Fishman Fluence pickups.

fretmeister

I have a new guitar incoming.
For passives I usually go with Pearly Gates sets, and with actives, the good old EMG 81/85 set.

But the Fluence Devin Townsend set has caught my eye.

Anyone got the set? The demos sound good - telecaster type sound + traditional humbucker sound + active modern humbucker sound. Switchable with a little toggle as per his signature guitar.

They are pricey though, but also cheaper than me making up 2 scratchplates with a set of each.

Do they come with all the pots etc like EMGs do?

Any personal experience?

guitargeek62

I've not tried them but I'm watching this with interest - that set looks very promising indeed!

As an alternative, try the EMG 57/66TW set too, they're meant to be very good all-rounders, though arguably not quite as versatile as the Fluence DTs

guitargeek62

Looks like they do come with pots etc, £252 at Thomann:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/fishman_fluence_devin_townsend_set.htm

thegummy

Have never used these but been very intrigued by them just by the concept since I first heard about them so hopefully you can let us know how you like them.

I even really like the look of the covers with the curved line.

SquireJapan

I had them, very much enjoyed them too - I used EMG wiring kit (as I was lazy and had a bag full of bits spare). 

There wasn’t the compression you normally get with standard EMGs (I compared with 81/85 in both positions, different heights), and they seemed a tad less brittle than the pair of 81 TWX I had too. 

Switching was good, and I very much liked the sound. It seemed to cut through huge amounts of distortion - I could use drive sounds that ordinarily would be unusable even on pickups that are good at those things. 

Single coil sounds were nice, but clean I actually preferred the single sound on the 81TWX. 

Ultimately I went for a simple life ending up with something very different and old school (two passive ToneZones) in an ash body...

(BTW - the Devin Fluence were as a result of me chasing a good kill switch engage/drop C sound). I think they were perfect for that - right now I’m on a classic rock/jazz focus, can’t play jazz ... but you don’t need drop C to learn harmony etc. 

Awyway - the Fluence was very good. I have the modern one in the bridge of a scalloped strat I need to reassemble. That was like an 81 but more “hifi”. 

If you use EMG wiring/pots, you can swap things around much easier. 

fretmeister

guitargeek62 said:

Looks like they do come with pots etc, £252 at Thomann:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/fishman_fluence_devin_townsend_set.htm

That looks good.

On DT's own guitar he has a 3 position mini switch instead of push pull pots so he can use all 3 voices rather than having to pick 2 out of 3.


Guitar should be here tomorrow, then I'll give it the 14 days to make sure I like it, and then go for the pickups I think!

guitars4you

A while ago I had a used Strat arrive into stock with the appropriate Fishman p/ups and loom - Advertised it on the web etc and no joy whatsoever - Took the whole scratchplate assembly loom off the guitar and replaced the Strat with a more conventional set up - Sold the Strat straight away - Listed the Fishman assembly/loom on Reverb, on its own and sold it

Depends what you want - I thought it had similar tonal character to the noiseless Fender p/ups - clear and silent but somehow to pure (more of a choir boy voice and not Paul Rodgers or Otis Redding) - Some like that voice - Certainly didn't have the tonal character of a 50's/60's Strat

IMO such 'modern' p/ups work well with 'processed' digital amps/modellers etc - But on a cleaner/less gain amp setting with a valve amp I prefer the conventional p/up options as more character and more organic

Funkfingers

I have the Classic humbucker pair. I chose to wire up the Voice mode switching on a per pickup basis. (The Devin Townsend set switches the mode of both pickups simultaneously.) 

I only bother with the two humbucker voice modes. The split coils mode sounded weedy. I never got around to testing partial/tuned splittage.

WIRING TIP: Choose which coils will be operational in split mode before you assemble the wiring harness. On older examples of these pickups, this involves some soldering to pads on the underside of each pickup. 

fretmeister

guitars4you said:

A while ago I had a used Strat arrive into stock with the appropriate Fishman p/ups and loom - Advertised it on the web etc and no joy whatsoever - Took the whole scratchplate assembly loom off the guitar and replaced the Strat with a more conventional set up - Sold the Strat straight away - Listed the Fishman assembly/loom on Reverb, on its own and sold it

Depends what you want - I thought it had similar tonal character to the noiseless Fender p/ups - clear and silent but somehow to pure (more of a choir boy voice and not Paul Rodgers or Otis Redding) - Some like that voice - Certainly didn't have the tonal character of a 50's/60's Strat

IMO such 'modern' p/ups work well with 'processed' digital amps/modellers etc - But on a cleaner/less gain amp setting with a valve amp I prefer the conventional p/up options as more character and more organic

I have a strat with Lollar black face singles in it for that sort of thing.

And for guitar I'm 100% modelling now.

Stevepage

I tried out a Standberg 8 string that had a set of them and a friend's Schecter also has them.

Personally I wasn't blown away by them, but I do prefer EMGs as I find the Fishmans to have too much 'presence' in their sound. 

thegummy

guitars4you said:

A while ago I had a used Strat arrive into stock with the appropriate Fishman p/ups and loom - Advertised it on the web etc and no joy whatsoever - Took the whole scratchplate assembly loom off the guitar and replaced the Strat with a more conventional set up - Sold the Strat straight away - Listed the Fishman assembly/loom on Reverb, on its own and sold it

Depends what you want - I thought it had similar tonal character to the noiseless Fender p/ups - clear and silent but somehow to pure (more of a choir boy voice and not Paul Rodgers or Otis Redding) - Some like that voice - Certainly didn't have the tonal character of a 50's/60's Strat

IMO such 'modern' p/ups work well with 'processed' digital amps/modellers etc - But on a cleaner/less gain amp setting with a valve amp I prefer the conventional p/up options as more character and more organic

Interesting; that implies you can hear a difference between digital amp modellers and actual amps?

guitargeek62

retmeister said:

guitargeek62 said:

Looks like they do come with pots etc, £252 at Thomann:

https://www.thomann.de/gb/fishman_fluence_devin_townsend_set.htm

That looks good.

On DT's own guitar he has a 3 position mini switch instead of push pull pots so he can use all 3 voices rather than having to pick 2 out of 3.


Guitar should be here tomorrow, then I'll give it the 14 days to make sure I like it, and then go for the pickups I think!

Sounds sensible, I'm on a similar-ish quest for versatility at the moment and might order a new guitar that's got the 57/66TW set in already. I'll let you know what I think of those if I do.

I'd likely do the same as DT and use the 3-way toggles too, it just doesn't make sense to not have access to the extra tones otherwise. If I were to do that I'd set it up like the PRS 408/Paul's Guitar layout, with one toggle per pickup so that you can have any combination of the two, in addition to a 3-way position selector. I'm also not a fan of push-pulls or push-push pots at all in use!


@SquireJapan - nice write-up, can I ask what it was you prefer about using the EMG pots/wiring with the Fluence?

fretmeister

Versatility is what I want too - I'm recording a lot at the moment as there is little else to do musically and I like to stick with the same guitar if I can.

I'm not one for swapping guitars between songs unless I really can't avoid it.

fretmeister

Just a thought - what are the EMG Het Set like?

I've read a few reviews where it's been said they are less compressed, but that the output level is beyond silly.
Anyone compare them to the regular 81/85 he used for years?

Funkfingers

Hetfield used to use the -81/-60 pair. 

IIRC, the HET set gets the -X series pre-amp for improved dynamics headroom. The rod polepieces make a difference to the transient attack on any EMG active pickup that has them.

Vibetronic

I've got the Fluence Moderns in my Strandberg...not a massive fan tbh although the guitar itself is great. From what I've heard though the other sets are a lot better!

skullfunkerry

Funkfingers said:

Hetfield used to use the -81/-60 pair. 

IIRC, the HET set gets the -X series pre-amp for improved dynamics headroom. The rod polepieces make a difference to the transient attack on any EMG active pickup that has them.

I read that the Het Set is massively high output, and so tight in the bass response that they feel like there's almost no bass response whatsoever

fretmeister

skullfunkerry said:

Funkfingers said:

Hetfield used to use the -81/-60 pair. 

IIRC, the HET set gets the -X series pre-amp for improved dynamics headroom. The rod polepieces make a difference to the transient attack on any EMG active pickup that has them.

I read that the Het Set is massively high output, and so tight in the bass response that they feel like there's almost no bass response whatsoever

Not for me then! I like low end. Although I do leave proper room for the bass.

guitars4you

thegummy said:

guitars4you said:

A while ago I had a used Strat arrive into stock with the appropriate Fishman p/ups and loom - Advertised it on the web etc and no joy whatsoever - Took the whole scratchplate assembly loom off the guitar and replaced the Strat with a more conventional set up - Sold the Strat straight away - Listed the Fishman assembly/loom on Reverb, on its own and sold it

Depends what you want - I thought it had similar tonal character to the noiseless Fender p/ups - clear and silent but somehow to pure (more of a choir boy voice and not Paul Rodgers or Otis Redding) - Some like that voice - Certainly didn't have the tonal character of a 50's/60's Strat

IMO such 'modern' p/ups work well with 'processed' digital amps/modellers etc - But on a cleaner/less gain amp setting with a valve amp I prefer the conventional p/up options as more character and more organic

Interesting; that implies you can hear a difference between digital amp modellers and actual amps?

Sorry - was not trying to compare digital v actual - Was just trying to say that there is a purity about 'modern/active' pick-ups - More wide/open or full band width - Almost a hi-fi clarity, that I think works well with 'processed' digital amps/modellers etc 

guitargeek62

Another option for you, Paul - Fluence-loaded for £799:

https://www.peachguitars.com/brands/epiphone-prophecy-2020/

fretmeister

guitargeek62 said:

Another option for you, Paul - Fluence-loaded for £799:

https://www.peachguitars.com/brands/epiphone-prophecy-2020/

My S2 Standard 24 got delivered this morning!!!

I have no patience!