Tone Dexter van lr baggs anthem

barth1234 · #1 06-17-2019, 07:51 AM

Hello all,

I have a new guitar:

The gibson J200 Montana Gold 30th lemited edition. It’s equiped with a lr baggs element vtc.

It goes straight into my AER compact 60/4.

I’ve heard the anthem before, I like it. What’s going to help getting the best sound, replace the element with the anthem of a tonedexter?

Kind regards

jonfields45 · #2 06-17-2019, 08:25 AM

IMO ToneDexter is a better sounding solution but will require an external box and some effort to record wave maps (and a decent instrument mic but not something IMO you need to get too uptight about). An Anthem is a good plug and play alternative but I don't think will sound as good.

rokdog49 · #3 06-17-2019, 09:05 AM

I'm going to replace that same stock pickup with a K&K and a volume control in my J45.
I'll run it through my RedEye Twin preamp, same as my D18 of which I get a very natural sounding amplified tone. Lots of others have used the K&K in their Gibby's with good results. You can purchase the K&K with the preamp they offer as well.

barth1234 · #4 06-17-2019, 10:08 AM

Thnx for the answers.

Any others that have experience with both?

Scatcat · #5 06-17-2019, 11:34 AM

I have changed a stock element on a Gibson j45 with an anthem sl, the sound is much much better! I like the sound and the sound pugged is similar to the tone unplugged. I don't know the tonedexter, in italy i can't find it.

GuitarLuva · #6 06-17-2019, 01:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by barth1234

Thnx for the answers.

Any others that have experience with both?

Yes I have both. The Anthem (any version) will sound much more natural than the element. The Anthem is not my first choice in a pickup system though. It adds a lot of stuff inside your guitar but it also offers some good onboard functionality. Tonedexter is a very unique preamp. It will make practically any pickup sound more natural. You do need a mic to make wavemaps though so the initial upfront cost will be higher than swapping your element for an Anthem. If you have multiple guitars Tonedexter would be the way to go as you could use it with any guitar with a pickup.

I had 2 guitars with Anthem systems that I installed myself but removed them as it affected the unplugged tone of those guitars. I have a Godin Metropolis that came with the full Anthem system in it. I prefer to use that guitar with the slider on full UST through Tonedexter than to use the Anthem as a standalone.