Anthem Tru Mic or Lyric
 

I have a couple guitars with K&K minis in them and I get along alright. At louder volumes I seem to get feedback from the lower registers but I work around it and make it work. I run them through a K&K Pure preamp which works well in combination with my mixer. I like the simplicity of the K&K but I first thought when I got it seemed to sound a little "electric".

I have another guitar needing a pickup and I'm thinking about using a LR Baggs. Either a Lyric or an Anthem True Mic. I've read people getting along well with the Lyric and some moving them to different locations to make them sound better. Most of the people using the Anthem seem to love it. Sound clips and videos I've watched sound great. Most of the sound clips and videos I've watched people that were using them were also running an LR Baggs DI preamp with them.

A pickup is one thing, especially one that is $200 - $300. Not spending another $300 for a preamp also. Any reason I can't use my "Pure" and get good results? Is the true mic anthem worth the extra $100 over the SL model? Would appreciate some help before I plunge. Thanks REV

Hey Revy,

You don’t mention if you’re plugging into a PA, or using a amp. Maybe you’re doing both, depending on the venue. If you’re using the Lyric, it’s different from the
K and K in design, but suffers some of the same issues at higher volumes. You’ll likely need a preamp, but I’m not sure the Lyric is really your best option, based on your issues. I can’t tell you whether the K and K preamp is a good choice for the lyric-I’ve never used one.

As to the differences between the Anthem full system or SL, I strongly encourage you to go with the full system. Is it worth the extra $100.00?
Yes. Absolutely. The full system gives you the ability to fine tune the balance between the tru-mic and the element. The crossover point. Which I’ve found is paramount to getting the most out of a specific instrument. The SL has a crossover point pre-set-you can’t adjust it. That works fine for some guitars, not so good for others.

You don’t really NEED a preamp for the Anthem. But you always want to retain a modicum of control over your tone. Allowing the guy running the PA to do that while you have no control is a recipe for getting the sound HE wants.
So either way, a good preamp is pretty essential. I use the old school para DI.
If you are using a good acoustic amp, you need no preamp obviously.

Mark

Anthem
 

I will be using both depending on the size of venue.
Thank you for your input. I wasn't sure what the difference between the Anthem and the Anthem SL was. Thank you for letting me know. From what I've read people are very pleased with the full blown Anthem system.

I've had all 3.

Lyric: simple, needs significant EQ, no extended bass response which some people love, but I found to be a problem though a PA. Surprisingly excellent in a full band situation.

Anthem SL: plug and play, great tone, has some piezo quack, but not too bad, possibly affects unplugged tone.

Full Anthem: best tone of the 3 by a stretch (I was surprised that I never could replicate the 'full' tone with the 'SL.' It may be user error.) Plug and play. Only two downsides are the size of the Anthem internal preamp and the potential loss of unplugged tone. The preamp was too large for my guitar - it kept bumping against a top brace. When I first installed it, I lost some unplugged tone. I really can't objectively say if it came back once the saddle settled or not - it may have, but it always bothered me, so I use a Trance system now.

Trance is well worth a look too, but the Anthem is a great system

I've used both the Anthem SL and the Lyric. In my own case, I've gotten a more pleasing sound with the Anthem SL. The caveat is that I have to use considerable EQ adjustment. I need to cut the low mids heavily, and cut a bit of the high end as well. That's after adjusting the SL's mic level for the best tonal balance I can get with a flat EQ.

You may well be able to get sufficient feedback rejection with the K&K if you EQed the signal to the same extent that I've had to EQ my Anthem SL rig. I've been using a Zoom A3 preamp to do the EQing. It gives me good EQ control with a digital six band graphic EQ and a digital two band parametric EQ which I can use in series when needed. In addition to those EQs, it also has a basic (knob controlled ) three band EQ which can be used for quick & dirty adjustments at the gig.

I agree with Steve's descriptions 100%. But, I will emphasize that I thought the element piezo did reduce acoustic volume. I am using the Lyric now with reasonable success.

I found the Lyric, while nice sounding, required a lot of EQ in a loud band situation. It's also highly sensitive to body and string noise, which drove me nuts.

Anthem is much easier to use and sounds nice. Currently I use an Anthem SL + K&K dual source setup. I use a HP filter on the Anthem SL at 750 to just get the highs and overtones and let the K&K take the bulk of the sound. I can use the Anthem SL volume knob to easily dial in how much of it I want. Helix mixes the two together and provides the HP filter on the Anthem SL.

I can't stress this enough, the Lyric and Anthem mic's couldn't be much different from each other. Like night and day dynamically.