Members Z-Mann Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Looking for help guys. I got a new LR Baggs M1 Active in the mail yesterday. Drilled the hole in the tail block for the strap-jack and hooked it all up. Put new strings on, plugged it into my mixer and powered speaker and..... nothing. I plug it into my M-Audio Firewire recording interface and still nothing. I decide to take it out (which is SUCH a pain) to replace the battery with the replacement that comes with the unit. After a bunch of finageling I get some sound out of it but only if both the pickup AND the recording interface are turned all the way up. So I unplug and try it through the PA and, again, nothing. I go back to the recording interface and now I'm getting nothing. I've tested the cables all the way up to the 1/8 plug that goes into the pickup and they are all working. The battery is installed properly according to the manual. My question is - how loud is this thing supposed to be? Being an active pickup, I would think I would have to actually pad the channel I'm going into with this thing. Or that I at least wouldn't have to crank the channel up to 10. In comparison, I can plug my passive bass guitar into the recording unit and only have to turn the volume up to maybe 50%. Anyway, does anyone think I should try replacing the battery again? It seems really unlikely that it shipped with two bad batteries. Finally, as a warning to others out there - test your unit out before you install it! Installation is a REAL pain. They may make it sound easy, but it's not if you consider that you have to take the strings off, drill the hole, get the wires and the pickup situated, etc. If this thing sounded as good as I think it will, it would be worth it, but the last 24 hours has been the biggest technical nightmare I've ever experienced. Sorry for the long post and thanks to any help anyone can offer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members panhandler Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Got a voltmeter to check the batteries with? Could be. Test the connections. Aren't the magnets on the M1 adjustable? could they be too far from the strings? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Z-Mann Posted February 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 They are adjustable but the pole near the low E string is already almost too close to the string for comfort. A few millimeters I would guess. So it's enough to be getting some sound. I don't have a voltmeter but I may go out and buy another battery just to try. It would be nice to not have to worry about doing an exchange. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Hmm..it doesn't sound right to me that you are getting such a lousy signal. I have worked doing sound with players who use the M1 and have never encountered a weak signal to the board. If you don't have the test equipment I'd suggest bringing it to a tech and have him install it or at the very least test it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar_stringer Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Something is terribly wrong here, as you should be getting a rather large signal coming out of it. If you have a good battery, I would suspect the connections. Very seldom is the preamp unit at fault, but it could be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Z-Mann Posted February 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Something is terribly wrong here, as you should be getting a rather large signal coming out of it. If you have a good battery, I would suspect the connections. Very seldom is the preamp unit at fault, but it could be. What I did to test the connections was took the 1/8" plug out of the pickup, slapped a 1/4" adapter on it and plugged that into my bass guitar and it was MUCH louder. I can't imagine LR Baggs shipping out a bum unit but that's what it seems to be. Maybe the connection going into the pickup is bad? I've tried twisting the plug around to make sure the connection was solid going into the pickup and it made no difference. Crazy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar_stringer Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Is it still out of the guitar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Z-Mann Posted February 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 It is now yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar_stringer Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Plug it all together, plug it in to the amp, and take a nickel and tap the top of the pickup. These damn things are almost fool-proof. See if you get a sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar_stringer Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Make sure you have the volume knob turned up on the pup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Z-Mann Posted February 21, 2009 Author Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Plug it all together, plug it in to the amp, and take a nickel and tap the top of the pickup. These damn things are almost fool-proof. See if you get a sound. If I do that, I get a sound only if the volume on my recording interface is completely maxed (the volume on the pickup has to be on 10 also). Just to compare, I was just messing around with my G&L ASAT and had it plugged into the LR Baggs strap jack and you can hear the guitar with the interface's volume on 0 or 1. It's that big of a difference. In the manual, it says the LR Baggs will start to sound distorted when the battery is going dead, so it doesn't sound like the battery is the culprit. Thanks for everyone's help so far. I think I'm doing everything right and just got a jacked up pickup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar_stringer Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Yes, it sounds like it. The whole thing (pup, class A preamp, and battery) is all self-contained, so that probably is the culprit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Make sure you have the volume knob turned up on the pup. +1:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Guitar_stringer Posted February 21, 2009 Members Share Posted February 21, 2009 Did you take the plastic film off of the battery clips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Z-Mann Posted February 22, 2009 Author Members Share Posted February 22, 2009 Did you take the plastic film off of the battery clips? There's no plastic on the battery. The things that actually hold the battery in place are made of plastic so I can't see any problems with the connection to the battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DunedinDoug Posted February 24, 2009 Members Share Posted February 24, 2009 Silly question that must be asked: Are you going through a DI to your mixer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members C70man Posted February 25, 2009 Members Share Posted February 25, 2009 I bought mine used and I had a problem as well. When I took the connector that goes thru the endpin apart, I noticed the solder connection was bad (cold). I re-soldered it and it has been fine...... By the way, I don't have to take my strings off to install it...just put a wire thru the endpin, jiggle it until its in front of the sound hole, pull it out, and slip it thru the hole at the end of the cable connector....use the wire or string to pull it thru the hole. Insert the washer and nut and tighten. Takes about a minute. Good luck........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members The Mason Jars Posted November 2, 2020 Members Share Posted November 2, 2020 Just had this same problem after purchasing one from a local chain guitar store. Saw that the package was opened when i purchased it but inspected the contents and all seemed normal. Bought a new battery also. Gonna return in the morning and hopefully get another that is unopened. Hopefully not a general problem especially for the price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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