Best Pickup for a Martin D16?

[richieconwaymusic]

Hello,

I'm an acoustic, indie-folk singer/songwriter. My sound is very naked so I need my guitar sounding as realistic (microphone recorded rather than pickup) as possible. What pickup would you recommend? Is a pickup enough to make it sound realistic, or is the preamp more important?

At this point, it has an undersaddle pickup (element). I also own an M1 active, and I installed it to test it, but to me it doesn't make my D16 sound any different from my cheapie 000 martin, even though they sound drastically different. I'm wondering if it's the preamp that makes the bigger difference than the pickups or if I will see a larger difference upgrading to something else.

[MorganEliot]

Hi Richie,

The only thing I didn't really answer on the other post, regarding this one, is the M1A sounding similar on both guitars. This is because it is primarily a magnetic pickup, and it doesn't react to the guitars individual tone to as great of a degree as other types of pickups for acoustic guitar.

[richieconwaymusic]

Hi Richie,

The only thing I didn't really answer on the other post, regarding this one, is the M1A sounding similar on both guitars. This is because it is primarily a magnetic pickup, and it doesn't react to the guitars individual tone to as great of a degree as other types of pickups for acoustic guitar.

So would you say that the anthem would be the best option over the lyric? Also, what do you think would be the idea preamp combo with it? Thanks Morgan!