LR Baggs M1 Active Acoustic Soundhole Pickup Reviews

Glenn Anthony
from Cambridge City, In
April 23, 2013Music Background:
20 years in southern rock band for the past 13 playing gospel music.

New to accoustic pickups

A close friend of mine tried one of these for his Taylor accoustic and loved it. He placed it in my 1970's Yamaha 365s and I did an hour and a half stage show running through the house PA and it was awesome. I own a Godin acousti-caster twice the price and am going to sell it now and keep the Yamaha. Simply because of the pickup. I own a Bose Tower L1 PA and it sounds great. I will be purchasing one right-a-way.

from
November 20, 2012

Great Pick Up

Love the tone that I get with this pickup, will definitely be getting another when I get my next acoustic.

Bill
from New Orleans
October 23, 2012Music Background:
35+ years pro musician

M1 Pickup by LR Braggs

My 1982 Guild has never sounded so good on stage. Instillation was easy - right out of the box. Sweetwater made it convenient and affordable. The volume control on the pickup eliminated the volume pedal, simplified the connections, and reduced potential problems. For my setup I had to EQ to drop a little mid and boost a little low. This probable could have been achieved with resetting the polls (Allen wrench provided).

from Fl
December 9, 2011Music Background:
active musician

Great Pickup

Great pickup, install is a piece of cake. I put it in a 1984 d1228 Martin and it absolutely sings. No feedback, no deadspots, no problems. Wish I had put it in a long time ago.

cj5thwheel
from Kissimmee FL USA
January 27, 2011Music Background:
Hobbyest

I am Impressed Amazing Sound

I am very pleased with the LR Baggs M1A I was searching for a good sound hole pickup with easy installation. Absolutely no outside interference or noise. Sharp, clear, and precise sounds from this pickup.Its just the sound I was looking for I don't like having the chord sticking out though. Also I chose to hardwire mine I also recomend you measure your guitar first and make sure this thing will fit before you by it I put it in my Hagstrom and love how it sounds. I like a low but crisp tone this thing delivers.This is HANDS DOWN the most natural sounding pickup I've heard .so there really isn't any reason not to buy it. So yeah buy it

Pat O
from Kountze, TX
July 28, 2012Music Background:
Pro Musician

LR Baggs M1A its my favorite...now.

This pick up was easy to install and sounds great!

Corbin
from Columbus ohio
July 18, 2011Music Background:
Musician/recording engineer producer

What I was looking for

I went through a couple fishman models and they made my Martin sound tinny and electric. This pickup does a great job of picking uP the natural tones of your instrument. Very pleased

Greg
from Bumpkinville, Maine
May 1, 2012Music Background:
Gigging musician, worship leader, playing for 18+ years. Acoustic finger style, acoustic blues, etc.

M1 Active

This is a great pickup.... if you are a great player. Like all L.R. Baggs pickups, the M1A is very sensitive. If you are playing sloppy, it will let you know it! Touch sensitivity, well balanced, dead quiet, and great volume are just a few of this pickup's shining features. It will take some tinkering to adjust the pole pieces to the right heights. Also, felt or cork is well suited between the pickup and guitar top to control the body sensitivity. Best of all, no piezo quack! Compared to other pickups on the market, I would suggest it is one of the best, if not the best, in its price range.

Nate Wright
from Central IN
January 17, 2011Music Background:
Recording Engineer, Musician

Great sound for a soundhole pickup!

OK, I am actually blown away, but only rate a 4 because it doesn't include the "temporary" 1/8" to 1/4" instrument cable like the passive M1 does.
I came across an older early 90's Samick at my in laws house that had been unused for some time. Fed up with the crispy Piezo sound and horrible unamplified tone from my mid 90's Ovation, I thought the Samick sounded killer by comparison...In contrast to acoustics I was contemplating buying (800-1200 dollar range) I couldn't justify the cost in comparison to how great the Samick sounded...I wanted to be able to play it through the PA at church and started looking into solutions. In everything I read, the M1A sounded like the easiest and possibly best sounding solution and I couldn't be happier. The low end is incredible and natural, the high end sparkles and the mids are just right for my needs. Coming from a really mid heavy sound with the Ovation, through the M1A this sounds more like a real acoustic.

I just don't understand why they don't include the 1/8" to 1/4" cable for "temporary" placement like they do the M1 passive. Having the onboard volume is critical in environments where you have to "run your own sound", but the portability of the pickup is also important. Including only the end pin jack (which requires drilling) in my opinion is the only misstep for the M1A. In terms of tone, this is a great, great product.

Bertrand Laurence
from Cambridge MA
December 11, 2010Music Background:
Working Acoustic Guitarist/ Teacher/Writer-Songsinger.

Inspiring

I have tested the M1 on a gig. I am onstage weekly with the same PA for the last three years, and tried all kinds of Pickups. Also the gig is Improv Musical Theater . That means that I need to give the actors all kind of musical beds in all styles, all kinds of dynamics, textures, percussive effects, a good testing ground.
First of all, I am used to the amazing KnK Trinity, so my bar is set really high. It is the most Mic like set up ever, but might be sensitive to really loud stage levels. It is set up in the excellent Epiphone Masterbuild 500mns, which I bought as a road guitar, leaving my breathtaking Goodall at home for writing & recording.
I ended up with the M1 because I bought another Masterbuild 500 as a spare on Ebay with the M1installed. Three weeks later, I crack the top of the Knk one, so I grabbed the M1 one.
First impressions is that the M1 feels really microphonic. Rubbing the satin finish or knocking the back and side will give you wooden percussive tones. A real good sign. It felt that it was better at reading the top than the Rare Earth (I love that pick up too, specially the highly recommended R.E Blend. I shall AB these two at some point). The PU feels more like porcelain than plastic and does behave like a microphone. It took me a while to fiddle with the EQ via my BBe Acoustimax. Then it was show time. I realized quickly the great dynamic response of the M1. Pick style country ballad was shimmering,
Rock tunes were chunky, and soft fingerstyle passages were detailed: you could "hear my fingerprints", though that is surely also due to the BBe articulation.
At the end of the day, what matters is that it was a truly inspiring night. I totally forgot about the gear end of things and felt free to roam all over the place. So, yes I absolutely do recommend this.

Jeremy stone
from Nashville, TN
August 15, 2010Music Background:
songwriter / singer

Only if you have to

I bought this thing after watching some youtube clips that sounded impressive. I was let down, my fishman pickup was much better. I'm hoping to take it back. may be okay if you have a vintage insurment that should be drilled on.

iOS/iPad

Recording

Computer Audio

Guitar

Bass

Keyboard

Drums

Live Sound

DJ/Lighting

Accessories

Dealzone

inSync

SweetCare® 24/7 Tech Support