L baggs para acoustic d.i.

**Jon Hall** · May-08-2012, 7:08am

Will this D.I. work well with the 1st generation (1998-1999) McIntyre pick up installed in my Weber mandolin? I sent a email inquiry to McIntyre but have never heard from them.

**Gene Korte** · May-08-2012, 10:24am

Originally Posted by Jon Hall

Will this D.I. work well with the 1st generation (1998-1999) McIntyre pick up installed in my Weber mandolin? I sent a email inquiry to McIntyre but have never heard from them.

Hey Jon,

My limited book-learnin' and personal experience says all items should work OK.

The basic D.I. box changes your unbalanced instrument signal to a balanced one. Of course you are getting many more additional features in the Baggs unit.

**mandroid** · May-08-2012, 1:19pm

AFAIK, (read the manual, online, don't own one) one of the outputs of a PADI is the DI,
which is like the output of a Dynamic Microphone.. low level, low impedance.
useful for remote stage snakes with an abundance of microphone inputs,
direct to the house mixer.. hence Direct Input.

the other is a Pre-Amp [PA] so higher level.
the 10 mega ohm input impedance is to handshake with Piezo type pickup
which Baggs also makes.

The parametric EQ, allows you to shift the center of the frequency
being boosted/cut ..

**greg_tsam** · May-09-2012, 9:21am

Mine works great with my K&K pup.

**Rob Gerety** · May-09-2012, 5:52pm

I never liked the Para DI with K&K pick ups. I do like the Orchid with the K&K. Never understood why but my experience has been the the Orchid virtually eliminates the the need for eq. Very smooth natural sound by comparison in my case. The Para DI did work pretty good with magnetic guitar pickups.

**greg_tsam** · May-11-2012, 11:50am

Never tried an Orchid and don't do much with electricity. The PADI does what it's supposed to. I run it thru a Ultra 50W and adjust my levels to get a clean acoustic sound. Not too bright or tinny. I have an EQ box too but generally used it as a solo booster. I'd love it if I could get my acoustic sound amplified electronically without sounding like it but isn't that the rub? Does the Orchid do that?

**Jon Hall** · May-12-2012, 7:43am

Thanks for everyone's posts. I heard from McIntyre and they said that the LL Baggs unit is a perfect match. I'll buy one of those.

Greg

I remember you saying that you are a friend of Kelly Lancaster. There will be a mega jam session/dinner/auction in Nacogdoches on Sunday May 27th. All the proceeds will go to Kelly and his sister Carrie, who is in the same situation as Kelly. Kelly is planning on attending. You are most welcome if you could come. Send me a P.M. if you are interested.

**Rob Gerety** · May-12-2012, 5:10pm

Originally Posted by greg_tsam

I'd love it if I could get my acoustic sound amplified electronically without sounding like it but isn't that the rub? Does the Orchid do that?

I guess that is what I am trying to say. As time went on, after trying gazillions of different gizmos, I came around to a point of view somewhat different than you read on the forums a lot. My feeling is that simple is good. The orchid is simple. My experience is that I can plug it in to a decent pa and it just sounds really good. Nothing is perfect. But the Orchid sounds really good with no fuss. Next best thing to a good mic on a stand which is probably the best. I found the Baggs para di fussy. I agree it can sound good. But you have to futz around with it a lot and no matter how much futzing I did it never sounded as good as the Orchid does with k&k pickups and no futz factor. I also really liked the mute switch - quick and easy instrument changes etc.

**Jim Nollman** · May-12-2012, 5:52pm

If you search through scores of Cafe threads on this very subject, you will find a consensus: that a good microphone connected directly into a PA is the best way to get acoustic tone from a mandolin. But... mics on stands demand that the player glue his feet to one spot. For that reason, two high-quality onboard mics get the highest praise here. They are the DPA 4099, and the Schertler. I can testify to the latter. It works great. If it ever broke (which I don't expect since it's built to last) I'd probably replace it with the DPA.

**Terry Allan Hall** · May-13-2012, 7:55am

Originally Posted by Jon Hall

Will this D.I. work well with the 1st generation (1998-1999) McIntyre pick up installed in my Weber mandolin? I sent a email inquiry to McIntyre but have never heard from them.

The PADI works great w/ any pickup, piezo or magnetic, because you can easily adjust the gain on it.

**Wolfboy** · May-13-2012, 8:24am

Originally Posted by Jon Hall

Will this D.I. work well with the 1st generation (1998-1999) McIntyre pick up installed in my Weber mandolin?

That's exactly the setup I used to have (Weber Beartooth mandolin, 1999 McIntyre pickup, Baggs Para DI) and it worked great. Plenty of gain, no feedback, gives the player lots of control over shaping the tone.

If you want a quick-'n- easy mute switch, one option is to plug the mando into a Boss stompbox tuner, then run a short cable from that into the Para DI. The Boss tuner mutes the signal when the tuner is engaged, so if you place both boxes at your feet you can mute the signal with one quick stomp.

**Mark Seale** · May-14-2012, 6:42pm

Originally Posted by Jon Hall

Thanks for everyone's posts. I heard from McIntyre and they said that the LL Baggs unit is a perfect match. I'll buy one of those.

Greg

I remember you saying that you are a friend of Kelly Lancaster. There will be a mega jam session/dinner/auction in Nacogdoches on Sunday May 27th. All the proceeds will go to Kelly and his sister Carrie, who is in the same situation as Kelly. Kelly is planning on attending. You are most welcome if you could come. Send me a P.M. if you are interested.

Jon -

Can you send me the info on the benefit for Kelly as well? He's been a friend of the family for many years and worked with my fiancee prior to us moving to Austin.

Thanks