Fishman fluence? Lace sensor?

ThorpyFX

anyone tried the Fishman fluence pickups? They seem quite intriguing. How about the lace sensor new products like the alumitones? I’ve only ever used Standard style pickups or EMG actives, these seem to bridge the two. 

StormshadowGuitars

I have some Fishman Fluence pickups in HS to go in a new build when its painted, but not tried them as yet.

guitarfishbay

I'm interested in the Fluences.

A number of people who I'd trust the opinion of have been praising them. A lot of EMG artists have switched, though it's hard to know to what extent that's a business decision alongside the artistic choice.

Everyone in the Devin Townsend band seemed to be using them this year and I felt like all the tones were great - tight and clear. 

Which ones in particular are you looking at? I know there have been multiple revisions of the modern, I think they've arrived at a final spec now but some of the older used sets might be the earlier spec which if I remember right was brighter. Not sure on the history of the classics. I'd like to try both at some point.

The only downside (besides higher price) is that battery life is quite a lot lower than EMG. You can get a rechargeable pack, or Pre loaded plates to fit Strat or Les Paul's with the battery packs fitted.

Funkfingers

I have Fishman Fluence Classic humbuckers. The dual Voice switching results in P.A.F.-inspired sounds one minute and Duncan JB-like power the next. Voice 2 of the neck/Rhythm position humbucker is difficult to liken exactly to anything else. 

guitarfishbay

Funkfingers said:

I have Fishman Fluence Classic humbuckers. The dual Voice switching results in P.A.F.-inspired sounds one minute and Duncan JB-like power the next. Voice 2 of the neck/Rhythm position humbucker is difficult to liken exactly to anything else. 

 Do they clip at all?

I like EMGs but only really the 81 in the tuning I use, everything else is hotter and clips a bit soon in drop B (they're all fine tuned higher). I'm not a fan of the 18v mod as the voicing changes a lot, otherwise I'd probably use the 57/66 set more.

I get the impression the Fishmans have been designed with enough headroom to begin with. The clips I've heard have sounded more dynamic than the EMGs

ThorpyFX

guitarfishbay said:

I'm interested in the Fluences.

A number of people who I'd trust the opinion of have been praising them. A lot of EMG artists have switched, though it's hard to know to what extent that's a business decision alongside the artistic choice.

Everyone in the Devin Townsend band seemed to be using them this year and I felt like all the tones were great - tight and clear. 

Which ones in particular are you looking at? I know there have been multiple revisions of the modern, I think they've arrived at a final spec now but some of the older used sets might be the earlier spec which if I remember right was brighter. Not sure on the history of the classics. I'd like to try both at some point.

The only downside (besides higher price) is that battery life is quite a lot lower than EMG. You can get a rechargeable pack, or Pre loaded plates to fit Strat or Les Paul's with the battery packs fitted.

I’m looking at a new set of singlecoils and possibly adding the battery pack for a strat. They just seem to be a versatile solution. 

guitarfishbay

Well if you do get a set I'd be really interested to know your thoughts. I have found the EMG SA to be my favourite noiseless singlecoil but it doesn't sound like a classic Strat.

The Fluences should get closer, I've only ever seen a demo with Greg Koch playing them and he's like PGS Andy in that I want to buy everything he demos. 

kjdowd

I have a set on my strandberg 7. Reasonably impressed. They are quite versatile - pull selector for different voice and one for cool split- and seem to suit that guitar. Obviously I've left the jack cable in and run the battery down more than once but other than that worth a go. 

guitarfishbay

kjdowd said:

I have a set on my strandberg 7. Reasonably impressed. They are quite versatile - pull selector for different voice and one for cool split- and seem to suit that guitar. Obviously I've left the jack cable in and run the battery down more than once but other than that worth a go. 

Do you have the rechargeable battery pack? How do you find that?

kjdowd

No just normal 9V battery

kjdowd

Played it again this am actually. There are a lot of good sounds in there. The alternative voicing a bit more usable than the coil split to my ears, but covers a lot of ground overall. 

Funkfingers

guitarfishbay said:
 Do they clip at all?

Into what sort(s) of input?

Most of the active EMG guitar pickups that I have are the -X versions with improved dynamics and headroom. I also like the Seymour Duncan active pickups. The Live Wire Classic II neck position humbucker is a favourite. Their Blackouts models are a bit too genre specific for my requirements. 

Fishman Fluence humbuckers seem to strike a nice balance between the control of active pickups and everything that we love about passive pickups. I cannot comment on FF "single width" pickups as I have yet to try them. Neither have I had an opportunity to try any of the recent EMG Retro-Active series.

guitarfishbay

Funkfingers said:

guitarfishbay said:
 Do they clip at all?

Into what sort(s) of input?

As in do they run out of headroom and internally clip when you play loud notes.

This might explain it better - blue is an EMG 81 in a CU22 and purple is an EMG 57 in a Singlecut.  Same part double tracked, same strings and playing dynamics.  Going between palm muted and open powerchords




You can see how there's dynamic range in the 81, and not much in the 57 - it's almost permanently clipping.  FWIW the 81 was set a closer than the 57, which was set as low as it could go before it started to sound weaker.  I play in drop B with thick strings - basically my findings are the newer 57/66 and Het Set are way hotter than the 81 and as such clip really soon for me.  So my feeling is that anyone that claims there's more headroom in those sets than the 81 probably were never clipping an 81 to begin with as there is demonstrably a lot less headroom.  In terms of tone though I really like both the 57/66 and Het sets, I just think they're better in higher tunings or for people with softer picking dynamics.  There are more passive like crunchy highs in those sets than the standard EMGs, the tone is great but they're unnecessarily hot IMO - but only if you drop tune with bigger strings, in more standard tuning they're great.

I've never tried the X-Series, but I have tried the 18 and 24v mods, and my feeling is I don't like what it does to the tone.  The lows seem to extend deeper and highs extend higher, but not in a way I like.

I have a set of Blackouts and they're ok, but not really tight enough for my liking.  They're also a lot less aggressive than the EMGs.  Plenty of dynamic range though, they feel nice to play.

With regards to EMG single coils I don't think I've managed to clip any of them at 9v.  Even the J set for bass, it wouldn't even clip when playing with a .130 low B and me smacking it as hard as I could.  So the clipping thing is definitely more for the humbuckers.  EMG recommend using 18v for bass humbuckers as standard FWIW.

In standard tuning I actually prefer to use PAFs and lower output singles, I just prefer the tone - but they're rarely tight enough on guitar for me in the tunings I do write in.  The Fluences look like they could bridge the gap, but they're not cheap and I'm pretty happy using 81s and SAs etc at the moment.

Funkfingers

I shall have to find a recording that I made using FF pickups and look at the waveform in the DAW tracks.

digitalscream

I was going to put a pair of Alumitones in my lightweight Tele (Strat-shaped holes), but the fact that there aren't separate versions for neck/bridge makes me worry that the two pickup positions would be badly out of balance.

For what it's worth, I went for the plain ol' Red/Blue Lace Sensors, and they're absolutely stunning. The Red twangs like a single coil but has the beef of a humbucker without losing the tight low-end, and the Blue is like a really hot bluesy single coil in the neck.

Fiftyshadesofjay

I have a set of Alumitones and some EMG 57/66's in guitars right now. I'm endorsed by Lace so take it with a pinch of salt again but in general - 

The Alumitones sound great but not like EMG's really. They have deeper lows and higher highs, not as tight as EMG's but thicker sounding. I use the regular one in the neck and the Deathbucker in the bridge, balance just fine.

EMG's are great but despite the marketing they're more of a hotter 81/60, certainly not really vintage. Great if that's what you're after though.

digitalscream

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

The Alumitones sound great but not like EMG's really. They have deeper lows and higher highs, not as tight as EMG's but thicker sounding. I use the regular one in the neck and the Deathbucker in the bridge, balance just fine.

Huh...based on that, I just went over to the Lace site to have a look at the Alumitones again, and it turns out that the single coil versions are nowhere near as hot as the Red or even the Blue!

Think I'll stick with the Sensors, then

ThorpyFX

I think I'm going to try the fluence pickups, well put them on my christmas list anyway.....

Fiftyshadesofjay

digitalscream said:

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

The Alumitones sound great but not like EMG's really. They have deeper lows and higher highs, not as tight as EMG's but thicker sounding. I use the regular one in the neck and the Deathbucker in the bridge, balance just fine.

Huh...based on that, I just went over to the Lace site to have a look at the Alumitones again, and it turns out that the single coil versions are nowhere near as hot as the Red or even the Blue!

Think I'll stick with the Sensors, then

I’ve never tried the single coil Alumitones but be careful if you’re going by the dc resistance, they work differently to other pickups in that respect.

That being said I think the gold sensor is still one of the most popular pickups they sell!

The_Whisper_Thief

digitalscream said:
For what it's worth, I went for the plain ol' Red/Blue Lace Sensors, and they're absolutely stunning. The Red twangs like a single coil but has the beef of a humbucker without losing the tight low-end, and the Blue is like a really hot bluesy single coil in the neck.

I'll second this! I have an old Tele Plus and the pickups are incredible. Still very much single coil sounding. Awesome pickups.

digitalscream

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

digitalscream said:

Fiftyshadesofjay said:

The Alumitones sound great but not like EMG's really. They have deeper lows and higher highs, not as tight as EMG's but thicker sounding. I use the regular one in the neck and the Deathbucker in the bridge, balance just fine.

Huh...based on that, I just went over to the Lace site to have a look at the Alumitones again, and it turns out that the single coil versions are nowhere near as hot as the Red or even the Blue!

Think I'll stick with the Sensors, then

I’ve never tried the single coil Alumitones but be careful if you’re going by the dc resistance, they work differently to other pickups in that respect.

That being said I think the gold sensor is still one of the most popular pickups they sell!

Nah, I'm going off the "heat level" on the Lace website. The Alumitone singles are a 6 out of 10, whereas the Red is a 10 and the Blue is a 9.2.