That's a super interesting idea. That might be worth experimenting with...JD0x0 wrote: ↑Thu Jul 06, 2023 11:45 am If you don't want to mess with long cables, you can add a controlled amount of capacitance with a capacitor. Put it on a switch, if you like. The G&L's S-500's did this with a fixed capacitor, as I guess the stock MFD pickups were a bit icepicky, so they added 1000pF capacitance to the pickups to fatten things up.
Ordered some Fishman Fluence Pickups; will these ruin my TW Life?
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Re: Ordered some Fishman Fluence Pickups; will these ruin my TW Life?
Re: Ordered some Fishman Fluence Pickups; will these ruin my TW Life?
The Fluence pickups finally arrived last night and I got them installed.
I got to play it with my Express that is home right now as well as comparing it to the Acorn with 57 Classics.
They are definitely fun pickups and quite versatile. They are not a lost cause with the Express, but it does have to be used differently than the other setup with 57 classics, 50s wiring, and Gibson Historic pots.
the 57 classics with all the Express-appropriate electronics are quite tailored to set the Express on one setting with the bright switch on full and guitar tone controls on full, and I just adjust the pickup volume knobs to get a nice chimey clean as well as full distortion with clarity... by easily going to anywhere around 5-8ish on the volume knob to full up. It's all very easy to dial in quickly and hard to miss. The volume knob is not picky.
With the same amp settings, the fluence would have to have their tone knobs backed down to about 2-3 to get similar response. I do feel like the tones are all really great and there are alot of them to get. They all sound super dialed-in and have a huge range. I may be crazy, but I feel like one improvement would be if they used alnico ii magnets instead of Alnico V. There is a certain more round or vintage/complex sound that I like, and I wonder if it is the magnet type.
But ya, the fluence Scott Lepage pickups give tonnes of awesome tones... that all sound like great studio recordings... and the silence of single-coil settings is impressive even at higher gain.
I'm curious how they will be in typical band setting. I'll report back in. For actual songs I am not typically riding guitar knobs like Glen K as much as I would when I am just playing an Express by myself at home. But I am wondering if I can get to the sounds I need fast enough without having to keep tweaking knobs too much. But, I also typically just default to my strat for actual band settings anyways because I can get the sounds I need for the band mix quite effortlessly. We'll see if maybe the versatility of the Fluence pickups will be able to do that...
They are definitely fun pickups and quite versatile. They are not a lost cause with the Express, but it does have to be used differently than the other setup with 57 classics, 50s wiring, and Gibson Historic pots.
the 57 classics with all the Express-appropriate electronics are quite tailored to set the Express on one setting with the bright switch on full and guitar tone controls on full, and I just adjust the pickup volume knobs to get a nice chimey clean as well as full distortion with clarity... by easily going to anywhere around 5-8ish on the volume knob to full up. It's all very easy to dial in quickly and hard to miss. The volume knob is not picky.
With the same amp settings, the fluence would have to have their tone knobs backed down to about 2-3 to get similar response. I do feel like the tones are all really great and there are alot of them to get. They all sound super dialed-in and have a huge range. I may be crazy, but I feel like one improvement would be if they used alnico ii magnets instead of Alnico V. There is a certain more round or vintage/complex sound that I like, and I wonder if it is the magnet type.
But ya, the fluence Scott Lepage pickups give tonnes of awesome tones... that all sound like great studio recordings... and the silence of single-coil settings is impressive even at higher gain.
I'm curious how they will be in typical band setting. I'll report back in. For actual songs I am not typically riding guitar knobs like Glen K as much as I would when I am just playing an Express by myself at home. But I am wondering if I can get to the sounds I need fast enough without having to keep tweaking knobs too much. But, I also typically just default to my strat for actual band settings anyways because I can get the sounds I need for the band mix quite effortlessly. We'll see if maybe the versatility of the Fluence pickups will be able to do that...
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Re: Ordered some Fishman Fluence Pickups; will these ruin my TW Life?
So, my main #1 amp is my Liverpool, and I finally got to play all my guitars (including my EJ strat) on that. The Liverpool does not demand me be such a purist like the Express seems to. The Express has it's distorted tone in the clean-to-mean thing a little more saturated. I use my Liverpool with my pedal-board, and I like it a bit better with single coils, (although the Express is still pretty great at them too)
Anyways, I feel like I should explain my Alnico II preference a bit better. It's just what I particularly like. I think it just has a little rounder high end on the initial pick attack that I feel makes the tone sound a little more complex while still retaining a nice chimey tone without any brittleness. Both my EJ Strat single coils and my 57 Classics have Alnico II magnets and they seem to have that character.
Aside from that specific thing, all the voices on these Fluence Scott Lepage pickups sound amazing. They are all super useable and balanced. Basically every voice on each pickup sounds great pretty much all the time. On the other guitars, I find myself switching pickups when some position may be really sounding bad for some reason (too much bass on a rhythm pickup, too thin on a bridge pickup, etc.) On the Fluence pickups, I find myself switching pickup positions or voicings based on the thought, "hmm this other flavour might be nice" but it's not due to the thought that there is a problem that has to be fixed. The knobs just control variations of all very useable tones. The range is all very useful.
So, ya, my final thoughts on these Fluence pickups are:
1) They sound great for everyone with all needed tones within a single guitar.
2) If you have an Express
a) Cable capacitance doesn't seem to be a problem (but they can be a bit brighter than vintage humbuckers)
b) You have to adjust from your typical 50s wiring familiarity but the tones are all there
3) I wish they made a version with Alnico II magnets
4) I wonder if the Chrome Vintage Humbucker set would be similar enough to these so that I wouldn't need to have the clashing gold pole pieces. (Although these LePage versions seemed to be so much cheaper than the rest for some reason)
Anyways, I feel like I should explain my Alnico II preference a bit better. It's just what I particularly like. I think it just has a little rounder high end on the initial pick attack that I feel makes the tone sound a little more complex while still retaining a nice chimey tone without any brittleness. Both my EJ Strat single coils and my 57 Classics have Alnico II magnets and they seem to have that character.
Aside from that specific thing, all the voices on these Fluence Scott Lepage pickups sound amazing. They are all super useable and balanced. Basically every voice on each pickup sounds great pretty much all the time. On the other guitars, I find myself switching pickups when some position may be really sounding bad for some reason (too much bass on a rhythm pickup, too thin on a bridge pickup, etc.) On the Fluence pickups, I find myself switching pickup positions or voicings based on the thought, "hmm this other flavour might be nice" but it's not due to the thought that there is a problem that has to be fixed. The knobs just control variations of all very useable tones. The range is all very useful.
So, ya, my final thoughts on these Fluence pickups are:
1) They sound great for everyone with all needed tones within a single guitar.
2) If you have an Express
a) Cable capacitance doesn't seem to be a problem (but they can be a bit brighter than vintage humbuckers)
b) You have to adjust from your typical 50s wiring familiarity but the tones are all there
3) I wish they made a version with Alnico II magnets
4) I wonder if the Chrome Vintage Humbucker set would be similar enough to these so that I wouldn't need to have the clashing gold pole pieces. (Although these LePage versions seemed to be so much cheaper than the rest for some reason)
Re: Ordered some Fishman Fluence Pickups; will these ruin my TW Life?
I have tried the strat, tele and p90 fluence pickups. they are not bad at all. to me, the strat pickups did not sound and feel entirely right but they were usable. the tele bridge sounded good but the treble strings were too harsh and the attack a little unmusical. The p90 was the best, with a very defined, refined tone that lacked some of the dirt of p90s
Last edited by Roe on Thu Jul 20, 2023 7:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Reeltarded
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Re: Ordered some Fishman Fluence Pickups; will these ruin my TW Life?
My idea is drop the pickups a bit and take the edge off. I bet when the highend feels similar to alnico II you find something really nice.
Signatures have a 255 character limit that I could abuse, but I am not Cecil B. DeMille.
Re: Ordered some Fishman Fluence Pickups; will these ruin my TW Life?
Oh! Interesting! I'll definitely give that a try in the morning. Thanks!Reeltarded wrote: ↑Thu Jul 20, 2023 2:10 am My idea is drop the pickups a bit and take the edge off. I bet when the highend feels similar to alnico II you find something really nice.
Re: Ordered some Fishman Fluence Pickups; will these ruin my TW Life?
The YT video demo was a surprise and also an ear opener. I've never really paid much attention to the Fluence humbucking pickups, only the Greg Koch videos with the P90 versions. Thanks for the post.
Most people stall out when fixing a mistake that they've made. Why?
Re: Ordered some Fishman Fluence Pickups; will these ruin my TW Life?
My pickups are some of the newer Fluence ones that have the HFT (High Frequency Tilt) switch that you can solder together on the back of the pickups.
It is supposed to replicate a bit the sound of a bit longer patch cable on vintage humbuckers... that seems to be specifically addressing some of my concerns.
I finally closed that switch and I think it is closer to what I want. I still mostly play my strat, but I think I still like these humbuckers... still not sure if I prefer them over 57 classics, but it is close and they are more versatile.
It is supposed to replicate a bit the sound of a bit longer patch cable on vintage humbuckers... that seems to be specifically addressing some of my concerns.
I finally closed that switch and I think it is closer to what I want. I still mostly play my strat, but I think I still like these humbuckers... still not sure if I prefer them over 57 classics, but it is close and they are more versatile.