#1
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A Tale of Two Pickups...
I recently picked up a new SJ-200 Standard from Wildwood Guitars in Colorado. Wonderful instrument but the factory pickup was a LR Baggs Anthem...the one you can blend. Loved the sound of it plugged in but the output was so low I found myself needing to use one of my outboard preamp/DI boxes (LR Baggs Session DI) to boost the signal. When I did the resulting sound was fuzzy/blurry and had a low hum even with the ground lift turned on. I went round and round and finally decided if I was gonna keep the guitar the Anthem had to go. Had my luthier tech remove the Anthem (which I kept and can be re-installed if I ever sell the guitar) and install a minimally invasive K&K Mini. Just in a straight line out to a Fishman Loudbox the passive K&K had more output than the Anthem. Add the Session DI and it's amazing. Far superior to me and with an output level that's realistic. And can get really loud without distorting or feeding back.
I know people love the Anthem but I just could not get along with that low signal output. The folks at Baggs say it's normal. Anyway...that's my great change this weekend. Looking forward to playing it tomorrow morning at our contemporary service. Have a great weekend AGFer's!
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Jim Dogs Welcome......People Tolerated! Last edited by llew; 01-18-2020 at 04:12 PM. |
#2
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Great post. I’d like to learn more about your experience with the Session DI and K&K.
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"Lift your head and smile at trouble. You'll find happiness someday." |
#3
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They work well together but I did see that Baggs has a new "learn your guitars voice" Tonedexter kinda thing going on at Winter NAMM. Might be worth trying if it's not too expensive? The K&K mini and Baggs Session do work well for me in many different guitars.
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Jim Dogs Welcome......People Tolerated! |
#4
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I have tried pretty much everything and after all my experimenting, I can safely say that the K&K is still one of the best options out there. It's just so consistent. There are other SBT's that might provide a bit more air/natural tone but the K&K, especially with the tonedexter is just great. I currently have a Fishman Matrix in my Taylor that I run with the tonedexter or aura. I wrote it off years ago but recently came back to this configuration and it has been great. However, I have a second jack so I am very much considering the K&K. No additional batteries and I can use it alone for a more natural tone.
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