Alvarez pickup upgrade

[Jdclassen]

I have an Alvarez Yairi JY84C with the factory System 600t MKII pickup using the oiezo and an internal condenser mic. This has been solid for quite a while, but I am seeking to upgrade.
challenge is that I already have a built in preamp and the anthem stage pro preamp is smaller than the existing preamp so it would need adapted in some way.
I thought about using the existing preamp and putting something like the ibeam into the piezo input if that would work.
My other thought was to remove the existing system and installing the Anthem system and make some sort of battery box where the existing preamp is.
The other challenge is replacing the existing piezo may be difficult as it is fairly wide and I would need some material to fill in beside the piezo, or need to make a new bridge insert and install the Lyric.

Any thoughts?

[Caleb_Elling]

Hey Jdclassen,
Thanks for posting.

That's a tricky one. I've done a few retrofits like that, and every one was a little different. In some cases, I was able to re-use the battery compartment in the side-mounted preamp, making a plate to cover the empty control cavity and installing an internal system. In other situations, I was able to make an adapter bezel to retrofit the Stage Pro. And in a few cases, I've just had to plug up the hole with a cover plate and just install something internally. So there are options. Picking one is the hard part.