Baggs

Baggs is the new name of L.R. Baggs, the acoustic-guitar pickup and electronics maker founded by Lloyd Baggs. The company changed its name in September 2026 as part of its 50th anniversary celebrations; older articles and the separate L.R. Baggs page on Guitar Radar refer to the same company.

Its latest big project is HiFi DNA, built together with Gibson and announced in September 2026. The two companies describe it as the most natural, studio-grade live tone ever achieved from an acoustic guitar. The core is a dual-preamp design: each sensor goes through its own custom-voiced all-discrete preamp before the two signals are blended, which the companies say avoids the muddying that happens when pickup signals are summed early. Lloyd Baggs said that if you combine two mic diaphragms or two piezos before amplification they tug on each other. Gibson's page describes two bridge-plate sensors, lighter, larger and more responsive than before, that capture string and body energy without a traditional undersaddle pickup.

It is rolling out first across Gibson's Modern and Original acoustic collections, with a standalone version for retrofitting existing guitars to follow. Sources disagree on the exact launch date. Guitar Radar follows Baggs pickups and Gibson collaborations.