LR Baggs M1A Troubles

[Reflectedinthemoon]

Hey everyone,

 

The recent postings about acoustic pickups prompted me to ask y'all for some advice regarding an LR Baggs M1A I have installed in my beautiful Gibson Advanced Jumbo reissue.

 

Basically, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the tonal quality of the pickup and the overall sound about 80% of the time. I really want to stick with it. But sometimes when I strum too hard (even without a pick) I get some pretty serious chunky distortion. This distortion is present with all the strings pretty much, but especially so with the lower-pitched ones.

 

I've tried adjusting the poles a little, actually going so far as to remove them all at one point (which solved the problem but made the guitar sound AWFUL). No real luck finding a combo that worked.

I've also tried placing the pup under the strings in slightly different ways. See above result.

It doesn't really help turning the pup volume down-- it only gets significantly better at ridiculously low levels.

Also, the batteries are fresh.

 

Any advice? Anyone had this problem before?

 

Thanks!

[jtrollmann]

Hi...

 

That's really weird. What are you playing through? A P.A.? An Amp? Do you require some extra EQ? Also, do you think it could be a faulty unit? If you know of someone else with an M1A you could swap it out and give it a try. You might also want to call or email the folks at Baggs. I found them very helpful and prompt when I asked them a question about their pickups a while back.

 

All the best, John

[JAK2112]

Ya, i haven't experienced anything remotely similar. Might be a dumb question, but are you positive its not a problem with the amp or PA your playing through? Or has it happened on multiple amps? You might want to try that out.

[Reflectedinthemoon]

I have only played it through my PA, which may definitely be the problem. Sometimes the simplest (and seemingly most obvious) answer is the best. Thanks!