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I have been on a quest to find a nice, fairly simple and straight forward system for amplifying my acoustics. I have a J45, D28 and 000-15M. My signal path is pretty simple: Guitar > Venue DI > Holy Grail Reverb > SWR California Blonde (original, pre-Fender). I no longer play with a full band, but when I did I was using an M80. Good for what it is, and we all know it's a compromise between a good sound (obviously subjective to each individual), feedback resistance and cost. This days it's pretty much me and the guitar or me, my guitar and another guitarist. In that scenario the M80 just wasn't cutting it. I also gave the LR Baggs Element a fair shot since it came stock in my J45. I really am not a fan of UST's, hate the quack and the unnatural, compressed, artificial sound of UST's and they obviously don't pickup the nuances and dynamics of an acoustic and felt like I had to alter my playing style with a UST. I even tried a modeler (Fishman Aura Spectrum DI) and it helped, but still had a fake, artificial, hollow sound to it. So I pulled out the Element, sold the Aura Spectrum DI and bought a Lyric and Venue DI.
Initially I was pleased, but after the honeymoon period wore off I began to think the Lyric was boxy, honky, mid-rangy, and lacked low end. I pulled it out and messed again with the M80, but could never get it to sound the way I wanted. I even went as far as considering a K&K Pure Mini, but more often than not the examples I have heard only sounded marginally better than a UST, and still had that compressed, artificial sound to it. I considered some dual source options like the Anthem and Anthem SL, but don't like the big sound hole controls on the regular Anthem, and honestly at this point I'm anti UST in any incarnation. I swear putting that element under the saddle totally changed the sound of my J45, and when I removed it the guitar sounded even better unplugged and vowed to never put a UST into any acoustic guitar ever again!
So i stuck the Lyric back in. I experimented with different placements, and honestly didn't notice a huge difference in where I placed it in my J45, so it's currently in the stock, recommended position. The guitar would sound great finger picked, but would get very muddy/cluttered sounding when strummed with no clarity or definition, like lots of low-mid overtones/competition. This time I really concentrated on messing with the EQ. What I ended up doing was cutting the low mids out almost completely on the Venue DI AND the mids on the California Blonde. Backed off the presence just a hair, but also adding just the smallest amount or treble and boosted the bass a bit on the Venue DI. All of this was done AFTER I adjusted the trim pot on the pickup to where it sounded as good as it was going to get with all EQ controls set flat. Guitar actually sounds amazing now. It really does sound like the J45 unplugged, and compared to when I had it in the guitar before, there's an acceptable amount of low end.
So the take home is I felt like I was experiencing what I've read from people who haven't been happy with the Lyric, and these complaints may really be something as simple as being patient and messing with the EQ on your amp, preamp/DI, etc. Sounds drastic but try really cutting the mid range out. This seemed to get rid of the mud and slop in the sound and allows you to add in some low end for a little thump. If all you do is add in the low end and keep the mids your going to make that situation worse. I was ready to ditch the Lyric completely, but after figuring out the EQ I actually installed one in the D28 and the 000-15M. Haven't had a chance to really sit down with the 000-15M, but the EQ scheme I worked out for the J45 is almost identical to the D28, aside from taking out some of the bass I added in for the J45 since the D28 is a bass heavy guitar to begin with.
So give the Lyric a chance. It can be a frustrating pickup to dial in at first, but in the end it's worth it. Again, my intentions are really only to use it for solo acoustic stuff, like open mics, small bar gigs and coffee shops, informal jams and concerts at friends' houses, etc. Full disclaimer though, I have not played out with it yet, so things may change once that happens. We'll see.
Initially I was pleased, but after the honeymoon period wore off I began to think the Lyric was boxy, honky, mid-rangy, and lacked low end. I pulled it out and messed again with the M80, but could never get it to sound the way I wanted. I even went as far as considering a K&K Pure Mini, but more often than not the examples I have heard only sounded marginally better than a UST, and still had that compressed, artificial sound to it. I considered some dual source options like the Anthem and Anthem SL, but don't like the big sound hole controls on the regular Anthem, and honestly at this point I'm anti UST in any incarnation. I swear putting that element under the saddle totally changed the sound of my J45, and when I removed it the guitar sounded even better unplugged and vowed to never put a UST into any acoustic guitar ever again!
So i stuck the Lyric back in. I experimented with different placements, and honestly didn't notice a huge difference in where I placed it in my J45, so it's currently in the stock, recommended position. The guitar would sound great finger picked, but would get very muddy/cluttered sounding when strummed with no clarity or definition, like lots of low-mid overtones/competition. This time I really concentrated on messing with the EQ. What I ended up doing was cutting the low mids out almost completely on the Venue DI AND the mids on the California Blonde. Backed off the presence just a hair, but also adding just the smallest amount or treble and boosted the bass a bit on the Venue DI. All of this was done AFTER I adjusted the trim pot on the pickup to where it sounded as good as it was going to get with all EQ controls set flat. Guitar actually sounds amazing now. It really does sound like the J45 unplugged, and compared to when I had it in the guitar before, there's an acceptable amount of low end.
So the take home is I felt like I was experiencing what I've read from people who haven't been happy with the Lyric, and these complaints may really be something as simple as being patient and messing with the EQ on your amp, preamp/DI, etc. Sounds drastic but try really cutting the mid range out. This seemed to get rid of the mud and slop in the sound and allows you to add in some low end for a little thump. If all you do is add in the low end and keep the mids your going to make that situation worse. I was ready to ditch the Lyric completely, but after figuring out the EQ I actually installed one in the D28 and the 000-15M. Haven't had a chance to really sit down with the 000-15M, but the EQ scheme I worked out for the J45 is almost identical to the D28, aside from taking out some of the bass I added in for the J45 since the D28 is a bass heavy guitar to begin with.
So give the Lyric a chance. It can be a frustrating pickup to dial in at first, but in the end it's worth it. Again, my intentions are really only to use it for solo acoustic stuff, like open mics, small bar gigs and coffee shops, informal jams and concerts at friends' houses, etc. Full disclaimer though, I have not played out with it yet, so things may change once that happens. We'll see.
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