New guitar day! pickup advice

[Marc Willett]

I have a d-03 "silver oak" and a nice LV-09.
Both purchased because I fell in love with a J-05 I'd played at a friends house years ago.
Flash forward in time , he came to dinner tonight and gifted me with the very D-05 I first fell in love with!
I'm dumbstruck. It's in perfect condition plays and sounds fabulous and looks new but was made in 1998.
I need to electrify it as I gig regularly in an acoustic trio with a percussionist and another vocalist.

Any recommendations as to what is currently the best bet for a contac/mic combo pickup?
I'm anxious to use it as my main guitar and retire the D-03 to back up. While I love my D-03, this one is a cannon by comparison.

[B0WIE]

 It depends how far you want to take it. Traditional pickup systems all have a somewhat metallic sound to them. If you're ok with that sound, there's a lot of affordable options. If you truly want the best tech available now, mic systems like the LR Baggs anthem give a much more natural tone as they are actual microphones so they hear the guitar more similar to more how our ears hear it (though being inside the guitar has limitations).

I wish I could remember the name of one I recently has which was essentially a mini mic that clips on the soundhole edge. That was quite a decent sounding pickup for around $200.

[guitarman001]

That's some gift.
I'd like to be his friend...

[StringPicker6]

I personally am a big fan of the LR Baggs Hifi, that is easy to install with double sided tape and easy to remove also (versus a K&K pickup that requires superglue).  It comes in at a decent price.  For double the price, they created the LR Baggs hifi duet, which introduces an internal microphone and has been getting rave reviews. 

[eded]

I'd put in a K&K, get an external preamp and be done with it. I usually play solo guitar and voice, sometimes duets with another guitar. If I played in a loud rock/country group I'd probably look into something else. For me, the K&K thru a decent amp or small PA setup sounds like my guitar just louder.

Ed

[Marc Willett]

I personally am a big fan of the LR Baggs Hifi, that is easy to install with double sided tape and easy to remove also (versus a K&K pickup that requires superglue).  It comes in at a decent price.  For double the price, they created the LR Baggs hifi duet, which introduces an internal microphone and has been getting rave reviews. 

I was considering the LR Anthem but I also already have a Fishman rare earth with mic that is currently on my old epiphone texan. I'm considering pulling it off the Texan and trying it on the J-05 as the Texan only sees studio use.
That said this hi fi duet looks really interesting though a bit steep in price.Looks like a moch easier install than the anthem though.
These are wonderful problems to have.

[Marc Willett]

It depends how far you want to take it. Traditional pickup systems all have a somewhat metallic sound to them. If you're ok with that sound, there's a lot of affordable options. If you truly want the best tech available now, mic systems like the LR Baggs anthem give a much more natural tone as they are actual microphones so they hear the guitar more similar to more how our ears hear it (though being inside the guitar has limitations).

I wish I could remember the name of one I recently has which was essentially a mini mic that clips on the soundhole edge. That was quite a decent sounding pickup for around $200.

I'll have to look for that. Ideally something non invasive would be preferable though maybe not as practical as a more "installed" product.
In my main gig feed back isn't an issue as it's 3 vocalists, one playing percussion and one (myself) playing guitar, all using in ear monitors.

[mikey007]

I have Schatten pickups in my guitars and I really like them. Admittedly I haven't plugged them in for some while.

If I were to put a pickup in my OM, I'd look at K&K PWM or the Lr Hifi system. The LR system is pricey though...

[B0WIE]

I'll have to look for that. Ideally something non invasive would be preferable though maybe not as practical as a more "installed" product.
In my main gig feed back isn't an issue as it's 3 vocalists, one playing percussion and one (myself) playing guitar, all using in ear monitors.

I looked it up and it's by Bartlett. There's no drilling of the bridge and no need for large amounts of adhesives. I believe Larrivee uses a large end pin now so you don't need much, if any, modification to the end block. I may be mistaken though.

I definitely like the microphone option though as it sounds so much more natural. Under saddle/under bridge pickups always bothered me. The Bartlet sits on the edge of the soundhole with a little clip. I don't know how sensitive it is to feedback though. The LR Baggs have systems for preventing feedback.

[Marc Willett]

I looked it up and it's by Bartlett. There's no drilling of the bridge and no need for large amounts of adhesives. I believe Larrivee uses a large end pin now so you don't need much, if any, modification to the end block. I may be mistaken though.

I definitely like the microphone option though as it sounds so much more natural. Under saddle/under bridge pickups always bothered me. The Bartlet sits on the edge of the soundhole with a little clip. I don't know how sensitive it is to feedback though. The LR Baggs have systems for preventing feedback.

This Larrivee is an odd one. Serial shows it's a 1998 J-05 but it has no endpin at all and the body shape is a Jumbo with a 12-1/2" upper bout, 10" waist, and 17" lower bout.

[Marc Willett]

Thanks to all for chiming in. I've decided to save up my pennies and go with the HI Fi Duet. In the interim I mounted up a Fishman Rare Earth with mic that I wasn't using.

[eded]

This Larrivee is an odd one. Serial shows it's a 1998 J-05 but it has no endpin at all and the body shape is a Jumbo with a 12-1/2" upper bout, 10" waist, and 17" lower bout.

Those are pretty standard Larrivee jumbo dimensions.  My 99 parlor only had screwed in endpin strap button when I bought it.  They started drilling out for the oversized endpins sometime after 2008 or so, I forget offhand exactly when.  My bet was that it was easier to drill them all out than to differentiate between those headed for pickup and those not. 

Ed

[StringPicker6]

The pre drilled hole is pure Jean Larrivee brilliance.