Weird Anthem experience

[Petty1818]

I was at a music store today and saw a Gibson SJ-100 with the full Anthem system installed. I am reconsidering this pickup for my Taylor (previously had the SL version) so I decided to plug it in and try the pickup. I had remembered that the blend control when turned towards the neck would be mostly tru-mic or what you get with the SL and all the way towards the bridge would be the element. However, the blend was working more like a tone control and I was very confused with what was going on.

When turned towards the neck, the tone was warm but dull. When turned towards the bridge, the tone was clear and natural. I am thinking that maybe somehow the blend was wired incorrectly but I could never clearly distinguish the mic. Has anyone had an issue like this? Was I wrong in how the blend works?

[jseth]

It's funny... when I was thinking about having the Anthems installed in my 6 and 12 string Angus guitars, I spent a bunch of time on the phone with the (then) main tech at Baggs. He explained the differences between the Anthem and the SL, and told me how the "full" version could be tweaked/modified by the player; I recall that there were a LOT of different ways to adjust the thing... it was confusing, over the phone.

And then Brian (the tech) asked me if I was going to want to play with only the UST covering all the bases, like in a louder band. When I said no, he recommended the SL version, so that's what I went with. Afterwards, Brian commented on how many people have a hard time with all the adjustments on that bigger control module of the full Anthem.

I've been pretty happy with the SL for the past 7 years... and they are simple.

I don't think you were wrong about that blend control, but it sounds as though something was "switched" and altering the main wheel's function?

[Vancebo]

Taking a look at the user guide would refresher our memory but yet I am going to make a misguided comment on what I think I remember without looking it up. The wheel on one direction can be full UST the other end can be full mic from the crossover point on up. Then there is the blend of everything in between. You might remember the presence screw. Your presence screw might have been dialed all of the way down. That would effect how the mic sounds in the upper frequencies. Chances are, it was performing as expected.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by Vancebo

Taking a look at the user guide would refresher our memory but yet I am going to make a misguided comment on what I think I remember without looking it up. The wheel on one direction can be full UST the other end can be full mic from the crossover point on up. Then there is the blend of everything in between. You might remember the presence screw. Your presence screw might have been dialed all of the way down. That would effect how the mic sounds in the upper frequencies. Chances are, it was performing as expected.

Good point, I actually considered that last night. It could be that someone had played around with the mic level control. I remember with the SL, I could make the pickup sound very dull by dialling back the mic. It's just odd that when the element was fully blended in, the guitar had a nice clarity and natural tone. It's not something I associate with a UST.

The mic level control still confuses me a bit though. I always thought it just helped to tame the high end but I am not sure if you can actually dial the mic totally out with this adjustment.

[jseth]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

Good point, I actually considered that last night. It could be that someone had played around with the mic level control. I remember with the SL, I could make the pickup sound very dull by dialling back the mic. It's just odd that when the element was fully blended in, the guitar had a nice clarity and natural tone. It's not something I associate with a UST.

The mic level control still confuses me a bit though. I always thought it just helped to tame the high end but I am not sure if you can actually dial the mic totally out with this adjustment.

With the full Anthem, you CAN get the mic all the way out of the mix, just as you can have the UST cover the entire frequency spectrum - where the SL has a fixed crossover for the UST that doesn't allow it to reproduce anything above 150 hz or so...

That's part of what I was talking about in my first reply - there are numerous ways to "adjust" the full Anthem that, if not performed orrectly, can result in some very weird tones coming from your guitar!

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by jseth

With the full Anthem, you CAN get the mic all the way out of the mix, just as you can have the UST cover the entire frequency spectrum - where the SL has a fixed crossover for the UST that doesn't allow it to reproduce anything above 150 hz or so...

That's part of what I was talking about in my first reply - there are numerous ways to "adjust" the full Anthem that, if not performed orrectly, can result in some very weird tones coming from your guitar!

The mic level control still confuses me a bit. I mean I understand it but since the full anthem has a blend control, what's the purpose of also needing the mic level control?

[Doug Young]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

The mic level control still confuses me a bit. I mean I understand it but since the full anthem has a blend control, what's the purpose of also needing the mic level control?

The Anthem lets you blend between the raw 100% element and the "tru-mic", which is the Element+Mic (aka Lyric). Think of these as 2 different entities, even tho the Element is in both. Pickup "A" is the Element alone, pickup "B" is the Element+Mic combined together via a crossover. The Blend control lets you adjust the blend between A and B. The mic level control determines how loud the mic part is in pickup "B". Confusing? Yes :-) In practice, turn knobs until you like the sound.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by Doug Young

The Anthem lets you blend between the raw 100% element and the "tru-mic", which is the Element+Mic (aka Lyric). Think of these as 2 different entities, even tho the Element is in both. Pickup "A" is the Element alone, pickup "B" is the Element+Mic combined together via a crossover. The Blend control lets you adjust the blend between A and B. The mic level control determines how loud the mic part is in pickup "B". Confusing? Yes :-) In practice, turn knobs until you like the sound.

Thanks Doug! I think I can wrap my head around that now!