X20 pickup comparison
 

Hello CF folks. I'm going to be pulling the trigger on an in-stock X20 soon. Having been on the Emerald website and listened to their recordings of the Ghost Piezo/K&K Contact combo and the LR Baggs Element, I can't discern much of a difference. I kind of expected that, since they both employ an under-saddle piezo but I was hoping for a fuller (less quacky?) result from the Ghost/K&K combo.

Does anyone happen to have both? I have various (decent quality) pickups in my other guitars, but none have a Ghost, K&K or an Element. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

I have owned all three but separately and in different guitars, some Emerald and some not. I think the Ghost/K&K combo sounds interesting and might be pretty good. For years all I used was the K&K in all my wood guitars. I bought an Emerald that had an Element and it was okay.

When I did my first custom Emerald I had a K&K installed. It was much like my wood guitars with K&K's, a decent and bulletproof pickup system that needs a little help from a good preamp to sound it's best. And even then it can suffer from feedback at high volumes.

This is usually mitigated by a soundhole plug which for an Emerald would be a problem. Then I picked up a really nice Emerald custom nylon X10 with the Ghost system and it was really good with the nylon but I don't know how it would be with a steel string. Probably just as good.

If I ever order another custom Emerald, I'd ask for a full LR Baggs Anthem StagePro with barn door. I have that in my custom RainSong and it's fantastic.

Alas, that no longer appears to be an option. DethWshBkr did it himself - brave soul. Here’s a link - I can no longer see the pictures, but that may be a problem at my end.

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...46&postcount=9

Thanks for this. You know, I have the Anthem StagePro in my Furch, and I do like the sound quality very much. I believe that @David Eastwood is correct, Emerald no longer offers that as an option.

Jeez, I didn't know that. Glad I ordered mine when I did. It has an Anthem.

I remember a while back when Emerald announced it was 'reigning in' some of the more outrageous customization options. I didn't know/think that would include the StagePro systems. I'm sorry to hear they won't be offering this pickup system. It pretty much guarantees I'll never own another Emerald since I don't like any of their current pickup system offerings. And I wouldn't undertake installing an Anthem StagePro system myself because I don't have a death wish! (See what I did there?)

Given carbon fiber's strong vibrational transmission properties, the Element system alone not only picks up string vibration but also top and body vibrations--it's like a UST and SBT all in one. If I wanted to enhance the tone of the Element and/or reduce any residual quack in the Element's signal, I'd use an LR Baggs Session DI or an AudioSprockets ToneDexter.

Yes, thanks for that. I've used the Session DI for other applications, good call for pairing with the Element.