Official Luthiers Forum!

Howdy Y'all,

Been busy in the shop so I haven't had much time to spend on OLF. Hope everyone is doing well! OK, now to the point of this post. On one of my upcoming builds (a dreadnought, sorry Hesh ), the recipient is trying to decide between the LR Baggs Anthem, or the Dual Source Element. He has spent hours listening to and eliminating all others getting down to these two as the ones he most likes the sound of. He wants to know which of the two would be most beneficial (better quality sound production) for playing live with a band. He plays in the youth worship team in his church and will likely be doing recording with it as well. Any personal experience and or opinions are welcome. With his current guitar he's been playing miked and is not happy with the results because he often can't hear his guitar through the monitors. Thanks in advance for your help and responses. Gotta get back to the shop now, I'll be watching for response.

Catch Y'all later!

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Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

I've only installed two but here's my two cents worth...
The anthem stands head and shoulders above other internal mic's I've tried, seriously and in a big way. It actually sounds quite good as a stand alone sound, however I found the bass response to be too boomy. If I were an audio engineer I'd be reaching for the low end roll off. One of the things I liked about the Imix no cut was it's ability to use the mix knobs as an Eq. Too bassy, add some bridge plate transducer.
Another thing I didn't like about the anthem is the look. Not a good basis for decision but it can really be offputting in a vintage looking guitar. The preamp also attaches to the top so if the guitar has tall or A frame style soundhole bracing it won't fit. Plus it doesn't pick up body resonance as well so if you're into the modern percussive fingerstyle thing the Ibeam is a better choice. I also find that the plastic pre amp housings, both top mounted and sidemount style can be prone to mysterious buzzings from vibration. I've seen many a few where frustrated owners have jammed toothpicks, duct tape etc. into crevices to kill the noise. The old nocut is just a solid little box.
I have heard but not confirmed that you can put the new anthem mic into the Ibeam spot of the nocut and have it work just fine. The connectors are certainly compatible but I've never tried it.
For myself playing live, I use the old ones, and in fact in reality I don't use the Ibeam sound at all, I could probably save myself some bucks and just use the single source element...

Bill,
I have used Baggs products, but not the Anthem or Element. I had the I-Beam. But since it's a free country I'll offer some unsolicited input anyway.

I play acoustic guitar in my church's worship (rock) band. I have the K&K Mini Transducers (3 each/1 set) and internal mic, a more typical dual source system. For the rock band the internal mic just produces to much feedback to be useful. It is great for solo acoustic, but not the band. I would be very surprised if the Athem, which is mostly a mic signal, does not have major feedback problems in a rock worship band. The K&K transducers really sound good on its own and feedback is not a problem unless sound levels really get high.

It is common knowledge that the undersaddle piezos are the least feedback prone pickups. So I strongly recommend that he use the undersaddle Element (part of Baggs dual source) for the live band. Then he will be able to play loud enough for the congretation and himself to hear.

Now what I did was wire the K&K mic and K&K mini tranducers to the rear STERO jack. That way I can bring out both singals and use the tranducers alone (live band stuff) or use any blend combination of the tranducers and mic (solo acoustic). I would not use the mic alone. It adds nice "air" to the sound, but does not sound as good as the blend. This allows me the flexability to solve both needs. However, listening to the Anthem on the internet seems to say that it would be a good SOLO system (not band).

Ed

The Anthem is not a 'mostly mic' signal. It is all mic, or all Element, or bits of each depending on where you set the mix wheel. Having it hard left or hard right defeats whatever the opposite signal is.

Thanks guys this info is indeed helpful!

Ed, your input is certainly welcome regarding the K&K products and I welcome others to input about other brands and combination's as well. I had recommended that this individual listen to all the units he was interested in on the LR Baggs site because they offer many sound clips of each of their pick ups with varied combination's on different sizes and brands of instruments.

Since there are so many brands and choices out there, I would really like to hear what others favor and why, along with known or perceived pros and cons of each.

I know we have others out there who play in band settings as well, and would really appreciate input from those of you who will. And John Hall, if you're willing to add any feedback you've heard from your customers, I'd really appreciate it . Please keep them coming if you will guys (and gals), I need a better education on the various types and combination's of pick up systems for both band and solo environments. I extend my appreciation in advance for whatever time and info you offer.

Gotta get busy in the shop now, I'll check back later.

_________________
Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!

The material I read said that the Anthem uses a mic for mid's and high's and uses the Element undersaddle pickup for lows only. So a crossover network is used to employ both the mic and undersaddle pickup's at the same time under "normal" (anticipated, as designed) use. The blend control, as I understand it and Meddingfool stated, does allow one pick-up at a time to be used if desired.

Ed

I just installed an Anthem-SL and it had an awful buzz coming from the volume wheel housing. I removed the housing to discover that the circuit board was not attached to the housing in any way and was rattling. I used a tiny drop of CA to anchor the circuit board to the housing and it fixed the problem. It was a very fast, easy, and invisible fix

The Anthem-SL sounds very nice BTW for those who may not like the look of the larger controller on the Anthem. The only difference in the two pickups is that the SL has a "set" mix and has a volume wheel only.

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Dan

I just spoke with the nice folks at LR Baggs and the Anthems are now shipping with a piece of foam in the plastic cover to prevent the rattle. Shouldn't be an issue anymore.

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Dan

Thanks again meddlingfool Ed Haney, and DanR. After further investigations and reviews, we've come a decision in agreement with meddlingfool (You got a first name? ) that the Anthem is the way to go. A true dual source system, and the sound quality when I compare it to others is second to none IMO. It also virtually eliminates the possibility of feedback in a stage band setting since the mic portion is mounted on the bridge plate. Another benefit is its super light weight.

Here is one of many examples of the Anthem where three players are using it. Two have the Anthem SL, and one the original Anthem.


Again thank you for your input, the Anthem was the one I had originally suggested to him and you've confirmed it's the right choice, at least in his specific situation.

_________________
Bill Hodge


One does not simply, own enough guitars!