Fishman Fluence - anybody try them yet?

[leevc5]

Played a Tele loaded with the Fluence set yesterday. A friend form Lompoc of all places stopped by on his way to LA for session work and he had his Tele with the Fluence pups that he obtained through connections he has.

Anyway, these fluence Tele pups are absolutely incredible! We played for about two hours trading off Tele's (mine has Custom Shop Twisted Pair). The Fluence simply blew away the TP's in my Tele. I have no idea what Fishman did to develop these pups but they truly outdid themselves. The V1 setting is a downright classic Tele sound with country twang in the bridge and nice solid mids and bass out of the neck. V2 is the real killer it has the punch of Tele with a HB neck, amazing sustain and an aggressive kick butt sound.

The Classics in my Les Paul sound great but nothing really earth shattering as they IMO are equivalent to Seymour Duncan Seth's and 59s. The Tele pups are definitely an advance in what I have ever heard come out of another Tele pup.

Going to sell a couple of guitars and extra pups I have. Buy another Tele and a set of these for sure. Anybody out there got a Tele they want to sell? Got to find a Tele.

[leevc5]

BTW just so there is no misunderstanding I am not associated with Fishman in any way. This thread is not a commercial or sponsored in any way. It is purely my experience with these pickups that I think appropriate to share on a Telecaster forum.
(so that's the fine print)

[Alberto]

Hi Leevc5,

I thought this was a pickup makers forum, not a telecaster forum. I may be wrong though...

[Jazz P Bass]

$225 US for a three pickups kit.



Oh, they are an active pickup by the way.

[leevc5]

Hi Leevc5,

I thought this was a pickup makers forum, not a telecaster forum. I may be wrong though...

Sorry Alberto,

I guess I posted in the wrong place. I thought this was the place to discuss various pickup models and types.

[big_teee]

Sorry Alberto,

I guess I posted in the wrong place. I thought this was the place to discuss various pickup models and types.

That would be in music electronics, or guitar tech.
Music Electronics
Guitar Tech
Since this is a pickup makers forum?
So most of us don't discuss or care much about commercial offerings!
Unless someone is trying to clone, or dissect one.
T

[bajaman]

ha ha - would love to see someone try to disect a fluence humbucker

[WolfeMacleod]

Sorry Alberto,

I guess I posted in the wrong place. I thought this was the place to discuss various pickup models and types.

That is what this forum was originally intended for, when it was first formed in 1998, as a place for Jason Lollar andmyself to discuss pickup installation, choosing, etc with players.

ha ha - would love to see someone try to disect a fluence humbucker

I did just that, immediately when they hit stores here. I still have the dissected pickup (HB), and it's very interesting. I also happened to be chatting with the designer, Frank Falbo, during the operation.
At Frank's request, I will not disclose what I found. Let's just say it's VERY ingenious, and quite difficult to take apart as cleanly as we did. There are still part's we're unable to dissect.

[Steve A.]

Thread moved to Guitar Tech forum per request. Glad to hear that they've come out with Tele models. Rather than winding coils with wire they print them on many linked circuit boards and use electronic circuitry to shape the sound.

Steve Ahola

[Richard]

I haven't seen a real good gut shot, it seems like it would take many circuit boards to get enough winds.

[Jazz P Bass]

Here are three shots that I grabbed:

[Richard]

That appears to be a stacked coil design. I've only played Fender Vintage Noiseless stacks, for me, they give up a good bit of shimmer and sparkle. Is the low impedance/active design not susceptible to the treble roll off?

[Steve A.]

A friend tried these out awhile back and was very impressed. Much information about them on the Fishman site. One of theiir goals is consistency from one pickup to the next.

Fishman | Fluence

Steve Ahola

[big_teee]

I listened to a bunch of clips.
They sound good, but?
The Strat and Humbuckers, IMO all sound like Telecaster pickups.
The Strat doesn't IMO sound like a strat, and the LP doesn't sound like LPs either.
So be sure you do your homework before you buy them.
If you want real strat or LP tone, buy the real thing.
T

[bajaman]

Having been intrigued with the design, I purchased two sets of the strat and one of the Classic Humbucker sets. I still have one of the strat sets on one of my strats but i hardly ever play it - the others i onsold . I have NEVER been convinced that stacked coil humbuckers sound any good - always too dark or hard edged for my liking. the Classic humbucker set was a huge disappointment to me. I subsequently fitted Seymour Duncan Antiquities to the Les Paul that i had installed them on and noticed immediately, a HUGE improvement in tone, dynamics and character over the lifeless fluence humbuckers. I'm with terry on this - If you want the real Strat or PAF tone - buy the real things ;-)