Sonitone to Schatten HFN

shutterbiker · #1 05-02-2019, 06:36 PM

I received my HFN yesterday and started the process this morning.

I removed the old jack from the battery box/jack assembly.

I soldered a battery clip to the wiring from the battery box/jack assembly.

I clipped the battery leads together. I will finish the install in the morning.

shutterbiker · #2 05-02-2019, 06:38 PM

All that is left is to attach the tape to the HFN and position it on the bridge plate, screw the battery box/jack assembly back in position and check the preset volume on the preamp.

GuitarLuva · #3 05-02-2019, 07:58 PM

Looks like a fun project thanks for sharing and looking forward to the ending. I finally received my HFN Artist plus 2 and can't wait to install it on my next days off.

JackB1 · #4 05-03-2019, 09:13 AM

let us know how the sound compares to the previous sonitone.
what guitar are you doing this in? The Martin GPR?

lowrider · #5 05-03-2019, 10:59 AM

I'm confused. Is the battery going into the battery box? If so, what is that battery clip for?

Will you have volume and tone controls on the guitar?

And, of course, we all want to know how it sounds!

shutterbiker · #6 05-03-2019, 01:53 PM

Yes, the pickup is going in the GPRS1. I added the battery clip so that I could just clip the lead from the Schatten onto the clip coming from the battery box. I coiled up the wires from the Schatten , but once I decide that I will keep it, I plan to eliminate the excess wire and clean it up a little bit. It sounds pretty good, but I may try to reposition the hfn to get it directly under the saddle. I want to tweak the volume a little bit also. I replaced the saddle with a new tusq saddle, but I also got a compensated bone saddle coming to try bone. Very happy so far. Sounds better than the Sonitone.

shutterbiker · #7 05-03-2019, 07:24 PM

Lowrider,
No, I do not have volume and tone controls. I got the active unit which is the HFN pickup and an endpin preamp. The preamp has a trimpot that is accessed by unscrewing the cover on the preamp jack. My plan is to set it similar in volume to my Masterbilt. The preamp includes instructions for wiring in volume and tone controls, so I could do that if I need to.

guitaniac · #8 05-04-2019, 06:51 AM

Thanks for the detailed report on your pickup swapping adventure.

Didn't I recently read in another thread somewhere that you (or some other Sonicore user) improved the guitar's acoustic tone and/or sustain by removing the Sonicore's co-axial UST?

I've long thought that co-axial USTs have the unfortunate drawback of being a significant shock absorber between the saddle and bridge. I've replaced the Sonicore UST in one of my guitars with an extremely thin UST from Open To Source Sensors. I'd consider eliminating all USTs for the HFN if the OTSS UST didn't work so well with ToneDexter.

shutterbiker · #9 05-04-2019, 08:24 PM

guitaniac,
I read the same report on switching out the sonicore pickup for a different ust. I was originally thinking of switching out the sonitone for a matrix infinity, but I read that some thought it wouldn't be a big improvement. I then heard about the HFN and decided to go in that direction. It made sense to me that it may improve the sound of the guitar by not having a ust under the saddle. I think that the guitar seems to have more sustain after the change.

shutterbiker · #10 05-04-2019, 08:32 PM

I went back in today and made the wiring more direct by eliminating the battery clips and the excess wire.

shutterbiker · #11 05-05-2019, 03:34 PM

After shortening the wiring up, I decided to try reinstalling the pickup to get it directly under the saddle. I had trouble getting it directly under the saddle the first time, so I made a cardboard template with holes that matched the bridge pin position. I used some wooden chopsticks in the bridge pin holes to line it up. This allowed me to get the right alignment before lifting up on the pickup and adhering it to the bridge plate. It worked perfectly. The pickup is now centered under the saddle. I also increased the output on the preamp. I am very happy now. I appreciate all the info that I got from the forum. It really helped so much in figuring out how to do this project!

GuitarLuva · #12 05-05-2019, 04:24 PM

The Schatten HFN is a great pickup, glad you got it all worked out.

Marty C · #13 10-06-2019, 04:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shutterbiker

After shortening the wiring up, I decided to try reinstalling the pickup to get it directly under the saddle. I had trouble getting it directly under the saddle the first time, so I made a cardboard template with holes that matched the bridge pin position. I used some wooden chopsticks in the bridge pin holes to line it up. This allowed me to get the right alignment before lifting up on the pickup and adhering it to the bridge plate. It worked perfectly. The pickup is now centered under the saddle. I also increased the output on the preamp. I am very happy now. I appreciate all the info that I got from the forum. It really helped so much in figuring out how to do this project!

Shutterbiker,
Are you still liking this? I have a Baggs Anthem SL I didn’t like in another guitar that I took out. I was thinking of using your model here and installing the SL in this guitar. But for the price, I may just opt for this HFN. How close did you get to natural sound of the guitar?

jonfields45 · #14 10-06-2019, 06:13 AM

Might have been interesting to see if the Sonitone preamp was compatible with a passive HFN, but that would have been an expensive experiment if it had failed..

GuitarLuva · #15 10-07-2019, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jonfields45

Might have been interesting to see if the Sonitone preamp was compatible with a passive HFN, but that would have been an expensive experiment if it had failed..

I've tested the passive HFN with the Sonitone preamp and it was totally fine. I prefer to stay passive so I removed it.