STOP!.... Wasting Money on Acoustic Guitar Pickups! Journey Instruments 

Wow. I was looking for this huge difference according to the build up to playing the sample. We are all on different a search for sound, but I did like the Anthem a little better, less highs. Interesting and thanks for posting!

Excellent audio comparison/demonstration. I agree with you 100%.

I purchased a journey passive pickup after seeing your demo and had it installed in my gs mini. IT SOUNDS AWESOME! Thanks so much for your review!!!

Definitely putting this on the wishlist. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for posting! You got me sold on it. Im gonna give it a shot!

Very good video. Thanks for the tips. I've been a guitar player for many years and always searching for a better sound. Also, I subscribed to your channel a little while ago. Good stuff. Take care and God Bless.

I have wasted time and money on pickups and upgrades on replacements for piezo type pick ups which I just do not like the dead sound they produce. I will take your heads up and give Journey a go, Thanks mate

I use a magnetic pup in both my guitars. A Fender Tele neck in one and a LR Baggs M1 in the other. They work great with fuzz and tube amps. I never could get a good sound with piezo's. I have heard and had some nice ones, but they hate my rig. My clean acoustic sound is awesome but I might just add fuzz. In the studio, we mic it for clean stuff. Compress it and run it through a plate reverb.

It's incredible that they both sound mic'd, for me it's the Journey because of the lower output for live settings. I plan on playing out here in Nashville with the Journey so that's the one I've been wanting to go with, this helped make up my mind lol.

The anthem sounded better to be honest. The journeytek was good though but had some quack that you didn't get with anthem. The noise you mentioned would and is not noticed in a busy bar.

The best thing I ever did for my tone was to pick up an IR (impulse response) loader and start building custom IR's for my specific instruments and pickups. You take a detailed EQ picture of the mic'd tone of your instrument, then a similar picture of your direct tone, then build an EQ curve to make the direct tone sound like the mic'd. Alternatively, maybe you have a live acoustic that you'd like to sound more like your studio one. Mic up the studio one, analyze the live guitar's direct tone, and set up an IR to make the live one sound great.

On the flip-side; you should never really record an acoustic through the pickup system. You can record it via pickup for adding it to the mix. But in general, have two external microphones if you want the most natural and full sound. The pickups are mostly intended for live performances afaik. And in such a setting I think they do a great job.

Thanks for taking the effort of sharing. Great Legwork 😅

Good video! What preamp are you using with the Journeytek when playing live?

Thanks for the video! I’ve got a lyric and I’ve struggled to get it to work. Lots of low mids that get worse as the the monitor level goes up. By the time I realized that the bad sound wasn’t my fault, the warranty had expired. I’ve heard other anthem installs that sound WAY better than what you’ve got going on. I think we’ve both been burned although yours may just be a the result of a poor installation of the under saddle piezo (or not). I’ve installed JJB pick up that looks exactly like yours (clone of the k&k) and it sounds a lot your journey pick up. I like it but I have to eq the harmonics out at around 120 hz to prevent feedback live. How has the journey been live with a band and loud monitors? I’m thinking about adding the James May Ultratonic to tame those booming lows and resonant harmonics. What do you think?

Great Product.... Love em!!

Thanks my man !!

Thanks for the review. With the anthem you can set the balance/blend between the microphone and the piezo pickup. Do you remember how it was set?

Piezos has the best signal to noise ratio, no competition. I just installed an Adeline piezo on my classical guitar, it is an on body pickup, so it doesn't have the the problem that under saddles have, it doesn't have the high end quack. Placement on the body is critical, but I found it ;-) Best part is that I have the jack on the body pointing to the floor, fitting a classical playing position, and a volume control. Unfortunately it doesn't fit the normal case anymore, but it's not a guitar that leaves the house anyway ;-) But now I can record it, and I have done no structural damage to the guitar - sweet! I'd like to add that an active di. is a good idea. I recently tested it with a Radial Pro 48 Di. and the result was very pleasing after a little eq. And the impedance matching it gives, takes care of body noise ;-)

This is a great video thanks for your info! I’ve been thinking about a Baggs anthem, but from what I’ve heard in Demo videos they are a bit thin. Your video proves the point. I think this is because the microphone cuts everything under 250 kHz. They do this to eliminate stage feedback. I currently am using B Band under saddle pickups. They have the fullness that I love, but they are prone to stage feedback and I do play with a band at church. I’m still not sure I’m gonna switch. Thanks for posting!

Thanks 🙏 Very helpful

Great review! Many professional acoustic players use this type of passive system. It’s the only way to go IMO unless maybe if you play in a loud band and need to cut through the mix with a more electrified acoustic sound.

I have the Anthem in a nice Breedlove guitar and it sounds great. But, am running into problems when using it with a specific pedal that i really want to use on a few songs, so am looking at installing the K & K or Journey as a potential replacement, or keep them both installed, so appreciate you creating this comparison. You noted processing the audio, then there's RU-vid working their magic on the audio as well, so it's never certain we're hearing a good approximation to the recording you created. From what I hear, the Anthem has distinctly higher fidelity sound and the Journey seemed to be holding a buzzy standing wave. Been listening to a lot of comparisons of the Journey with the K & K which are pretty similar. In this/your demo the Journey sounds defective compared to all the other videos seen/heard. The visual display of the tracks suggests a bit of this "mud" in the Journey track as well, especially compared to the much cleaner visual display of the Anthem (which correlates with the difference heard in the audio on this end). It's also uncertain whether the Anthem is using the mic, or pickup, or a blend of the two. The room mic "C" was night/day the best sound to my taste.

Hello from England, I like the overall sound of the Anthem. Depends what sort of sound you are looking for, and what genre of music you are trying to emulate. I've just put a magnetic pickup into one of my acoustics, and I think it sounds great for the music I like to play. Other might think it sounds crap.

I agree the Journey sounds better and I think for a live situation more so because in the studio you can always "fix it in the mix" and a plain sounding guitar can be hopefully tweaked into nirvana. Good demo comparison. I was already eying that one and tried to go cheap instead with a Donner soundhole pickup (w small mic). Well, mine sounds cheap and is hard to make it right going direct in a PA for sure as the volume is pretty much either on or off and there's no "tone" control. The built in Fishman or LR Baggs that have EQ and such are better IMHO. Then again live you need some processing or a good acoustic amp and preamp et cetera. In studio I prefer a real good mic or two instead anyway. Thanks for my non electric Orangewood I'm still searching for a live pickup.

I am thankful to find your video! I was excited about the Anthem and have just installed it. After reading the instructions many times I understand 3 different reasons for noise… Did the person you spoke with at Baggs tell you to try adjusting the teeny tiny little mic knob while the blend knob is rolled all the way to the neck? The one you need the jeweler screwdriver or I got a convenient long plastic tool to adjust mine. Says it’s “critical to performance” The ELEMENT… did they make sure yours is far enough past the E -String? (It’s not active for the last 1/8”. The barrel housing must be covering the input jack and not be loose or there will be noise. The list goes on… phew 😮‍💨 thank you -Mark The

Thanks for the review, already installed that Journey pickup, sounds very natural for the price...what do you suggest for the preamp pedal to boost the passive signal before plugin into the amplifier? Something that doesn't brake the bank like the ADI21 from Berhinger... Thank you in advance.

I'm looking for the best pick up for my Greg Bennett 12 string guitar, can you suggest the best pick up so I can save my guitar as well. Thank you very much.

I bought a journey based on reviews like this. Just got it installed, and wow! I'm a believer. I have a K&K pure mini in another guitar, and it sounds just as good or better at half the price.

I installed a JJB 3 transducer system on my Taylor 814ce after suffering with their ES1 for years. The JJB is like the k&k at half the price. Super good tone and so much better than the Taylor system. I use a Fishman Aura Spectrum preamp or the baggs DI both are great.

Soundwise both pickups have their place i feel. What sells the Journey for me is the easier installation.

I have K and K pure classic with Trinity Pro preamp and Im very happy with that.

The tree concat pickups are still a piezo tranducer system, positioned in a different way. Im' happy you like it better that the undersaddle one, btw.

I use the acoustic guitar pickup when playing on stage. For studio recording I would always use a microphone..

It’d be interesting to hear them mixed with EQ. The mic noise is certainly an issue. Luckily I got a Taylor T5 Koa for a ridiculous price, and it’s a savior in live settings. That Journeyman for $50 is a steal and simple installation, tho. Oddly it sounds a lot like Kurt Cobains live humbucker sound from Unplugged.

sir did you use a preamp ? or just plugged and play?

I feel like you should have more subscribers just for the amount of effort you put into setting up a home studio.

I wonder if the Journey has to have a pre-amp to produce any usable sound. I once had a single piezo (or transducer?) pickup under the bridge, and I needed a pre-amp with it.

Definitely seems more clarity and resonance pickup from that Journeyman. ..BUT a fairer comparison would be to have it plugged into a PA with a singing microphone present and then record what's coming out of the standalone mixer or PA pass-through. What I would like to hear is if there's any feedback or resonance crossover. You won't get a genuine representation of an actual live on-stage performance if you are recording directly from a mixer or computer if there's no PA and large speakers filling the room with sound and natural reverb etc. The LR Baggs has built-in noise suppression, which in a similar way to the legacy Dolby system cuts down noise but in doing that will lose some of the full range of sound. The Journeyman doesn't have this so you will get a fuller sound range, BUT you will also get more resonance crossover and feedback in a live setting. The 'noise' you refer to is actually 'buzz' from the powered amp in the preamp of the LR Baggs system (it's probably something to do with the frequency electricity flows through the circuit). This is completely normal and you won't hear it over the natural 'hiss' of a PA in a live setting.

For small gigs with low amplification I used to use an amazon condenser lapel mic. Just hooked in the sound hole. It was a bit Feedback inclined but the sound was superb. The cost? £7.

is the journeytek 3 piezo or 4 piezo pick up better? they have same price

Have you tried the ik multimedia acoustic stage

At 5:42 the volume cut out for a bit. So missed some of this demo. Under-saddle pickups are still installed in new guitars so they still have there place. Every player is after a slightly different sound from their instruments. I prefer a more, richer sound with less treble and high tones. With any pickup type I roll of the high treble a bit and boost the bass. With any piezo disk style pickup, with one 2 or 3 disks, I find they are really hot and pickup extra finger and body noise. So I ways use an external preamp pedal. The Behringer ADI21 Acoustic Preamp DI at $30usd is a great option. It's an excellent copy of the Tech21 Sansamp Para DI Pedal at around $300.

Did you use a jig to shave the saddle down .032” to compensate for the size of the element pickup? You mentioned speaking to, LR BAGGS, customer care. The installation guide states they refuse to advise any non-pro installer. Are they serious?

good info and comparison between pickups. well done. A common studio engineering trick is to record both a mic and pickup at the same time, and this video shows that the anthem seems just kinda crap for that application. Its just not enough mic (sounds cheap and nasty - obviously compared to a $2-4k studio mic) and far too noisy. Live i dont think people would notice the sound, but horses for courses. The K&K style piezo would be more useful for this use case.

A lot of what you describe is just the difference between different types of pickups. Of course, any microphone inside the body will be noisier, etc. I agree that piezo is excellent in a live situation, but that's why I love K&K. It would be more interesting to compare JI with K&K, which is a kind of an "industry standard," especially in the fingerstyle community.

Journey pickup just sounds like typical piezo tone. Plasticky attack and nasal. It isn't a substitute for a mic'd acoustic at all.

The three dots from kkk or journey they are bot transducers just like an undersaddle piezo. I like Anthem balanced 75% mic and 25% piezo. The mic comes pre EQ on the Anthem. One that I really like is the fishman infinity blend. If you use a stereo cable doble end you can actually equalize them independently only really bad thing is you cant have a loud onstage monitor cause it will feedback a lot. The key for amplifying acoustic guitars is to amplify its natural sound and for that you have to like the sound of your guitar unplugged. None solidwood guitars will sound like they are inside a box using microcondensers. Piezo pickups wont give you that nor any type of transducers they will always sound synthetic. If you like the sound of your guitars unplugged I suggest the DPA d:vote 4099 is an on stage microphone condenser is like 750usd tried it on my Eastman DT30D Double top sitka spruce and rosewood back and sides solid woods and on my Eastman e10SS Adirondack and Mahogany solid woods and is just 95% proximity to the sound of my guitar unplugged the only thing is I am very agressive on stage and I felt it to fragile for my performances. If you look it up you see what I mean. Great video by the way.

I've been demoing a ton of acoustics the last few weeks and this is one of two systems I've found that people love to brag on, but are plagued by noise. The other is the Yamaha SRT2. SRT2 sounds lovely, but has so much noise that I can't justify buying a guitar with it installed.

What impedance is the Journey seeing ? Piezos like 1-3Meg Ohms for best (most linear) reproduction ;-)

Hi, i'm beginner in the "world of pickups". You can use this pickup in live performances and in studio or you need some special extra preamp?

Maybe you touch on this somewhere, but certainly for recording at home or in a controlled space, I don't think either of these remotely cut it compared to a "real" microphone. I genuinely don't get why you'd use these pickup mics in preference, unless it's for gigging or busking etc. Even though one pickup was better, they both still have that thin plackiness to my ear. Maybe it's a budget thing?

-what I'm hearing is.. the Journey's warmer and cleaner sounding... and THANK YOU for saving me over $250 !!!

That Journey 3-sensor passive pickup that looks near identical to the K&K Pure mini is the best & most natural sounding pickup for acoustic guitar that I've ever heard........even better than the K&K, and costs only 1/3rd of the price for a K&K. Some may disagree, believing the LR Baggs systems that use an additional internal microphone "sound better". That's because they haven't performed on stage enough and/or performed where higher volume was needed. Those systems that include an additional internal microphone are prone to feedback. I've been playing guitar since 1974, and also gigged for decades. I KNOW what a good amplified acoustic sound is supposed to sound like..........and ya just can't beat this Journey 3-sensor passive system..........and how it also happens to be the lowest cost in the industry. People need to understand: when it comes to the natural sound of a good acoustic guitar, if ya really use your ears & pay attention, you should notice that a good acoustic guitar actually has a very slight woody, sweet distortion. And nothing comes closer than this Journey system. TIP: When installing either a Journey or near identical K&K Pure Mini, instead of using the mounting jig provided with each, simply cut a full-sized jig that will enable ALL 3 TRANSDUCERS to be mounted at once. Use something like an old debit or credit card, or anything else with a similar stiffness & thickness. Using scissors, carefully cut the card so that it fits the bridge plate, yet still clears any bracing. Once ya have it cut to the correct size & dimensions, carefully drill or punch holes that line up perfectly with the bridge pin hole for both E strings ( the outer string on each side of the bridge ). Then make marks/dots for the exact location of the remaining bridge pin holes. ( These don't need to be holes, because you only need the 2 outer holes for the locating pins. ) These 4 marked dots along with the 2 outer holes will allows you to use the putty & position all 3 transducers perfectly. You use the exact same procedure from there, using 3 little balls of putty, and make sure all 3 pickup transducers are in the perfect position. Now you can mount all 3 transducers at once, instead of doing the same procedure 3 times using the much smaller jig that is provided. This improved method also ensures that none of the transducers touch or overlap each other. I don't know why Journey and K&K haven't came up with this improved jig yet..........because it works much easier and much better..........in 1/3rd the time.

It would be interesting to hear the Journey compared to the K&K Pure Mini, which is the same type of pickup.

Jaw still dropped... (Thank you)

I installed L.R. Baggs Anthem SL in my guitars. I was able to blend the pickup and the microphone to match the acoustic sound of my guitars.

Sustain really hasn't mich to do with the pickup.. its the woods in the guitar. Yes , even on an under saddle pickup . What keeps the strings vibrating is the wood . Yes.some inder saddles will absorb somewhat. For instance a flatline vs a pickup wrapped in heat shrink or wrapped in cross hatch of wire. But the body , bridge, soundboard material and neckjoint are what actually allows the string to vibrate for longer durations of time . Also you can pull the pickup in the same guitar and replace it, and if the contact isn't exact on the bottom of the saddle , sustan will suffer.

K & K make a pick-up like this, but it costs about twice as much. Any thoughts on how theirs compare with the Journey?

LR Baggs Anthem is a fabulous pickup. Works great on my guitars. I have been playing for over 45 years. Not sure what your problem was\is. But it's not LR Baggs fault. Sorry. If it LR Baggs) was too hot, that is why it is ADJUSTABLE.......

I think a 5 band 7 band equalizer pedal would iron out any diffrence there and also give you so much more tone capabilities..

Would it work for a classical

I liked the Anthem. Sounded less muddy with more resonant highs.

Please read my other lengthy comment for a very helpful tip. In this audio comparison, the Journey system clearly does a better job of replicating THE SOUND OF THE WOOD...........not just the strings.

There you for your review I do have a LR Baggs anthem the one that you make a hole in your guitar and put it in The sound for me is good but the price is a problem I can't see that it is worth the money I am looking at one of theses Journey pick ups the one that has the microphone and under the bridge or l mite just get the one you are talking about Yeah l would love to hear from you Thanks David Thumbs up from Australia 🇦🇺👍🏼👍🏼🇦🇺

This is an apples and oranges comparIson. The Journey is not an under saddle, it is a soundboard pickup. It has three piezo elements that adhere to the underside of the soundboard. The Anthem actually has an under saddle pickup, as well as a microphone built into the preamp board that mounts inside the guitar. You may prefer the sound of one over the other, but if you prefer this soundboard pickup, you might want to try other soundboard pickup systems to find the one you will like the best. I prefer under saddle to soundboard pickups. I also like this new setup with a mic that is blended with the ust.

Maybe it work for acoustic guitar But it is too Dark on classical nylon strings guitar .. I installed it with super glue to get the best contact . but it sounds not good it doesn't work with Nylon guitars

Sounds like you had a dud with the Anthem. You shouldn’t have noise and it sounded pretty thin and bright. It’s too bad you didn’t get a chance to try another because your results seem to indicate an issue. The Journeyman is nice but nothing revolutionary. K&K have been around for a good twenty years or more. They can sound good for sure but I would be looking into the Dazzo or Trance Amulet.

Of these two, I would definitely chose the Anthem. It sounds OK and more natural. The moment you switch to Journey, all I notice is piezo quack, which is characteristic of any piezo UST.

The Journey sounds like a pretty bog standard piezo pickup to my ears. The Anthem lacks a bit of warmth but sounds infinitely better to me.

hey will this pickup work for nylon stringed guitars?

I agree. I like the the Journey much better.

The only one thing, which sounded most realistic - is magnetic pickup. Everything else has noticable electronic tone

Didnt you have to super glue the journey pickup under the bridge?

You're thinking about it wrong, pole piece pickups for acoustic, like non transducer types, aren't supposed to faithfully produce the tone of the guitar, they are supposed to give a tone that's different from full electric or acoustic, think Kurt Cobain unplugged. For the longest time I thought KC had just added that pickup to an acoustic, but it's actually a Martin D18-E, which comes with 2 pickups from the factory. Gibson and others, also make acoustics with humbuckers fitted.

Wow, this pick-up reminds me of the Barcus Berry pickup that was installed in my 1975 Ovation Balladeer, over 45 yrs. ago... no messing around with batteries... Great Review... Thanks

I'll give it a go, it is less than 1/4 the price of the Anthem and the Anthem-SL.... I do like the Anthem sound better..... But for the price...... Why not........ The Journey is so close the rest can be handled in post or via processing when in a live setting....

I didn’t think either of them sounded super great, both needed a lot of EQ tweaking. To be perfectly honest the first one sounded like it needed less tweaking to me.

Yeah we need more crispyness

You haven’t said what your amp is , I use a AER acoustic amp and they are the best

At 4 minutes (ish) I thought the Anthem sounded better. But it's moot anyway, as you wouldn't record acoustic with line in, you'd use a mic in front of it.... the only reason I can see (and need) one of these types of pickup is to do a gig when all you have is an acoustic guitar.... you know?

So you actually think that the journey pickup sounds better? Interesting because the anthem sounds WAY more natural and closer to a mic sound.

Might sound strange mate, but for chords, try your iPhone or a Zoom handheld. You will be surprised.

If you had to choose between Baggs anthem and Journey, which of the two produces less feedback? which would be more useful to play with a band in different environments?

the Anthem sounded much more balanced in tone and freq consistancecy between strings

When I read comments like this: "all I notice is piezo quack" I wonder, WHAT in the world is he referring to? What is he be hearing that could conceivably be characterized as "quack"??

I like the sound of the Anthem way more.

I feel like I'm being punked. There are problems with both as there are with all piezo pickups, but the anthem sounds more natural and more dynamic. The journeyman sounds more nazily and overly compressed, but yes I guess that compression will net out to more sustain...but it's not natural at all to my ears.

I actually preferred the Anthem, though for the price the JourneyTek is a great pickup

It sounds a lot more compressed to me. I'm not sure that's really a good thing, to be honest. If you want a compressed sound you can do that after you record it with a compressor, but with this, you're stuck with that compressed sound.

In the beginning of video you mentioned that there are two main problems of pickups for acoustic: feedback and unnatural sound quality. You described in detail sound quality, but say nothing wrt feedback. I don't too much care about sound quality in studio, because you can record acoustic guitar via microphone in ideal studio circumstances, but I'm very dissapointed of acoustic feedback on on live gigs. Unfortunately you've said nothing about this.

You do realise that from 5m44s-6m02s there is no sound at all - did you forget to unmute the track for this part of the demo? Otherwise nice review, thanks!

cool you will have a free product :)

KK Pure Mini. Just as good, same concept and less money

That Journey pickup sounded like garbage! The Anthem was way better. You should put the Anthem back in your guitar and have someone who knows what they are doing dial it in for you.

Journey way better on the ears, hate the harshness of most pickups

Ok, so nothing new here ... another example of a passive bridge plate transducer system ... just like K&K (the original) or JJB. I have them in all of my guitars ... my preferred type of pickup system.

like the anthem

Anthem hands down

The Anthem sounds better, but not that much better in this recording... The Journey is just a low cost copy of the K&K Pure Mini. K&K's patents have expired so it's a generic K&K. The K&K has a lot of love. I have one in a guitar and have most of the LR Baggs systems. I prefer the LR Baggs products. TIP: If you combine that Journey with a good preamp like the Red Eye (RU-vid search Red Eye + K&K Mini, you should get similar results with the Journey) you'll get even more dynamic range pop out of it. I won't install one of these or the K&K again. I refuse to SUPER GLUE piezo disc to my bridge plate. Ever want to rip the Journey out (or K&K) and you're going to probably damage the inside of the guitar and take wood off. I know it's "on the inside" I still hate their design. Also the jack on this is so short getting it properly mounted through the sound hole and the piezo's lined up takes 45-60 minutes because of the stupid engineering decisions made by the company behind this thing... Instead of just cloning the K&K, they could have improved the design, nixed the super glue requirement and made the inner jack twice as long. The entire painful install process could be streamlined to 15 minutes with very small tweaks to the design. I don't respect the design or their engineers because they did zero improvements, just cloned someone else's product. but if it works for you and you don't mind the frustration of poorly engineered products, do not let that sway you. The Anthem is a lot more expensive, but the utility of the Anthem is your ability to control the blend between the Under Saddle Transducer and the internal mic, Anthem is basically two pickups in one, an Active Element UST combined with the Lyric mic with a cross-over / blend circuit. You aren't applying any superglue with the Anthem. LR Baggs designs pro grade products and puts a lot of thought into the install and removal effort, which extends beyond the utility of the pickup to the design and support. You get what you pay for in this case. When performing live with full band an Anthem equipped guitar player will often push the blend to 100% under saddle to get rid of any possible feedback in a loud full band setting and the UST sound while kind of quacky cuts through really well in a mix... For acoustic-vocal performances they usually push that blend towards the mic and for quiet all acoustic live band settings, maybe mix the two 50/50. There's a lot more versatility there a performing musician might benefit from with the Anthem, but plenty of pro players also play with the 3-piezo system like the K&K so I'm not saying the Journey bad, just doesn't give them same flexibility, and again... that damn superglue requirement. So for me... never again... Minor tweaks could make it so much more safe for guitarist to use without damaging instruments.