Fishman Neo D Humbucker: Pros & Cons?

[guitaniac]

I’m thinking of trying to blend this pickup’s signal with the Lyric signal from one of my guitars and the iBeam signal from another of my guitars. I suspect the signal would be quiet enough (running to an outboard preamp) for live performance situations.

I currently have a MiSi MagPi in the iBeam equipped guitar, but I’m not entirely confident that it will continue to take enough charge to provide hours of playing time. The MiSi “Acoustic Duo” (soundhole pickup) which I once used got to the point where I had to recharge it mid gig.

[andrus108]

I bought it as my first attempt at amplifying an acoustic, and it does its job. It sounded okay blended with MD421. But I have upgraded to Baggs M80, and aside from being a lot better as standalone solution, blending with that mic was more transparent too. Fishman has some muddy frequency I found hard to dial out. However it both cheaper, lighter and smaller. I'd still go for M80 if you can afford, and/or fit it in.

[guitaniac]

Originally Posted by andrus108

I bought it as my first attempt at amplifying an acoustic, and it does its job. It sounded okay blended with MD421. But I have upgraded to Baggs M80, and aside from being a lot better as standalone solution, blending with that mic was more transparent too. Fishman has some muddy frequency I found hard to dial out. However it both cheaper, lighter and smaller. I'd still go for M80 if you can afford, and/or fit it in.

Thanks for the observations on the Neo D humbucker and the M80. As a part time soundman, I’ve noticed that the M80 is an excellent pickup for those who can give it space (like fingerstyle players who anchor and mute at the bridge). My personal problem with the M1 and the M80 is that I like to play right over the pickup and tend to strike it directly alot. Unlike conventional mag pickups, the M1 and M80 talk back when I strike them directly.

I’ve never heard anyone combine an M80 with a mic, but now that you’ve brought up the possibility, it definitely makes sense for players who give the M80 it’s space. It would be like combining a mag signal, an SBT signal and a mic signal.

Sorry to read that the Neo D humbucker has some muddy frequencies which are hard to dial out. I wonder if the Rare Earth humbucker would be better.

[andrus108]

Yes, M80 does have its learning curve with having to remember to not hit it constantly. I'm a simple strummer/chord arpeggiator guy, so it's actually beneficial to strum closer to the bridge, I consider clicking as a reminder my hand is in a wrong place Not a fingerstyle player, so cannot advise anything here.

Yeah, I found that both Neo D and M80 both fill out the mids of my fairly scooped MD421, however when soloed Neo D is then all mids, while M80 retains some of the body and detail. I have yet to try it live though, so far only for recording.

[guitaniac]

andrus108,

I hadn’t considered using a mag pickup for recording, but I can think of a big advantage for folks like myself who like to record guitar and voice simultaneously. A mag pickup won’t pick up any vocal bleed, so you can post process the mag signal to your heart’s content.

My own interest in mag pickups has been for live performance situations. I just can’t get enough feedback free gain from the Lyric or the iBeam for bare-fingered picking in very noisy setting. That’s why I’m experimenting with blending in a mag pickup when I’m using the iBeam equipped guitar or the Lyric equipped guitar.