Schatten HFN - Martin D-18MD

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by guitaniac

Very interesting. Thanks for the information, Shawn. Like you, I suspected that the Soloist's phase cancellation wiring would prevent it from blending well with an SBT. I'm glad to be wrong.

No problem Gary. I would love to replicate this setup in other guitars but unfortunately the cost will be overwhelming.

[GuitarLuva]

Originally Posted by Daniel Grenier

I have a passive tape-mounted HFN along with a Magnetic soundhole pick up in my 000-28. The HFN on its own is too bright/tinny and the Mag too bassy/muddy but I can EQ/blend the two and get what is (to me) a rather pleasing result.

However, the one major annoyance with the HFN is the outrageous string noise I get. It is much more prone to that than any other pickups I have tried (which is not that many but still...). My playing style is not conducive to string noise as I am ultra conscious and careful about it but the odd time a finger drag is inevitable or accidental, the results are very unpleasant (I truly dislike string noise in all forms!).

Has anyone else experienced this with their HFN? If so, is the putty mount less prone to string noise?

I doubt the putty would be less prone to string noise than the tape. I don't find the HFN any more offensive for picking up string noise than other pickup systems that I have used in the past such as K&K and the Anthem. I wouldn't call myself a HFN guru by no means but I do have a lot of installs and experience with the pickup under my belt now. The putty is all I use now for installing the pickup. Every install that I've done resulted in a nice thick but balanced sound that was true to the guitar that it was installed in. In your description of what you're hearing to me would either be an installation issue, such as uneven contact, or an impedance mismatch. I would definitely recommend giving the putty a try and take it from there.