Anyone installed a Matrix Infinity in a Guild F412?

[iWood]

[2009, New Hartford]

I know all the measurements, instructions, and so forth, I'm just looking for someone who's actually done it (or had it done), and what their experience with it was, in terms of both installation and performance. Strongly considering it for use w/ my Aura Spectrum DI...the Rare Earth Blend I'm currently using is kind of meh with the Aura (and restricts my string choices), so I thought I'd give the Fishman-recommended pickup a try.


LATER

Aaaaaand in the course of poking around the forum I found out much more about the K&K Trinity, and the D-TAR Solstice (made right here in town)...so my question above may prove to be irrelevant (I really like how the K&K sounds...so I'm thinking why model if I can get that sound?). But I'd still like the info re: the Matrix if anyone's got it to share.

[Irish Pennant]

I installed an Infinity in a Takamine. The installation was easy for me, I have access to precision machine tools.

I have three Taks, one with a Tak piezo pick up, one with a K&K mini and one with the Matrix Infinity. The two piezo installed guitars both quack and I have to run them through a DI to clean it up but it's still there to some degree. Of the two piezo pickups the Matrix Infinity is the better. The highs, mids and lows are crisp and clean when compared to the K&K. The highs on the K&K are tougher to bring out, they get subdued by the lows. I have to play the K&K differently to get out of it what the Matrix easily gives. I have recently been tempted to see about combining the two, it would be interesting.

[iWood]

Originally Posted by Irish Pennant

I installed an Infinity in a Takamine. The installation was easy for me, I have access to precision machine tools.

<snip>

Thanks...but re: installation, I'm looking for experiences with the Guild F412, specifically, because my saddle slot length measurement differs from Fishman's spec by a bit over 2mm, so I'd like to hear from anyone who's actually put the Matrix transducer in a recent-year F412 (others' success would mean my calipers might be off).

That said: did you do the foil install for the K&K mini, or the superglue gel? Also, these are Tak 12-strings, yes? (I've got a '95 ENC12C-12 which, in addition to being my first real 12-string, is to this day the best-smelling guitar I've ever owned).

...

(Aaannnnd now I've found out more about the D-TAR Multi-source...see, you go into the forum thinking you kinda know what you want, that you just have a single, key question, and then you find out that not only do you not have the answer to your question, you don't actually know what you want, have many more questions, and haven't even put coffee on yet.)

[iWood]

Originally Posted by iWood

Thanks...but re: installation, I'm looking for experiences with the Guild F412, specifically, because my saddle slot length measurement differs from Fishman's spec by a bit over 2mm <snip>

Apparently the answer for this particular concern is, "I'm an idiot."

The slot width, as Frank the Fishman Customer Guy reminded me, is a minimum width.

So...yeah. It'll fit.

[jseth]

I had the Fishman Matrix Acoustic Natural (blah blah blah) in my Mark Angus #58 for many years of wonderful performance... my Angus is basically built from a template of a Guild F-40 size/shape... made in 1983, it's rosewood with German spruce.

I really loved it with that pickup! Yes, it WOULD quack, if you hit really hard, but the sensitivity was sweet and I got a very punchy sound from it, a sound that was immediate and smooth, at the same time.

Mine was the one with the non-adjustable pre-amp, inside the guitar at the butt; no volume or tone controls, but it seemed to put out just about the perfect tone for me. I was always surprised at that; how little I ever had to do to get a great sound from that pick-up...

I have the Anthem SL in that 12 string now; I like it fine, but it's much more "touchy" than the Matrix was... takes more to get it to sound great (but it does).

I pulled the Fishman pickups from both my Angus guitars to put in the Anthem units. I sold one of them, but still have the other, I believe...

[pieterh]

I had the matrix in my Guild D35 for years. I only changed it for K&K pure mini because the original (Micarta?) saddle height was not sitting snugly in the slot and amplified it sounded as if strings were buzzing (they weren't). I swapped to a Tusq saddle and in the process damaged the foil shielding on the UST. The price of a new UST plus soldering it to the end-pin preamp was at least as much as the K&K and seeing as I usually play through pz-pre I didn't need to have an on-board pre. Swapping to the K&K meant I didn't have to be so meticulous with
the saddle. The guitar now has a great action, sounds excellent unplugged and amplified is also a joy.

Re the K&K: glue the discs!

[Rgp0924]

I've done it on a recent New Hartford Guild F512. Both the wide format and narrow format Matrix UST's will work.