$125 for a pickup. Which do you all think?

[ManyMartinMan]

You get what you pay for. If you want a good sound get something you can trust. Otherwise, you'll be out double and pissed at yourself for not waiting. If you're in a hurry, use a mic.

[jlipoth]

Originally Posted by dannyg1

That's interesting. Seems to be a 'dead to rights' copy of a Baggs Anthem SL from China. So are these Chinese copies serviceably good pickups or are they not? Seems to me that they could be and I'm supposing that I can count your review of this LSI as a 'yes, it's good'?

Anyone else care to comment? We're the black market B-band pickups any good, or a total rip? I've seen a fake Baggs Anthem copy (full version) and a Schertler Magnetico w/Mic clone, both on eBay for cheap. Anyone try anything like these?

The 2 b-band experiences I spoke of: they had no signal. I have a Martin D16RGT with a real B-Band 2.2 system. They are great! I put the LSM in my Gibson J35. I've never tried the anthem, so I can't speak to whether it is a copy or not... The LSM operates just like my b-band: 1 volume, 1 to blend in the "mic". The UST sounds just like an LR Baggs Element. The "mic" reminds of the b-band SBT, but it sounds a bit more like a condenser mic. I've only bought 1 and it worked well. I'm not sure if I lucked out or not.

[jseth]

I've used the Baggs Anthem SL in both my 6 and 12 string guitars for the past 6 years or so, and I like them just fine... don't know how they'd do in a "high volume" situation, but as a solo player and singer, they work wonderfully...

I would add that there is nearly NO WAY you will get an Anthem SL and have it installed, for your projected budget, however... especially if your Guild has not had a pickup in it prior...

Realize that how your guitar sounds will depend upon the quality of the pickup you use... rather than set a budget, I would suggest that you do the "hands-on" research and due diligence to find the pick-up you like the best, THEN figure out a way to afford it! All this really depends on your application, how you'll use the thing, and whether what your guitar sounds like to the audience means much to you...

[rschultz]

Originally Posted by jseth

I would add that there is nearly NO WAY you will get an Anthem SL and have it installed, for your projected budget, however... especially if your Guild has not had a pickup in it prior...

That's the beauty of the Anthem/Lyric type pickups... you can install it yourself. $125 used is possible for an Anthem SL.

[dannyg1]

I have a full Anthem in one of my Larrivees and it is a very good pickup. The advice I've heard is that a Baggs dual source with an LB6 in place of the mic is the bees knees. I do wonder whether the people doing this are using an imix, rather than a dual and are replacing the ibeam with that LB6. That would seem to me to be a better impedance match.

I could put any pickup at all in the Guild and Heath is right that getting spectacular sound should be the goal. It's just that my playing out guitars don't get kid glove treatment and I don't want to spend huge money on a pickup that may not like my all weather playing regimen. I can get a Bagg dual, a system I'm very fond of, having used it for a couple of years before my M80, for $100-120 and know exactly what to expect.

The only thing is that then I won't be expanding my knowledge of what else there is out there. Things I'd miss st like to hear about are Dtar, B-band, schertler magnetico, Duncan magmic SA6, skysonic, Baggs imix and others that could try and know very little about.

I'm also intrigued by these cheap Chinese pickups, wondering if any of them are worth celebrating nsideration. This Rangoon 6 magmic thing on eBay for $106 looks like it's high quality, the B band XOM 2.2 looks interesting too.

How interested are people here in hearing about these Chinese pickups? Should I risk one just to report on it?

To the guy who's concerned about OEMs not making their money on my purchase, I'm probably buying anything from a major maker used because there just aren't that many available dual source systems that you can buy for $125 new. They won't be profiting on this sale anyway.

And btw, did you read the K&K quote on their site where the owner says you won't find a pure mini as OEM in a guitar because the makers expect 80% off of retail?

That makes the retail markup on pickups in the 500% range which somehow makes me feel guilt free for trying to save money on this particular project.

[Johnny.guitar]

It's a fairly intensive process installing an acoustic pickup....why would you take a chance on a Chinese knock off ?
Drill a hole in your guitar only to find it sounds terrible..or dies on you in short order.
Save a little more $ and do it once and do it right


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ManyMartinMan]

Originally Posted by dannyg1

....The only thing is that then I won't be expanding my knowledge of what else there is out there. ..... I'm also intrigued by these cheap Chinese pickups, wondering if any of them are worth celebrating nsideration.

If you're "intrigued" then do what you like.

Originally Posted by dannyg1

.. This Rangoon 6 magmic thing on eBay for $106 looks like it's high quality, the B band XOM 2.2 looks interesting too.

How interested are people here in hearing about these Chinese pickups? Should I risk one just to report on it?

Maybe someone but I'm not interested in "experimenting" with my music (and money) on cheap anything - let alone Chinese knock offs.

Originally Posted by dannyg1

I'm putting a pickup in my Guild and I'm trying to cover all of my options. I'd like to keep the expense below $125. Used is fine,

You'll get a higher quality product buying any of the ones you mentioned used over the knock offs. But it's your money.

[jlipoth]

Hey Josh,
You should make your opinion less humble and tell us what you really think.

[dannyg1]

Originally Posted by ManyMartinMan

If you're "intrigued" then do what you like.




Maybe someone but I'm not interested in "experimenting" with my music (and money) on cheap anything - let alone Chinese knock offs.




You'll get a higher quality product buying any of the ones you mentioned used over the knock offs. But it's your money.

Over the last week, I've sold my Roland KC110 to a friend and I finally got to play 15 minutes on the street through a Roland Street Cube EX and it's all taught me something: there's no substitute for personal experience.

On the short side, my old KC110 is a better amp than I'd given it credit for. It sounds pretty good at low to mid volume but put it up against my Loudbox Mini and it's an almost pitiful comparison. The Loudbox mini is so much more powerful it just seems ridiculous. The Roland still ducks the guitar at higher vocal level, so it'll never be a tool I can use (at least without a mixer in front of it)

The Cube EX is another well thought of amp and you know that boxy, honked my sound you get with really cheap PA speakers? Well this Cube EX is loud enough but it sounds horrible. Again, no comparison to a Loudbox Mini.

The point of bringing this up is that the general 'status quo' opinion around here isn't as good as you might expect. There are price competitive answers that aren't well known and searching them out is it's own fun pursuit, mostly because you're extending the knowledge base

So, Chinese pickups. I'm still unsure. I'll probably go for something with a good reputation and play it safe. I'm still intrigued by some of what I'm seeing and I might just buy the fake XOM 2.2 just to try the feather pickup with my M80 (if the whole pickup system doesn't work that is).

Seems like I'm the only one who wants the know but then again there are a lot of lurkers who'd rather avoid the ginned up tone of some conversations round here.

Can you blame them? 😏

[dannyg1]

Almost forgot to mention that the friend I sold the amp to had a guitar catastrophe and also bought a dirt cheap guitar to ride himself over. He had been using a Washburn thin cutaway mini Jumbo that he liked the plugged in sound of. It had a JOYO UST system in it. He bought an Ibanez with a Fishman pre amp UST and this Fishman system sounded horribly thin and anemic.

I took the Chinese UST from the Washburn and mated it to the Fishman pre in the Ibanez and bang! Gargantuan improvement. The Washburn had been running for around a decade and the electronics were still working at its death. The Chinese UST not only lives on but is, dare I say it, better than the Fishman UST it replaced (by a country mile).

That's what started my looking more seriously at the larger world of options.

[Greg Rappleye]

Originally Posted by dogdog49

They are always available on eBay for @$69.00. Just search for LSM 220 pickup. Two great reasons not to buy one: It just doesn't seem fair to the folks at Baggs who did all the R&D, and if you go to YouTube and listen to a sample it sounds like someone shoved an ice pick in your ears.

Well...either reason is enough for me.



Greg Rappleye

[dannyg1]

Originally Posted by Greg Rappleye

Well...either reason is enough for me.



Greg Rappleye

Doesn't it occur to you that Baggs, Fishman, B-band, etc pickups are likely all made in China?

[dogdog49]

Originally Posted by dannyg1

Doesn't it occur to you that Baggs, Fishman, B-band, etc pickups are likely all made in China?

Possibly, I'd have to research that, but the R&D was done by the OEM's, not in China. I'm not saying it's always bad or wrong to buy Asian knock-offs, that depends on your situation. I'm no expert, it just seems to me that it's something to consider, in addition to possible differences in sound quality, that if you can afford it there are lots of good reasons to support OEM's and avoid knock-offs. If I had a business that spent millions to develop products, had expenses to meet, employees to pay, etc., only to see the market flooded with carbon copies of my product at a quarter of the price I probably wouldn't like it much. And as musicians we depend on innovative companies like those you mentioned to keep the state of the art moving forward. Companies like Adeline, YSA, Belcat and Flanger are not going to do that.

[dannyg1]

It's a fair point you've brought up. History though seems to say that the big makers don't go away when competition comes from inmitators, their current price structure goes away and they search out new areas of profit.

I'd like to see $100-125 dual source systems as the norm. Currently, pick up systems are overpriced and I'm not keen on being too loyal to an industry that's obviously overcharging.

[dogdog49]

Originally Posted by dannyg1

It's a fair point you've brought up. History though seems to say that the big makers don't go away when competition comes from inmitators, their current price structure goes away and they search out new areas of profit.

I'd like to see $100-125 dual source systems as the norm. Currently, pick up systems are overpriced and I'm not keen on being too loyal to an industry that's obviously overcharging.

If I knew the OEM's were generally overcharging I'd be right there with you. I'm just not sure that's true given I have no real idea of what their profit margins are after expenses, including putting large chunks back into R&D which companies like Baggs, who seem to come out with something that at least attempts to push the state of the art forward every year, must certainly do.