The small rings are “vias” that electrically connect the layers.Ī bit of pickup history: In the early 1930s, George Beauchamp applied for a patent on an odd looking guitar-like instrument that included a “pickup.” (The patent uses the variations “pickup,” “pick–up” and “pick up” interchangeably.) His invention was the now-famous Rickenbacker “Frying Pan,” which hosted the first guitar pickup. Layers of printed coils awaiting magnets. Rather, it’s a love story about preserving the best qualities of great pickups without their associated problems, and at a reasonable cost. But as anyone associated with Fluence will tell you, this is not a story focused on bashing traditional pickups. Like beloved family members, pickups have their faults. Understanding what’s unique about Fluence requires an understanding of how traditional pickups work-and don’t work. The result is a new pickup line: Fluence. Fishman felt he could match the performance of existing electric guitar pickups, but not bring anything new to the party-until now.Ībout 18 months ago Fishman and his team started thinking about magnetic pickups in a bold unique new way.
But according to Larry Fishman, that “magic” is precisely why his company sidestepped electric guitar pickups for its first 34 years: “Too much voodoo,” he says.
The sound coming from a vintage ’54 Stratocaster pickup or a ’57 PAF humbucker can be magical. The invisible events that occur in that instant are responsible for all the things we love about pickups-and many of the things that frustrate us. Like traces on a circuit board, concentric spirals of “coil” can be printed.īut for all of us electric guitar huggers, sound eventually comes down to that critical point where a vibrating string excites a pickup magnet. So do wood-drying conditions, shaping techniques, manufacturing and assembly methods, and the design of the metal and plastic parts we attach to that wood.įluence is based on the notion that coils can be applied rather than wound.
For one thing, they’re made from trees, and trees vary.
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Guitars, too, are also full of uncontrollable variables. Even with consistent production methods, there are such wild card factors as inconsistency in the raw materials used by the manufacturer. No matter the manufacturer or the person doing the winding, one pickup can sound different from the next. Pickup winding can be something of a black art. Quite the opposite: It’s a way to consistently and accurately recreate the sounds of the world’s best pickups. What the Fishman team has concocted is not a new sound. We’re accustomed to hearing about “the next new thing” in pickups every time NAMM season comes around. Within days I was on my way to Massachusetts to meet with the team at Fishman. We discussed everything from aerospace technology to Lionel trains, from Hendrix’s association with Marshall to why no one considers the New York Philharmonic to be a cover band. My initial “pre-interview” with Fliegler lasted almost two hours. That project can-correction, will-change the way you think about electric guitar pickups.
Fliegler, a guitar industry vet boasting lengthy tenures at both Fender and Marshall, is psyched about his new collaboration with Larry Fishman.
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Session Series also demonstrates our great finishing capabilities the gloss models have a clear deep shine from a finish that is applied as thinly as possible, again to help optimize tone.I highly recommend having a conversation with Ritchie Fliegler. For a more focused sound with fewer overtones & power we have our Session GA with a solid spruce top & Mahogany Back & Sides Session Series feel right and are exciting to play no matter if you are strumming hard or picking lightly, the guitar will do what you ask of it. To deliver the best guitars in the market at every price point, instruments that are truly amazing value and offer a fantastic player experience Each model is designed to get the best out if its components, and for them to work together to produce balance, perfect projection and great response. This model is fitted with the fantastic Fishman Sonitone Pickup for optimal live performance. With the same scale length & body thickness as the dreadnoughts. Session Series are superb all around guitars.