Best PickUp for A Martin D16?

[tonlymutan]

Hi ALL !

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.

[Caleb_Elling]

Hey tonlymutan,
If you already have the Element installed, I would highly recommend upgrading to the Anthem SL. The preamp and pickup are both important, but you can only make any pickup sound as good as the pickup will allow. Using a pickup system like the Anthem SL would allow you to get a much more natural sound from your guitar. Then if you need any EQ or processing, you can get it from a preamp.

I hope this helps.