L.R. Baggs M-1

By now, I'll bet that everyone knows what the specs of this pickup are. It's a stacked humbucker, with the bottom coil suspended so that it picks up vibrations from the top and body of the guitar. Pretty elegant and simple, like all the best inventions.

I work professionally and teach so I'm playing my guitar all of the time. I'm using a round-shouldered Yamaha acoustic, a rosewood/spruce LD10, which my mom gave me for my Confirmation and graduating 8th grade. That was many years ago, and though I've owned a vintage 60's Guild since then, I just love this Yamaha so much. Until I can afford a Lowden or Avalon, it's my main working guitar.

I bought this pickup 3 years ago, (before the M1 Active was released) and have used in so many settings since. I play jazz, both solo and with small groups, sometimes as a big band rhythm player. I also reguarly gig in a more r&b and rock group where I'm strumming and flatpicking. I also perform solo fingerstyle with a little percussive playing thrown in. Obviously, very different styles of music but the M-1 handles them all very well, sounds fantastic and with a minimum of fuss and effort. It's totally reliable and captures the true voice of the guitar far better than any other magnetic pickup, (Sunrise included,) and exhibits none of that plastic "piezo" harshness.
It's rare for a magnetic pickup to respond so well to fingerstyle, but it really captures the nuances and dynamics of the note. The notes come through the speaker with the same "shape" and decay that your acoustic guitar has. And it has unlimited headroom for strumming or percussive playing, and with the body-sensing coil, captures all the squeaks, rattles and bumps of your guitar. Your teachnique had better be very clean, or the M-1 will let everyone hear your mistakes!

I give this pickup a 10 knowing it's not perfect, but compared wth any comparable pickups on the market, and against the sound of most undersaddle transcducers, it's a clear improvement, easy to install, and virtually idiot-proof. It does require a preamp if you want to get the best out of it, but it still sounds great straight into an amp, and especially into a P.A.

If you don't want to deal with a battery or play solo, the M-1 is a great pickup, but if you want the built-in preamp and volume control, the M-1 Active is a better choice. If I ever lost this pickup, or needed a one for a new guitar, I'd probably get the M-1 Active, but again, the passive version is fantastic if you understand what it's limits are.

passive humbucking pickup, stacked vertically. adjustable pole pieces- raised up towards strings produces more of an electric sound, lower into the pickup provides more warmth, picks up more body/soundboard vibration. The pickup's connected thru a 1/8th inch jack. The temporary installation cord is quality I suppose, but it's a little thin gauge for my taste. The permanent install cord seems fine, and since it's prewired, other than the drill hole for the jack, foolproof.

Replacing a Dean Markley single coil. Using it on a Blueridge BR-160, with an LR Baggs Para Acoustic Direct Input.

I haven't even tried it without the LR Baggs PADI, but heard that it's output is low without a preamp.
I've played it thru my PA (and old BFI 12 channel), and my Fender 'The Twin.' Both make it sound GREAT. Tone is balanced, very nice. Not entirely 'acoustic' sounding, but very very close.
I could see this working very well for fingerpicking and humbucking.

I really like the sound. With the LR Baggs PADI preamp, it sounded great at any volume; feedback wasn't an issue, even at VERY loud volumes.
But..... it came with a stripped polepiece in the 'A' string configuration. I called LR Baggs and they walked me thru pulling the pole piece out with needlenose pliers; since the pickup came with some substitute/replacement polepieces, I got it up and running in no time again. They're sending me replacement polepieces, but the G string's pole piece feels a little soft- may run into stripped polepieces again. not cool.
If they resolved this, I'd give the pickup a 10. as it stands the best I can give is a 5.

It's a passive humbucking acoustic pickup. There's no preamp with it (you'll have to get one separately), but that doesn't mean its a bad pickup. This is may be the most transparent sounding pickup you can buy right now. One of the great things about it is that it doesn't require permanent installation. Also allows you to hook up a sound hole mike as well.

I installed mine on a '67 Gibson J-45. All I had to do was remove the strings and drill a hole for the output jack (which isn't require by the way). Check out lrbaggs.com for a list of artists who use this pickup. My only complaint is that the output jack barrel could have been a little longer to accomodate my thick walled Gibson, but such is life.

Because its passive the output is really low. You'll need a preamp in addition to the pickup. But as I stated earlier this may be the most transparent acoustic pickup out there. It blows away any under the saddle pickup on the market and sounds better than any sound hole pickup I've heard. It is incredibly well balanced out of the package, but you can tweak the pole pieces to match the tone of your guitar. If you wanted you could buy a sound hole mike and add that to the mix, but I don't see any need to. The sound is fantastic as is.

I tried for years to get my guitar to sound good amplified. Saddle pickups were a lost cause because I have an adjustable bridge. So after reading many reviews I settled on this pickup even though its pretty pricey. I am so glad that I did. If it was ever stolen or destroyed I would have to buy a new one as soon as possible. I was running it through an LR Baggs Para Acoustic DI, but recently bought a $30 tube pre and the sound has opened up even more. I wouldn't use any other pickup on my guitar.

Humbucking Active, built in preamp,

I have two guitars by James Worland, one OM and a grand auditorium. Had the hole predrilled while guitar was being made. this pickup was very easy to install. Very nice looking pickup. This pickup was installed in my grand auditorium(Rosewood/Spruce)along with the Amulet system from Trance Audio. In conjunction with the Amulet, it sounds fabulous. I installed the M1 so I would have a plug and play guitar, no exterior preamp needed. It sounds very fine all by itself, excellent reproduction of the guitar. Good balanced sound. Does pickup body sounds easily but so does the amulet. Lots of bass, good for percussive play and string damping. I am a fingerstyle player and have no problem with this being in the soundhole. So far, very pleased overall.

Good output. I run it through the new Fender Passport Deluxe. Great bass, good mids and highs. I play fingerstyle with hard strumming and percussion. (Don Ross like).

I will be purchasing one for my other guitars, this is a great plug and play system that you can remove easily. I have been playing for 25 years or more and have recorded two cd's in my home studio. I will not record with it as the Amulet system takes care of that.

Pickup features: Stacked humbucking magnetic soundhole pick-up
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Martin OM-15
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Roots
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: This unit has a good amount of level once the poles have been raised for string balance.It is at least as powerful as a strat pick-up.
Tone: A good balance with a warm bass and no squawk on the treble strings.
Sonic evaluation: I have only used it through my home recorder.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This pick-up is good for fingerstyle and strumming.

Comments: I like it much more than any saddle pick-up I have tried.It has a more natural sound than the Fishman Rare-Earth model.I would love to try to combine it with another style of pick-up to get an even more natural sound.I like the amount of level I can get from it before feedback becomes a problem on stage.

Pickup features: Active stacked-humbucker soundhole pickup
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Takamine AN10 (cedar/mahogany)
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Other brand soundboard transducer
Other pickups on guitar: None
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): classic rock, soft pop/rock, bluegrass, contemporary fingerstyle
Reason for pickup change: Looking for a natural sounding, no-fuss pickup.

Perceived output level: Plenty of gain. There's no need for an additional preamp.
Tone: Nicely balanced - But for a dread, my guitar is not overly bassy. You can adjust the balance with the pole pieces.
Sonic evaluation: I have played this pickup through a Peavey SP-2 PA system, a Peavey SP-5 PA system, a Peavey Escort system, and a Genz-Benz Shenandoah 100. The only system that disappointed me for acoustic tone was the Escort, and that was the PA system's fault.
Through a decent PA or acoustic amp, this pickup sounds incredibly natural with minimal EQing. I run the EQ flat with a slight boost in the treble and a slight cut in the mids. At a recent gig someone else played my guitar - so I got to listen to it through the mains. I was blown away by how good it sounded.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This pickup is a good match for any style of music requiring transparent, natural acoustic tone.

Comments: I've been playing for 33 years. I play in a classic rock band, a bluegrass group, and do some solo vocal/acoustic gigs.
This is the most accurate acoustic pickup I have ever used. I have used the Baggs I-beam in the past, and I think that the M-1 far surpasses it. While the I-beam sounded like my guitar through a good mic, the M-1 sounds like my guitar. Period. The M-1 doesn't sound like a magnetic pickup. It picks up the sound of your guitar very accurately. Whatever sound your guitar makes (including fingernail scrapes, body taps, or your clothing brushing against the guitar) will come out accurately through the PA or amp.
One problem I had with the I-beam was that it was very prone to feedback at higher SPLs. The M-1 rejects feedback beautifully.
Battery life is supposed to be 1000 hours (or almost three playing hours per day for 365 days). The pickup ships with one battery installed, and also one spare battery.
This one is the grail...for now, anyway.

Pickup features: Two stacked low impedance single coil pickups
Impedence or other specs: preamp is built & has a volume control on the pickup

Model of guitar or bass: Alvarez Model 5065
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: Dean Markley
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Beach music, jazz, blues, classic hits, etc.
Reason for pickup change: Wanted pickup with less noise & better quality

Perceived output level: The pickup is very hot requiring all volume levels to be turned low.
Tone: The tone is balanced with much good bass & full range into the treble regions
Sonic evaluation: Two JBL Eon G15's with Peavey XR 600 B head mixer

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Works fine for variety of music styles

Comments: The pickup sounds great, HOWEVER, why the devil they put the pickup volume control on the side closest to your picking hand is beyond. If you pick too close is moves the volume knob. Would've been oh so easy to have mounted the volume control on the side closest to the neck so picking wouldn't interfere. POOR POOR engineering on LR Baggs part. Duh! Somebody wasn't thinking.
For this reason, I would think twice before buying one again. The advantage of having the preamp built in is partially offset by the poor placement of the volume control!

Pickup features: Active Humbucking
Impedence or other specs: no idea

Model of guitar or bass: Old Epiphone
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: none
Other pickups on guitar: none
Artists using this pickup: don't know
You musical style(s): Rock, Country, Folk, learning to fingerpick
Reason for pickup change:

Perceived output level: Hotter that the Fishman on my Ibanez
Tone: Bright with good balance
Sonic evaluation: I put this on a good old Epiphone. It's not a high end guitar, just a workhorse. The Active M1 sounds great. I am playing through a Johnson Amplification Modeling Amp that has three channels set up for acoustic. This pickup sound great on all the clean channels and with the various effects. Doesn't sound very good through a distorted or crunch type channel. I am still experimenting with this, only had it for a couple days but I know that I love how it performs. The M1 is very feedback resistant too. I think this pickup would work well on most kinds of gigs and certainly for recording.
The Active M1 was very easy to install. LR BAggs sends a disclaimer about self installation and that they won't help you if you screw up your guitar. I never really thought they would.
As soon as I got strings back on it and tuned, I fired it up. I have not been that pleased or excited about how well something musical worked for a long time. This thing sounds great. It will easily pick up body noise and the sound your fingers make sliding on the strings. It seems that whatever noises you are making with the instrument get sent tot he amp.
By the way, it is totally a plug and play set up. It's hot! No problem with signal strength at all. This is the only thing you need to buy. No extrenal EQ or preamp or anything. Just the M1.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Rock, Country, Folk, learning to fingerpick. This pickup is excellent for the various types of playing I do.

Comments: If something happened to this pickup, I would absolutely get another one. It sounds so much better than the under-saddle pickup on the Ibanez, it's amazing.
I have not had any good quality acoustic guitar pickups before so I am unable to compare it. But I can easily say that the M1 is giving me much more than I expected. It reproduces the full spectrum of sound from the guitar and delivers a very pleasing result from whatever amp you choose to run through. I don't think you can possibly miss with the Active M1

Pickup features: Humbucking. The Second coil picks up body vibrations.
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Martin HD-28
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: Barcus Berry
Other pickups on guitar: n/a
Artists using this pickup: n/a
You musical style(s): folk, celtic, bluegrass
Reason for pickup change: Bought guitar used with 1970's Barcus Berry Pickup. The Barcus Berry was feedback prone and sounded terrible.

Perceived output level: normal, for a passive pickup
Tone: a little trebly, but was able to add bass by adjusting the pole magnents
Sonic evaluation: I run the pickup through a SansAmp Acoustech DI and into the sound system. The Sansamp gives me some signal boost, and the ability to eq to the room.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: No pickup can give you a natural sound. Every pickup is a compromise. However, the M1 is a great compromise for the money. The adjustable magnents give you a lot of contol over the overall string balance.
Its easy to install, and if you don't mind running the chord out the soundhole, you can remove it fro one guitar and install it in another in minutes. I have the endpin jack installed in my "stage" guitar. If I anticipate playing into a mic, I use another guitar, but bring the M1 with the other cable just in case I need to plug in.
The sound is excellent, by pickup standards. It would be nice if LR Baggs came out with an active version, or offerred an internal mic as an accessory.

Pickup features: Passive humbucker with single coil sound...
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Taylor
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: ES
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Many
Reason for pickup change: I Questioned whether I was paying all this money for the the insesent humming and hissing, or the overpriced sound and excesive cracking. Then I realized, I don't Like this system...

Perceived output level: This pickup has the same output level as a Sunrise Pickup...
Tone:
Sonic evaluation: Tayler/M1 Through a Para DI and AER acousticube amp.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Many

Comments: I have liked LR Baggs for a long time, so i searched there products when i was not satisfied with the Taylor ES. Even though i don't care for the ES, it is not that bad. I just don't like it that much and that is my opinion. However, there is a drastic difference in quality and sound with the ES and the M1/Para DI. It took care of everything that i disliked about the ES and added a lot more. It is a very naturual sounding pickup (surprisingly so for a Magnetic). Also, i think that it gives a guitar a great look.