Fishman Rare Earth Single Coil

Mr Blues · #1 09-23-2015, 04:05 AM

How does the Fishman Rare Earth single coil compare to the humbucker version. I already have the Rare Earth Blend which I believe is the humbucker with a goose neck mic.
I find the output quite low.

I here the single coil can get humming problems when used with stage lighting. I mainly play outside.
I have K&K pure XLR prea amp the £170 version with the phase button and gain swicth as well as bass mid and treble . Which I think would add some depth. Infact I got rid of my K%K from my Faith Jumbo as I found the output to low but that was way before I brought a used K & K pure XLR preamp. I may think again and get a K&K mini so I can use it with the K&K pure XLR.
Going back to the Fishman
Does anyone here have a single coil Fishman?

sam.spoons · #2 09-23-2015, 06:24 AM

I have a singlcoil Rare Earth, a humbucker and a blend. of the three the blend seems to have the lowest output. It may have issues and as I only have two guitars that can accommodate soundhole pickups right now it is siting on the shelf. The single coil is sweeter/more acoustic sounding than the humbucker. It's on my spare guitar and don't play that guitar much but I don't recall too many hum problems though they are inevitable with single coils (I play a couple of Strats when I'm over on the dark side).

Mr Blues · #3 09-23-2015, 10:39 AM

Hi Sam .
I am glad you gave a short take on the single coil pick up. I had a chance to demo one and it sounds nice and clear. Definitely more output then the humbucker.
They have gone down in price. I tried it on a friends Martin 0M guitar.
I am definitely getting one . I can't wait to try out out with my Yamaha LJ16.
Dave

ohiopicker · #4 09-23-2015, 02:04 PM

I installed one on my Martin SWDGT and don't recall noticeable hum from neon lights or other sources. I a very happy with the sound quality.

simondylan · #5 09-23-2015, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Blues

How does the Fishman Rare Earth single coil compare to the humbucker version. I already have the Rare Earth Blend which I believe is the humbucker with a goose neck mic.
I find the output quite low.

I here the single coil can get humming problems when used with stage lighting. I mainly play outside.
I have K&K pure XLR prea amp the £170 version with the phase button and gain swicth as well as bass mid and treble . Which I think would add some depth. Infact I got rid of my K%K from my Faith Jumbo as I found the output to low but that was way before I brought a used K & K pure XLR preamp. I may think again and get a K&K mini so I can use it with the K&K pure XLR.
Going back to the Fishman
Does anyone here have a single coil Fishman?

Sound-hole pickups sound like sound-hole pickups, with minor differences. I wouldn't expect too much from any of them. The one in question is a single coil pickup, so it going to be noisy! All pickups of any type have one or another issue to be dealt with and a good preamp/DI helps with many woes. There are plenty to choose from and most of them are decent. For me I won't play anywhere without my Venue DI with any pickup or guitar. It's just about the most important piece of gear I own.

DupleMeter · #6 09-23-2015, 08:03 PM

I have a single coil and a few blends. The single coil is hotter, brighter and can get noisy in the right environment. I don't use it anymore. It's sitting in it's box in a drawer.

I prefer the Blend, but I split the output to my Solstice and EQ the 2 signals separately and then mix them to taste.

That said, I have Blends in 2 of my guitars. 3 others have Fishman Matrix Infinity USTs. They're just a lot better for loud band situations. I am considering adding an SBT to the USTs to add a little more wood to the tone. That's a project for when I have time to futz around with them. Right now they're in full gigging mode.

I've long ago given up on the idea that a pickup would ever sound "acoustic". When I need my guitar to sound like my guitar I use a couple of good mics.

HTH

Random1643 · #7 09-23-2015, 09:41 PM

You probably saw this thread, but just in case: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=401017

jacm81 · #8 09-24-2015, 09:57 PM

I used a Lawrence A-300 single coil for years and loved the sound. So when I upgraded to a new guitar and a new pickup I got the Fishman single coil. I thought it sounded absolutely beautiful. A lot of people don't like how bright they are but I just thought it cut through incredibly well, especially in loud environments. Alas, I did end up having serious buzz problems when playing around neon, which I do a lot of. So I switched to the humbucker. It sounds great too but, if I could have, I would have stuck with the single coil.

sam.spoons · #9 09-25-2015, 04:03 AM

+1 DupleMeter pickups always sound like pickups. UST's always sound harsh and spiky to me and always need some serious eq. I have a SBT on a mandolin (a cheap passive bottle top piezo) and it does the job but don't have experience of high end SBTs like k&k. Fishman Rare Earth pickups give me a quack free, low feedback, high quality output which works well in most gig situations. Other mags sound too much like an electric guitar to me (M1, SD Woody, De-Armon etc and gypsy jazz pickups like Krivo, De-Armon and Stimer).

OTOH My Selmer style has a passive BigTone bridge pickup (not a UST but a transducer encapsulated in the floating bridge itself) which sounds very good indeed. The difference between this and a UST is that with a UST the piezo element is under pressure from the saddle, I believe that is the cause of the 1kHz spike 'quackiness' of USTs.

Cochese · #10 09-27-2015, 03:57 PM

How is the OP using the RE Blend? Into a mixer, any external preamp etc? When you compared the single coil version was it into the same system?

It's been years since I had the single coil RE but as I recall it wasn't a hot output either. I never have issues with the RE Blend. Sometimes I use an outboard preamp or straight to the mixer.

Compared to the passive K&K that was mentioned the K&K has way more output but for me that pickup has always been the most feedback prone system I've had. Plus the K&k (in my guitar) needs a lot more EQ to make it work.

I recently did a comparison of the RE Blend and my K&K in the same guitar if you want to check it out. http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=402079

Personally I think you would not accomplish much by switching to the single coil version. You might be better buying an external preamp or possibly there is something wrong with your setup.