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Has anybody used this? Thoughts?

Mike

I like the way it sounds much more than most any UST but it’s much more prone to feedback. Best use case scenario is coupled with an UST with an IMix or similar blending preamp so you can adjust your system to the location's sound characteristics. All in all, I prefer the K&K Mini, and above all the Dazzos but those can be a smidgen more touchy to install.


Pierre
Guitares Torvisse

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Pierre Castonguay

I've installed well over 100 of these at my shop. They are great pickups for when you have guitars with vintage style cut through saddles where a piezo won't work and an internal mic is impossible with feedback.

Plus if you do lots of setups for the "tappy tappy" guys it can work well with a piezo when you use it in a different place on the guitar top just to pick up the taps/rhythm stuff they do.

I like them and I have used them for performing as well. Highly recommended. If it matters I use a Baggs Para DI as a mixer and go with an XLR out to the PA system of where ever I happen to be.

We replaced dozens of them with newer technology systems over the four years I worked at Greenridge...not a bad pickup in terms of fidelity, but lower output and higher noise floor than desirable for stiffer guitars. We put a lot of Anthems in as replacements, as well as the Pure/preamp combination.

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We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)

Same as Woodie's experience we like the newer stuff better for Woodie's reasons AND this thing is more invasive to install and remove than more modern alternatives and that's desirable as well.

Why the Ibeam and not the Lyric, Element, Anthem or K&K pure mini/western which are all excellent solutions spanning a price range of $100 - $300ish. I've found success with also making my pup recommendations contingent on playing style. Finger style Lyric or Anthem, flat pickers K&K, Element or Anthem.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

Hesh, any recommendations for the “thumpers”? I have a pickup to install this weekend for a player that likes to tap all around the instrument.

I have both the K&K and Lyric in stock so could go either way. I’m thinking the Lyric to get all that percussive stuff?


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We have thumper customers too and we went with the Anthem because they can blend in or out the mic which is what would be most problematic with a thumper one would think, well that's what we thought. No complaints, no returns, everyone happy.

You know who has vastly more experience with this than I do is Rick Turner. He has some clients, I'm forgetting their names who are pros who some will have heard of before and they are all about beating the **** out of their guitar tops. Rick set them up and would know. If you don't know Rick he's very approachable and gets a bad rap here because he made no bones about knowing his stuff. Rick is one of the most knowledgable Luthiers alive today.

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Ann Arbor Guitars

I installed a few tried one in my personal guitar pulled it for the K&K trinity a much better pick up.

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John Hall
blues creek guitars
Authorized CF Martin Repair
Co President of ASIA
You Don't know what you don't know until you know it

A few things to be aware of if - unlike Mr. Breakstone and some other higher-volume installers - you may not be perfectly familiar with the Anthem, Anthem SL, and Anthem StagePro systems and installation quirks:

1. It is important to read the installation instructions, as the flexible, flat portion of the undersaddle pickup containing the piezo-laiden film (the pickup part of the component) is easily damaged if not installed with a 45 degree lead-out down through the bridge/top/bridge plate stack. Now that Martin has started installing Anthem systems in some models, we will have to see if they honor the Baggs installation instructions, or just take the short-cut and use the 90 degree connection provisions for Fishman-style, older technology USTs.

2. As the pickup portion of the UST in the Element and Anthem systems extends beyond the usual length of a saddle slot, the the lead-out must have a strain relief cable clamp or other fastening beyond the active part of the UST to allow that cable to rout from the underside of the bridge plate without tension. While this assures reduced stress on the piezo film in the exit bend, reducing the chance of excessive bending and potential damage, it also prevents excessive guitar body-generated noise from being added to the UST output where that component is being loaded in tension. While the rule of thumb for acoustic pickup installs was to avoid suspending or mounting any part of the system from top or back, we made an exception for that one cable clamp as a result of post-install checks and some of the audio artifacts heard.

3. It is important to educate the customer on how the Anthem, Anthem SL, and Anthem StagePro differ between models and from other systems on the market.

- The Anthem is nominally a mic system with an added UST for better low frequency response...recording engineers have told us that small diaphragm condenser mics can handle low, medium, and high frequencies well...just not all at the same time. The Anthem takes mid and high frequency from the mic and low frequency from the UST, playing to the strengths of each source by eliminating annoying quack from the piezo at higher frequencies and getting accurate mic input with so-called 'tunnel effect' filtered out in the preamp. The blend feature is not a mic < both > UST, but instead a UST >>> mic + UST with a variable level control for maximum mic level at the mic + UST end of the blend range.

- The Anthem SL fixes the mic-UST blend ratio in the preamp, but allows some tweaking on the tail-pin preamp board with a trimmer pot accessible at install.

- The Anthem StagePro variant is supposed to provide a true blend capability (mic > both > UST), subject to some minimal mic or UST signal at the ends of the range (if our testing was valid).

- These differences mean that most pros that run a primary and back-up instrument, or several instruments in different tunings in a single set may wish to go with one and only one model of the Anthem to avoid the need to make major adjustments at the pedal board or the mix into the house when swapping guitars between numbers.

4. There are (still...after years ) no dedicated installation instructions for the Anthem StagePro. Nor are there preamp cutout templates available online. Use the Anthem instructions for the mic and UST installs, and the hard-copy template provided in the Anthem StagePro kit for the cutout. I believe Mr. Stock scanned the template to make up a routing template and I likely have it somewhere in my files, but it really is best to get the preamp/control panel in hand before making holes in customer guitars, as it is smaller than most other side-mount units and you'll need to verify clearances and lack of interference in any case prior to committing to a mounting location.

5. We found that players that were new to the Anthem pickups needed to invest some time in wringing the system out (instrument, pickup, pedal board, etc.) before gigging or laying down cash for studio time. The Anthems are brilliant pieces of technology, but the capabilities afforded beyond other pickup systems require some level of first-hand discovery, as the online, 'cookbook' resources remain quite scant.

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We have become a civilization that elevates idiots, prostitutes, and clowns. Am I still to defend it? Yes, for its principles. Yes, for what it was. Yes, for what it still may be.

-Mark Helprin, The Oceans and the Stars: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story (A Novel)