Shadow SH-145

Active humbucker. Hey, deja vu, I thought I already wrote a review here for this excellent pickup- were is it? Shadow deserves to be better known.

I like in all my acoustics, Martins and Epiphones. It just clamps in the soundhole, after a year I still so pleased with them (2 of same). I also have 2 Fishman Rare Earth humbuckers which are good, I guess, but I like the Shadow SH-145 waaay more.

Strong signal, I use with the Marshall 50W acoustic amp. It gives clean bass, gets the agreeable scratch of fingers or pick and the body feel compared to the Rare Earth which gives an immaculate but somewhat disembodied crystal chime. Rare maybe, but not so earthy. That's it- the Shadow sounds earthy. I think it's great and I never tire of hearing and ever time I start playing with it I get the 'wow, that sounds lovely' feeling.

I would replace it with same. Am pro since 35 years. I'm thankful that it exists.

Active, humbucking soundhole pickup. Comes with end-pin jack AND a 12 foot external cable. It has a volume control. It uses a 3 volt cell battery that is supposed to last over a year! If you fill in the warranty info on thier web page, www.shadow-electronics.com the 2 year warranty is extended to 5 years.

Fender Californian Steel String dreadnaught. I replaced a B-Band that was failing. I saw a list on Shadow's web page but don't remember who uses it. The other pickup used an endpin so no mods were necessary. If I didn't want an endpin I could have used the 12 foot cable that was included as well as the endpin jack.

I use it with a Fender Princeton Amp. Sound level can be adjusted very loud. The sound is more acoustic than any other sound hole pickup I have ever heard. Midrange doesn't overpower weather fingerpicking, flat picking or strumming. It is very quiet with no hum or buzz. The size isn't that big so it can be moved closer to the neck or bridge to get different tones.

If this was stolen or destroyed I might change guitars but I certainly would get another SH-145. The $200.00 price tag is worth every cent. I have been playing for over 30 years mostly electric but this pickup has made me want to play acoustic more. I have used others like Baggs and B-Band but they don't come close and Fishman isn't even in the same game. I paid list for it at thier web page but now I have seen it at some other sites for less.