to take the clamps off totally and gaff the pickup to the hole.

But over the weekend as I rotate around a few guitars to keep them loving me, I grabbed my 2007 Gibson Blues King L-00. The M80 fits in the hole just fine but the pole pieces are touching the strings! Pip, pip, pip as my thumb played the deep E! But it shows that the hole is in a very different position up and down compared to my Waterloo. I didn't want to alter the poles as they sounded so good in some other guitars as is.

So I grabbed the Schertler Mag + Mic and put that in, also previously sounding great in my Waterloo...and guess what? The Bass strings are way too loud. Awful. Probably ok for metal music.

So then I tried the Element undersaddle that came with the guitar through my Tonedexter. Also way too much level on the bass strings!

Turned it all off as it was starting to annoy me.

Played it acoustically and it is fabulous. Put the mic only on it, and also fabulous!

So there, what does it all mean?



BluesKing777.
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  #45  
Old 08-15-2018, 03:12 AM
BluesKing777 BluesKing777 is offline
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A quick question for Eric and other M80’ites......

I have done some work on the M80 and my Blues King, didn’t want to give up yet. I moved the pole pieces down a lot to stop the strings touching the pickup and now I love the sound.....except..... the 1st string is just a whisker too loud. I have read somewhere that some people have taken the 1st pole piece totally out as well as the 2nd. Is this right?

I have run it to my Fish Pro EQ to my Boss VE8 and it ready to rock, baby! Except for that string. Always somethin, eh?

BluesKing777.
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