Fishman Fluence Classic Humbuckers

FarleyUK

Anyone use these...?

http://www.fishman.com/products/series/fluence/fluenceclassichumbuckerneck.php

After hearing a mate rave about them, I'm interested. Reviews seem pretty good, but I'm after general opinions from other users

Interesting that they require a 9v battery, but good to see you can get a replacement cavity cover with a rechargeable battery on it.... or I guess just stick a 9v battery wrapped in foam in the cavity

Adamski

These are the Greg Koch ones, right? They sound fantastic in his demos but I'd hazard a guess I could make some pickups with zero knowledge using a tin of spaghetti and some runner beans and he'd make them sound amazing so I can't really judge!

Battery gives 300 hours of continuous play so I don't think it's an issue.

FarleyUK

No idea mate, TBH...! I see they do two types though - modern and classic. Guess it's like a traditional passive vs active kind of difference between them.

Anyone tried them?

ICBM

I've never heard them - or of them, before this - but it's interesting that Larry "we don't need no stinkin' magnets" Fishman should have come up with something like this!

ChrisMusic

If anyone is interested in what they sound like, or the tech behind them, here are a whole lot of videos on this thread:

http://thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/40382/innovation-frank-falbo-of-falbo-guitars-guitar-design-p-rails-fishman-fluence#latest

Including the fantastic Greg Koch  

:-B

FarleyUK

Just ordered two pairs of the classics - will be loading them in the Les Paul and the Kramer asap....!

fretmeister

Heavy Devy is using them now.

Kebabkid

I heard the Classic HBs in a Charvel Strat recently and they sounded superb both on clean and dirty sounds.
The 2 sounds via the pull up knob offer good classic and modern sounds. As promoted, there's no volume drop or loss of clarity when you clean up the sound on a dirty sound from the guitar.

I was suitably impressed

Rainbow_Brown

I read that as Fishman Flatluence at first. Less interested now I know that I was wrong...

mixolyd

Still waiting for the P90 version: surely the most logical fit for this technology?

guitarfishbay

@FarleyUK ;

How did you get on with the Classics?  Are you finding you use all the settings or do you just stick with one option?

Jetfire

Thomas McRocklin is using the modern ones and he raves about them. Devon Townsend has his own model now too which interests me greatly

guitarfishbay

Everyone in Devin's band seems to use them, sounded great to me when I saw them earlier in the year.

I'm hoping to try out the Classic's first, because ideally I actually want a PAF kind of voicing that's tighter without the flub in lower tunings. 

I'm pretty happy with EMG 81s for active voicing as it is, I'd like to try a modern too but the 81 feels a bit like 'if it ain't broken don't fix it' to me.  I do like the idea of the Devin and KSE sets with all the different voicings though.  I've got an 81TW and it doesn't quite have the same aggression as the regular 81 to me, so I just use the 81 for the most part and have a strat scratchplate with some SAs.

Funkfingers

FarleyUK said:

Anyone use these...?

I have a pair. I tested them briefly in an LTD EC-401w before installing them in my (still unfinished) project Eggle Berlin Wall.

The multiple voicing aspect is handy. The sounds are closer to traditional passive pickups than those of non-X EMG humbuckers. 

ICBM said:

I've never heard them - or of them, before this - but it's interesting that Larry "we don't need no stinkin' magnets" Fishman should have come up with something like this!

I suspect that (ex-Seymour Duncan employee, now guitar builder) Frank Falbo has had some input on how Fluence Classic humbuckers are voiced.

Clean (1:40)


Dirty