LR Baggs Athem

[morrow22]

I local guitar shop that has lots of knowledge, and I am looking to put a pick-up in my Larrivee OM-60.  They said the one they recommend that gives the truest acoustic sound is the LR Baggs Athem.  This is a pretty pricey pick-up at $300 then you have installation.  I just wanted input from people with better experience than I ----- is it worth it?  I don't want to "save a few bucks" and not have my guitar project the beautiful tone that it has.  Just want to make sure I am not missing a less expensive option, that has the same quality

Thanks

[unclrob]

2 of my gigging guitars have the Anthem SL installed in them and yes its as close as you can get to the acoustic sound of your guitar about 85%.I have installed acording to my records 25 of them in my clients guitars and all are happy camper's.To get a better deal on them check out amazon for a discounted price.

[adern]

I cannot comment on the Anthem, and sure wouldn't discount what unclrob said. I do the sound for the praise band at our church, so I have listed to a lot of different pickup systems. When I recently bought my guitar, I asked the dealer for his recommendation and as an answer he brought out his guitar. It had a K&K Pure Mini in it, and I was sold when I listened to it.

Like I said, I am not putting down the Anthem. The Pure is about half the money, if that is a concern.

[morrow22]

Hey unclrob you mention the Athem SL which is about $100 less than the full Athem.  So are you suggesting that the SL will do everything needed?  Or is the full Athem worth the additional cost?
Thanks

[unclrob]

Yes it did everything that was needed.I tried the Athem and returned it after comparing the two as it just wasn't worth the extra dime in my opinion.I also tried the Lyric and didn't care for it,you can check out my adventure with it in my Lyric review.

[Zohn]

My SD-50 had LR Baggs electronics and it worked well.
I have to agree with adern though that for a 1/3rd of the price of the Anthem and half the price of an Anthem SL, the K&K Pure mini can't be beaten.
Those will sound the closest to your guitar's natural tone.

[Paraclete]

My LSV-11 came with the LR Baggs iMix system installed....which is the ibeam and element pickups blended together.  I really like it so far.  The best sounding pickup I've heard at this point.  I just wish I could wire it to a Mi-Si capacitor to get rid of the internal battery pack.

[AUGuy21]

I local guitar shop that has lots of knowledge, and I am looking to put a pick-up in my Larrivee OM-60.  They said the one they recommend that gives the truest acoustic sound is the LR Baggs Athem.  This is a pretty pricey pick-up at $300 then you have installation.  I just wanted input from people with better experience than I ----- is it worth it?  I don't want to "save a few bucks" and not have my guitar project the beautiful tone that it has.  Just want to make sure I am not missing a less expensive option, that has the same quality

Thanks

I've just purchased an OM-40 Walnut and am saving up for the Anthem. Thought about the SL but watching these two reviews from a guy near me locally who started with the SL and upgraded to the Anthem. Based up where you play and how you use it, this review swayed me to save for the Anthem. Also, as there are obviously a ton of great P/U's out there, I like the fact that Larrivee endorses Baggs by using Baggs exclusively. There's got to be a reason why...

Here's the SL Review
Here's the Anthem Review

[CycleBob]

Maybe I've missed something but I've installed the LR Braggs Anthem SL in my OM-03-MT and will shortly be putting one into my Martin D15M. street Price is Under $200. Got both on sale @ less 15%.  A Local shop chged $40 to install Love the clean tone I get.

[JSpe]

Ditto on the Anthem SL, got one put in this L-03FM. Simple controls with easy to tweak blend pin (which is done with a small screwdriver-type stick that comes with it). Back off the mic for driving chords or a loud performance (bluegrass, rock band, etc.), or tweak more mic in for sweet fingerstyle, solo performing, or woody-sounding rhythms, or just find a super sweet-spot somewhere in between.