I just bought the LR Baggs M1 pickup for my martin D28 acoustic. Since the band wanted to do a few acoustic tunes i figured it was time to drop he cash and install something in my martin for live use.

The reason I went with the M1 is because I initially did not want to drill my acoustic to install a piezo or under bridge style pup. The M1 sits nicely in the sound hole and can be easily popped out by loosening 2 screws. Shortly after getting it home i realized the down fall lay in the cable hanging from the sound hole. It doesnt look very nice but could possible cause a big problem if accidently tripped over. Luckly this did not happen at the first gig with it but it worried me enough to get it installed properly. I took it in to Fat Cat Guitars in Algonquin Il on friday and Scott installed it by the next day for 50 bucks. (The M1 came with all the parts to permenately install it.) This included the strap button I needed under the neck too.

So how does the M1 sound?

The short answer is great! I was a little worried it would give an electric guitar sound being that the pup is close to the neck like a strat, but it doesnt. The tone is a little warmer then the bridge style pup but not in a bad way at all. It also has pole pieces to adjust the volume of each string.

Pre-Amp

Now to use this pup you will need a preamp to pump the signal into the board amp or whatever. They do have an active version of this pickup but I would rather use a preamp. With the M1 i also bought the Gigpro by LR Baggs. Its a 9volt battery operated preamp with adjustable gain, volume, and quasi-passive EQ. The EQ is a nice touch. I found the bass was a little to booming while on stage and quickly I adjusted the Gigpro as it was clipped to my belt. I have read great things about the floor model but i kind of like have something right there at my finger tips to adjust quickly. Plus the price was right on the Gigpro.