Lyric, M80, Anthem, or Matrix?

[Rexfordbridge]

Playing in a duo. I usually play on smaller stages with a monitor at my face shooting up at me. Of the pickups mentioned, and you can mention something that you thing may be better, which would you choose and why?

Here's what I came up with from reading around:

1) Lyric - Sounds great, somewhat prone to feedback, doesn't cut as well as the anthem because of the lack of under saddle.

2) M80 - I actually tried this pickup in a friends guitar and while it sounded good, I thought it sounded somewhat hollow.

3) Anthem - Haven't tried this, but have read many glowing reviews.

4) Matrix - While not the most natural sound, I have read that it really cuts and when played with the Fishman Aura pedal it sounds very natural.

[Irish Pennant]

Of the four mentioned, I have a guitar with the Matrix. This guitar get's lots of complements on it's tone and the guitar it's in is a $300.00 Takamine, a GS330S.

[Petty1818]

Can you provide us with some more details on what you play/your style? In your particular setting (duo/smaller venues), you could get away with using any one of these pickups so it's a little difficult to recommend one. With that said, I have tried three of the four so here are my thoughts:

Lyric:
Very natural but is not as plug and play as other options as it can need significant eq. It does not lack bass but it does not provide the enhanced bass that we have come to like with acoustic pickups. For your setting this might be fine but for some it's a bit limiting. It does not feedback much at all.

Anthem:
I wouldn't say it cuts through a mix better than the Lyric. The Difference is that it's more plug and play as it's easier to eq. You also get the missing bass from the Element UST. I would recommend the SL version as it's a simple solution and it's pretty much 90% tru-mic/Lyric and 10% UST.

Matrix:
Not natural but it's a very popular option that we have grown used to sound wise. It's feedback resistant, has nice bass and will cut through a mix. All three will cut through a mix, I just find UST systems to have a crisp top end. If you go for the Matrix, look into the Spectrum DI.

[buzzardwhiskey]

I have the Lyric in two very different guitars. It is a highly processed mic sound. The upper frequencies are captured well. The lower, not so much.

One of my guitars used to have the Matrix. It sounds like what it is.

I recently added an M80 competitor, the DiMarzio Black Angel, to my Martin CEO-7 and like it. Here's a "real world PA" demo of the Lyric and Black Angel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWq1sretcLU

Good luck!

[rokdog49]

[Quote] Anthem:
I wouldn't say it cuts through a mix better than the Lyric. The Difference is that it's more plug and play as it's easier to eq. You also get the missing bass from the Element UST. I would recommend the SL version as it's a simple solution and it's pretty much 90% tru-mic/Lyric and 10% UST.[Quote]
+1

Lyric doen't have enough bottom for me but it's basically giving you a quality mic'd tone.
M-80 sounds good but it seems to sound more like an electric guitar tone to me.
Matrix...I have no clue.


Anthem SL
More of a natural acoustic tone. I'm in a duet and with minimal EQ you can really get a sweet sounding repro of your guitar's tone. I prefer less microphone in my setting, but every guitar will be different because every guitar has it's own type of wood and resonance. My Larrivee has a cedar top and mahogany back and side so in order to preserve it's warmth, I dial the microphone back to about 40% and EQ out a little of the mids. The amount of microphone you want to introduce is adjustable.
Sounds fantastic. Go to Doug Young's pickup comparison sight and listen for yourself
http://www.dougyoungguitar.com/pickuptests/

[dberkowitz]

In my experience as an installer, the answer for me currently is the Anthem, as it provides the best balance between a natural sound, headroom for strumming, and feedback resistance. I've got a cheap 1985 Crate amp in the shop that I use for checking that electronics are working.

When I installed my first Anthem, an SL -- you'll find that the SL will fit in more custom guitar bracing than the full Anthem, it was an eye opener. The install before was a Matrix with an Applied Microphone Technology mic in the body. This is what Pat Metheny uses. The Anthem, at a quarter of the price, not including a custom boom mount I had to make, sounded to my ear, better. Now I did take the dual system to Wolf Trap to run it through the SD7 and it sounded fine with that level of EQ, but that's a $300,000 console.

The Anthem is a lot of sound for the money.

[lmacmil]

A friend has a Martin D35 with a Martrix and it sounds like crap, IMO, when plugged directly into a PA. Have not heard it going thru any type of preamp.

[pipe dreamer]

Originally Posted by lmacmil

A friend has a Martin D35 with a Martrix and it sounds like crap, IMO, when plugged directly into a PA. Have not heard it going thru any type of preamp.

It does need to be paired with the aura to shine. I've got this set up and it's possible to get really great results.
I have heard the anthem live from another player and it did sound awesome! I'm tempted to get one someday....gas will never leave me alone...

[Vancebo]

I have had the Lyric and the Anthem. I liked them both. Currently I really like the Anthem. I run the anthem with the mic full on. To be clear, the SL version operates with 100% mic sound from 250 hz on up. The full Anthem can operate the same way with the dial fully turned up. if you turn the mic down more of the UST is responsible for 250hz and up area. In both cases, the UST is always responsible for 250 hz and lower.

The Anthem should be your choice if you need a more commanding bass response. When I play with my church band I am running a high pass filter at 125hz to cut the bass anyway.

The Lyric does have less bass response and sometimes needs EQ help to cut some of the boxiness of the low mids.

One more thing. It is a mic. One, you got to like the sound of your guitar because thats what you're going to hear. Two, Feedback can easily be controlled. I don't think I ever had feedback and we run at pretty high volumes. Just gotta have a good preamp with parametric EQ that you can dial the specific problem area.

Good luck.

[pmarino]

I've never played a Lyric, but I just replaced the M80 in my J-45 with the Anthem, and I have a Fishman Matrix Infinity in my Blueridge. No question (after just a couple of hours with my acoustic amp at home) the Anthem is the most natural sounding of them all. Lovely tone. Sounds great on its own, and even a bit better through my Fishman Platinum Analog DI/preamp. I haven't played it live yet, but I have shows coming up and I'm looking forward to hearing it through a PA.

[Rexfordbridge]

Sounds like the anthem seems to be the favorite amongst these responses. Did the anthem change your unplugged tone at all? I read a post where someone said the undersaddle had a negative impact on his unplugged tone.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by Rexfordbridge

Sounds like the anthem seems to be the favorite amongst these responses. Did the anthem change your unplugged tone at all? I read a post where someone said the undersaddle had a negative impact on his unplugged tone.

I worried about this for a long time before deciding to order the Anthem. I am sure there is some tonal change but honestly, it's probably so small that I won't even notice it. There are just so many factors at play that could contribute to the loss as well such as; the saddle not being the same height as it was before the install. Go with the Anthem, you won't be disappointed!

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Rexfordbridge

Sounds like the anthem seems to be the favorite amongst these responses. Did the anthem change your unplugged tone at all? I read a post where someone said the undersaddle had a negative impact on his unplugged tone.

As far as I'm concerned, if there is a change, it's for the better. One way to tell is play your guitar acoustic only and very gradually increase the volume as you play. I did this and could detect no appreciable change in tone as my guitar got louder. The plus I mentioned was a little more punch in the bass. I am sure there are many other pickups out there that do a fine job for folks but I am very happy with my Anthem SL.

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by rokdog49

As far as I'm concerned, if there is a change, it's for the better. One way to tell is play your guitar acoustic only and very gradually increase the volume as you play. I did this and could detect no appreciable change in tone as my guitar got louder. The plus I mentioned was a little more punch in the bass. I am sure there are many other pickups out there that do a fine job for folks but I am very happy with my Anthem SL.

I believe he was asking about how the UST could change the unplugged tone once installed. There have been reports of the UST altering the unplugged tone by hindering the contact between the saddle and the bridge.

[Rexfordbridge]

Petty, you're correct. Thanks for the response though rokdog.