Anyone upgrade from the Anthem SL to the full Anthem?

[Vancebo]

I've owned both versions. I preferred the full Anthem. The Bass was huge in my guitar so I appreciated having the control of the full version. The best results I got was useing the Baggs Session with a high pass filter and the Saturation and Compression knobs. No additional EQ needed. There was still bass in the sound and very natural sounding miss and highs. It was stellar.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

It's not so much the quack that bothers me, it's the actual tone of the Element. It has this metallic sound to it that I don't like on its own but when paired with the high end of the tru-mic, just sounds over the top hi-fi. I am not sure if making adjustments live with the plastic screwdriver would be ideal though. I have tried that before and it was not easy. I really feel that Baggs should have just included a small knob to turn.

I follow a musician who uses the imix system, which has the i-beam. I think he blends in more i-beam but it sounds very good. I think the i-beam sounds great, it's just not very feedback resistant.

FWIW, the DTAR Wavelength system (which uses the exact same transducer) seems to get much better user reviews than the Element. Folks most often describe the Wavelength sound as "woody", and I have to agree with that perception.

Regarding the iBeam, I have one super-glued in my old D28. Its better balanced and less feedback prone than most of the iBeam rigs which I deal with as a soundman, so maybe there's some advantage to a super-glue installation, as opposed to using the double-sided tape.

I agree that the iBeam can sound very good, in the hands of a strong picker, at a moderate level of amplification. On the downside, its the most feedback prone pickup (generally speaking) that I deal with.

[AndyC]

I have the SL fitted to my OM, and I'm just about fed up with it. There's not enough overall control to get the sound I want. There's a crossover in the unit that prohibits using it in any way beyond the factory setting without giving up bandwidth. At factory settings, I can't EQ it the way I want and need.

I'm going to go down a dual source system with independent full band EQ over both sources via an external preamp - all I need to do now is decide which two sources to go with....

Oh - and which preamp....

[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by AndyC

I have the SL fitted to my OM, and I'm just about fed up with it. There's not enough overall control to get the sound I want. There's a crossover in the unit that prohibits using it in any way beyond the factory setting without giving up bandwidth. At factory settings, I can't EQ it the way I want and need.

I'm going to go down a dual source system with independent full band EQ over both sources via an external preamp - all I need to do now is decide which two sources to go with....

Oh - and which preamp....

I played my last show with the SL over the weekend. It's just not working out for me. I don't even know how to explain it but it actually provides zero body, warmth & overall fullness to my tone. It's as if someone turned the treble up and the bass/mids down. I was expecting the Element to provide some nice bass but it's subtle at best. To be honest, I find the SL to be very, very similar to what I was hearing with the Lyric.

[AndyC]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I played my last show with the SL over the weekend.

You and me both!

[rudomat]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

FWIW, the DTAR Wavelength system (which uses the exact same transducer) seems to get much better user reviews than the Element. Folks most often describe the Wavelength sound as "woody", and I have to agree with that perception...

is this still available anywhere...can´t find it...???
by the way...here you can hear it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKxSHr6vrYo&t=91s

i actually miss this possibility (that is actually also offered by matons AP5 pro...), that you have extra volume pots for mic and piezo, plus a summed volume, plus a mid control allowing to filter and boost the mids....!!!

that´s what´s somehow frustrating me with the anthem...i find it´s confusing or unclear sometimes...

for example that the SL's element is only offering frequencies under 250Hz and the mic over 250Hz, while the element in the full version offers the full spectrum etc...that´s just not very clear...

if you listen to the laurence juber video, he shows what it does with only 100% mic or 100% piezo, and i think both of that sounds great...i can´t say this at all about the anthems' mic or element...! ;-(

anybody knows, how one could buy such DTAR wavelength piezos...?

[kcnbys]

Originally Posted by rudomat

is this still available anywhere...can´t find it...???
by the way...here you can hear it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKxSHr6vrYo&t=91s

i actually miss this possibility (that is actually also offered by matons AP5 pro...), that you have extra volume pots for mic and piezo, plus a summed volume, plus a mid control allowing to filter and boost the mids....!!!

that´s what´s somehow frustrating me with the anthem...i find it´s confusing or unclear sometimes...

for example that the SL's element is only offering frequencies under 250Hz and the mic over 250Hz, while the element in the full version offers the full spectrum etc...that´s just not very clear...

if you listen to the laurence juber video, he shows what it does with only 100% mic or 100% piezo, and i think both of that sounds great...i can´t say this at all about the anthems' mic or element...! ;-(

anybody knows, how one could buy such DTAR wavelength piezos...?

The DTAR Wavelength is now available as the "Seymour Duncan" Wavelength. I used to use one, and it's a great pickup! You can buy one here:

https://reverb.com/item/4315067-d-ta...kup-and-preamp

[ameadows]

Originally Posted by Petty1818

It's not so much the quack that bothers me, it's the actual tone of the Element. It has this metallic sound to it that I don't like on its own but when paired with the high end of the tru-mic, just sounds over the top hi-fi. I am not sure if making adjustments live with the plastic screwdriver would be ideal though. I have tried that before and it was not easy. I really feel that Baggs should have just included a small knob to turn.

I follow a musician who uses the imix system, which has the i-beam. I think he blends in more i-beam but it sounds very good. I think the i-beam sounds great, it's just not very feedback resistant.

My J45 is at a shop right now getting the Anthem SL removed for the same reasons you're describing. I tweaked and tweaked that mic control and just could not get rid of what I perceived as thin-ness and metallic-ness to the sound (unless I went too far and made the sound muddy). There are some great sounding Anthem demos online and for whatever reason, I just couldn't get my guitar to sound as good as any of them.

I did a shootout through my church PA with my J45 w/ Anthem SL, a K&K equipped guitar, and a Taylor ES2 equipped guitar. I spent about an hour trying to get the mic gain where I thought it sounded best and then did the shootout. To my ears, the K&K sounded best, the ES2 was 2nd, and the Anthem was last by quite a bit. So I'm moving on and putting a K&K in my J45.

[JackB1]

You have to reaklly fine tune the screw adjustment to find the sweet spot for balancing treble and bass. One slight turn of the dial makes a big difference. I have the SL in my J45 and get plenty of bottom and fullness to my sound. Also couldn't you EQ it afterwards to add bass and remove highs? I think its a great pickup and am very happy with it.

Originally Posted by Petty1818

I played my last show with the SL over the weekend. It's just not working out for me. I don't even know how to explain it but it actually provides zero body, warmth & overall fullness to my tone. It's as if someone turned the treble up and the bass/mids down. I was expecting the Element to provide some nice bass but it's subtle at best. To be honest, I find the SL to be very, very similar to what I was hearing with the Lyric.

[JackB1]

Weird. I have a Anthem SL in my J45 and think it sounds great and I hate a thin, tinny sound. Yes I had to mess with that little screw to find the exact spot where it wasn't tinny or muddy, but I found it. Takes a while. And YES...why oh why didn't Baggs make this a normal knob and not a teeny tint screw????? The K&K will probably give your more bass but may need more EQing to dial in your sound. The Anthem SL is pretty plug and play for me.

Originally Posted by ameadows

My J45 is at a shop right now getting the Anthem SL removed for the same reasons you're describing. I tweaked and tweaked that mic control and just could not get rid of what I perceived as thin-ness and metallic-ness to the sound (unless I went too far and made the sound muddy). There are some great sounding Anthem demos online and for whatever reason, I just couldn't get my guitar to sound as good as any of them.

I did a shootout through my church PA with my J45 w/ Anthem SL, a K&K equipped guitar, and a Taylor ES2 equipped guitar. I spent about an hour trying to get the mic gain where I thought it sounded best and then did the shootout. To my ears, the K&K sounded best, the ES2 was 2nd, and the Anthem was last by quite a bit. So I'm moving on and putting a K&K in my J45.

[ameadows]

Originally Posted by JackB1

Weird. I have a Anthem SL in my J45 and think it sounds great and I hate a thin, tinny sound. Yes I had to mess with that little screw to find the exact spot where it wasn't tinny or muddy, but I found it. Takes a while. And YES...why oh why didn't Baggs make this a normal knob and not a teeny tint screw????? The K&K will probably give your more bass but may need more EQing to dial in your sound. The Anthem SL is pretty plug and play for me.

Yeah I was really hoping it would be plug and play for me as well. I really liked the airyness the mic added but something just wasn't right and I got tired of playing with that screw trying to get it where I wanted.

[stevecuss]

I'm quite confused by the SL vs Full Anthem situation.

I put a full Anthem in my Mcilroy and the plugged in sound was huge and amazing. The preamp didn't play nice with the Mcilroy bracing, so I replaced it with an SL and never could get a decent sound out of it. Even though it has the same elements and can supposedly replicate the full Anthem setting, I just couldn't get a sound I liked. That, with the extra issue of the UST dampening the acoustic unplugged sound made me walk away from the Anthem. Its a shame because the Anthem is a brilliant piece of tech.

[Mbroady]

Originally Posted by stevecuss

......with the extra issue of the UST dampening the acoustic unplugged sound made me walk away from the Anthem. Its a shame because the Anthem is a brilliant piece of tech.

this is my biggest disappointment in the LR Baggs Anthem SL. I truly love the plugged-in sound but I'm having a hard time accepting that a once amazing beautiful sounding guitar sounds less then what it's potential allows.. I might one day try the anthem replacing the element UST with another harder ust.

[stevecuss]

Originally Posted by Mbroady

this is my biggest disappointment in the LR Baggs Anthem SL I truly love the plugged-in sound but I'm having a hard time that a once amazing beautiful sounding guitar sounds less then what it's potential allows.. I might one day try the anthem replacing the element UST with another harder ust.

It became a terminal issue for me. I didn't know this was even an issue until I installed it and then strung up the guitar to play it and 'whoa! where did the oomph go?' It was a palpable difference. I googled the problem only to discover how common it was.

Here is the kicker though:

- the tone may have slowly returned as the saddle settled
- folks have tried all manner of surveys and pseudo scientific studies to prove or disprove it

but I think it is simply too dynamic a problem to nail down consistently. It is like installing an SBT pickup - too many factors determine good tone, so we can't make blanket statements about these pickups.

So yep, the tone may have returned in my Mcilroy, but I never could get past the greener grass potential, so I pulled the Anthem.

And now days, I'm just such a fan of a battery-less pickup, I just run a single passive SBT and install it with putty. I have a Line 6 HX Effects that allows for IRs so I can still have a 'two source' pickup of sorts.

[RogerPease]

JackB1 is so right, the SL adjustment is very touchy. Like the smallest amount
you can possibly turn the thing makes a difference. You have to be methodical
to home in on the magic sweet spot.

I don't wish for a knob because you don't have to change it often once it's set.
What I wish for is a 3-turn potentiometer instead of the basic 270 degree unit.
If you could spread that magic sweet spot out to a quarter turn range it would
be easier to find and even micro-adjust for a gig. I might even look into whether
that's feasible.

Cheers, _Roger