LR Baggs Active Humbucking Acoustic Pickup M1A
The M1A is powered by a 3v lithium battery and will give you over 1,000 hours of playing time.
The M1A is an active sound hole magnetic pickup that features outstanding body sensitivity with great warmth and presence. It includes all class A electronics and features long battery life and a top-mounted volume control wheel.
Other features include:
The M1 is a humbucking pickup -- with a twist. In a common stacked humbucker, the second, lower coil cancels hum, but doesn't contribute anything positive to the sound. In fact, it can muddy the sound of the main coil. We unlock the second coil. This allows it to make a positive sonic contribution while maintaining the pure open sound of a single coil -- but without the hum.
In the M1, the hum-canceling coil is suspended under the main coil by a tuned support that allows it to move in three dimensions. The primary coil moves with the guitar top and creates a body signal in the suspended secondary coil. This brings the M1 to life, with string and body sound all in one. It's like having a dual pickup system in your soundhole.
L.R. Baggs has carefully tuned the support to control motion in all three dimensions. This allows the selective addition of the presence and realism from the body signal while suppressing runaway feedback.
The M1 is a great pickup for many applications. It is an excellent stage tool, with stability and feedback resistance in even the loudest live situations. It delivers superlative tone at loud volumes strummed or picked, but it possesses clarity and depth capable of capturing the nuances of delicate studio work.
It has a punchy response that is effective at cutting through the heavy mix of a stage ensemble, and a round warmth that excels in solos and intimate environments. The M1A is especially appropriate for finger stylists that want to play loud, and its body-sensitivity makes it a good option for top tapping and other percussive playing styles.
With a simple, plug-and-play installation procedure, the M1A works well for those who want to run the wire internally (out the strapjack). Also, the M1A is designed to plug directly into almost any piece of outboard gear.
Overall, this pickup should be highly considered by players who want a blended string-and-body sound from one source, or anyone who simply wants warm and responsive tone with minimal fuss.
The M1A is designed for plug-and-play performance. No additional outboard electronics are required, though the M1A does work very well with the L.R. Baggs line of outboard preamps. However, an additional preamp is not required for the M1A to work. It comes with a discrete Class A preamp built right into the body of the pickup itself. This means that the M1A can be run directly into almost all outboard amps, PA or effects.
