I've played fiddle amplified since 1975. While I haven't tried every offering out there, believe me when I say I've tried a bunch of them. Amplifying an acoustic fiddle is a difficult technical problem to solve, and so far no one has come up with a 100% solution. That is, a seamless transition from acoustic playing with the resultant sound to amplified. So, it becomes a matter of trade-offs. I am a real tone freak. Many pick up offerings don't even sound like a violin... more like some kind of horn to my ears. Some of the better sounding alternatives are logistically impractical, such as mounted condenser mics. Get on a high sound pressure (loud) stage, and you'll quickly see what I mean. For me, the best configuration from a tone and practicality stand point is the in-bridge piezo pickup. Of those available (and I have tried them all), the LR Baggs is superior. Even the bridge itself is of much higher quality than that of other brands. A common complaint about in-bridge piezo pickups is an inherent "quacky" tone. The Baggs bridge provides a better response and tone than any other I've tried. But the tone can be improved with the use of a pre-amp. I use Baggs Para Acoustic Studio DI. The preamp provides tone shaping capability that you can't dial in on an amplifier or mixing console. I have two Baggs bridges and two Para Acoustic DIs. This is by a good margin the best setup I've found in over 30 years of searching for the best pickup solution. I often go straight to the mixing console, where I wouldn't have dreamed of that before. I am very satisfied with this bridge pickup. You can look all you want, but you won't find a better pickup. And you won't find a better price than StewMac's. I bought both of mine from StewMac.
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