Anyone gigged with a Lyric yet? Thoughts?

[Vancebo]

Steve, I think your Equinox would do that very well. I will even think better due to the full parametric EQ and two notch filters and even a warmer sound. Heck, I wish I would have kept one of my two equinox's I had. That was what I used prior to buying my Pendulum. Now they are both gone.

[pitner]

When I got my Olson it had the Baggs LB6 undersaddle in it. I removed that and installed properly cut new bone saddle and a K an K mini. As I read these posts it seems the lyric is better. For my gig which is 95% band support in a church setting, the K and K is great no muss no fuss. I think if I had a solo gig I would have looked into the mic stuff much harder but with my particular job you would never hear it anyway so I'm good. For a step up to perfection I add a condensor mic and am happy enough.

[Doubleneck]

Originally Posted by cary

Steve, my Lyric is installed in a Martin dread -- hopefully these settings will get you in the ballpark for whatever guitar you are using, but I read one response from a guy who has his Lyric in a Jumbo, and his EQ settings seemed to be quite different from mine.

Either way, hopefully these get you to within striking distance

Doubt it will match, I am in a thin bodied jumbo doubeneck. If I find my EQ sweet spot I will not publish, no one would benefit from my odd ball. But at Praiseband practice I am using the Dtar Solstice which has a very straight non-sweepable mids. I did notice last week, one mid range string I would have liked to adjust and it wasn't hitting it. I bet this is similar to what you are experiencing. I just have not brought out the Equinox to really go after it and try to refine it further. Part of that is at home I play acoustic and at Praise Band, all my fine tuning kind of gets wasted with the church sound men and the mix with the band! The real world has made me a little less picky. And I just love the straight acoustic sound of this guitar.

[Doubleneck]

Originally Posted by pitner

When I got my Olson it had the Baggs LB6 undersaddle in it. I removed that and installed properly cut new bone saddle and a K an K mini. As I read these posts it seems the lyric is better. For my gig which is 95% band support in a church setting, the K and K is great no muss no fuss. I think if I had a solo gig I would have looked into the mic stuff much harder but with my particular job you would never hear it anyway so I'm good. For a step up to perfection I add a condensor mic and am happy enough.

Absolutely true, your use is the same as mine, if I had a K&K already installed, I would not change it for church praise band, not sure I would change it period. Really my only issue with the K&K crowd is if its a new install the Lyric may be real contender especially with it ease of install.

[pitner]

Originally Posted by Doubleneck

Doubt it will match, I am in a thin bodied jumbo doubeneck. If I find my EQ sweet spot I will not publish, no one would benefit from my odd ball. But at Praiseband practice I am using the Dtar Solstice which has a very straight non-sweepable mids. I did notice last week, one mid range string I would have liked to adjust and it wasn't hitting it. I bet this is similar to what you are experiencing. I just have not brought out the Equinox to really go after it and try to refine it further. Part of that is at home I play acoustic and at Praise Band, all my fine tuning kind of gets wasted with the church sound men and the mix with the band! The real world has made me a little less picky. And I just love the straight acoustic sound of this guitar.

Ain't it the truth. I spend all kinds of money and time getting it as good as I can and then off to the untrained sound tech's. The normal comment is it's too loud! I'm not giving up but it can be frustrating to the max. Lately my rig is fairly simple. Acoustic Olson with K and K through a Baggs Para Di to the board. For electric a (fill in the blank) through a spring reverb to a nice 40 watt Guytron amp with a single 12. On the electric I use the built in power brake with it set at 75% so it is not loud. Also IEM's instead of monitors.

[kydave]

Like a K&K?? Talk about the kettle calling the pot black. I've got good ears. I mix audio here in Hollywood for a living and have for many years. I have a list of accomplishments to prove it. I don't often feel compelled (at least around here) to disclose any of that non-sense unless I'm really, REALLY wanting to make a sonic point, which I feel at this stage of my career I've earned the right.

Understandably and legitimately some folks aren't gonna have the where with all to understand what to do with the Lyric. It is after all a mic in a live scenario. It's not a walk in the park that I think many, many here would like it to be. It is not plug and play. Then again neither is a microphone on a live acoustic guitar.

As someone who prefers a microphone, having used them on acoustic guitars in live performance and recording for 45 years or so (I've probably earned the right to my opinion at this stage, too. ) I look at the K&K purely as a pragmatic and decent alternative - nothing more.

The only point I was making is that if the source is sending a signal with which the bass must be rolled off almost entirely and the treble cranked almost entirely, most sound men would agree that is not optimal.



P.S. My settings are much closer to flat than that on my K&K to most output systems.

P.P.S. IF they'd add an external preamp/power source to the Lyric, I'd try it in a heartbeat. I just refuse to have batteries and preamps inside my guitars anymore.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by Doubleneck

...Really my only issue with the K&K crowd is if its a new install the Lyric may be real contender especially with it ease of install.

Hi Doubleneck...

I didn't choose the pickup I use because of ease of installation. I chose it for tone, and ability to setup and be performance ready in short amounts of time.

I like many different pickups, and rigs I hear people using live.

I certainly don't consider the Lyric a slam-dunk best there is in comparison to the rest pickup at all. It's another good option to explore for some people who are going to install a pickup in a new guitar.

Many of us are satisfied with our live acoustic guitar sound, whether playing solo gigs or in bands. I like some of what I've heard of the Lyric, certainly more than the Anthem.

Live acoustic sound involves FAR more than just the pickup. It involves preamps, amps, PA systems, stage setup, and performance styles at a minimum.

Hopefully the Lyric may lead to more exploration.

I'm certainly a long way from moving from intrigued-to-hear-one-soon to I-think-I'll-fork-over-$800-to-outfit-my-performance-guitars anytime soon.

[buzzardwhiskey]

What Maury's Music has written is very similar to my own experience. The Lyric is a mic "with some issues". I run mine with no presence at all on the on-board pre, and then into my Soundcraft EFX where I cut the trebles and bass back to 11:00, and the middle-mids get cut back to 8:00!

I'm almost certain that I will do two things relatively soon:
1) I'm going to switch to a slight softer saddle (Obbligato hybrid).
2) I'm going to pick up a graphic EQ.

Peace

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by Doubleneck

I would agree my experience is bass and Treble flat and tweaks down on the mids. If anything on the bass it is up. I think there is just something wrong above. Below is a review of a Martin D28 into a Fishman PA. The sound here is what I would expect. We have seen some defective units reported here.

http://youtu.be/n_Ocu14n2P8

I don't disagree with the observations from Maury Music but I think the reality is most players that are into acoustic guitars have a good preamp, I certainly did when I bought the Lyric. The Lyric is a five minute no glue install. Most of all you get a much more acoustic feel of a microphone. I would bet for the vast majority of players it will be as close to playing through a microphone as they will get right now. Perfect no, but certainly worth the EQ struggles for some. (My EQ was not that difficult and admittedly I as not as picky as most) Also this is a microphone and as such reflects your guitar and your amp, that can make it very different for different setups I suspect.

Thanks for this link. I'd seen this AG review vid before, but it apparently hadn't registered with me that Teja was running directly to a SoloAmp and applying zero EQ adjustment. As Teja observed, the Lyric system appears to be very compatible with this particular guitar.

[Joseph Hanna]

Originally Posted by kydave

As someone who prefers a microphone, having used them on acoustic guitars in live performance and recording for 45 years or so (I've probably earned the right to my opinion at this stage, too. ) I look at the K&K purely as a pragmatic and decent alternative - nothing more.

Yes Dave I respect both your 45 years and your pragmatic point of view on the K&K. But to be fair; criticisms coming from new Lyric users must be taken with a grain of salt. It is not a plug and play system and let's be honest there are some here that simple "need" a plug and play device. A novice (how ever you may define that) IS gonna have trouble with the Lyric for some period of time, just as a novice who's handed a condenser mic, and told to jump up on stage and make it work, would struggle as well. Somewhat more tenuous however is there have been MORE than a fair share of folks jumping in here (Lyric discussions) expressing dis-like and or suggesting other products (mostly K&K's) without ever having heard or played the Lyric. There is here and of course, a K&K "club". I recently had the pleasure of hearing the current Lyle Lovett tour. If there has been a better acoustic guitar sound (without solo dependance on microphones) I have not heard better than Keith Sewell guitar.

Originally Posted by kydave

The only point I was making is that if the source is sending a signal with which the bass must be rolled off almost entirely and the treble cranked almost entirely, most sound men would agree that is not optimal.

There in of course lies my biggest rub. You have taken negative testimony from users you have no personal knowledge of, no personal knowledge of their talent, of their abilities and or of their expertise and without having used the Lyric for yourself you've rolled it into a conclusion of "not good".

I've played a weekend with a K&K. I knew without doubt and at the time it wasn't for me. What I want more than anything is to shed the "sound" of a pickup and where the K&K can sound full and great it still, without doubt sounds like a pickup. More importantly however that doesn't compel me to jump into K&K threads and shed negative light. There are some great players and friends of mine that make great use of that system. You should spend some time with a Lyric

Originally Posted by kydave

P.S. My settings are much closer to flat than that on my K&K to most output systems.

VERY early on in my posts about the live experience with the Lyric I mentioned that when I'm gigging a lot (and I'm gigging a lot) the more time I spend with any guitar pickup/system the more I begin to realize my right hand dictates how and why and when the system responds. The Lyric is an experience that has to be played to be understood. If I bring my Highlander-pick-up system right hand to a gig with a Lyric, all heck will break lose. They're different beasts. I also mentioned several times the more I gig with the Lyric (probably 60 gigs by now) the more the eq on my pre-amp migrates towards flat. That realization however doesn't come from buying a Lyric, going to a job and writing a review. That type of data is skewed dramatically and in fact that is what you're basing your judgement of the Lyric on.

[cary]

Joseph, that was really well written.

[kydave]

Joseph,

That all sounds very reasonable.

As I said, other than the internal baggage associated with it, I'd try the Lyric. I've heard very good things about it, too. I also greatly respect Baggs' products, having used them since the company first began.

Dave

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by kydave

Joseph,

That all sounds very reasonable.

As I said, other than the internal baggage associated with it, I'd try the Lyric. I've heard very good things about it, too. I also greatly respect Baggs' products, having used them since the company first began.

Dave

What's the "baggage"?

[2Matchless]

Did some more playing with the Fishman Loudbox 100 and the guitar, here's what I have come to notice -

1. Doesn't need bass, or should I say doesn't do as well with much added.
2. Midrange was set between treble and bass, around 9:30
3. feedback control is set around 4, not sure why dialing out the high upper mids works with the eq, but it sounds good that way.

Spoke with LR Baggs technical, the mic faces the sound board and the circular wings should be off the surface. Based on what just happened this might work out still.

[Doubleneck]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

What's the "baggage"?

Battery, and preamp, I think? Steve