L.R. Baggs HiFi in a 6 string J45

[HogsNRoses]

A few weeks ago I posted the results of the HiFi in my 12 string J45:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/....php?p=7276895

I installed one in my J45 Studio Walnut and made a few comparison recordings. I am really happy with the pickup. It is bright in this guitar, so I might settle on the treble knob just a hair above neutral. Please note the guitar also has fresh Martin Kovar strings, and they are still a little brash:

Treble at the middle:



K&K:



Element:



Comparing the Element and the HiFi, I think that the HiFi does not overly suffer from quack. At the 16 to 20 second mark in each recording above, I twang the D string. Filtering out the sound of the pick and the acousticness of the strings and just listening to the notes, the HiFi sounds natural and the Element notes sound like splats. The K&K sounds natural, too, but the loss of treble mushes the notes a little (for nerds, kind of like a low slew rate - the system with the K&K doesn't react quickly enough). Still, maybe many of you gentle readers will prefer the K&K.

The Lyric:



The Anthem SL sounds great on bass notes, but there is a phasiness that annoys me, and the high notes ping (the high notes happen to be close to the crossover frequency). No naturalness to the high notes at all:

[kevinplarson]

Sort of adjacent to your topic - can you describe and give your take on the Kovar strings?

[HogsNRoses]

Originally Posted by kevinplarson

Sort of adjacent to your topic - can you describe and give your take on the Kovar strings?

I love the Kovar strings. They are woody like Monel, but they have more sustain and volume. The increased loudness gives me more dynamic range. To me they are brighter and to my wife in front of the guitar, they are less bright. Either way, the Kovars EQ a lot with a different pick.

Someone said that they are the same as the Ernie Ball Cobalts, but I doubt that. Kovar is an alloy of iron and nickel with cobalt in third place, and as near as I can tell the Ernie Ball Cobalts are nickel-free.

[kevinplarson]

Thanks. Excited to try them. I hear basically nothing about them. Are they not selling much?

[beatbird]

I liked the Lyric most of all

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by beatbird

I liked the Lyric most of all

Me too! Whatever HogsNRoses did when installing his lyric, he needs to write down instructions so some of us may be tempted to give the Lyric another go.

[martingitdave]

Very good work! For my ears, I think I liked the Lyric and the K&K the best. Otherwise, I agree with your comparison of the element, the HiFi, and Anthem SL.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by HogsNRoses

I love the Kovar strings. They are woody like Monel, but they have more sustain and volume. The increased loudness gives me more dynamic range. To me they are brighter and to my wife in front of the guitar, they are less bright. Either way, the Kovars EQ a lot with a different pick.

Someone said that they are the same as the Ernie Ball Cobalts, but I doubt that. Kovar is an alloy of iron and nickel with cobalt in third place, and as near as I can tell the Ernie Ball Cobalts are nickel-free.

Martin indicates that they are licensed from Ernie Ball on the Kovar web page. But, they do not indicate which EB string. I presume folks are taking a guess?

[beatbird]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

Me too! Whatever HogsNRoses did when installing his lyric, he needs to write down instructions so some of us may be tempted to give the Lyric another go.

It actually sounded the way I have always want4ed to hear a lyric sound. I agree HogsNRoses please let us know where you installed the lyric.

[HogsNRoses]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

Martin indicates that they are licensed from Ernie Ball on the Kovar web page. But, they do not indicate which EB string. I presume folks are taking a guess?

Thanks for pointing me to the Martin website and the patent. The Ernie Ball patent claims an iron-nickel-cobalt alloy for the wrap wire, sounding like Kovar.

Patent examiners are super-smart people, but the patent looks ridiculous to me. First, it is too broad, for instance the “string” portion is between 8 and 35 percent cobalt and not less than 90 percent iron. But the kicker is EB patented a use of another company’s alloy! Kovar is a 1935 trademark issued to Westinghouse.

As a consumer, the Kovar strings seem novel, but the patent doesn’t seem novel to me. It mentions common ingredients without making a metallurgical claim. By contrast, companies like Kester who make solder use terms like “eutectic” and tie that to ingredients and properties.

By the way, the Kovar strings say “Made in Mexico.” EB still makes all their strings in the US, correct?

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by HogsNRoses

Thanks for pointing me to the Martin website and the patent. The Ernie Ball patent claims an iron-nickel-cobalt alloy for the wrap wire, sounding like Kovar.

Patent examiners are super-smart people, but the patent looks ridiculous to me. First, it is too broad, for instance the “string” portion is between 8 and 35 percent cobalt and not less than 90 percent iron. But the kicker is EB patented a use of another company’s alloy! Kovar is a 1935 trademark issued to Westinghouse.

As a consumer, the Kovar strings seem novel, but the patent doesn’t seem novel to me. It mentions common ingredients without making a metallurgical claim. By contrast, companies like Kester who make solder use terms like “eutectic” and tie that to ingredients and properties.

By the way, the Kovar strings say “Made in Mexico.” EB still makes all their strings in the US, correct?

Yes I believe Martin moved all string production to Mexico and EB resides in the US. I like some of the EB offerings. They medium gauge is a little different in the D and A string from everyone else.

[Brent Hahn]

I have weird taste, I guess. To me, the the Lyric's tone is nice but the string-to-string balance is off. The high E, the B and the G all seem pretty even to me, the D is too loud and and the A and low E are too quiet.

I wanted to love the HiFi because I just bought and installed one. Kinda didn't, at least in this demo.