jt Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Here's another of my guitars. I built this one myself and installed a K&K. Here it is, plugged straight into an AER Compact 60: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXW6o_g2ovU I think that it sounds pretty good and I've used this setup in moderately noisy environments. But, in a loud bar, I prefer the Baggs soundhole pickup. BTW, the guitar is an all-koa, size 1 (in Martin parlance). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 Yeah the pickups still there isn’t it And that’s also blended a little with the camera obviously able to hear some of the true guitar sound there K&k is definitely my favourite pickup so far , slightly better than my m1a , but there’s no magic solution . Unless you spend a kings ransom and carry three bags full of gadgets to a gig . The factory fitted fishman in my j45 , (ripped out) well there’s no way I’d subject even the dingiest bar to that horrible noise . We all have our line in the sand . BK’s is just further away than my line is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Ha! Mid 80s and I played live with a new Washburn with pickup/barn door preamp, sort of a copy of a Tak.... straight in my tube amp. Horrid. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 Any chance of less use of ‘horrid’ ‘plonky’ ‘plunky’ ‘phasey’ words when talking about my choice of pickup I do have to sit in front of people and play and all im gonna hear in the Voice from my low part of my self esteem is ‘those snobs were right ! You sound plonky , there all laughing at you’re guitar ‘ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorrisrownSal Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 I gig with several guitars that have K&Ks, Baggs M soundhole pups, and recently I also bought RBPicker's J45 which has a Baggs Element UST. That Element sounds great - at least through my loudbox and also though my Fire Eye (dial back the tone knob) into a Bose L1. This surprised me! I guess the malleable ribbon is different than the solid USTs I remember from prior guitars... Oh well. I end up bringing the guitar I am in the mood to play, and figure it out when I get there during soundcheck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 I think we need to have a new page dedicated to the Acoustics with pickups in them. 😐why ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 It's called sarcasm. Ah!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 I think the M1A is a better pickup than the K&K if you want to cut through a chatty bar crowd or a band. Great feedback resistance and you can really crank it up. K&Ks are lovely for a seated, respectful audience (I have them in my ‘67 J45 and ‘05 Hummingbird 12 string...K&Ks that is, not respectful audiences!) where you don’t have to punch a hole in the air, but an M1A will get you heard and sounding great at all levels. People have a lot of brand loyalty to (and obsession with) pickups. None of them sound 100% like the unplugged guitar, which is a good thing-live, “the same but louder” doesn’t really work. “Similar but louder and bigger” is what is required, and pickup manufacturers build kit accordingly. One of my favourite pickups is the crappily built (but great sounding) Shadow Nanoflex in my Epi Texan. Sounds better to my ears and fingers than almost anything out there. Anyone can tell me it’s a rubbish pickup, but who cares? Works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 I think the M1A is a better pickup than the K&K if you want to cut through a chatty bar crowd or a band. Great feedback resistance and you can really crank it up. K&Ks are lovely for a seated, respectful audience (I have them in my ‘67 J45 and ‘05 Hummingbird 12 string...K&Ks that is, not respectful audiences!) where you don’t have to punch a hole in the air, but an M1A will get you heard and sounding great at all levels. People have a lot of brand loyalty to (and obsession with) pickups. None of them sound 100% like the unplugged guitar, which is a good thing-live, “the same but louder” doesn’t really work. “Similar but louder and bigger” is what is required, and pickup manufacturers build kit accordingly. One of my favourite pickups is the crappily built (but great sounding) Shadow Nanoflex in my Epi Texan. Sounds better to my ears and fingers than almost anything out there. Anyone can tell me it’s a rubbish pickup, but who cares? Works for me. Oh bluesking will tell you shortly 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Oh bluesking will tell you shortly A big waste of breath, obviously! You lot stay over that line in the sand and I will stay over here with my Maton, built by a company who actually want to get rid of The Plunk for their customers! Straight off the shelf. Live in Australia and you buy the guitar ready to play out! No lookng for pickup, preamp, plunkbuster.... Maton AP5-Pro pickups rule, guv! :mellow: (I wonder what AP or 5 stands for sometimes but...) BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayoubengal1954 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 I think we need to have a new page dedicated to the Acoustics with pickups in them. I know you're just joshin', but I have learned a lot from this sub forum: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/theunofficialmartinguitarforum/sound-reinforcement-and-recording-f16/?sid=3454ffaf898387184272d35537ed32b2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Any chance of less use of ‘horrid’ ‘plonky’ ‘plunky’ ‘phasey’ words when talking about my choice of pickup I do have to sit in front of people and play and all im gonna hear in the Voice from my low part of my self esteem is ‘those snobs were right ! You sound plonky , there all laughing at you’re guitar ‘ No, they are laughing at your awful shoes (think ParlourMan) and your lime green Yugo parked crooked in a hurry near the front door of the pub....and you may just look back at them and break down into hysterical laughter instead of playing Moondance again when you think of the sound of your new pickup as.....new name instead of Plunky .............Farty. Big, ripping cardboard ...farty. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 18, 2018 Author Share Posted January 18, 2018 Oh well aren’t you just the cats pyjamas Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Oh well aren’t you just the cats pyjamas Arty. It was supposed to say, Arty.....rotten spellchecker....Arty! BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlejohnny Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 Late as always: Grunt, [thumbup] M1a best sounding and useful pickup in that price range imho; never tried somthing pricier. As stated above, every PU is a compromise. The M1 will work great in the kind of gigs you do (like not traveling with your own personal sound gear and guy, right?!) No go for a used Fishman Aura Spectrum DI, works great with the M1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 While the Aura Spectrum will give you all the eq controls and levels, and does give it ‘something, it is designed to work with Fishman type undersaddle pickups. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 While the Aura Spectrum will give you all the eq controls and levels, and does give it ‘something, it is designed to work with Fishman type undersaddle pickups. BluesKing777. Oddly enough I just put a Matrix Infinity in my Dove this afternoon. All my Gibsons have MI pickups through my Aura 16 preamp for live work. The exceptions being my Hummingbird 12 and ‘67 J45, both of which have K&Ks. The improvement in the Matrix Infinity over the Baggs Element is shocking. The Matrix is vastly superior to my ears. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Oddly enough I just put a Matrix Infinity in my Dove this afternoon. All my Gibsons have MI pickups through my Aura 16 preamp for live work. The exceptions being my Hummingbird 12 and ‘67 J45, both of which have K&Ks. The improvement in the Matrix Infinity over the Baggs Element is shocking. The Matrix is vastly superior to my ears. An interesting development to Aura fans is the Tonedexter! You can make your own images ala Aura by 'teaching' your unit with your guitar in plug and a nice condenser preferable in the other. works best with a Fishman undersaddle and a K&K, supposedly. http://audiosprockets.com/ Link to one of the many threads on AGF about it: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?app=forums&module=post§ion=post&do=reply_post&f=40&t=141095&qpid=1910553 BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
littlejohnny Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 While the Aura Spectrum will give you all the eq controls and levels, and does give it ‘something, it is designed to work with Fishman type undersaddle pickups. BluesKing777. M 1 and AURA works for me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 M 1 and AURA works for me! From another forum: Originally Posted by revive View Post Does the Aura pedal work well with LR Baggs M1 soundhole pickup? I asked Fishman Customer Support about this quite recently. I was hoping that a Spectrum Aura DI might be useful to me. Here's the response I got: The M1 uses body sensitivity to add acoustic realism to a normal soundhole magnetic pickup type output. This body sensitivity, unfortunately, really clouds the signal that is reaching the Aura. It is the complicated and undefined output that the Aura is simply unable to properly process, unfortunately. So, most mag pickups of various brands are perfectly acceptable with the Aura, including our own Rare Earth Humbucking product, but the M1 is not as good a choice. I was disappointed, but I guess it saves me some money to divert to other toys So myself, I , me.....back....with a decent undersaddle Fishman pickup, Aura images were originally recorded with these, and a downloaded image of your exact guitar and you can .....sound like your guitar recorded in a studio with a nice mic. The mag pickups can’t do this, but you can turn the blend control of the Spectrum off and use the eq, volume, gain, compressor, DI, etc.. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seamonkey Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 After the nice man drilled a hole big enough for me I put the new baggs m1a pickup in the Martin this morning Had a panic attack when I got no sound. Took strings all back off and swapped battery. Nothing .. Wait a second , try a different guitar lead ... TA DA ! Idiot. Always start with the most obvious. But anyway. , it’s up and running and I have to say I’m mighty impressed and happy Sounds sweet Anyone wondering about one of these pickups , well , I’d highly recommend one Nicer than my matrix infinity that was in my last Martin. Just as nice as the K&k that was in the one before that but now of course I can take it back out easy peasy should I sell or want to take the j45 out ! All I need is a gig now 🙄 Way to go! I love those pickups, and the passive ones too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seamonkey Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 From another forum: Originally Posted by revive View Post Does the Aura pedal work well with LR Baggs M1 soundhole pickup? I asked Fishman Customer Support about this quite recently. I was hoping that a Spectrum Aura DI might be useful to me. Here's the response I got: The M1 uses body sensitivity to add acoustic realism to a normal soundhole magnetic pickup type output. This body sensitivity, unfortunately, really clouds the signal that is reaching the Aura. It is the complicated and undefined output that the Aura is simply unable to properly process, unfortunately. So, most mag pickups of various brands are perfectly acceptable with the Aura, including our own Rare Earth Humbucking product, but the M1 is not as good a choice. I was disappointed, but I guess it saves me some money to divert to other toys i think i'd call the folks at Baggs for a second opinion too. they are Really helpful So myself, I , me.....back....with a decent undersaddle Fishman pickup, Aura images were originally recorded with these, and a downloaded image of your exact guitar and you can .....sound like your guitar recorded in a studio with a nice mic. The mag pickups can’t do this, but you can turn the blend control of the Spectrum off and use the eq, volume, gain, compressor, DI, etc.. BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seamonkey Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 Oddly enough I just put a Matrix Infinity in my Dove this afternoon. All my Gibsons have MI pickups through my Aura 16 preamp for live work. The exceptions being my Hummingbird 12 and ‘67 J45, both of which have K&Ks. The improvement in the Matrix Infinity over the Baggs Element is shocking. The Matrix is vastly superior to my ears. as is the difference between the Element and the Baggs Anthem SL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
seamonkey Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 I think the M1A is a better pickup than the K&K if you want to cut through a chatty bar crowd or a band. Great feedback resistance and you can really crank it up. K&Ks are lovely for a seated, respectful audience (I have them in my ‘67 J45 and ‘05 Hummingbird 12 string...K&Ks that is, not respectful audiences!) where you don’t have to punch a hole in the air, but an M1A will get you heard and sounding great at all levels. People have a lot of brand loyalty to (and obsession with) pickups. None of them sound 100% like the unplugged guitar, which is a good thing-live, “the same but louder” doesn’t really work. “Similar but louder and bigger” is what is required, and pickup manufacturers build kit accordingly. One of my favourite pickups is the crappily built (but great sounding) Shadow Nanoflex in my Epi Texan. Sounds better to my ears and fingers than almost anything out there. Anyone can tell me it’s a rubbish pickup, but who cares? Works for me. "Like" plus, this reminds me the i keep meaning to run a K&K along with an M1A Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted January 19, 2018 Share Posted January 19, 2018 as is the difference between the Element and the Baggs Anthem SL! I’m a fan of the Anthem system, especially the SL with the smaller preamp/control module. I prefer as little hardware as poss inside the guitar so the SL would be my pick of the Baggs kit. I think we’re fortunate to live in an age in which there are so many great pickup systems available. It’s hard to go wrong, really-99% of the mid price stuff is superb, and only personal taste and playing style makes the difference. I have various guitars with Fishman Matrix Infinities, K&Ks, a Rare Earth, a Baggs Element and a Shadow Nanoflex, and each are more than good enough for professional use. So much choice and tonal potential! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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