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Continuing Adventures in SoundholePickupLand


BluesKing777

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A friend keeps recommending the Baggs M80 soundhole pickup - I went to a music shop and they had one - and now it is mine!

 

Now, one of the (many) reasons I wanted it was for the Martin OMs which remain pickupless after finding my new Schertler Mag + Mic pickups didn't fit in the soundhole.... [unsure]

 

So I get home and the Baggs M80 doesn't fit the Martin OM either! Kerdoooommm, you idiot BK!

 

 

And a little detour before I tell you about the M80......Ha Ha Ha...BK777 tried every high end beauty in the shop yesterday. Started at the top and worked down in price! Get this: '46 Gibson SJ, 2 '68 Hummingbirds, 1 brand new Hummingbird Cherry, 1 Collings 00 deep body, 1 Martin Aged Authentic D28, 1 Taylor 12 fret, 1 Lowden F35 Sinker redwood top/cocobolo, 1 Martin OM custom, 1 Custom Shop Maton 00, 1 Maton TE in smoke black finish, 1 Waterloo all mahogany 00, 1 Waterloo ladder braced 00....there may have been something else, but with head reeling and the shop about to close, I mentioned to the guitar man Mick that I only wanted a Baggs M80......

 

Twisted it and tortured it yesterday afternoon and couldn't get it to work properly, took the battery that came with in it out and put one I just bought in...no good! About to chuck it and tried it in 'passive' mode (switch underneath) and it worked.

 

Returned to the crime scene after watching the Grand Prix qualifying session on TV late and got it all happening properly with a new battery (was in the box for the pickup). Played it a lot. In and out of a few guitars, finishing off with a go on slide with it in my 37 Gibson L-0. Nice!

 

Sunday morning here now and first light I was installing The Baggs M80 in the soundhole of my big Lowden O22, plugged to my old Fishman Pro EQ DI and in to my mixer. So far so good!

 

Pressed record with some instrumental:

 

 

 

https://soundcloud.com/bk7-3/celtic-m807b

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

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A friend keeps recommending the Baggs M80 soundhole pickup - I went to a music shop and they had one - and now it is mine!

 

Now, one of the (many) reasons I wanted it was for the Martin OMs which remain pickupless after finding my new Schertler Mag + Mic pickups didn't fit in the soundhole.... [unsure]

 

So I get home and the Baggs M80 doesn't fit the Martin OM either! Kerdoooommm, you idiot BK!

 

 

And a little detour before I tell you about the M80......Ha Ha Ha...BK777 tried every high end beauty in the shop yesterday. Started at the top and worked down in price! Get this: '46 Gibson SJ, 2 '68 Hummingbirds, 1 brand new Hummingbird Cherry, 1 Collings 00 deep body, 1 Martin Aged Authentic D28, 1 Taylor 12 fret, 1 Lowden F35 Sinker redwood top/cocobolo, 1 Martin OM custom, 1 Custom Shop Maton 00, 1 Maton TE in smoke black finish, 1 Waterloo all mahogany 00, 1 Waterloo ladder braced 00....there may have been something else, but with head reeling and the shop about to close, I mentioned to the guitar man Mick that I only wanted a Baggs M80......

 

Twisted it and tortured it yesterday afternoon and couldn't get it to work properly, took the battery that came with in it out and put one I just bought in...no good! About to chuck it and tried it in 'passive' mode (switch underneath) and it worked.

 

Returned to the crime scene after watching the Grand Prix qualifying session on TV late and got it all happening properly with a new battery (was in the box for the pickup). Played it a lot. In and out of a few guitars, finishing off with a go on slide with it in my 37 Gibson L-0. Nice!

 

Sunday morning here now and first light I was installing The Baggs M80 in the soundhole of my big Lowden O22, plugged to my old Fishman Pro EQ DI and in to my mixer. So far so good!

 

Pressed record with some instrumental:

 

 

 

https://soundcloud.com/bk7-3/celtic-m807b

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

Nice! When I had the M80 I actually preferred it in passive mode played through the Redeye. No worrying about the battery failing.

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There's always the question my anti-sound hole pick up friend asks. Which one transmits the most accurate copy of any given acoustic's tone?

 

None probably, get the mic out.....

 

But the Baggs M80 is a nice sound, easy to put in the soundhole, run the lead out if you don’t want permanent work on a guitar....and I am told - fairly feedback proof even at ‘playing with a drummer’ levels.... also sounds great with bottleneck. Really suits it.

 

If I want purist acoustic tone, I have my Tonedexter and a guitar or 2 with pickups, though my Martin OM18 Authentic still remains pickup free.....I may bite the bullet and get K&K Mini, but my luthier is very busy lately. (= big lng wait).

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

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Nice! When I had the M80 I actually preferred it in passive mode played through the Redeye. No worrying about the battery failing.

 

 

Handy to have that passive switch, isn’t it? Pity they couldn’t put on top somewhere to save taking the pickup out.....eg, 3 songs to go to finish a set, battery goes and then while the crowd is wondering what all those weird noises were....part of the act?, then they see you appear to dismantle your guitar and return to the mic sheepishly apologising for the delay and then proceed to fiddle with your EQ.....and then away you go with the next song....

 

Nope, don’t like batteries either! But the Guitar Fairies LOVE them and lie in wait. [unsure]

 

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

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Handy to have that passive switch, isn’t it? Pity they couldn’t put on top somewhere to save taking the pickup out.....eg, 3 songs to go to finish a set, battery goes and then while the crowd is wondering what all those weird noises were....part of the act?, then they see you appear to dismantle your guitar and return to the mic sheepishly apologising for the delay and then proceed to fiddle with your EQ.....and then away you go with the next song....

 

Nope, don’t like batteries either! But the Guitar Fairies LOVE them and lie in wait. [unsure]

 

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

Exactly! I just kept it in passive mode permanently.

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Well, I did a little test with a country blues.... once through with a mic and 2 more with Baggs M80 and then Schertler mag +mic....

 

Guitar: 1993 Lowden LSE1 mahogany/sitka.

 

A short play of a Creolish Bellish part with capo 3.....

 

1> Neumann KM184 mic

2> Baggs M80

3> Schertler Mag + S Mic. (Full mic):

 

 

 

https://soundcloud.com/bk7-3/countryblues777a

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

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BK - sounds awesome (of course: )! My question though (and I'm hung up on this a little bit, apologies) - but doesn't your tonedexter replace the need for playing with different p'ups?

 

My understanding is you mic your guitar and the tonedexter creates some sort of map of the sound. Then when you go through a p'up, into the tonedexter, it alters the output to match what the mic'd sound sounded like.

 

If that is the case, and the goal is to get your guitar to amplify, but without changing the sound - doesn't the tone dexter replace any need for playing around with p'ups... but more that you have any pick up, then you can alter the output to get the sound you want?

 

Rgds - billroy

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BK - sounds awesome (of course: )! My question though (and I'm hung up on this a little bit, apologies) - but doesn't your tonedexter replace the need for playing with different p'ups?

 

My understanding is you mic your guitar and the tonedexter creates some sort of map of the sound. Then when you go through a p'up, into the tonedexter, it alters the output to match what the mic'd sound sounded like.

 

If that is the case, and the goal is to get your guitar to amplify, but without changing the sound - doesn't the tone dexter replace any need for playing around with p'ups... but more that you have any pick up, then you can alter the output to get the sound you want?

 

Rgds - billroy

 

 

 

Thanks Billroy and BBG.

 

Seems correct what you say, except I am mentally unstable and like smacking myself to death with various electronika.....bitter and twisted after those early years of playing acoustics through...gasp..a mic and all the feedback and noises and problemos. And the supposed saviour was the Barcus Berry stick on pickup designed by possibly Barcus himself, also known for his pure hatred of acoustic guitarists.

 

So, after achieving relative acoustic nirvana status with the combination of K&K pickup with Tonedexter, a question was asked by a friend: ‘What is the most plug and play system to use at a jam night or a quick set and setup on a large travelling show?’ There would be no time or a power supply for Tonedexter or Auras in this circus, so what would be the best in guitar solution? Plug and play! Now, in my arsenal I have the guitar plug and play road warrior war machines - my Maton SRS808 with the dual source Maton pickup system and my Martin D18e Retro with inbuilt Aura. Add batteries and a guitar lead and go, Johnny, go!

 

But, what if I want to play my 37 L-0 for a change at the gig? No pickup in it and I don’t want the surgery for one..... Soundhole pickup with the lead dangling out the hole and gaffa taped to the pickguard! And even my HD28V has an undersaddle pickup that sounds great through an Aura or Tonedexter but for plug and play I now have my Baggs M80 and my Schertler Mag +S Mic to choose from - the M80 being fairly feedback proof would get the job.....

 

 

BluesKing777.

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Thanks Billroy and BBG.

 

Seems correct what you say, except I am mentally unstable and like smacking myself to death with various electronika.....bitter and twisted after those early years of playing acoustics through...gasp..a mic and all the feedback and noises and problemos. And the supposed saviour was the Barcus Berry stick on pickup designed by possibly Barcus himself, also known for his pure hatred of acoustic guitarists.

 

So, after achieving relative acoustic nirvana status with the combination of K&K pickup with Tonedexter, a question was asked by a friend: ‘What is the most plug and play system to use at a jam night or a quick set and setup on a large travelling show?’ There would be no time or a power supply for Tonedexter or Auras in this circus, so what would be the best in guitar solution? Plug and play! Now, in my arsenal I have the guitar plug and play road warrior war machines - my Maton SRS808 with the dual source Maton pickup system and my Martin D18e Retro with inbuilt Aura. Add batteries and a guitar lead and go, Johnny, go!

 

But, what if I want to play my 37 L-0 for a change at the gig? No pickup in it and I don’t want the surgery for one..... Soundhole pickup with the lead dangling out the hole and gaffa taped to the pickguard! And even my HD28V has an undersaddle pickup that sounds great through an Aura or Tonedexter but for plug and play I now have my Baggs M80 and my Schertler Mag +S Mic to choose from - the M80 being fairly feedback proof would get the job.....

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

Thanks BK!

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Thanks BK!

 

 

But I would feel naked as a baby without a gadget to plug in, so I have my old grey battery operated Fishman Platinum Pro EQ DI.....or my......etc.

 

So for me though, I need a pckup so I can plug them into my Boss VE8 !

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

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I thought you got the M1? M80, eh? You are becomng a spendthrift! Or is that my friend with the Martin 000-15?

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

M80A I’ll have you know

 

Its not bad , got it for a D16gt Martin. It’s gone and I got a J15 with the baggs pickup in it , so i put the m80 in the j45

It’s grand , but k&k is unbeaten in my limited experience of pickups

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An M80 fit into my 000-15M, or it may have been am M1, the M-80's predecessor, but I had to remove all the strings, and to get it in there I had to remove the two screws completely on each side piece, place the pickup, then reach under and place each piece into place, and put the screws in. Was a tight fit, but it did fit installing it that way.

 

I personally do not like the sound of the M80, and your clip reaffirms that. Not criticizing the playing at all, it just has that weird M80 tone that just doesn't sound right to me. In your second clip I actually think the Schertler mag/mic combo sounds decent, the KM84 obviously sounds great, and the M80 sounds more like a hollow body electric reminiscent to the Merle Travis sound he would get on his old records, not even close to sounding like an acoustic guitar.

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Yes, unfortunately you can’t have a lot of the mic in the Schertler pickup if you play loud.....most people apparently end up turning the mic off. Then you get just mag. I pulled the mic out and the mag sound is pretty average.

 

What we need is Mr Aura or Mr Tonedexter to come up with a gadget with code that makes the mag pickup sound like a mic’d acoustic! Though I think Mr Baggs claims he has with the M80....

 

But it is a compromise for loud acoustica! M80, I’m talking about. I think I am used to hearing that particular sound over the years - don’t ask me to describe it.

 

 

BluesKing777.

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Put the Baggs M80 in my Gibson Blues King and the soundhole must be way higher than other guitars because the strings touched the pickup! I think that happened with my Fishman REB pickup with another guitar once.

 

Weird! It was a bit of a 'Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall' moment, contemplating the various holes on guitars....

 

 

I am also starting to think the Baggs M80 sounds better with larger guitars...?

 

 

BluesKing777.

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Announcing the good and the bad......I plugged the Baggs M80 into my 1993 Lowden LSE1 with it on the ‘passive’ setting, was ok direct to my mixer, so I ran it to my Boss VE8 so I could try vocals along with it and let me tell you, the guitar sound was crap***@@@##$$#@ ! The sound was the one I fear. The sound a friend used. Yikes!

 

 

BluesKing777.

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