I think Michael and Justin seem to have a good handle on these combinations. That said, I have the K & K PWM in my H-DR1100N2 RainSong and am well satisfied.

Ray

One advantage of the stock Fishman is its compatibility with the Aura image library. I've installed many pickups in friend's guitars (no Anthems, but many Fishman and K&K) and after it is all said and done, the K&K to my ear and usually the friend, sounds only very slightly better than what ever guitar I have handy with a Fishman in it. The Fishman/Aura combo is almost always significantly better (though I thought the Aura did not do much for my CO-DR/Fishman combo with the images currently up on Fishman's website). I have not had much luck using an Aura with the Baggs Element (the UST of an Anthem) and Aura is not compatible with the K&K SBT (or any SBT for that matter). K&K is the best for simplicity, though I do not like the idea of crazy gluing it in place (on a wooden guitar I think your chances of a future clean removal are better given the grain characteristics of a maple bridge plate). I like the Fishman for its Aura compatibility and relative simplicity of a single sensor and integrated battery holder (fewer wires running inside the guitar to cause trouble down the line). The on-line Anthem recordings don't sound that much better to me, but the written reviews are superb. Its downsides are that it is the maximum complexity inside the guitar and no future Aura option. Jon

Jon, do you have any sound files you could share using a Rainsong with a Fishman/Aura combination? I thought the same as you as far as the Anthem videos not sounding all that good. On the other hand, I've found a lot of Pure Western Mini videos that sound very good.

It's really hard to say because different guitars sound different with the same system in them. Also many times recordings don't do a pickup system justice. I believe the best choice can be made by your ear listening to a system in the same type of guitar. {I know easier said than done] All I can say is I've heard very positive things about the Anthem.

As a serial guitar owner, I've only got the CO-DR1100N2 with a Fishman Matrix Infinity. I've tried many images with my Aura16, even the DR1000, and none of them added any value. At least for this guitar, I don't hear any piezo UST artifacts (unless I really beat the hell out of it). I've got no Aura recordings to share and at this point can't make one. I love the plugged-in tone of my current setup but no one would confuse it with what you hear acoustically in my living room. Jon

The underside of a RainSong CO top is same 3x3 graphite twill as you see on the back and sides from the outside. With no finish on it, it feels slightly rough. The standard K&K razor blade removal technique is not going to work. If you go Pure Mini, and it is by far my favorite to install in other people's guitars (no action adjustment, no worries about flat saddle bottoms, minimum stuff to go wrong inside guitar, no battery to go dead or find its way loose...), I would go with the removable (peel and stick) installation. Even though I've never tried their double sided tape install, it would be no big deal to re-do it with crazy glue, if it can't be made usable with a good DI (I like the Baggs Venue). As I imagine the physics of it, peel and stick might attenuate the highs a little and might actually make it sound better with the relatively bright CO guitar. Jon

Talk to Justin and consider a custom euphony system as well...

For simplicity I'd go with the Euphony SBT and a good pre-amp/DI such as the Baggs Venue, Fishman Platinum or Radial PZ-Pre (head nod to the latter).

If you can deal with a battery on-board and wanted better headroom and air, for this guitar I'd probably go with the LR Baggs iMix which combines a SBT and an UST. I'd still invest in one of the above pre-amp/DIs.

Who is Justin and what is a Euphany system?

Justin runs Euphony, doing pickups, setups and other technical work. He works closely with Michael at MacNichol. He can do custom installs of his SBT pickups optimized for your guitar. If I were going to order a new guitar and wanted a simple SBT, I would probably go with Euphony.