LR Baggs Lyric sounded better than ever

[Baron K]

I installed the LR Baggs Lyric into my Martin 000-15 about 6 months ago and I have been playing it every week at the open mic club I've been running here in stockholm (now closed). After a bit of tweaking with the presence control I thought it worked ok thru the (crappy) PA system of the club. Not perfect, but pretty good.

But last friday I played a solo gig on a festival here in Stockholm, and this time thru much better PA and - even more important - with a real pro behind the table. I only had a few minutes for soundcheck, but that's all it took. I asked the sound guy to cut the mid a bit in the monitor and then the sound was just AWESOME. People - both guitar players and "normal" people - where coming up to me after my set and saying my guitar sounded soooo good. And I felt it myself on the stage too - it was big, warm and very acoustic sounding. The kind of sound that just inspires you to play better.

I haven't yet installed a pickup/mic in my new Eastman E10 OM and was thinking about the KK pure mini, but after this gig I'm leaning towards going with the lyric on this one too. The two guitars have very different sounds, but I have a feeling the big complex tone of the Eastman would work well with the Lyric (and the KK would perhaps be too big and "rumbling"?).

Finding the right amplification for your acoustic guitar is a b*tch, but for me the lyric seems to be working pretty well...

[Westy]

Hi Barron did you find any downside to installing or using the lyric pickup.

Cheers

[Baron K]

Originally Posted by Westy

Hi Barron did you find any downside to installing or using the lyric pickup.

Well, first of all I didn't install it myself. I'm crap at all things practical, so I let a guy at the shop do it, but it seems easy enough: the hardest part is probably drilling the endpin hole. The rest is just adhesive.

As far as using it, I think it works great once I tweaked the presence screw way down (almost), and have the sound guy cut the mids on the table. It could have a little more low end, but it really sounds acoustic.

[StevenL]

I've gotten some great sound from the Lyric too. I'd say the only downside is the heavy eq'ing that's sometime necessary, but that's only a downer if you have no eq. If you don't, be prepared to spend some cash on some good eq.

And yeah the installation is easy but for the endpin hole. Scary. I got one of those Stewmac tapered reamers for my next try.

[icy_wind500]

I had a lyric in my GS mini and I use a lr baggs venue to eq it. However, I can't seem to get a nice sound from it. Mostly because of my newbie eq skills I don't quietly know how to adjust it to what I want.

[buzzardwhiskey]

Originally Posted by Baron K

Well, first of all I didn't install it myself. I'm crap at all things practical, so I let a guy at the shop do it, but it seems easy enough: the hardest part is probably drilling the endpin hole. The rest is just adhesive.

As far as using it, I think it works great once I tweaked the presence screw way down (almost), and have the sound guy cut the mids on the table. It could have a little more low end, but it really sounds acoustic.

Yup. That's how I run mine too. Almost no presence on the Lyric itself and the 800Hz area cut back by about 50%.

[Baron K]

Originally Posted by icy_wind500

I had a lyric in my GS mini and I use a lr baggs venue to eq it. However, I can't seem to get a nice sound from it. Mostly because of my newbie eq skills I don't quietly know how to adjust it to what I want.

Did you adjust the presence screw next to the volume control? It's crucial! It sounds terrible in the default setting, but once you turn it almost all the way down, it sounds pretty good I think.

Did you exchange it for something else that works better for you? If so, what?

[icy_wind500]

I didn't exchange it, I've just dialled the presence all the way down. Will try again next week

[Baron K]

Originally Posted by icy_wind500

I didn't exchange it, I've just dialled the presence all the way down. Will try again next week

Make sure to have the sound guy to tweak the eq a bit at the table too. Makes all the difference.

I'm thinking about getting a DI box (venue or something) so I could tweak it myself and not having to rely on the sound guy (they seem to vary a great deal in competence…).

[jamison162]

Baron - how big/loud was the stage volume and did you experience any feedback issues?

[Baron K]

Originally Posted by jamison162

Baron - how big/loud was the stage volume and did you experience any feedback issues?

I've played it a lot on stages of varies sizes, with monitors, but never experienced any feedback at all.