Skysonic Wireless Guitar Pickup

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by silverspear

thanks for the reviews! keep them coming, as it will help lots to convince more to give it a try.

for now it seems good that this pickup is comparable in sound quality to the m1 and m80.

I went from the M1 to the M80 and now to the Skysonic FS-1 in the same guitar. I’m getting ready to sell both the M1 and M80 because I much prefer the FS-1.

I would say that the FS-1 is more comparable to other mag/mic soundhole pickups like the Fishman Rare Earth Blend, the Seymour Duncan SA-6 or the Shertler AG-6. I have only heard Youtube demos of these, so I don’t know firsthand.

I just ordered a second FS-1 as a spare. I was thinking about buying just the receiver, but they were quoting me $35 in shipping alone, so the $125 for both pieces with free shipping started to look like a good deal.

Also, since you can use it wirelessly without drilling the endpin out, it is sort of a perfect temporary pickup.

I really love the wireless aspect of it. It is far more convenient that having a heavy transmitter on your strap and a receiver on the floor with power and audio cables.

I also really like that both the pickup and the receiver have rechargeable batteries with cell phone charger connections.

[silverspear]

did anyone manage to squeeze more than 6 hours out of this pickup?

[lkingston]

My longest gig has been 3 hours and I’m afraid to start a gig with less than a full charge.

I had a second FS-1 on order but somehow the AliExpress Chinese affiliate messed it up and instead of getting passed on to USPS like it was supposed to, it got sent back to China. The probably didn’t pay the complete postage or something. I am not going to be at this address long enough to wait for it to get back to China and then sent back to me, so I requested a refund.

Last night it sounded so good, that I got an email from a member of the audience asking what it was.

None the less, after cancelling I decided to switch to the more expensive Shertler AG-6 and S-mic combo for my better guitar. The mic on the Skysonic is decent, but the demos of the mic portion of the S-mic are spectacular. I plan to use that guitar more for recording than gigging so the wireless aspect isn’t as important.

I know that at the couple of open mics I’ve done since I got it, the FS-1 sounded better than everything except a Seymour Duncan Mag Mic which sounded about the same. I seem to be partial to the magnetic pickup /mic combo sound though, so others may have different tastes.

[brianli408]

Originally Posted by varmonter

these ship from hong kong??

Not sure have you bought it, I know a guitar shop in Hong Kong selling this pickup, if interest, pm me

[varmonter]

Thanks yes i bought from ali express .
I've received it and personally want to
hold back on a review until i have a chance
to really sit down and fool with it.
Preliminary report would not favor this fs1
over any other pickup i own. It sounds
very muddy and a bit quacky like a piezo.
But i need some time to fool with it.
First con i've found is the placement of the
on off switch. I for one can not use my fingers
to turn this on or off . So a tool is necessary .
Deal breaker right off the bat. If this is left on
even though you turn the standby switch on
you will drain the battery . Why not just have one power
switch on the top, This is almost as useless as the m80
passive/active switch.

[lkingston]

I have no problem reaching in with my finger to turn it on or off.

[tadol]

I think he's referring to the master switch, which the instructions say to leave on otherwise you need to repair the units. I recd one yesterday, and it works - I have to spend a bit more time with it before forming a strong opinion, but I was looking for a wireless way to try amplifying a couple different guitars, really like the wireless, and this will do it, but it is not something you just pop in and out.

[lkingston]

The top mounted switch is just for the wireless. I have an LR Baggs endpin cable assembly installed and plugged into the pickup and you still have wired audio with the top switch turned off. I’m sure the battery drain is slower with the top switch off, but it is still a factor. Yes, you should reach into the sound hole to turn it on and off. When I’m using it wired, my first step is to reach in and turn it on. It powers on the wireless by default when you do this so my second step is to turn the top switch off.

[varmonter]

ok so maybe i'm confused. But i left the bottom
master switch on and it drained the battery dead.
i had to charge it again. I can not turn this switch
on off with my finger. need. a pen or some long
pointy tool to do this. The top switch no problem..

[jkilgour2000]

I'm reviving this old thread to ask if anyone has tried one of these in a 00 sound hole -- specifically a Martin 00-28 -- my Schertler AG-6 is too big for the sound hole, was thinking about getting one of these. Thoughts?

JK

[lkingston]

I sold my Skysonic FS-1 after I got the Schertler so I can’t measure it, but I don’t remember it being any smaller than other soundhole pickups. I really liked it until I heard the AG6/S-mic.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by lkingston

I sold my Skysonic FS-1 after I got the Schertler so I can’t measure it, but I don’t remember it being any smaller than other soundhole pickups. I really liked it until I heard the AG6/S-mic.

Resurrecting and old thread here. For those that bought them, is anyone still using one? They're now under $100 on aliexpress and $142 from Amazon, but still shipped from China (someone is trying to sell one on the AGF for $175). I have a couple of guitars I won't drill for endpins and am wondering whether this is a worthwhile spend. I'm generally not a fan of magnetic pickups, but the sounds I hear in demos and the descriptions here tell me that this one might be an exception. Most of my guitars have older Fishman systems (I occasionally gig out with 2 that have Aura systems), my main gigging acoustics are Rick Turner Renaissance with D-tar systems and perhaps my favorite systems are the LR Baggs dual source Anthems I have in my McCollum and a Gibson.

Thanks!