LR Baggs pickup now, but what next?

[David M.]

I've had a LR Baggs mandolin pickup (piezo built in the saddle with the Carpenter jack) for a few years to play in church band and other gigs. Run it through the Paracoustic DI box into the house sound, typically.

Good results with no feedback, but recently I pulled the Baggs saddle off and put an ebony saddle back on. Noticeable tone difference and volume w/out the Baggs on, so I plan on leaving it off for a while and trying something else.

QUESTION: What's a good "stick on" or removable pickup that performs well enough with full band (drums, elect. bass and guitar, etc.) and works well with the Paracoustic DI box? Advice appreciated. I don't know much about sound equipment.

Thanks!

[Clement Barrera-Ng]

I think the best 'stick on' would be the Schertler DYN-M, which many fellow members remember. If you want to spend less, you may want to look at Baggs Radius.

[Mike Bunting]

I like the AKG C411 stick on mic. Very good and much cheaper than the Shertler.

[mandroid]

C is for Condenser so the AKG needs power , battery power pack , or voltage regulator in their cord,
to use board phantom power, buy one or the other as a set. they are not partially interchangable.

Schertler is a dynamic Mech, self powers like a Dynamic Mic, which it is , just in contact..

Baggs Radius handshakes with their pre-amps, buy both.

[Mike Bunting]

C is for Condenser so the AKG needs power , battery power pack , or voltage regulator in their cord,
to use board phantom power, buy one or the other as a set. they are not partially interchangable.

Schertler is a dynamic Mech, self powers like a Dynamic Mic, which it is , just in contact..

Baggs Radius handshakes with their pre-amps, buy both.
I just use the phantom on my AER amp or when we were in Europe and I was travelling light, I got the phantom from the board.

[mandroid]

Don't know what Dave, the OP is planning for the rest His signal chain,
He mentioned having a Baggs PADI, and a mixing board input ( the DI part of the box)
Baggs Radius would be a Stick on that works with what He has..
they were designed to go together..

Mike seems to like what He bought, but Dave bought different stuff ,
and asked about what would work with what he has.

We could have him sell all, and start over, but he may resist .. :popcorn:

[Mike Bunting]

Don't know what Dave, the OP is planning for the rest His signal chain,
He mentioned having a Baggs PADI, and a mixing board input ( the DI part of the box)
Baggs Radius would be a Stick on that works with what He has..
they were designed to go together..

Mike seems to like what He bought, but Dave bought different stuff ,
and asked about what would work with what he has.

We could have him sell all, and start over, but he may resist .. :popcorn:

Sorry, I did miss the mention of the PADI. I'd suggest that the K&K would be an option. I agree with the last point. :grin:

[David M.]

The K&K looks like a simple installation. The Radius M looks interesting as well. Who has experience w/these and which would give the best overall tone and volume with the LEAST feedback? That's one reason I went with th saddle transducer - it never caused feedback at all.

Thanks for the input

[Tim2723]

I have a Radius/PADI combo, but never used the K&K. Feedback isn't a problem for me unless I'm playing at very high levels with loud floor monitors. I do get a little more handling noise than with a bridge pickup, but that's expected. I've read lots of good things about the K&K, but I'm not sure you could count on any soundboard transducer to be feedback proof. Typical church volumes shouldn't be an issue.

At the risk of being a broken record, the Ovation is the only really feedback-proof option I've ever found.

[Pete Counter]

I use the baggs radius and para di and Im very satisfied. I have used in the past, a macintyre feather with a fishman pre amp, moved to a art tube preamp, moved to a clip on condenser with the art tube preamp and now use the lr baggs setup. It is by far my favorite setup so far. I use mine in a very loud environment. Keyboard, elect bass, elect guitar, pedal steel, ovation acoustic electric guitar. We have played in churches of every size, shape and acoustic sound, On television, outside venues, in church, you name it.

[Big Joe]

We installed a good number of the radius p/u's but have had some problems with them. We have done the Schertler DYN and it seemed to be fine. My preference is the K&K. It is about the easiest to install if you know what you are doing, and it is a very natural tone. With any pickup you have to deal with feedback, but that is part of playing plugged in. None of these are really that easy to just pull off and put somewhere else. The K&K is pretty simple and works well and does not require any modification to the instrument except putting the strap button jack on the mandolin. Even that is reversible.