Pub Night

Balancing work and play can be a challenge, especially when, like me, you take the two so very seriously.  A few years ago I started attending "pub night" at the Irish Heritage Center of Cincinnati, irishcenterofcincinnati.com a sort of open-mic event hosted by the gifted Mick McEvilley. I was surprised to find the number of performers, traditional and otherwise, donating their talents to the event. It was great to have a context for meeting musicians both  local and national, like singer, bodhranist, dancer and Sligo native, Mai Hernon. You can catch her on Youtube and elsewhere. She and Mick were always very welcoming and supportive. 

As time went on, though, my day job (or night job as the case was) placed new demands on me and my pub night attendance was placed upon the sacrificial altar. Fortunately for me, this too, took a turn a few months ago and I found myself wanting to return to my old haunt. But everything changes and, although pub night is now a much more attended event, some of my friends have moved on and even passed on.

Last night saw the return of Mick, Mai and myself as well as some new people attending the event for the first time. If you haven't been to pub night at the Irish Heritage Center of Cincinnati then maybe you should stop by.

LR Baggs M80/M1

Ok, now that you know where I'm coming from on pickups in general, here is my take on one of the pickpickups that I have enjoyed using most. The LR Baggs M80 and it's predecessors the M1 passive and M1 active have been around since at least the late 2000's. I first bought the M1 passive around 2008, during a time when I was first trying to break away from the ubiquitous undersaddle sound. I had nearly given up on magnetic soundhole pickups when I got to the M1, but when I did, I found something that was really unique from the rest of the field.

The M1 brings a more acoustic tone to the table by really being two pickups in one. It listens to the string in the same way as conventional magnetic pickups,  but, by way of suspending the second coil, it also becomes a soundboard transducer! I was at first skeptical of the idea, but was immediately convinced. The effect really is dramatic and when it comes to percussive playing styles,  it would be a solid choice. The other cool feature of this range of pickups (M1, M80) is that it is actually possible to dial in your preferred sound through use of the adjustable pole pieces. Want more string sound? Set the pole pieces higher. For more soundboard,  set them lower.

Now, all that said, if you are looking for absolutely pure acoustic tone this still may not be the choice for you. Before the M1/80, there were few if any soundhole pickups that did more than make you sound like you were playing a jazz guitar or a Strat. Baggs has certainly pushed this design far forward, but there are still some playing situations where the magnetic sound is emphasized. Playing up the neck, especially on the  E and B strings, brings out a more electric guitar quality which can be a deal breaker for the purist. One solution I found was to completely remove the E and B pole pieces. It doesn't reverse the situation,  but it does mellow it out significantly.

I have the M1 passive connected to the Cool Tube preamp in my Takamine Singer songwriter model where I use it blended with the undersaddle pickup. Its a great combination! Recently, Baggs introduced the M80 which has all the features of the earlier models, but also includes an updated preamp, passive or active operation and a battery life indicator. There are a couple videos on the Baggs website which highlight the M80. Some of them demonstrate just how acoustic it can be, while others seem to hit on the tone of the unwound strings. The thing I feel is it's only real weakness. Anyway, you can check'em out and see what you think.

www.lrbaggs.com/videos

Pros
Great top sensitivity good for percussive playing styles
Ease of installation and use

Cons
Magnetic pickup that still delivers electric guitar tone in some playing situations

The bandstand arms race and a promise of pickup reviews

It may seem antithetical to discussions about acoustic guitar, but often at performances I am asked about the pickup I am using. I have used several different systems over the years and most of them with good result. For that reason I've decided to dedicate a few posts to review a handful of my favorites. I am  aware that there are many reviews already available elsewhere, but it is my hope that some readers of this blog will find these, slightly more real world insights, useful in some way.

I should start by giving you some frame of reference for where I fall on the tonal quality of any given system. Acoustic instruments in general are probably only given faithful representation by microphones. In fact, the first electric guitars were invented by manufacturers who were simply trying to create instruments loud enough to be heard within the context of an orchestra. Use of those instruments and their obviously untraditional sound were somewhat controversial, at least in  the beginning, but,
 as their sound grew in popularity, a sort of new standard arose and, along with it, a wide new range of musical acceptance.

So, here we are now with a sort of musical "de'ja' vu all over again."  I say that because,  in more recent years,  a number of new companies have sprung up offering new solutions to the old problem. Each of these new solutions has undergone a certain level of scrutiny from purists and, yet again, some have managed to find a range of acceptance regardless of their tone. So, if you can make good music with it, does it really matter how well it does x, y or z?  I won't even attempt to answer that...at least not now.

Probably owing to the guitar's great popularity, but from nearly the same moment I first picked up the guitar I also became aware of its inherent value to thieves.  Back then,  the only security available was keeping it within line of sight. I personally never fell prey to any major losses due to theft, but that's not to say that I haven't been exposed either. Some friends of mine once had nearly their entire band's gear stolen from a supposedly secure practice space! For most musicians, the instrument, regardless of cost,  represents a major investment. Money, setup effort, a piece of the player's personal identity, are all things represented within that.  So how do you protect that?

This morning I spent about thirty minutes setting up an account with Instrument Life. www.instrumentlife.com
They're a local company based here in northern Kentucky, but they offer a world class service for protecting your instrument against theft. They provide a database for storing information about your instrument and an inexpensive tracking chip which can be installed secretly on the instrument itself!  And that's only the beginning the comprehensive list of ways available through them to either protect your instrument from theft, or assist you in recovering it. Check it out and see what you think.

Today is the inauguration of my new, leaner and I say hopefully improved blog. I plan to talk frequently about life and the glue that holds mine together,  music. So, wether youre a maker or a listener, stop by, read, leave comments and, above all enjoy.