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LR Baggs M80 Active Acoustic Guitar Soundhole Humbucker Pickup

Active Acoustic Guitar Soundhole Pickup with Prewired Strapjack Harness, 1,000+ Hours Battery Life
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Item ID: M80Pickup
LR Baggs M80 Active Acoustic Guitar Soundhole Humbucker Pickup
Price:$279 and 00 cents
$47.00 suggested monthly payments with 6 month financing‡ 36 month financing available* with $399.00 minimum purchase on one invoice.

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LR Baggs M80 Active Acoustic Guitar Soundhole Humbucker Pickup
$279.00
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LR Baggs M80 Active Acoustic Guitar Soundhole Humbucker Pickup
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Price:$279 and 00 cents
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Frequently Asked Questions

LR Baggs M80 Active Acoustic Guitar Soundhole Humbucker Pickup

Q: What's the difference between the active and passive modes on the M80 pickup?

Q: How does the M80 pickup help prevent feedback in an acoustic guitar?

Q: What kind of battery does the M80 use, and how long does it last?

Q: Who is the LR Baggs M80 pickup designed for?

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Get Natural Acoustic Guitar Sound Onstage

Looking for the perfect blend of string and body in a soundhole pickup? The LR Baggs M80 acoustic guitar pickup does just what you want your acoustic guitar's pickup to do - it brings the natural voice of your guitar to life onstage. Your strings will sound sweet but not too twangy and bright, which is a problem with many acoustic pickups. The M80 not only picks up your string sound, but also the vibrations of your guitar giving a complete sonic image of your instrument. And you'll have full control of your detailed, full sound thanks to the LR Baggs M80's built-in volume control. You'll be glad to know that there's a pre-wired strapjack harness, so installation should be a snap. Best of all, you can feel free to plug in and play all you want.

LR Baggs M80 Active Acoustic Guitar Pickup at a Glance:
  • Natural-sounding acoustic pickup
  • Choose active or passive modes
  • Captures the true sound of your guitar's body
Natural-sounding acoustic pickup

Building upon LR Baggs successful M1 Active pickup, the M80 takes a floating second coil and turns it into a reactive body sensor. You get more of the motion and movement of the guitar translated into sound than ever before. This 3D body sensor is tuned to pick up the entire frequency range of the guitar adding richness and detail to the sound. The string signal and body sensor signal are then added together to give the LR Baggs M80 acoustic pickup a natural and lifelike sound.

Ready for the stage

Designed for use onstage and in the studio, the LR Baggs M80 acoustic pickup has many gig-worthy features. An easy to reach volume control lets you turn your guitar sound up or down on the fly without hassle. A convenient check battery light lets you know when your battery is getting low. If your battery dies at the gig, you can keep the show going by switching the pickup over to passive mode. Active mode adds a slight contour to your guitar's EQ that is perfect for any style of playing. The LR Baggs M80 is also designed to be used at high volumes without feedback issues.

Captures the true sound of your guitar's body

The 3D body sensor captures the sound of your guitar like never before. You'll notice that when you tap or slap your guitar percussively, the LR Baggs M80 picks up that sound just like a microphone would. The idea behind the M80 is that the entire guitar is important to the sound, not just your strings. Most soundhole pickups only worry about the strings, and piezo pickups aren't able to get the full sound of the guitar. LR Baggs designed the M80 to grab every detail on the instrument for the best sound reproduction possible.

LR Baggs M80 Active Acoustic Guitar Pickup Features:
  • Acoustic guitar pickup that captures the sound of the guitar's body
  • Active and passive pickup modes
  • Reproduces the richness and complexity of your guitars sound
  • Great for strumming and fingerpicking
Capture the true sound of your guitar with the LR Baggs M80 active acoustic guitar pickup!

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Tech Specs

  • Instrument: Acoustic Guitar
  • Type: Humbucker
  • Position: Soundhole
  • Active/Passive: Active, Switchable to Passive
  • Built-in Preamp: Yes
  • Controls: Volume, Active/Passive switch, battery check
  • Features: Feedback Resistant
  • Power Source: 1 x CR2032 (300 hours)
  • Manufacturer Part Number: M80

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Reviews

LR BAGGS M80 Soundhole Pickup
So far I've only used the pickup in passive mode. I'm using LR Baggs Venue DI as my preamp. I like having control of the EQ. I'm still experimenting with the settings. I'm trying not to let my fingernails hit the pick guard when strumming. It will definitely pick that noise up. But I've made the adjustments in my strumming technique. Overall I like it. It sounds a little different than the Anthem and the VTC pickups in my Breedloves. I think that's a good thing.

One thing I REALLY LIKE, is the ability to plug in to a DAW and adjust the signal strength on each string by using the Allen wrench provided. This is a huge advantage! I get a really balanced tone on this guitar. It tickles my ears.

Shout out to Sweetwater and Nate Burkhardt for the excellent customer service.
LR Bagg’s M-80
Absolutely the best, most natural sounding acoustic guitar pickup I've ever heard! I have two; one on my Martin Custom Shop MC-28 and the other is on my Martin D12-28. Much more realistic acoustic sound than any piezo pickup. Would recommend this pickup without any hesitation!
Music background: Singer/Songwriter/Musician with over 50 years of experience.
My Taylor 810 just got the upgrade I’ve always wanted!
I just can't say enough about this pickup. It has the mojo that I have been looking for. I use to mic my guitar… this is sooooo much better! Richer and fuller sound. My amp sounds better too! Playing through an older Peavy Ecoustic 110. Makes me sound like a better player that I am. Very impressed
Music background: 25 year hobby. Just started doing open mic’s
LR Baggs M-80; A Super Choice!!
I did quite a bit of research on this product, compared it to various competitors, and watched probably too many videos of players using the M-80. I could have gone cheap and for some guitars that might be the solution, but not for my Martin D-35. First, this M-80 performs exactly as advertised. The sound is simply incredible and it retains the D-35s warmth and tone. This may not apply for all guitars, but the D-35's end pin hole needed to be enlarged to 1/2". To do it right, I bought a reamer for $94 - yeah, I know, but I was not going to screw up my $... guitar by using a cheap tool. BTW, it worked perfectly, took 3 minutes (that's almost $33/min, but see above).

In the D-35, the M-80 jack went in without a problem. I recommend using your D string to hook a loop through the jack hole on the side, then pulling it to the end pin hole. One thing to remember is to fit it until the entire smaller threaded part sticks out. I found out the hard way that if you leave it just a bit short then screw on the strap pin, the guitar cable will not insert all the way until it clicks, resulting in no connection. The pickup went in the sound hole without issue. For you lefties, all you have to do is reverse the last two poles into the empty holes. The last open hole isn't actually empty - it has a smaller pole that must be removed and put in the other end. Another important point - The pickup fit great for the D-35, but I had planned on getting another M-80 for my Martin 000 28 and found out that the M-80 just barely does NOT fit because the sound hole is smaller than the D-35. That means guitar damage if you try to force it - I did not which = no damage!

Fantastic product and I highly recommend it. Just make sure you check the end pin hole and the size of the sound hole first. I contacted LR Baggs and they are very helpful and friendly. But no one compares to Anthony Giraldi from Sweetwater. He is simply the best - experienced, knowledgeable, professional, responsive, and friendly. Lots of adjectives, but they all apply to Anthony.
Music background: Recreational Guitarist
LR Baggs - the best!
So, first I have to confess to a bias - I have LR Baggs p/ups in several guitars (Anthem, HiFi, Element), and have always been happy with their products. I wanted to try a soundhole p/up to get a different sound, but have been disappointed by other models (Dimarzio Black Angel, Fishman Rare Earth, Seymour Duncan).

I'm happy to say that the M80 overcame my reservations in a big way! The 2nd floating coil picks up body resonance in such a way that the string sound picked up by the top coil's magnetic poles isn't dominant. The result is a rich and very acoustic-like sound. On my preamp, I backed the mids down a bit, but otherwise didn't have to do much to get a nice even response across all six strings without the faux-electric guitar sound that is typical from other soundhole p/ups. I liked it so much that I decided to mount it permanently into the guitar.

Bottom line, I highly recommend this pickup - it's worth every penny!
Music background: A performing and recording guitarist since the late 1960's.