Alternative to Fishman fluence

[cip 123]

Looking for some alternatives to the Fishman Fluence, I'll still be keeping mine as I really like them, especially the switching options, but the whole battery thing annoys the heck out of me. And I definitely don't want to route out my Custom Schecter to fit a recharge pack in the back.

Thing is I don't know where to start really?

I really like how the Ceramic modern sounds with it both voicings, and I find all the passive's that try hard for that ceramic high gain sound to just miss the mark and be really shrill. I generally like active pickups, grew up learning with EMG's but the battery is one thing that always annoys me.

What should I be looking at? I was thinking moderate output as I pick pretty hard and find I like passive pickups round that area, my favourite before that Fishmans was the Dimarzio Ionizers but it had a high mid frequency that got on my nerves.

So moderate output, nothing too high mid, tight, good clarity (All the usual pickup buzz words).

And here's some Schecter pron for the help -

 

[MerlinTKD]

BKP Blackhawk?

 

[KnightBrolaire]

BKP Blackhawk?

not moderate output, not super tight. great pickup though.

 

[MSS]

The recharge pack sticks to the underside of the pickup cavity cover. Why not just do that if you like them? It’s a half inch hole. If you have a plastic cover you could always replace it if you wanted but I think if you ever went to sell it, it would be a positive no?

 

[Emperoff]

What you should be looking for is the battery pack from Fishman. You forget about the batteries and routing and you keep the pickups you actually like.

 

[cip 123]

The recharge pack sticks to the underside of the pickup cavity cover. Why not just do that if you like them? It’s a half inch hole. If you have a plastic cover you could always replace it if you wanted but I think if you ever went to sell it, it would be a positive no?

What you should be looking for is the battery pack from Fishman. You forget about the batteries and routing and you keep the pickups you actually like.

There isn't room in my Schecter for the recharge pack.

 

[Masoo2]

Doesn't Fishman sell a pedal-based power bank or something like that?

Or maybe it was EMG

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Doesn't Fishman sell a pedal-based power bank or something like that?

Or maybe it was EMG

It was EMG, and I wouldn't be surprised if the 9V one worked with the Fluences as well.

Also I've yet to really play anything that compares to the Fluences. Only thing I can think of is something like the Duncan Distortion, Black Winter, or Nazgul for V2 of the bridge and the Sentient for V2 of the neck. Even then the Distortion I had in the guitar I have Moderns in is still a different sound.

This sounds odd, but maybe try the Duncan Distortion neck pickup in the bridge? I got curious and tried the 8-string version, and it has a surprising amount of grind to it. Kinda reminded me of V2 of the Modern Bridge.

I'm actually curious to see how the Lundgren M-series compares to the FLuence MOdern V2?

 

[Catalyst Collide]

Not that this will solve the overall problem, I've been using high capacity, rechargeable 9v batteries with my fluence and they last a long time. I've got 3 of them, 2 always on a charger so that I can swap quickly.

 

[diagrammatiks]

Ya I use a usb rechargeable 9v sized lipo. Just pop the back plate off every few weeks and charge it.

Easy peasy

 

[AkiraSpectrum]

I wonder if the Duncan Alpha/Omega set might be worth considering?
The Omega is tight, not harsh on the high end, medium-ish output, great clarity, and still has that snarly aggression you'd get from a higher output pickup.

 

[diagrammatiks]

I wonder if the Duncan Alpha/Omega set might be worth considering?
The Omega is tight, not harsh on the high end, medium-ish output, great clarity, and still has that snarly aggression you'd get from a higher output pickup.

Not really the same feel.

A lot of pickups can do a voicing but nothing else can do the whole Fishman package.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I wonder if the Duncan Alpha/Omega set might be worth considering?
The Omega is tight, not harsh on the high end, medium-ish output, great clarity, and still has that snarly aggression you'd get from a higher output pickup.

I'm just going by the EQ chart, but yeah the Alpha/Omega LOOK like they'd sound like V2 of the Moderns. On paper.

 

[Mathemagician]

Did we suggest EMG 57/66? Dealing with a battery occasionally seems like such a small price to pay for a sound you like.

 

[lewis]

Did we suggest EMG 57/66? Dealing with a battery occasionally seems like such a small price to pay for a sound you like.

plus Fishman drain batteries stupidly fast whereas EMG last for a ridiculous amount of time in comparison - so battery isnt really an issue.

On paper it seems that alot of EMGs short-Cummings to me are solved by pairing them with the appropriate EMG active eq knob that solves that particular pickup sets issues (and they do so many active EQ options that there is literally a soloution for everything)

so grab a 57/66 and pair it with something from them that tightens (cuts lows and boosts highs for some extra clarity) and you are pretty much bang on Fishman Modern territory but with a battery that lasts infinitely longer.

 

[AirForbes1]

I wonder if the Duncan Alpha/Omega set might be worth considering?
The Omega is tight, not harsh on the high end, medium-ish output, great clarity, and still has that snarly aggression you'd get from a higher output pickup.

The Omega is tight, and there is a constant growl, and there is great clarity even under ridiculous amounts of gain. But, I don't get any EMG 81 vibes from it (I can't compare with the Modern, but the Modern always gets compared with the 81). There's a growl, but I don't get the bite from them. I think it's great for lower tunings because it stays so tight. But I wouldn't substitute an 81 (or 57) with it.

57/66 is great. Black Winters do everything.

IMO, of course.

 

[Lemonbaby]

Pegasus?

 

[larsmul]

I use the Lace X-bar in both neck and bridge and they can do everything with tremendous clarity , definition , silence and dynamic . But as they are very transparent so you have first to get a guitar with a beautiful acoustic tone .

 

[LegacyOfOddGod]

BKP Blackhawk?

not moderate output, not super tight. great pickup though.

I have blackhawks in my Regius 7 and feel like it is very tight and responsive, but what the hell do I know. Maybe I just never tried a really tight pickup

 

[KnightBrolaire]

I have blackhawks in my Regius 7 and feel like it is very tight and responsive, but what the hell do I know. Maybe I just never tried a really tight pickup

compared to pickups like the lundgren m6 or aftermath or v1 of the moderns, yeah, they're not super tight. They have a bit of squishiness to the low end ime, but it's not a bad thing. I actually prefer pickups with a bit of give in the low end since my amps are already pretty tight sounding.