L.R. Baggs ANTHEM-SL-C Classical Guitar Pickup

I did a lot of research before purchasing the LR Baggs Anthem SL Classic Pickup System for Classical Guitar. I have a Fishman Blender in another classical guitar, but after about 25 years of use, it doesn't work anymore. I was looking at the Anthem for 2 years before purchasing it. I had some high expectations based on the reviews and videos. I think it's a good system. The price is nice. And I have a very nice preamp pedal to go through to fine tune the EQ. Also, you don't need a dedicated acoustic guitar amplifier to run a classical guitar. Check the frequency specs. I'm using a Marshall Studio Jubilee as an amp. The EQ on the amp is very versatile and complements the guitar nicely. I know Marshall is known for distorted amps, but if you've ever had a Jubilee, you'll understand where I'm coming from. This is a fine, clean amp. A Fender amp would be perfect for use with a classical guitar.Some surprises, I later found out, came from the installation. When I got it from the guitar repair shop, it had a huge noise floor. I didn't know what was going on initially and I thought the pickup was defective. But the noise was coming from the wires dangling around close to the pickups. I taped them with electrical tape to the braces that they were running down and close to, then made sure that they weren't around the pickup inside the guitar anymore. Then I still had this tiny bee buzzing sound. I checked the LR Baggs forum and spent about 4 hours total trying to troubleshoot all of this. The tiny bee buzzing sound was from a copper top battery! Wow. It sounded like the mic diaphragm was messed up. But it was the battery. I remembered that I had the same issues with the Fishman Blender.Also, the pickup comes with a cheap, plastic screwdriver like tool. It's long enough so that it doesn't fall into the guitar. It's made to adjust the blending of the mic and the bridge pickup. It won't let you use too much force. Once you get used to that aspect of the screw adjustment, it's the right tool for the job. Otherwise, you could easily strip out this little bitty screw. I can't believe this is what we have to adjust the blend with.To be honest, I feel like the volume knob and the screw adjustment really feel flimsy. I think I expected more. The pickup does sound nice, like the guitar would sound if it wasn't mic'd. I wouldn't have to EQ further with a preamp. I could go without one. The pickups don't seem to change the sound of the guitar. That's a bit different than the Fishman Blender I have, which has an onboard preamp. The Fishman is solid, no doubt, and versatile. But you have to cut a huge hole in your guitar. I'm sure LR Baggs has a similar offering. The Anthem system is way less invasive, but the trade off is that the light weight components seem a little flimsy. But I could be wrong. LR Baggs has been doing this for a long time, so they have probably created what they believe is the ideal solution for amplifying your classical guitar. I can say that it's easily one of the top 3 solutions available, if not the best.

fantastic!

Bueno

Honestly I think it enhances the tonality of my Cordoba c12 and captures the whole sound range. Bright basses balanced midrange and clean trebles. Definitely will buy another one for my steel string.

The item arrived in a good shape and this is the one that I want for my guitar. It's been installed in my guitar and works well.