Mike Woodward Posted January 21, 2021 Share Posted January 21, 2021 (edited) I am hoping that someone has some suggestion for an issue I've only just discovered with my LR Baggs M80 pickup, that I've had for 7 years now on my Washburn J50S Acoustic guitar. In the past 7 years, I've only ever played it through PAs & Foldback & it has generally sounded OK/good, giving me no grounds to regret its high price tag. Lockdown has tempted me to dabble at recording into my PC. So I've tried (a) direct into the headset jack via an adapter - this sounded somewhat distorted, which I put down possibly to the PC soundcard (b) now I've borrowed a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 USB audio interface which supports both mic & instrument DI in to a USB interface via some excellent, low-distortion pre-amps, &, maybe more importantly, a direct monitor to headphones feature (making the USB output irrelevant in the ‘listening-chain’). The Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 pre-amps are excellent, very transparent & revealing, making the mic input sound great for both voice & direct mic'ing of the guitar & also my electric guitar sounding clear. However, the M80 pickup sounds distorted when you play the strings at normal volume. There is a fuzzy distorted edge added to the sound that is not present when you mic the guitar, or when you play single strings. It's as though the pickup is being overloaded. I've put in a brand new Duracell battery manufactured 2020, lighting up all 4 battery lights. I've even tried switching the pickup from Active mode to Passive mode (where the battery is not used). None of this makes any difference; the distortion is still present . This certainly not sounding like the advert: "audiophile circuitry for that “high-fidelity” sound Baggs is known for." Does anyone have any suggestions or tips as to what I might try or do next, it would be much appreciated! Thanks, Dejected Mike Edited January 22, 2021 by Mike Woodward More clear text Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
