Lyric - Anthem question

[dan]

I have a lyric installed in my Larrivee OM-05MT. I play rhythm guitar for the worship band at my church and I have had a really bad problem with string noise. The pickup sounds amazing and is so natural sounding, but the string noise is so distracting in this setting.

First, I think I know the answer to this question, but I'll ask. Is there anyway to fix this or is it just there (string noise)?

Second question is this: I have considered changing to an anthem for the versatility of a UST only and the tru-mic/UST mix. I have also considered an Anthem SL. In the Anthem is the tru-mic not as hot as compared to the Lyric? I wondered this because of the UST being present and not having to pick up the lower frequencies. If it is not as hot would this handle the strong noise problem?

Thirdly, could putting the Lyric in my Larrivee D-50 (dreadnaught) produce different results for the Lyric with the string noise problem?

Thanks,

Daniel

[Rodney_UK]

Hi Dan,

I use a Lyric in my Gibson Hummingbird and regularly play live. I use daddario phosphor bronze flat tops. This helps to reduce some of the finger noise.

I'm also a nerd for eq. Some presence and treble adjustments may help to take some of the edge off as well.

Regards

Rodney

[dan]

Thanks for the input Rodney!

I have heard about the flat top strings and I am curious about them. I use Phosphor Bronze EXP's now. Do they seem to keep their life? How often do you have to change strings?

Thanks!

[Rodney_UK]

Hi Dan,

Good question!

No they don't

I get about 2 weeks max out of the strings before the finish starts to fade quite dramatically. I usually give the strings a really good clean at this stage. I replace the strings about every 4-6 weeks.

However, I still prefer the strings even though the maintanance is higher and the shelf life is much shorter.

There isn't a massive difference in tonal degradation. The biggest benefit other than string noise reduction is that the strings feel less abrasive on my fingers. I get to play for longer as a result

Hope this helps a bit!

Regards

Rodney

[Caleb_Elling]

This can be a difficult problem to address simply because different players have different definitions of how much string noise is acceptable. I had the Lyric installed on my Gibson J-15 for a day or two, and when I played it live the whole guitar was pretty "alive". Not in a bad way, but definitely more than I was used to with the Anthem SL. So if I had to generalize, I would say that the Lyric is probably going to be more sensitive to string noise, just because it is more sensitive overall. Since the Anthem has the UST to carry the low end, it is overall less-sensitive to handling noise (shirt, body, hands, strings, etc.).

I will definitely agree with Rodney in saying that EQ is probably the easiest way to deal with that in the Lyric, aside from changing strings (which could be hit or miss). If you lower the Presence on the Lyric slightly and then use some basic EQ, you should be able to dial that string noise back a little more.

[Rodney_UK]

Hi Dan,

Scanning the web today and found this article on eq for acoustics guitar.

https://www.ultimate-guitar.com/lessons/the_guide_to/the_awesome_guide_to_acoustic_guitar_eq.html

Hope it helps!

Rodney

[dan]

Rodney_UK and Caleb_Elling,

Thanks so much for this article and the feedback. I played with it a little this week and get some of the shrill in the squeak out. I'll definitely apply this info from the article. I'm hoping this helps. If not, I will likely put that Lyric in an older Takamine acoustic guitar that I don't want to drill a hole in and get an anthem for the OM-05 and for the D-50 eventually. It's so hard not to like the natural sound of your own guitar. These are without a doubt the most natural sounding pickups out there and I would rather hear a string squeak than quack. Thanks again to you guys and thank LR Baggs for such fine products!

Dan