LR Baggs HiFi DNA Advanced Bridge Plate Pickup System

The Baggs HiFi DNA is the next step for the HiFi bridge plate pickup: the same feedback resistance and hidden, no-drill install, now with lighter, more sensitive sensors and a smarter preamp that gives your amplified acoustic more warmth, detail and dynamic range. Baggs developed it with Gibson, and Gibson uses it in some of its own acoustic guitars.

What Makes the HiFi DNA Different

• Split bass and treble sensors. Two sensors sit on the bridge plate inside the guitar, one under the bass strings and one under the treble strings. Each one gets its own preamp circuit before the signals are combined, so the low end stays full and round and the trebles stay clear instead of turning harsh or quacky.
• Lighter, more flexible sensors. The new sensors follow the top's movement more closely than the original HiFi, so they pick up more detail and respond better to a light touch or a hard strum.
• All-discrete Class-A endpin preamp. A high-grade FET input and all-discrete circuitry live in the endpin jack. You get a clean, natural signal that works well into an acoustic amp, a PA or a DI.
• Volume and tone at the soundhole. Small thumbwheels sit just inside the soundhole edge, so you can adjust your sound on stage without reaching for the amp. Nothing shows on the outside of the guitar.
• No drilling, gluing or saddle work. The sensors attach with peel-and-stick adhesive using the included placement jig. Your bridge and saddle stay exactly as they are, and the guitar's acoustic tone is untouched.

The Sound

Bridge plate pickups hear the top vibrate, not just the strings, so they sound more like the guitar itself than an undersaddle piezo does. The HiFi DNA's split sensors and dual preamp circuits add warmth in the low mids and a smoother high end, with plenty of dynamics for fingerstyle and a punchy, even response for strumming in a band. Baggs rates its feedback resistance on par with its Element undersaddle pickup, so it holds up at stage volume.

Why Banjo Studio Loves the HiFi DNA

• It sounds like your guitar. It is one of the most natural-sounding single-source pickups we've heard, and you don't need a mic or a blend system to get there.
• It's invisible and reversible. No new holes beyond the endpin jack, nothing on the top and no change to the saddle, which matters on a vintage or high-end guitar.
• It's built for real gigs. Good feedback resistance and a 9V battery rated for 260+ hours mean you can plug in and play.

The HiFi DNA is made for steel-string and 12-string acoustic guitars. It is not recommended for nylon-string guitars. Baggs recommends installation by a qualified guitar technician.

Best for: Steel-string players who want a natural, feedback-resistant plugged-in tone without altering their guitar, thanks to the split bass and treble bridge plate sensors, the all-discrete Class-A preamp and the peel-and-stick install.