I don't think it's nerdy. We need these kind of videos to let us hear the difference in these pickups. So thank you! I would go with the L.R. Baggs because to my ears it sounded the most natural. The other two pickups sounded quacky.
Thanks for this video, very well done. Also, compliments to the Baggs guys, they manage to make the best pickup on the planet, it's a truly an innovation in history of acoustic guitar amplification
L.R. Baggs for me. The most natural sound and liked how it picked up the RH slaps between those cool hammer-on licks you were doing. Thanks for the demo. Bought the L.R. Baggs M80 a while back, but the Lryic is much better IMO. Time to go shopping again.
I installed a Lyric behind the pins on my Bourgeois dreadnought because I didn't think there was enough space on the bridge plate to place the mic in front. It didn't sound all that great so I contacted Bourgeois to find out where they install them. Their engineer told me that it should fit in front and if it overhangs a little it's alright because it is not contact with the bridge plate that matters as much as location of the mic. I pulled it off and relocated in front of the pins and he was right, it made a significant difference for the better.
First off...nice guitar and nice playing! To my ears I find the LR Baggs most natural and brings the sound out nicely. Thanks for the review. Very helpful!
Jason Swanson Yes...actually, did the installation that is similar to yours. I pulled out the Taylor ES system, which to my ears, had the much-talked about hot B and high E strings. Removing this system was not difficult. I installed both a K & K Pure Mini and the Baggs Lyric. My installation seems like it might be similar to yours...the K&K just forward of the strings, and the Lyric just 'aft'. There is barely enough wood on the undersaddle to place the Lyric, but it works. There is significant difference between the two...both in inherent sound characteristics, and in the way they need to be EQ'd. My source of mixing is with an Ultrasound DS4 amp, which I then feed to the house system. I'm not impressed with this set up. I also have a Baggs Venue, which allows me a lot of EQ options, but I'm not overly impressed there either. I wonder about the D-TAR Solstice, which features two channels of preamp pleasure, and separate EQ possibilities for each pickup. I was hoping the blend of these two would provide the holy grail of acoustic amplification. We'll see. There is also some thought to the K&K needing a slightly different impedance match than most other pickups. Evidently, the proprietary K&K preamp is highly regarded.
good job, sir. You have finally found a combination of acoustic pickups that don't make an expensive plugged-in guitar sound like total trash. hats off
When you're looking for microphone-sounding most natural sound, the best choice is lyric. K&K still sound like a pickup (even if it's surely better than that buzzing piezo!), the Lyric is the only one sounding like a guitar. I am looking for comparisons with K&K which is the only alternative but I think i'm gonna buy another lyric for my additional new guitar. You need to preamp that, but hey, it's completely worth.
Zachary- I use the condenser microphone, a Rode Nt1a for reference. It definitely sounds the best, but I would never use a studio mic like that live, mostly because in most situations it would cause a lot of feedback problems.
Just for future reference, "Rode" is either Røde or Roede (in lack of an Ø on a non-scandinavian keyboard), and it is pronounced with a soft danish D like a "th" sound. Roetheh. Great comparison though :)
For percussive attacks, the Lyric is much better. Yes, the Pure mini does well with hits of the top of the guitar, but if you also want percussive attacks on the side of the guitar you will need something like the lyric. I may do a video comparing these systems in regards to percussive playing.
One of these days I believe I'm going to try adding the Lyric to my Taylor in conjunction with it's Expression System. I had been thinking of adding a mini mic, but this may just be the best answer.
I have a K&K Pure Mini on my Blueridge BR-341 and it sounds very natural to my ears but the L.R. Baggs lyric sounds heavy and a little bit raw to my ears, a fine combination.
Terrific video! I'm nerdy enough to watch it twice. I have the lr baggs m1 active, but the lyric sounds amazing. Again, great video, thank you for sharing :-)
Great job - thanks for sharing the info. Liked that you played the same music for each, and you varied the style so we can hear something like what we might play. Well thought out. And, using the mic as a reference part so we know what your guitar sounds like in the open air - also smart. I think the LR Baggs Lyric shined in this 3 pickup comparison, despite that you had to mount it behind the peg holes.
ANuisanceRockBand in this video, it does sound better and more natural. However, in live use, I usually prefer one of the other pickups, if I am only going to use one.
Jason Swanson Thanks for the video, really one of the better planned comparisons. Now, tell me why you prefer the less accurate sounding pick-ups when you play live? Is it because the Lyric is more prone to feedback because it uses a mic, or is there another reason?
I have the Lyric in my Collings. Ok at low volume, but at bar gig volume boxy and prone to feedback. All the systems seem to have weaknesses and none can translate the beauty of a quality acoustic. The best recreation is to play in front of an SM57, but that presents its own issues.
Hi Jason, I'm in a bit of a pickle. I've had the lyric in my Martin D-35 for a couple years and have never come to love it - live, or recording. As you said, lots of high end with minimal low for such a beautiful low end guitar (duhhhh on my end) plus the constant eq'ing needed has been a pain. So I'm looking for something simpler, especially with more low end that brings more of the entire natural sound acoustically to life. I really like what the Fishman matrix sounds like on a friend of mine's Laravee - but I'm still doing my homework. You mentioned 2 pickups in one acoustic guitar - that'a a thing? My guitar tech said I should be taking my Lyric out before installing a new one - even if one is under saddle while the other is soundhole. Technically I can keep it installed and switch back and forth, but you're speaking on having both played live? I've been recording and gigging more and more but realizing through doing more homework that my knowledge in this subject is limited to my experience - which is just a few years with one pickup. Any direction is greatly appreciated! The thing about this is, as much homework as I'm doing, you never truly know if it's the correct choice longterm until you've bought, played and recorded or gigged with it for a few months! Plus, with the Lyricvthere is no chance of resale as the glue and velcro that is used to install is only good once - LR Baggs relayed this themselves to me. Thank you in advance, Sincerely, Tyler
Great comparison man! The LR Baggs smoked the other two pickups. The K&K and the Fishman might be well-loved by some, but they have that awful fartiness that makes me never want to plug an acoustic/electric into a PA.
Hi Bill, I actually have a trinity in my Travis guitar, which is my main guitar. I absolutely love the trinity, but I find that I only use the mic to add a bit of air... which works really well. When listening to the trinity's mic by itself compared to the lyric, the lyric just blows it away... however, the trinity system as a whole works amazingly. I would love to someday add the lyric with the K&K in my Travis, but right now I am very very satisfied with the Trinity in that guitar.
It's all subjective, I guess, but to my ears: The Fishman had that typical sterile piezo sound. The K&K was better. The Lyric was best-sounded like the purest representation of the guitar's natural sound.
First up, great playing dude! The lyric blows the K&K away in this vid IMO, however I do need to ask if the K&K was run passive? It stands to reason the Lyric has the benefit of the onboard preamp ie is an active pickup, if so, ie perhaps not quite an apples/apples test.
The K&K Pure Mini wins to my ears. The Fishman UST is too boxy, the Lyric sounds too dark in the low frequencies and too thin for the high frequencies. For live situations you need the mid frequencies and overall more balanced freqs of the K&K.
If you had to choose between Lr baggs anthem and k & k pure, which of the two produces less feedback? which would be more useful to play with a band in different environments?
I usually reccomend the anthem even though I still don't have a guitar with it installed. I've run sound with others using it, and it seems to need less EQ & does a good job fighting feedback since it still uses an undersaddle. I still love the sound of my K&K's but sometimes find that I need to do more with EQ to get it where I want it.
Great playing and demo. The lyric does sound just a bit better than the K&K. I've had a Pure Western in my martin D15 for about long time, it's done quite well if you Eq out the large amount of bass response. I am starting to hunt for something else, but a quality preamp makes such a huge difference to the sound and the ability to provide decent headroom.
I lean towards the pure mini being the best sounding pup. I can't help but wonder if the less than optimal positioning of the lyric is negatively affecting it's tone. More specifically it's mid-range response.
I now know that the Lyric on my guitar is positioned correctly. The K&K is supposed to be "below" the bridge, and the Lyric is supposed to be "above" the bridge, or closer to the soundhole. Both pickups need eq to make them sound amazing. I was able to really tame the offending mid frequencies on the lyric with a parametric eq.
I was not, and yes, the inside is a mess!,,, Live, I typically use only two pickups together rather than all three. I have been running into an Ultrasound Di Max which has two inputs, which is helpful.
The Baggs sounded the most natural. I've owned K&K pickups the past and they're okay if you don't plug in a lot. Fishman always sounded tinny to me. And if you don't play plugged in a lot, the under saddle pickup robs a little sound from the guitar.
baggs win. sound even better when install in the right place. now it sound like an excellent second source, would try to mix it with a magnetic pickup.
Baggs is lightyears above the others. Sounds closest to your mic’d sound which is a natural acoustic sounds. I just ordered one to put in my Gibson j15 which has the Baggs element which is good but still slightly quacky like most under staddle piezo style pickups. Looking forward to getting that lyric installed.
@@VenancioPortalatin Thanks for the info! Do you find that there is a sufficient amount of bass? What's it like at high volumes on a stage? I have considered the Anthem or Anthem SL, but I really hate the 'quack' piezo sound and am worried that the Anthem might display some of that because of the Element part of the system.
@@douglasmackin9325 It's got a good balance overall. Plenty of bass without being too boomy. I love the lyric and have found it to be the most natural sounding pickup available. The main benefit to the Anthem is being able to blend a little of the element which has a great sound as well. My buddy has the Anthem and it sounds great but I have yet to buy one but have considered it because of it's flexibility. My issue with the Anthem SL however, is the lack of blend control which means you're stuck with the 50/50 blend which IMOP isn't as desirable as the full model. With all that being said all 3 models are far superior to other pickup options and you'd probably be happy with any choice.
Nice job Jason. (good playing too). It takes patience to install all those pickups. I'm using a fishman rare-earth sound hole blender that combines their magnetic sound hole pickup with a flexible condenser mic in my Lowden. Does the lyric have enough bass response to stand on it's own?
Thanks man, for me the Lyric doesn't have anywhere close to the bass response needed. However, that's mostly because I do a lot of solo acoustic fingerstyle & such where I want more than enough low end. In full band situations, I find the Lyric's bass response to be enough. If the acoustic is just 1/4th of the full sound, and you have a bass instrument playing, it can sit just great in the mix.
I'd like to put an LR Baggs Anthem or Lyric on my Taylor 414ce, but I'm concerned about whether the little bit that sits near the sound hole will fit as there's bracing there? I wouldn't mind removing it as long as it doesn't alter the guitar's sound!
Thank you for the comparison demo, and that's some great playing. Is that all your own material? Any chance on a tab for that hammer on riffery bit? Were you using any preamp during this demo?
Sounds great! I've got a Baggs m1a in my taylor 714 but I am considering putting a jjb (similar to k&k) into my inexpensive Ibanez 12 fret parlor... The combination of the 3 sounded best to me
Great Video Jason, I personally liked the LR Baggs lyric better. Btw, how did you get two cables plugged in? I have a Taylor too, and I like the stock Expression System for strumming but not finger picking. I'd like to get a Lyric and keep both systems in, but don't know how..
On my guitar I drilled another hole & installed the lyric jack. It was a pretty install for someone like me with not a lot of skill in guitar work. I've seen people take out there ES systems, but if I had one, I would definitely keep it, and when possible use both. I find that in some situations it is still helpful to use my stock Fishman Undersaddle pickup. Glad I didn't take it out.
Jason Great guitar playing! I have a Taylor GS8 and I'm about to get rid of the ES because it always breaks down, I'm replacing it with the LR BAGGS LYRIC Could you tell me if you think I'm doing the right thing or not. The input socket on the ES was replaced and now the sensors have blew, so I've had enough and it always sounded Jazzy to me. Would love to hear your opinion and I notice you are using the ES with your Taylor here.
I think the Lyric could be a great fit for your GS. I do think the lyric requires more involved EQing. In fact, I don't even like using mine if I don't have a either a parametric or at least a graphic EQ. In this video and occasionally in live situations, I mix the lyric with the built in Fishman that came with my 310. This guitar was made before Taylor was installing the ES. My personal favorite single pickup is the K&K pure mini for most live situations. Mixing the K&K with Lyric is pretty amazing. The Lyric lacks in low end in my opinion, which should be taken with a grain of salt. I installed it myself, and couldn't place it in the recommended space due to where the K&K was already installed. In full-band situations with Bass and Drums I don't feel I need as much low end, and the lyric has fit in very nicely after taking the time to EQ. For those that like the lyric, but don't want to say goodbye to great low-end and that difficult-to-define "punchiness" that comes from pickups, I recommend looking into the LR Bagg's Anthem. If I was you, and the ES isn't totally a piece of junk, I would think about combining the ES with the Lyric. This would much more involved and way less intuitive, but could give some great results.
Jason Swanson Thank you Jason for taking the time to share this. Yes I'm afraid the ES is Junk, it has a very poor reputation here in Ireland, in fact I would extend that to the whole world. I have never heard of anyone wanting an ES fitted to their Gibson-Martin-Collings-Lowden-Avalon etc. When looking up the word Elaborate in a encyclopedia they should show a picture of the expression system. Taylor guitars have such a good name I guess they wanted to cash in on the pickup market but FAILED there are few budget pickups worse. The Fishman Prefix is the best pickup it's in my Avalon acoustic but I can't cut a hole in my beautiful Taylor, if I could get a Prefix that fitted inside the Taylor I would be in guitar Heaven. Thanks again!
Hey buddy nice playing. I also have a question if you don't mind helping me out for just a second. By Fishman UST are you talking about the Fishman Matrix Infinity pickup to be exact? Is that the pickup you were demonstrating here first? I love the sound you were getting with the first pickup and just want to make sure I get the right pickup system to put into my Taylor. Not really digging the new ES2 right now that comes with the Taylor guitars. Appreciate it!
+ricky elee Hi, by fishman UST, I am referring to the undersaddle pickup that used to come with taylor guitars way back in the day. I'm actually not sure which exact UST pickup they sell now is the same, but to me most USTs sound the same.
+Jason Swanson Thanks a lot for the reply! I get what you mean now. I'm pretty sure the ES2 system on the new Taylor guitars are also USTs but the sound that they produce when plugged in is nothing like the sound you're getting here. Mine sounds more metallic, while yours sounds more smooth and scooped which I love, sort of how like a Martin sounds when it's plugged in. Do you know if the new ES2 equipped Taylors are capable of somehow getting them to sound like yours does? Simple EQing isn't doing the trick. It's more of a character tonal difference not really a EQ issue you know? I might just have to swap it out with a Fishman UST if there's no solution.
I didn't know that the ES2 got rid of body sensors... seems like a bad move. I think your best sound will be with either a K&K pure (which this video doesn't do justice) of the LR Baggs anthem. The anthem seems like a great option for you because you seem to like the sound of undersaddle pickups, but it blends a mic signal in a beautiful way. I think I just went into my focusrite interface for this video. Now days I am using a Pod HD500 and Boss Line selector pedal, while always looking into new ways of doing thing.
ruclips.net/video/K3xYGxjcUQo/видео.html After listening to the ES2... I think there's reason to want to keep it. If you're okay with a more complicated setup (which you might not be),,, I would think about adding a mic (lyric) to it and mixing the two outboard. That may not be worth it, but I think the best way to reproduce an acoustic instrument is with a Mic (or K&K Pure pickups which are awesome).
hi! amazing playing! can you tell me - did you also try the l.r.baggs anthem...? if yes - for allround use - would you prefer the lyric or the anthem...? thanks a lot! rudi
I've heard nothing but great things about the Anthem as well. (A bit pricier than the Lyric though). A Baggs rep told me over year ago that they we're going to discontinue it in favor of the Lyric, but maybe they had a change of heart. That will be my next purchase.
I don't have much experience with the anthem but it seems great. The only thing that kept me from it was how much I liked the K&K over any UST. But hey, since the UST on the Anthem is only for low end, I'm sure it has much less quack.
nice playing! and good comparison, I was wounding if there is the a way to blend Taylor es2 pickup and LR baggs anthem, I mean having both of them working as one system, getting an output through one guitar jack....thanks
wondering this myself. though, I think the lyric would be the better mix with the es2. if you look at the end pin assembly of the es2 system, all the leads (on the little circuit board) are clearly labeled so I would think this would be possible in theory.
The final mix sounds so good! I never liked a UST before but it seems that your fishman added something good to your sound. Did you face any phase problems during mixing? Did you keep the EQ flat?
My research is that Lyric has less bottom than the K and K. It is very representative of a more pure true guitar acoustic tone amplified, but a lot of folks don't like the lack of bottom.
Hi Jason, you're a great guitar player. I was surprised no one asked you how you can combine the three pickups together. I have a trinity system and I'd like to add a Lr baggs lyric (from the moment I saw your video), is it even possible ? How can it be combined ? what, from your point of view, in the sound will change ? Thanks
Hey Greg, I use an Ultrasound DI Max to mix the either the Lyric+K&K or Lyric+Fishman. The reason I go with the fishman rather than K&K is because the K&K sometimes needs more eq help, and it's more convenient to use the the fishman because of its more detailed eq control on the preamp. Also, it helped to flip the phase on the K&K, which I can do with the Ultrasound. To add the lyric I had to drill another hole and use another cord. I think adding the lyric to your trinity would be an improvement, but it would also be an added hassle. I have a trinity installed my handmade Travis guitar, and I'm so happy with it still that I don't think it needs the Lyric. The mic for the Trinity is great for adding a bit of air and being able to hear body percussion better, but I find that it's best when it's only about 10% of the overall sound. But really, that's all i think it needs. The Lyric blows away the K&K mic, but since the K&K Pure (& the whole trinity system) is so great, I don't feel the need to add a Lyric in that guitar. Also, the lyric sounds the best and most real in this video, but what I need live is the power and thickness of the K&K. The lyric has almost no umph, and the K&K is much less lifelike. Because of this, they compliment each other well.
Hi ! It's the second video making comparison between Fishman Infinity, L.R.Baggs M80, and K&K mini that I watch, and each time, I've prefered the K&K sound, even if my best guitars got L.R.Baggs preamps. Will search to see the prices of those pick ups. Does someone know if we can find those pick ups in the guitars of a brand or if we must buy the pick up and "put it" in the guitar ?Thanks for this video. CIAO BYE !
I'm not sure, but I've heard that Larivee is installing some new LR Baggs pick ups in their guitars. I've never heard of anyone installing K&K tickets into their guitars at the factory. This could possibly be due to the fact that the pure mini is a very permanent installation.
Jason Swanson Hi ! First, thanks a lot for having answered to me. Like you said, K&K is a permanent installation, and that's what I want. It's a guitar that I got that's just acoustic, and I wanna be able to amplify it, so I was thinking of the K&K mini cause of its sound. But anyway, I already got 4 guitar that I can amplify, 1 steel strings Acoustic-Electric guitar +1 nylon strings acoustic-electric too, and two electric guitars. Thanks again. CIAO BYE !
Hi Jason. Is this just one take reproduced 4 times? IMOH, the sound, playing and your facial expressions are just the same each time..... I guess I was just "Nerdy" enough to spot it. Am I the only one? Good spoof - well done!
+Jason Swanson Hi Jason. Thank you for the reply. How can there be a comparison if it's the same recording repeated 4 times? I think the viewers should know this or they may try to use your video to make expensive decisions. Amazing how many seem to have fallen for it!
+Chris Moreton - all the pickups are installed, so all 4 were recorded at the same time. He didn't play it again so there's a single take to use as an honest comparison.
Hey, that's great Jason! Combining them sounded just like a mic to me. I wonder though, have you tried the K&K trinity system? That basically puts a mini mic with the Pure Mini system. I'm curious as to how K&K's mic w/Pure Mini would stack up against using the Pure Mini with the Lyric.
Good job. I've got the Baggs Lyric and Baggs Element installed with 2 jacks in the end block running off one lithium 9 volt. Sometimes I run the Element into a compact bass amp and then Lyric into an electric guitar amp or stereo compact acoustic amp My best sound comes from this biamping or using a single 15 speaker and a clean tube amp. Funny thing - I find the Lyric doesn't do so well with my acoustic preamps but sounds great with a Tech 21 Blonde set clean (mostly). I think if I traded the Element for the Pure Mini I'd be happier. Does the Pure Mini feed back as easily as the Lyric? BTW: I've seen Tommy Emmanuel 3 times. Lotsa great pickers, but nobody like 'em.
That sounds like a great setup with the bass amp. I haven't yet tried anything in the electric guitar amp category yet, but that's interesting. I think the K&K would be a much better companion than the element. It's much more feedback resistant than the Lyric, but definitely much more prone to feedback when compared to an under saddle transducer. I have played in fairly loud environments with the K&K, and have found that as long as I have a parametric eq and/or a notch filter, I can avoid most feedback.
Jason Swanson One more technique I'll mention: With the separate compact bass amp (even a sub works) and the electric or acoustic amp configuration, I'll use a Rolls Tiny Two-Way Crossover to split the line from the guitar (Lyric only or mixed with the Element) into the two amps. What is great about this... I've got the crossover frequency I can adjust, I've got all the levels right there to adjust and I run any effects on the output to the "high freq" side and leave the bass clean. Makes for a much tighter sound. Cheers.
Thank you for your various reviews, and nice playing as well!... for small to mid-range venues, for optimal flexibility, would you chose Anthem with Lr Baggs Venue DI or K&K trinity system with external preamp? Cheers from Paris, T
Both are great. Anthem is probably a little easier to use & EQ for live use. The venue DI looks great & pretty adjustable. You could even use a venue DI with a k&k pure pickup and preamp before it. The K&K preamps make the pickup sound great, but most don't have EQ with adjustable frequency and bandwidth. I love my K&K's because they have less of a "piezo quack" than an undersaddle pickup. I would recommend listening to both systems through PA speakers & picking the one you liked more.
Thank you so much for your quick response... I likewise am sensitive to the piezo quack... I was wondering about pairing up the DI with the K&K trinity... thank you for your insight there! Bonne journée!
Hi Jason, great job! I installed the pure mini into my guitar few years ago: I loved the tone but I felt a great lack of attack... I always felt lost in the mix even playing in duo. In your opinion the does the lyric seem to have more attack?
Man I’m debating on buying the K and K, and putting it in a Taylor 214 which does not have a pick up, the question is whether I should just hold out and wait to find a Taylor with the expression 2 system or install this pick up, I guess it’s going to run me at least 150 for installation plus if I want to buy the hundred dollar preamp. I’m not really sure I could install it myself, especially the whole drilling part, I heard you need to get a special drillbit but it would be nice to save you a few bucks
If you like the sound of the expression 2, that’s not a bad option. I’ve heard 14 series Taylors with K&K, they sound great. Also, lately I’ve been skipping my k&k preamp & going straight into my HX stomp and it sounds good. Haven’t a/b tested it yet though.
@@jasondswanson Sweet man, I wasn't aware of that pedal, but shoot for $600 I hope it sounds good! lol dang! I have TC Helicon Acoustic Live so I'm assuming it will sound pretty nice through that as well...
@@DanielGennaro It may just work great with that. I've also plugged into my TC pedal directly and have liked the sound. I'm on the fringes of my knowledge here when it comes to impedance & preamp matching. Best of luck.
Lyric by a mile IMO. Sounds the most authentic/natural to me, you know, like an acoustic guitar vs. the electrified piezo quack or PUP sounding tones of the other two.
The piezo sounds pretty nasty to me. Think I'll be staying away from those. I used to gig with one guitar, but because I sometimes play in a different key, I picked up a second electro acoustic. Now I'm presented with a few problems. 1) The new guitar's pick-up is a lot different in character, so it makes switching between the two a bit jarring. 2) The plastic latch broke on my old guitar's battery compartment and I don't think I can get a replacement. I wanted to maybe put the same kind of pick-up that my new guitar has in it, but the old guitar's system is different (preamp and battery compartment on the side vs sound-hole controls with battery compartment near the end pin). That means I have to either get a similar system to the one I already have or get a new one and have either a useless preamp, a gaping hole or... I don't know. 3) I've just watched a demo of the LR Baggs Anthem and now want to kit out five guitars with them, which is completely unrealistic financially unless I win the lottery. 4) I don't buy lottery tickets. Sorry for the life story. I was only going to type the first line but thought I'd share. Didn't realise how long it would take to explain.
I didnt see. But, wich preamp did u used on KK pure mini ? It has 1M impedance(reading a lot about kk pure problems with preamps that doesnt have matched impedance) I´m asking cause i liked the tone that u got with KK. Have eq too ?
Jason, I have a question for you...do you get a lot of "noise" from your k&k? Not sure if mine is installed incorrectly because it picks up EVERYTHING, from tapping on the neck and headstock to my voice as I sing. It's installed in a Recording King RP-10 single O parlor running through a Baggs Venue. Thoughts?
I wouldn't say that the lyric is noisy for me, but yes it does pickup everything on the guitar. Even my k&k soundboard transducer (with no mic) picks up my vocals. This is just the nature of using a microphone. I personally don't mind the extra sounds coming through. If you see a guitarist like Tommy Emmanuel, you can hear every little movement of the guitar.
I have an extra hole for the lyric, and the K&K was wired into the "ring" portion of the output jack that was already on my unitary for the fish man system.
Hey Jason, Have you tried the lyric under loud settings like in a band.. Will other instruments cause the lyric to have a feedback? Since it's a microphone..
I have used it with a band, but not an excessively loud band. I think that you should be fine as long as you use a feedback buster, and have eq at your disposal to notch out unruly frequencies.
There's one better than the Lyric: the Anthem. It handles feedback better, it's dual source and it has the Lyric sound with just a tad of more bass and balance
Rode Mic 0:22
Fishman 1:27
K&K 2:18
L.R. Baggs 3:09
I prefer the microphone, then L.R Baggs, K&K and Fishman.
💛
I don't think it's nerdy. We need these kind of videos to let us hear the difference in these pickups. So thank you! I would go with the L.R. Baggs because to my ears it sounded the most natural. The other two pickups sounded quacky.
Rode - 0:23
K&K - 2:33
Lyric - 3:25
LR Baggs Lyric does it for me.... sounds legitimately real.
LR Baggs all the way. The others sound brittle and tinny.
The sound of the blended pickups was pretty epic!
The problem of LR baggs is the feedback when you touch in live, for record is excellent. the sound is very natural. good video.
lr baggs Lyric is the best by far. Awesome video.
Excellent comparison. UST gives great clarity but has that piezo sound, while Lyric is the most natural. K&K sounds like a great in between.
In this demo the lyric was the most natural and best sounding by a mile. I wasn't expecting it to be that way either as I imagined the k&k would win.
Thanks for this video, very well done. Also, compliments to the Baggs guys, they manage to make the best pickup on the planet, it's a truly an innovation in history of acoustic guitar amplification
lr bagss is beast
more natural
L.R. Baggs for me. The most natural sound and liked how it picked up the RH slaps between those cool hammer-on licks you were doing. Thanks for the demo. Bought the L.R. Baggs M80 a while back, but the Lryic is much better IMO. Time to go shopping again.
The Lyric wins by miles - the others don't sound bad though.
Great playing, Jason!
You could also buy the lr baggs anthem which has a piezo AND a tru mic and you'll get the best of both worlds.
Exactly, and the anthem sounds amazing. I think for a lot of people it’s the right choice. I’m still in love with the K&K’s on my guitars
I installed a Lyric behind the pins on my Bourgeois dreadnought because I didn't think there was enough space on the bridge plate to place the mic in front. It didn't sound all that great so I contacted Bourgeois to find out where they install them. Their engineer told me that it should fit in front and if it overhangs a little it's alright because it is not contact with the bridge plate that matters as much as location of the mic. I pulled it off and relocated in front of the pins and he was right, it made a significant difference for the better.
Excellent work, Jason.
First off...nice guitar and nice playing! To my ears I find the LR Baggs most natural and brings the sound out nicely. Thanks for the review. Very helpful!
Nice playing...nice comparison. I like the Lyric and the K&K, but I'm in the process of removing the ES from my Taylor and installing a Lyric.
The Lyric is great, have you made the switch yet?
Jason Swanson
Yes...actually, did the installation that is similar to yours. I pulled out the Taylor ES system, which to my ears, had the much-talked about hot B and high E strings. Removing this system was not difficult. I installed both a K & K Pure Mini and the Baggs Lyric.
My installation seems like it might be similar to yours...the K&K just forward of the strings, and the Lyric just 'aft'. There is barely enough wood on the undersaddle to place the Lyric, but it works. There is significant difference between the two...both in inherent sound characteristics, and in the way they need to be EQ'd.
My source of mixing is with an Ultrasound DS4 amp, which I then feed to the house system. I'm not impressed with this set up. I also have a Baggs Venue, which allows me a lot of EQ options, but I'm not overly impressed there either. I wonder about the D-TAR Solstice, which features two channels of preamp pleasure, and separate EQ possibilities for each pickup. I was hoping the blend of these two would provide the holy grail of acoustic amplification. We'll see.
There is also some thought to the K&K needing a slightly different impedance match than most other pickups. Evidently, the proprietary K&K preamp is highly regarded.
I'm not crazy about the pickups but I absolutely LOVE the way you play!
LR Baggs Lyric for me. Nice comparison!
good job, sir. You have finally found a combination of acoustic pickups that don't make an expensive plugged-in guitar sound like total trash. hats off
When you're looking for microphone-sounding most natural sound, the best choice is lyric. K&K still sound like a pickup (even if it's surely better than that buzzing piezo!), the Lyric is the only one sounding like a guitar. I am looking for comparisons with K&K which is the only alternative but I think i'm gonna buy another lyric for my additional new guitar. You need to preamp that, but hey, it's completely worth.
Wow! The Lyric definitely sounds the most natural out of this lot
Zachary- I use the condenser microphone, a Rode Nt1a for reference. It definitely sounds the best, but I would never use a studio mic like that live, mostly because in most situations it would cause a lot of feedback problems.
Just for future reference, "Rode" is either Røde or Roede (in lack of an Ø on a non-scandinavian keyboard), and it is pronounced with a soft danish D like a "th" sound. Roetheh. Great comparison though :)
Thanks! As a former Rare Earth Blend owner, I agree on KK mini! thank you!!!
I’m into the LR Baggs as well. I have it on a Breedlove. Beautiful.
For percussive attacks, the Lyric is much better. Yes, the Pure mini does well with hits of the top of the guitar, but if you also want percussive attacks on the side of the guitar you will need something like the lyric. I may do a video comparing these systems in regards to percussive playing.
The fishman is a non starter, the lyric sounded dull, but the K&K had a fuller, clearer sound to my ears. Thanks for the comparisons.
I still love K&K’s in my guitars, but now I often reccomend the anthem system too.
One of these days I believe I'm going to try adding the Lyric to my Taylor in conjunction with it's Expression System. I had been thinking of adding a mini mic, but this may just be the best answer.
Love the Rode!!! The blend you did was nice too. Nice playing sir!
I have a K&K Pure Mini on my Blueridge BR-341 and it sounds very natural to my ears but the L.R. Baggs lyric sounds heavy and a little bit raw to my ears, a fine combination.
I use a saffire 4 channel interface, and I do not use an amp. Since this was mainly a test, I wanted to make it simple as possible on the front end.
thanks i was just looking at the Anthem. thanks for the video
In my opinion, mixed option is the best followed by the L.RB Lyric :))
Terrific video! I'm nerdy enough to watch it twice. I have the lr baggs m1 active, but the lyric sounds amazing. Again, great video, thank you for sharing :-)
Great video, Jason! I think Anthem is a good Idea but only when you don't have a good mic. Best setup so far is a classic mic+under saddle piezo IMHO.
Great job - thanks for sharing the info. Liked that you played the same music for each, and you varied the style so we can hear something like what we might play. Well thought out. And, using the mic as a reference part so we know what your guitar sounds like in the open air - also smart. I think the LR Baggs Lyric shined in this 3 pickup comparison, despite that you had to mount it behind the peg holes.
ANuisanceRockBand in this video, it does sound better and more natural. However, in live use, I usually prefer one of the other pickups, if I am only going to use one.
Jason Swanson Thanks for the video, really one of the better planned comparisons. Now, tell me why you prefer the less accurate sounding pick-ups when you play live? Is it because the Lyric is more prone to feedback because it uses a mic, or is there another reason?
Great vid man. Lyric sounds nice, I don't mind the k and k, and the fishman..... Urgh!!! The blend at the end sounds pretty sweet though dude!
I have the Lyric in my Collings. Ok at low volume, but at bar gig volume boxy and prone to feedback. All the systems seem to have weaknesses and none can translate the beauty of a quality acoustic. The best recreation is to play in front of an SM57, but that presents its own issues.
Hi Jason, I'm in a bit of a pickle. I've had the lyric in my Martin D-35 for a couple years and have never come to love it - live, or recording. As you said, lots of high end with minimal low for such a beautiful low end guitar (duhhhh on my end) plus the constant eq'ing needed has been a pain. So I'm looking for something simpler, especially with more low end that brings more of the entire natural sound acoustically to life.
I really like what the Fishman matrix sounds like on a friend of mine's Laravee - but I'm still doing my homework. You mentioned 2 pickups in one acoustic guitar - that'a a thing? My guitar tech said I should be taking my Lyric out before installing a new one - even if one is under saddle while the other is soundhole. Technically I can keep it installed and switch back and forth, but you're speaking on having both played live?
I've been recording and gigging more and more but realizing through doing more homework that my knowledge in this subject is limited to my experience - which is just a few years with one pickup.
Any direction is greatly appreciated! The thing about this is, as much homework as I'm doing, you never truly know if it's the correct choice longterm until you've bought, played and recorded or gigged with it for a few months! Plus, with the Lyricvthere is no chance of resale as the glue and velcro that is used to install is only good once - LR Baggs relayed this themselves to me.
Thank you in advance,
Sincerely,
Tyler
Great comparison man! The LR Baggs smoked the other two pickups. The K&K and the Fishman might be well-loved by some, but they have that awful fartiness that makes me never want to plug an acoustic/electric into a PA.
LR Baggs for me... Great review...
Hi Bill, I actually have a trinity in my Travis guitar, which is my main guitar. I absolutely love the trinity, but I find that I only use the mic to add a bit of air... which works really well. When listening to the trinity's mic by itself compared to the lyric, the lyric just blows it away... however, the trinity system as a whole works amazingly. I would love to someday add the lyric with the K&K in my Travis, but right now I am very very satisfied with the Trinity in that guitar.
It's all subjective, I guess, but to my ears: The Fishman had that typical sterile piezo sound. The K&K was better. The Lyric was best-sounded like the purest representation of the guitar's natural sound.
First up, great playing dude! The lyric blows the K&K away in this vid IMO, however I do need to ask if the K&K was run passive? It stands to reason the Lyric has the benefit of the onboard preamp ie is an active pickup, if so, ie perhaps not quite an apples/apples test.
The K&K Pure Mini wins to my ears. The Fishman UST is too boxy, the Lyric sounds too dark in the low frequencies and too thin for the high frequencies. For live situations you need the mid frequencies and overall more balanced freqs of the K&K.
If you had to choose between Lr baggs anthem and k & k pure, which of the two produces less feedback? which would be more useful to play with a band in different environments?
I usually reccomend the anthem even though I still don't have a guitar with it installed. I've run sound with others using it, and it seems to need less EQ & does a good job fighting feedback since it still uses an undersaddle. I still love the sound of my K&K's but sometimes find that I need to do more with EQ to get it where I want it.
Interested to see what and LR Baggs iMix combination with the M80 might be like.
Great playing and demo. The lyric does sound just a bit better than the K&K. I've had a Pure Western in my martin D15 for about long time, it's done quite well if you Eq out the large amount of bass response. I am starting to hunt for something else, but a quality preamp makes such a huge difference to the sound and the ability to provide decent headroom.
rodgeComAu true, a good preamp and a parametric eq can be very helpful
I lean towards the pure mini being the best sounding pup. I can't help but wonder if the less than optimal positioning of the lyric is negatively affecting it's tone. More specifically it's mid-range response.
I now know that the Lyric on my guitar is positioned correctly. The K&K is supposed to be "below" the bridge, and the Lyric is supposed to be "above" the bridge, or closer to the soundhole. Both pickups need eq to make them sound amazing. I was able to really tame the offending mid frequencies on the lyric with a parametric eq.
I was not, and yes, the inside is a mess!,,, Live, I typically use only two pickups together rather than all three. I have been running into an Ultrasound Di Max which has two inputs, which is helpful.
sounds awesome! thanks por sharing!
The Baggs sounded the most natural. I've owned K&K pickups the past and they're okay if you don't plug in a lot. Fishman always sounded tinny to me. And if you don't play plugged in a lot, the under saddle pickup robs a little sound from the guitar.
baggs win. sound even better when install in the right place. now it sound like an excellent second source, would try to mix it with a magnetic pickup.
I like the K&K... I use a D-Tar which I widely recomend...And Mr Deats advice is also valuable, a mic in front of the soundhole.
K&K wins in my book. I've thought about using an outboard mic live, but I'd be worried about feedback & not being able to move around as much.
Jason Swanson
Of course, a microphone is the best in studio conditions...Thanks for posting.
Great job man!💛
Baggs is lightyears above the others. Sounds closest to your mic’d sound which is a natural acoustic sounds. I just ordered one to put in my Gibson j15 which has the Baggs element which is good but still slightly quacky like most under staddle piezo style pickups. Looking forward to getting that lyric installed.
Hi, only just saw this comment as I am considering installing a Lyric into a J-15. How does your J-15 sound with the Lyric installed?
@@douglasmackin9325 it sounds awesome. I have since put one in my other acoustic. The Anthem also is amazing if you don’t mind spending $100 more.
@@VenancioPortalatin Thanks for the info! Do you find that there is a sufficient amount of bass? What's it like at high volumes on a stage?
I have considered the Anthem or Anthem SL, but I really hate the 'quack' piezo sound and am worried that the Anthem might display some of that because of the Element part of the system.
@@douglasmackin9325 It's got a good balance overall. Plenty of bass without being too boomy. I love the lyric and have found it to be the most natural sounding pickup available. The main benefit to the Anthem is being able to blend a little of the element which has a great sound as well. My buddy has the Anthem and it sounds great but I have yet to buy one but have considered it because of it's flexibility. My issue with the Anthem SL however, is the lack of blend control which means you're stuck with the 50/50 blend which IMOP isn't as desirable as the full model. With all that being said all 3 models are far superior to other pickup options and you'd probably be happy with any choice.
Nice job Jason. (good playing too). It takes patience to install all those pickups. I'm using a fishman rare-earth sound hole blender that combines their magnetic sound hole pickup with a flexible condenser mic in my Lowden. Does the lyric have enough bass response to stand on it's own?
Thanks man, for me the Lyric doesn't have anywhere close to the bass response needed. However, that's mostly because I do a lot of solo acoustic fingerstyle & such where I want more than enough low end. In full band situations, I find the Lyric's bass response to be enough. If the acoustic is just 1/4th of the full sound, and you have a bass instrument playing, it can sit just great in the mix.
I'd like to put an LR Baggs Anthem or Lyric on my Taylor 414ce, but I'm concerned about whether the little bit that sits near the sound hole will fit as there's bracing there? I wouldn't mind removing it as long as it doesn't alter the guitar's sound!
Thank you for the comparison demo, and that's some great playing. Is that all your own material? Any chance on a tab for that hammer on riffery bit? Were you using any preamp during this demo?
Sounds great! I've got a Baggs m1a in my taylor 714 but I am considering putting a jjb (similar to k&k) into my inexpensive Ibanez 12 fret parlor... The combination of the 3 sounded best to me
Rode Mic: 0:22
Fishman UST 1:29
K&K 2:18
Lyric 3:09
Great Video Jason, I personally liked the LR Baggs lyric better. Btw, how did you get two cables plugged in? I have a Taylor too, and I like the stock Expression System for strumming but not finger picking. I'd like to get a Lyric and keep both systems in, but don't know how..
On my guitar I drilled another hole & installed the lyric jack. It was a pretty install for someone like me with not a lot of skill in guitar work. I've seen people take out there ES systems, but if I had one, I would definitely keep it, and when possible use both. I find that in some situations it is still helpful to use my stock Fishman Undersaddle pickup. Glad I didn't take it out.
Jason Great guitar playing! I have a Taylor GS8 and I'm about to get rid of the ES because it always breaks down, I'm replacing it with the LR BAGGS LYRIC Could you tell me if you think I'm doing the right thing or not. The input socket on the ES was replaced and now the sensors have blew, so I've had enough and it always sounded Jazzy to me. Would love to hear your opinion and I notice you are using the ES with your Taylor here.
I think the Lyric could be a great fit for your GS. I do think the lyric requires more involved EQing. In fact, I don't even like using mine if I don't have a either a parametric or at least a graphic EQ.
In this video and occasionally in live situations, I mix the lyric with the built in Fishman that came with my 310. This guitar was made before Taylor was installing the ES.
My personal favorite single pickup is the K&K pure mini for most live situations. Mixing the K&K with Lyric is pretty amazing.
The Lyric lacks in low end in my opinion, which should be taken with a grain of salt. I installed it myself, and couldn't place it in the recommended space due to where the K&K was already installed.
In full-band situations with Bass and Drums I don't feel I need as much low end, and the lyric has fit in very nicely after taking the time to EQ.
For those that like the lyric, but don't want to say goodbye to great low-end and that difficult-to-define "punchiness" that comes from pickups, I recommend looking into the LR Bagg's Anthem.
If I was you, and the ES isn't totally a piece of junk, I would think about combining the ES with the Lyric. This would much more involved and way less intuitive, but could give some great results.
Jason Swanson Thank you Jason for taking the time to share this. Yes I'm afraid the ES is Junk, it has a very poor reputation here in Ireland, in fact I would extend that to the whole world. I have never heard of anyone wanting an ES fitted to their Gibson-Martin-Collings-Lowden-Avalon etc. When looking up the word Elaborate in a encyclopedia they should show a picture of the expression system. Taylor guitars have such a good name I guess they wanted to cash in on the pickup market but FAILED there are few budget pickups worse. The Fishman Prefix is the best pickup it's in my Avalon acoustic but I can't cut a hole in my beautiful Taylor, if I could get a Prefix that fitted inside the Taylor I would be in guitar Heaven. Thanks again!
Lyric sounds pretty solid!
Hey buddy nice playing. I also have a question if you don't mind helping me out for just a second. By Fishman UST are you talking about the Fishman Matrix Infinity pickup to be exact? Is that the pickup you were demonstrating here first? I love the sound you were getting with the first pickup and just want to make sure I get the right pickup system to put into my Taylor. Not really digging the new ES2 right now that comes with the Taylor guitars. Appreciate it!
+ricky elee Hi, by fishman UST, I am referring to the undersaddle pickup that used to come with taylor guitars way back in the day. I'm actually not sure which exact UST pickup they sell now is the same, but to me most USTs sound the same.
+Jason Swanson Thanks a lot for the reply! I get what you mean now. I'm pretty sure the ES2 system on the new Taylor guitars are also USTs but the sound that they produce when plugged in is nothing like the sound you're getting here. Mine sounds more metallic, while yours sounds more smooth and scooped which I love, sort of how like a Martin sounds when it's plugged in. Do you know if the new ES2 equipped Taylors are capable of somehow getting them to sound like yours does? Simple EQing isn't doing the trick. It's more of a character tonal difference not really a EQ issue you know? I might just have to swap it out with a Fishman UST if there's no solution.
+Jason Swanson Also are you using any DI Box here? Maybe that has something to do with it? J/W, thanks!
I didn't know that the ES2 got rid of body sensors... seems like a bad move. I think your best sound will be with either a K&K pure (which this video doesn't do justice) of the LR Baggs anthem. The anthem seems like a great option for you because you seem to like the sound of undersaddle pickups, but it blends a mic signal in a beautiful way.
I think I just went into my focusrite interface for this video. Now days I am using a Pod HD500 and Boss Line selector pedal, while always looking into new ways of doing thing.
ruclips.net/video/K3xYGxjcUQo/видео.html
After listening to the ES2... I think there's reason to want to keep it. If you're okay with a more complicated setup (which you might not be),,, I would think about adding a mic (lyric) to it and mixing the two outboard. That may not be worth it, but I think the best way to reproduce an acoustic instrument is with a Mic (or K&K Pure pickups which are awesome).
hi! amazing playing! can you tell me - did you also try the l.r.baggs anthem...? if yes - for allround use - would you prefer the lyric or the anthem...?
thanks a lot!
rudi
I've heard nothing but great things about the Anthem as well. (A bit pricier than the Lyric though). A Baggs rep told me over year ago that they we're going to discontinue it in favor of the Lyric, but maybe they had a change of heart. That will be my next purchase.
I don't have much experience with the anthem but it seems great. The only thing that kept me from it was how much I liked the K&K over any UST. But hey, since the UST on the Anthem is only for low end, I'm sure it has much less quack.
What model of Taylor is that guitar? It is very beatyfull and sounds very well. I like it so much.
Have not heard the anthem live. Seems like a good idea.
nice playing! and good comparison, I was wounding if there is the a way to blend Taylor es2 pickup and LR baggs anthem, I mean having both of them working as one system, getting an output through one guitar jack....thanks
wondering this myself. though, I think the lyric would be the better mix with the es2. if you look at the end pin assembly of the es2 system, all the leads (on the little circuit board) are clearly labeled so I would think this would be possible in theory.
The final mix sounds so good! I never liked a UST before but it seems that your fishman added something good to your sound. Did you face any phase problems during mixing? Did you keep the EQ flat?
My research is that Lyric has less bottom than the K and K. It is very representative of a more pure true guitar acoustic tone amplified, but a lot of folks don't like the lack of bottom.
+jimmy5634 Do you have an opinion on the Anthem yet? I've watched other guitarists use it live and I've been really impressed by it.
Hi Jason, you're a great guitar player. I was surprised no one asked you how you can combine the three pickups together. I have a trinity system and I'd like to add a Lr baggs lyric (from the moment I saw your video), is it even possible ? How can it be combined ? what, from your point of view, in the sound will change ? Thanks
Hey Greg, I use an Ultrasound DI Max to mix the either the Lyric+K&K or Lyric+Fishman. The reason I go with the fishman rather than K&K is because the K&K sometimes needs more eq help, and it's more convenient to use the the fishman because of its more detailed eq control on the preamp. Also, it helped to flip the phase on the K&K, which I can do with the Ultrasound.
To add the lyric I had to drill another hole and use another cord. I think adding the lyric to your trinity would be an improvement, but it would also be an added hassle. I have a trinity installed my handmade Travis guitar, and I'm so happy with it still that I don't think it needs the Lyric. The mic for the Trinity is great for adding a bit of air and being able to hear body percussion better, but I find that it's best when it's only about 10% of the overall sound. But really, that's all i think it needs. The Lyric blows away the K&K mic, but since the K&K Pure (& the whole trinity system) is so great, I don't feel the need to add a Lyric in that guitar.
Also, the lyric sounds the best and most real in this video, but what I need live is the power and thickness of the K&K. The lyric has almost no umph, and the K&K is much less lifelike. Because of this, they compliment each other well.
Thanks so much for your answer. I suppose you have 2 cables out of the guitar going to the DI then.
Hi ! It's the second video making comparison between Fishman Infinity, L.R.Baggs M80, and K&K mini that I watch, and each time, I've prefered the K&K sound, even if my best guitars got L.R.Baggs preamps. Will search to see the prices of those pick ups. Does someone know if we can find those pick ups in the guitars of a brand or if we must buy the pick up and "put it" in the guitar ?Thanks for this video. CIAO BYE !
I'm not sure, but I've heard that Larivee is installing some new LR Baggs pick ups in their guitars. I've never heard of anyone installing K&K tickets into their guitars at the factory. This could possibly be due to the fact that the pure mini is a very permanent installation.
Jason Swanson Hi ! First, thanks a lot for having answered to me. Like you said, K&K is a permanent installation, and that's what I want. It's a guitar that I got that's just acoustic, and I wanna be able to amplify it, so I was thinking of the K&K mini cause of its sound. But anyway, I already got 4 guitar that I can amplify, 1 steel strings Acoustic-Electric guitar +1 nylon strings acoustic-electric too, and two electric guitars. Thanks again. CIAO BYE !
I like the k&k.
Seems like the lyric is closest to the mic sound at the beginning although I like the extra bass in the blend at the end.
Hi Jason. Is this just one take reproduced 4 times? IMOH, the sound, playing and your facial expressions are just the same each time..... I guess I was just "Nerdy" enough to spot it. Am I the only one? Good spoof - well done!
+Chris Moreton Yep! good ear/eye. I thought that would make it the best comparison.
+Jason Swanson Hi Jason. Thank you for the reply. How can there be a comparison if it's the same recording repeated 4 times? I think the viewers should know this or they may try to use your video to make expensive decisions. Amazing how many seem to have fallen for it!
+Chris Moreton - all the pickups are installed, so all 4 were recorded at the same time. He didn't play it again so there's a single take to use as an honest comparison.
Ah.... Sorry for being such a muppet!
Hey, that's great Jason! Combining them sounded just like a mic to me. I wonder though, have you tried the K&K trinity system? That basically puts a mini mic with the Pure Mini system. I'm curious as to how K&K's mic w/Pure Mini would stack up against using the Pure Mini with the Lyric.
Good job. I've got the Baggs Lyric and Baggs Element installed with 2 jacks in the end block running off one lithium 9 volt. Sometimes I run the Element into a compact bass amp and then Lyric into an electric guitar amp or stereo compact acoustic amp My best sound comes from this biamping or using a single 15 speaker and a clean tube amp. Funny thing - I find the Lyric doesn't do so well with my acoustic preamps but sounds great with a Tech 21 Blonde set clean (mostly). I think if I traded the Element for the Pure Mini I'd be happier. Does the Pure Mini feed back as easily as the Lyric? BTW: I've seen Tommy Emmanuel 3 times. Lotsa great pickers, but nobody like 'em.
That sounds like a great setup with the bass amp. I haven't yet tried anything in the electric guitar amp category yet, but that's interesting. I think the K&K would be a much better companion than the element. It's much more feedback resistant than the Lyric, but definitely much more prone to feedback when compared to an under saddle transducer. I have played in fairly loud environments with the K&K, and have found that as long as I have a parametric eq and/or a notch filter, I can avoid most feedback.
Jason Swanson
One more technique I'll mention: With the separate compact bass amp (even a sub works) and the electric or acoustic amp configuration, I'll use a Rolls Tiny Two-Way Crossover to split the line from the guitar (Lyric only or mixed with the Element) into the two amps. What is great about this... I've got the crossover frequency I can adjust, I've got all the levels right there to adjust and I run any effects on the output to the "high freq" side and leave the bass clean. Makes for a much tighter sound. Cheers.
Thanks for doing this, it was helpfull!!
Thank you for your various reviews, and nice playing as well!... for small to mid-range venues, for optimal flexibility, would you chose Anthem with Lr Baggs Venue DI or K&K trinity system with external preamp? Cheers from Paris, T
Both are great. Anthem is probably a little easier to use & EQ for live use. The venue DI looks great & pretty adjustable.
You could even use a venue DI with a k&k pure pickup and preamp before it.
The K&K preamps make the pickup sound great, but most don't have EQ with adjustable frequency and bandwidth.
I love my K&K's because they have less of a "piezo quack" than an undersaddle pickup.
I would recommend listening to both systems through PA speakers & picking the one you liked more.
Thank you so much for your quick response... I likewise am sensitive to the piezo quack... I was wondering about pairing up the DI with the K&K trinity... thank you for your insight there! Bonne journée!
Hello Jason, thx for the interesting video. What guitar do u use?
Dat Blend!
That is quite sweet!
Hi Jason, great job! I installed the pure mini into my guitar few years ago: I loved the tone but I felt a great lack of attack... I always felt lost in the mix even playing in duo. In your opinion the does the lyric seem to have more attack?
I've never really had any issues with attack & any of my pickups. Maybe I'm too much of a novice to notice!
LR baggs lyric sounded the best or more natural to my ears ... I own the K&K pure mini .....
Man I’m debating on buying the K and K, and putting it in a Taylor 214 which does not have a pick up, the question is whether I should just hold out and wait to find a Taylor with the expression 2 system or install this pick up, I guess it’s going to run me at least 150 for installation plus if I want to buy the hundred dollar preamp. I’m not really sure I could install it myself, especially the whole drilling part, I heard you need to get a special drillbit but it would be nice to save you a few bucks
If you like the sound of the expression 2, that’s not a bad option. I’ve heard 14 series Taylors with K&K, they sound great.
Also, lately I’ve been skipping my k&k preamp & going straight into my HX stomp and it sounds good. Haven’t a/b tested it yet though.
@@jasondswanson Sweet man, I wasn't aware of that pedal, but shoot for $600 I hope it sounds good! lol dang! I have TC Helicon Acoustic Live so I'm assuming it will sound pretty nice through that as well...
@@DanielGennaro It may just work great with that. I've also plugged into my TC pedal directly and have liked the sound. I'm on the fringes of my knowledge here when it comes to impedance & preamp matching. Best of luck.
What kind of Taylor is that? It sounds great!
Lyric by a mile IMO. Sounds the most authentic/natural to me, you know, like an acoustic guitar vs. the electrified piezo quack or PUP sounding tones of the other two.
have you checked out the anthem??? its made by lrbaggs as well….. HEAVEN!! =D
Can you post some tabs for what you were playing? Namely the second part of each segment.
The piezo sounds pretty nasty to me. Think I'll be staying away from those.
I used to gig with one guitar, but because I sometimes play in a different key, I picked up a second electro acoustic. Now I'm presented with a few problems.
1) The new guitar's pick-up is a lot different in character, so it makes switching between the two a bit jarring.
2) The plastic latch broke on my old guitar's battery compartment and I don't think I can get a replacement. I wanted to maybe put the same kind of pick-up that my new guitar has in it, but the old guitar's system is different (preamp and battery compartment on the side vs sound-hole controls with battery compartment near the end pin). That means I have to either get a similar system to the one I already have or get a new one and have either a useless preamp, a gaping hole or... I don't know.
3) I've just watched a demo of the LR Baggs Anthem and now want to kit out five guitars with them, which is completely unrealistic financially unless I win the lottery.
4) I don't buy lottery tickets.
Sorry for the life story. I was only going to type the first line but thought I'd share. Didn't realise how long it would take to explain.
Which one: Fishman or K&K. BOTH are piezos. The difference is that one is a UST and the other is an SBT
Taylor's are excessively bright guitars that imho benefit from darker pickups to balance the tone.
I didnt see.
But, wich preamp did u used on KK pure mini ?
It has 1M impedance(reading a lot about kk pure problems with preamps that doesnt have matched impedance)
I´m asking cause i liked the tone that u got with KK.
Have eq too ?
Jason, I have a question for you...do you get a lot of "noise" from your k&k? Not sure if mine is installed incorrectly because it picks up EVERYTHING, from tapping on the neck and headstock to my voice as I sing. It's installed in a Recording King RP-10 single O parlor running through a Baggs Venue. Thoughts?
I wouldn't say that the lyric is noisy for me, but yes it does pickup everything on the guitar. Even my k&k soundboard transducer (with no mic) picks up my vocals. This is just the nature of using a microphone. I personally don't mind the extra sounds coming through. If you see a guitarist like Tommy Emmanuel, you can hear every little movement of the guitar.
Good video! Helpful.
Would it sound as good without that very impressive microphone?
Hey Jason, how did you get the blend of multiple pickups from 1 guitar? Did you drill extra holes in the guitar for the extra input jacks?
I have an extra hole for the lyric, and the K&K was wired into the "ring" portion of the output jack that was already on my unitary for the fish man system.
LR BAGGS Over Rule...! i heard that blindly hehe..
Hey Jason, Have you tried the lyric under loud settings like in a band.. Will other instruments cause the lyric to have a feedback? Since it's a microphone..
I have used it with a band, but not an excessively loud band. I think that you should be fine as long as you use a feedback buster, and have eq at your disposal to notch out unruly frequencies.
There's one better than the Lyric: the Anthem. It handles feedback better, it's dual source and it has the Lyric sound with just a tad of more bass and balance