Fishman Rare Earth Humbucker

This is the double stacked Humbucking version of the famous Rare Earth series, with flick switch to boost the treble. Active - this operates on two small watch batteries, with battery life being 300 hours!! Because of it being a humbucker, you don't get the undesired noise that can come with the single coil version.

I decided to get a Fishman for my Larrive LV-03R after trying out an L. R. Baggs M1 - it wouldn't fit in the soundhole and it was unbelievably heavy; I'd borrowed it off a friend to try out. The Fishman on the other hand was small, light, discreet and with none of those silly adjustable pole pieces to get in the way. Installation was a breeze, because Larrivee already fit a half inch precut endpin that screws out and allows for a jacksocket to be fitted with no extra work. With regard to people using Fishman's, Fairport Convention's Simon Nicol always uses one in his Santa Cruz . . . and that sounds bloody marvellous!

I plugged it into my Marshall AS50R and got an incredible sound immediately - Full and warm, with a wonderful tone that almost mimicked the guitar itself. No messing around trying to get rid of piezo quack, or glass like treble, this was absolutely stunning from the off. The treble boost comes in very handy when fingerpicking a song - just gives that crispness to the high notes. Because it's active it matches perfectly with everything I've tried it in and also performs very well through my Fender Passport PA system, when plugged into the line input. I play folk, country, roots music in an English duo called RED SHOES, and this has now become my main guitar and pickup. Previously I was using a Martin dread, fitted with a Thinline Gold plus undersaddle pickup - just too spikey and quacky for my liking. I'm even considering getting another Rare Earth and putting one in the Martin as well - they are that good.

If it was lost, stolen, broken, I would definitely invest in another - it is my only choice now for acoustic guitars. I've been playing for over 35 years, both electric and acoustic, and I can honestly say it captures the sound of an acoustic guitar perfectly. I love that it can hardly been seen, that it sits under the strings and doesn't hinder fingerpicking. I compared it to Dean Markley Pro Mags, LR Baggs M1 and Martin Thinline pickups. I think I have now achieved the Holy Grail of pickups - I won't be searching anymore, this is the number one!!!

Humbucking soundhole pickup with a mic on a goose neck. A blend wheel let's you set your preferred mix of the two signals. It can also be wired to send the two signals out on two separate channels which I really recommend.

Martin HD-28V. Had a Schertler Bluestick earlier. Sounded too plastic for me.
Easy instalment. No mods at all required.

Output level seems fine. My soundguy says it's hot enough. I run it through a Fishman AFX Reverb (which I really like), the soundhole pickup goes through a Barber Tone Press and both signals go into a Radial JD Duplex DI-box.

The sound is the most musical I have ever come across as far as using acoustic guitars in a band situation goes. None of that rubber band sound you get from piezos. High end is smooth. There's eough bass that you'll probably have to cut some of it out but it's nice to have it there if you need the full body of the guitar.
The pickup perhaps sound a tad electric but it you spend a little time eq-ing it you'll be fine. A little compression is also useful.

In a live situation you of course have to watch out for feedback but I haven't had any problems so far. I run a 50/50 mix of the two signals and find it absolutely fantastic for strumming and the odd fingerpicking. Differences in pick attack or if you play with your thumb instead of a pick is easliy heard. I have cut a Feedback buster to fit the soundhole together with the pickup. Placement of the mic is important and you'll have to fiddle with it a little to find your sound. Also sometimes you'll have to reverse phase on one of the signals.

I also really recomend the Fishman AFX Reverb to add a little depth to the sound.

I'll save some money and put one in my other guitar too.

I've used over the last few weeks on tour. I love the fact that it sounds like my guitar and not like a rubber band like sone of the piezoes out there.
I have been through quite a lot of gear over the years and have been to nail my acoustic sound live. This is the best so far and I really like it. Still, the quest goes on I guess...It's an addiction :)

It's an active humbucker, handy is that you can adjust the volume on it. Not so handy is that you have to reach between your strings to do it. But that's not really important, just change the volume on your equipment and let the pick up be.

I use it on a Taylor 314 CE and it works great. No noise or buzz at all. I stopped using the ES system by Taylor because it sounds too bright. The fishman has a more neutral sound.

This pick up matches the original guitar sound in an extra ordinary way. I'm very pleased with it.

I'd buy it again anytime. It's not all that expensive either.