L.R. Baggs elements / with or without

[jseth]

Paul; I'm unclear... do you NEED to have your guitar ready to plug in, or is the Element not something you use at all? If you really need the guitar to have a pickup in it, you may be better served by using an IR, seeing as how the Element is already installed and functioning.

I feel there are certainly "better" sounding pickups than the Element/UST-type, but I don't know how available they are in France? I have Dazzo 70's at this time and love them; again, I don't know that Teddy Rondazzo is marketing his pickups in Europe yet (although I do know that Eric Clapton had Dazzos installed in his stage guitar for the last US tour!).

I had the Element (as part of the Anthem SL system) in a hand built 6 string guitar for about a decade. I had played and performed with that guitar for nearly 30 years prior to having the Anthem SL installed. I knew that "something" changed when I put the Anthem in that guitar, and I've written about it extensively on this Forum, at various times.

When I had the Anthem removed from that guitar, I was stunned by how much louder, more responsive and more "present" the tone was... I mean, I knew something had changed with that guitar, but I didn't realize to what extent it had changed that instrument.

I'd say your Gibson will likely be louder, clearer (?) and more responsive with the Element removed... you'll definitely want a higher saddle to compensate for the thickness of the Element. Get a professional to do it if you're unsure.

Can't say how much the guitar will change, but I'd bet it will be immediately noticeable!

[Goat Mick]

I pulled the Element from my 2021 LG-2 and guess what? It sounded exactly the same. However this is definitely one of those YMMV situations because it may make a huge difference with your guitar, or it might make a slight difference, or you may wonder why you wasted so much time thinking about all this stuff. But this is the AGF and we love to obsess over minute things like this. Enjoy!

[steelvibe]

Originally Posted by Goat Mick

I pulled the Element from my 2021 LG-2 and guess what? It sounded exactly the same. However this is definitely one of those YMMV situations because it may make a huge difference with your guitar, or it might make a slight difference, or you may wonder why you wasted so much time thinking about all this stuff. But this is the AGF and we love to obsess over minute things like this. Enjoy!

Minute things? Give me a second....

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by steelvibe

Minute things? Give me a second....

Oh hush!!! LMAO

[davenumber2]

Maybe I'm a noob when it comes to amplification but what is IR referring to?

[Cuki79]

Originally Posted by davenumber2

Maybe I'm a noob when it comes to amplification but what is IR referring to?

It's Impulse Response

Here is what it does to your sound


Here is an explanation I made of what it is (I hope simple to understand):
http://acousticir.free.fr/spip.php?article6

and here is a more technical/math explanation:

[paul300]

Thanks very much for your comment
Actually I don’t gig so far. I’ve been off music for almost 20 years and offered myself a Gibson a couple of months ago (first a j45 TV which I quickly changed against a southern jumbo with a warmer and more mellow sound) and was super excited to learn new riffs & techniques
I play every week with a e-drummer and so far we play with headphones and I mic my guitar with a u87 (overequiped i know). I’m very excited with our duo and we plan to gig some day soon so I might eventually need a pick up soon.

I tried the lr baggs with a hx stomp and a IR from sigma and it sounds fantastic !

I just feel that my southern jumbo is way under its potential acoustically.

So I’m thinking to take the under saddle out and install a k&k pure mini instead and adapt my preset in the hx stomp.

So in theory I could have a better acoustic sound and the picked up sound might be ok as well

Best/p

Originally Posted by jseth

Paul; I'm unclear... do you NEED to have your guitar ready to plug in, or is the Element not something you use at all? If you really need the guitar to have a pickup in it, you may be better served by using an IR, seeing as how the Element is already installed and functioning.

I feel there are certainly "better" sounding pickups than the Element/UST-type, but I don't know how available they are in France? I have Dazzo 70's at this time and love them; again, I don't know that Teddy Rondazzo is marketing his pickups in Europe yet (although I do know that Eric Clapton had Dazzos installed in his stage guitar for the last US tour!).

I had the Element (as part of the Anthem SL system) in a hand built 6 string guitar for about a decade. I had played and performed with that guitar for nearly 30 years prior to having the Anthem SL installed. I knew that "something" changed when I put the Anthem in that guitar, and I've written about it extensively on this Forum, at various times.

When I had the Anthem removed from that guitar, I was stunned by how much louder, more responsive and more "present" the tone was... I mean, I knew something had changed with that guitar, but I didn't realize to what extent it had changed that instrument.

I'd say your Gibson will likely be louder, clearer (?) and more responsive with the Element removed... you'll definitely want a higher saddle to compensate for the thickness of the Element. Get a professional to do it if you're unsure.

Can't say how much the guitar will change, but I'd bet it will be immediately noticeable!