LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box Pedal - Product Review

About 3 weeks ago, I made a purchase. I had been on the lookout for a decent preamp pedal for my acoustic guitar. I don't use an acoustic amp so I wanted to have a bit more flexibility with my sound in the route between my guitar and the channel on the PA mixer. I had heard a bit of buzz about the LR Baggs Venue Direct Box Pedal. It's pretty much an acoustic guitar preamp pedal. After auditioning the LR Baggs Venue Direct Box Pedal at my local music store. I was sold. I put it on my credit card and left with it. I took it home, unpacked it and played with it for few hours. I was quite impressed.

The LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box has the following features.

A high-end audio transformer coupled XLR too keep you away from ground loops.

Discrete circuitry and Equalization for transparent and quiet operation.

Adjustable gain to handle most passive and active inputs.

A Notch filter to handle any feedback problems you may have.

Full chromatic tuner that's very easy to read with a foot switch mute/tune function

Rugged metal construction. (You can even view a video on lrbaggs.com of staff running over this unit with a big SUV in the parking lot and it still works!)

A phase switch for the best sound and feedback control.

It works with a 9V battery or DC adapter. (the DC adapter is not included)

Low, high, and mid controls.

Adjustable solo boost foot switch control. This is great when I go into a solo and just want a bit of extra punch.

A real VU meter to accurately set your gain.

A 4-segment battery status gauge so if you're using a battery, you have plenty of warning if your battery is getting low.

Series effect loop. I love this because I also use an effects processor.

It comes with a handy padded bag made especially for the LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box Pedal.

Now the test. I'm taking it out on a gig. Here's what I hope to achieve with LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box Pedal.

I want ease of use. I don't want to have to mess with it. I like my shows to go off as smooth as possible.

I want flexibility with my sound. I want an improvement over going straight from my effects unit to my mixer.

I'm really looking forward to using the boost feature. I do the Eric Clapton cover song Layla. I use a looper and I have the guitar chords looped on a preset to play while I do the guitar solo. At this time, I'll hit that boost button. I have it adjusted just right. I just hope it goes off without a hitch.

OK. On to my first set of the night.

My sound is certainly flexible. It seems to cut through the crowd considerably better (than when I go straight into the mixer) with the LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box Pedal. My sound has a much better and definitive sound you could say.

Halfway through the second set, my guitar went a bit out of tune. The lighting wasn't very good but I hit the tuner switch. The guitar muted and I could see the tuner shining through to guide me very well. I finished, turned the tuner off, my sound on my guitar came back an low and behold, the guitar was back in tune.

The first song I used the boost switch on was the Clapton cover "Layla". When the time came up, I first hit my looper to start the chord progression, and then quickly hit the boost switch on the LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box Pedal. I had it adjusted so it was only slightly louder than the chords that were playing. It cut through just how I had hoped. I was pleased as pie. (not that pie can be pleased but you get the drift. Right?)

The night went on without incident. I had a few people note to me that they noticed a difference in my sound. I gave all the credit to the LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box Pedal.

The pros:

The LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box Pedal is a solid unit and very road worthy.

I love the boost switch on the LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box Pedal.

Easy to read, big and bright display on the guitar tuner.

The cons:

The only con I have with the LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box Pedal is the fact that it does not come with a DC adapter. I had to pay an extra $14 for an after market DC adapter to fit it. I feel for the money, they could have included the DC adapter.

All in all I like the LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box Pedal. The street price on the LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box Pedal is $299.00 USD. I think it's well worth it. If my LR Baggs Venue DI Direct Box Pedal were lost or stolen, I would defiantly buy another one.