Andy P
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My main instrument is: Taylor 312ce, Guild D25, Deering 5 string banjo
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Post by Andy P on Apr 7, 2016 15:54:42 GMT
Does anyone here have any experience with this? According to the Lowden website "This twin under saddle Highlander pick up system is favored by Pierre Bensusan among others. This is a system we have used for many years and is especially liked for it's very wide natural frequency response going right up to the very highest without distortion. This means that the high frequencies often sound cleaner and less forced."
I'm wondering what system to have fitted to my new old Lowden G9, when I eventually get my mits on it. It's a long story but the gist is that it's in the shop in Berwick-upon-Tweed and I'm still in Cornwall. For now.
Anyway, I'm not too that bowled over by the K&K in my Lowden S25 so I'm wondering about this one or maybe Lowden's other recommendations:
Either
LR Baggs Lyric Classical acoustic microphone (more expensive) "The LR Baggs Lyric utilises the Tru Mic technology to amplify your guitar without the need for under-saddle transducers. The only components are the under-bridge Tru Mic and the jack socket. The Tru Mic itself uses a finely tuned frequency response to create a tone similar to a microphone placed in front of the sound hole"
Or
LR Baggs Anthem (a lot more expensive) "Of the three systems we offer, the anthem has the most naturally warm and pure acoustic tone. The ability to blend in the signal from the under-bridge mic to a variety of extents is helpful both in terms of tone and feedback reduction. The overall output is lower than others and so input gain will have to be adjusted on an amp and / or mixing desk (check out the LR Baggs Venue DI and Para DI preamps also available from us). This is our default system."
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davewhite
Luthier / Guitar Maker
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Post by davewhite on Apr 7, 2016 15:59:47 GMT
Does anyone here have any experience with this? According to the Lowden website "This twin under saddle Highlander pick up system is favored by Pierre Bensusan among others. This is a system we have used for many years and is especially liked for it's very wide natural frequency response going right up to the very highest without distortion. This means that the high frequencies often sound cleaner and less forced." I'm wondering what system to have fitted to my new old Lowden G9, when I eventually get my mits on it. It's a long story but the gist is that it's in the shop in Berwick-upon-Tweed and I'm still in Cornwall. For now Just an opinion. They're expensive, a pig to fit and sound "quacky" to my ears. Apart from that they're fine.
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Andy P
C.O.G.
Posts: 4,982
My main instrument is: Taylor 312ce, Guild D25, Deering 5 string banjo
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Post by Andy P on Apr 7, 2016 16:02:02 GMT
Come on Dave, don't prevaricate.... Thanks. That's a valuable opinion.
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Post by martinrowe on Apr 7, 2016 16:18:20 GMT
I don't know much about this stuff (wish I did) but if: "the anthem has the most naturally warm and pure acoustic tone"
doesn't that mean that the other Baggs doesn't have the most natural warm and pure acoustic tone?
That seems to me to be the logic?
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andrewjw
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Post by andrewjw on Apr 7, 2016 16:42:57 GMT
There must be something to be said for the Highlander system if all these musos seem to approve... highlanderpickups.com/Even the revered Martin Simpson...
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Riverman
Artist / Performer
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Post by Riverman on Apr 7, 2016 17:39:22 GMT
I have an iP-1X Inline Highlander pickup in a resonator guitar. They're widely considered to be the best for that application, but there have been a lot of instances of preamps packing up. It happened to me twice and, to be fair, the people at Highlander were very decent about it, sending me two new preamps but only charging for one. I've no direct experience of the IP1 but given the question mark over the resonator pickup preamps, I might be tempted to look elsewhere. The Anthem equipped guitars I've heard have all sounded excellent amplified, but it's very expensive if you go for the full, adjustable blend system. And a lot of gubbins to have inside the guitar. I have a Lyric (not the Classical, which I assume is for nylon strings), which I tried originally in a Martin OM. The guitar didn't like it at all, but then it hasn't liked other pickups I've tried in it either. A trawl around the US forums will, as usual, reveal plenty of people who love them and others who won't give them house room. And it seems that they do work better in some guitars than in others. In the Lyric's favour is that it's not overly expensive, and very easy to install or remove (or indeed to play around with the positioning of the microphone unit, which just attaches with double sided tape). I now have it in another guitar (Martin 000) but haven't had chance to experiment with it much yet. medwards has just given me some useful tips on EQing it, so I'll see how that goes. In theory it should be great, but perhaps it depends how long you're prepared to spend fiddling with EQ until you're happy with the sound. Having once been a big fan of K&Ks, I now share your dissatisfaction with the sound Andy P . I wish it could be otherwise as they're cheap, simple and passive. But I just find them too muddy in the midrange. For the sake of simplicity and directness of sound I now favour soundhole pickups, despite the aesthetic disadvantages. Being the impatient type, I may end up deciding to go down that route with the 000 - if so, the Lyric will be for sale...
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davewhite
Luthier / Guitar Maker
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Post by davewhite on Apr 7, 2016 17:47:26 GMT
The most natural sounding pick up I've heard in one of my guitars is a Pick Up The World - very subtle but effective.
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Post by ianlp59 on Apr 7, 2016 20:54:40 GMT
Personally, I love the Highlander. But you do need a good pre-amp to go with it. My Sobell Model 0 and MS MK II have IP1's which I pair up with up a D-Tar Mama Bear pre-amp. Great sound. I can turn up anywhere, just ask for an XLR into the desk and be good to go. Each to their own though, as always...
Cheers,
Ian
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Apr 7, 2016 22:29:02 GMT
Andy P - if you are thinking of a Highlander UST, then you might also like to consider UK firm Headway, who do a twin element version of their UST and uses similarly constructed elements to those used by Highlander. I had one in my O25 for a while. Still recognisably UST, but not overly so, and excellent in a big guitar in a band situation. I was less keen on it for more exposed situations and so removed it to fit you-know-what. I have no experience of the Lyric or Anthem. Keith
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Riverman
Artist / Performer
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Post by Riverman on Apr 7, 2016 22:47:20 GMT
Andy P - if you are thinking of a Highlander UST, then you might also like to consider UK firm Headway, who do a twin element version of their UST and uses similarly constructed elements to those used by Highlander. I had one in my O25 for a while. Still recognisably UST, but not overly so, and excellent in a big guitar in a band situation. I was less keen on it for more exposed situations and so removed it to fit you-know-what. I have no experience of the Lyric or Anthem. Keith I had a Headway in one of my Fyldes. I hated the sound, so had it taken out and replaced it with a K&K, in the days when I favoured them. i ended up giving the Headway to geddarby, who had it fitted in one of his Martins. It sounds absolutely brilliant and is as loud as something that's, well, very loud indeed. Go figure. (Hope this is all helping, Andy P )
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Apr 7, 2016 22:51:43 GMT
I have no experience of the Lyric or Anthem. Pretty sure your mate Ben Walker uses the Anthem, Keith. The control panel in the soundhole is the giveaway...
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Apr 7, 2016 23:20:46 GMT
Riverman - Richard, I suspect you are right about Ben, , but I meant no experience of Lyric or Anthem as a player. Actually at Halsway Manor last year Ben's guitar did sound lovely from a listener's angle plugged in even through a pretty basic PA and with little apparent fuss - I didn't get to play it plugged in unfortunately, but acoustically it was a delight! But, as I'm sure you'd agree, it's one thing to hear someone else getting a great sound from an amplified guitar, and quite another to know how that guitar feels to play plugged in, let alone have any understanding of the practicalities of using any given system in a variety of situations over a period of time. I too had a Headway in a Fylde, an Oberon (it came with it in) - it was great for ceilidh band, but not ideal for solo stuff where I wanted a bit more subtlety and fidelity. I put it in Nuffsed's Stonebridge, with more pleasing results though - deffo does a better job there. Similar experience to yours/Ged's ! Keith
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Apr 7, 2016 23:35:11 GMT
Strange, isn't it, how people's perceptions of sound can vary so much. Where one person hears quacky, rubbery piezo sound, another hears pristine just-like-my-guitar-but-louder tones. And, as you suggest Keith, the sound to the player can seem quite different to what the audience is hearing, for both sonic and probably psychological reasons.
And all this ignores the issue of playing style...I'm sure one reason I've gone off K&Ks is because my playing has changed quite a bit since I started performing regularly.
After a lot of experimenting I've come to the broad conclusion that simple is good, and that pleasing if somewhat artificial amplified sound is easier and cheaper to achieve than sound which faithfully reproduces, without feedback, a guitar's true acoustic tone. But, as has been said, each to his or her own!
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Post by jackorion on Apr 8, 2016 6:40:44 GMT
I've got the LR Baggs Anthem SL in two guitars and I'm very happy with it - it might not sound exactly like my guitar but it sounds (and feels) very 'acoustic' when playing.
The important part to me is the 'feel' - the sound reacts to my playing in the same way I would expect the guitar to react so I don't have to change my technique too much when playing plugged in.
Lr baggs do a split saddle full Anthem for Lowdens and I've heard them in a couple of guitars - sounded really, really good. But they are about £450!
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Post by andyhowell on Apr 8, 2016 7:02:27 GMT
The Highlander does seem to put out a fat signal but I'm not really a fan, I have a Headway in my Lucas guitar and Im very happy with it. And it is from a UK company!
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