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So I was up in Boston, drinking beer and went to The Axe Palace, because I wanted to check out a Kemper. While they were a dealer, they were out of the Kemper and I got a little sidetracked. Before I get into the Fluence, pickups, I want to say what a cool store the axe palace is! Loads of high-end gear, more suited towards the metal player. Most higher end stores target more of a blues market, but this store , it was all about the metal market and it was pretty neat and I donb't see that too often. Anyhow...
I have a Charvel strat that could use new PU's and I was toying with the idea of the fluence pups. I demo'd the Classic, Modern, Killswitch Engage, Tobin and Devin sig. pickups. Keep in mind, I royally hate EMG's. Blackouts are better but still not totally my thing. These pickups, if I hadn't know they were active, I never would have known. By Far, they're the best active pups I've ever used.
Classics- 1) PAF when you need it. 2) Everything you think a JB is, without any of the bad. Classic tones, searing upper mids, Great sizzle. Tracks notes very well. 3) single coil mode was great for texas strat cleans the neck pup went from clean to classic easily
Modern) EMG 81 and more EMG 81, I wasn't a fan
Devin Townsend) EMG81 and glassy clean. I liked this pickup the least of all the fluence designs. I'm just not into the 81, so...
Tosin Abosi *) Thick and big sounding pickup. I thought this would be ideal for a stoner rock-type of thing. It was articulate as well.
Killswitch Engage- Voice 1 reminded me of an EMG 85 with a little more sizzle. It sounded very modern and a the verge of being hi-fi, but not quite. Voice 2, was a cross between a Super 3 and an EVH pup. Thick, open, on fire.
The modern and Devin Townsend pickups weren't my thing. the Tosin Abosi's were cool, but not what I was going for. It came down to the Classics and KSE pickups. I was demoing them back to back and I was having trouble making up my mind. Both these sets, blow away any active pickup I've ever played. They sound holy organic and have loads of different sounds. At then end of the day, the Classics, made me smile just a little more. They had that great upper-mid attack the the JB does so well, without any of it's negative qualities. And if The JB wouldn't sound right for an application I had a PAF on standby and split coil modes- which sound glassy- If I could lever any complaints, Its that I think the neck pups need a little work. I liked the Tosin neck pickup the most, it was a little more rounded but nothing like that artificial EMG 85 neck PU sound. However, the other neck PU's weren't as rounded and a little too glassy sometimes.
Just my thoughts. I see these as the future of modern pickup designs. All of the tone of passive pups with the good qualities of actives. I might pick up the Killswitch set someday too. They sounded great. I was really having a tough time deciding between the two sets. The classics just seemed more versatile for the music I play (george lynch and punk and fusion).
[*Correction to my original post- I played a 6 string version of the stef carpenter pickups not the Tosin pups. When I looked at fishmans website, to make sure I had the correct info before I posted my review, I didn't see a 6 string carpenter model and assumed I must have played the tosin model. I was wrong. So When I say Tosin pickups, I really meant to say Stef carpenter. Sorry]
I have a Charvel strat that could use new PU's and I was toying with the idea of the fluence pups. I demo'd the Classic, Modern, Killswitch Engage, Tobin and Devin sig. pickups. Keep in mind, I royally hate EMG's. Blackouts are better but still not totally my thing. These pickups, if I hadn't know they were active, I never would have known. By Far, they're the best active pups I've ever used.
Classics- 1) PAF when you need it. 2) Everything you think a JB is, without any of the bad. Classic tones, searing upper mids, Great sizzle. Tracks notes very well. 3) single coil mode was great for texas strat cleans the neck pup went from clean to classic easily
Modern) EMG 81 and more EMG 81, I wasn't a fan
Devin Townsend) EMG81 and glassy clean. I liked this pickup the least of all the fluence designs. I'm just not into the 81, so...
Tosin Abosi *) Thick and big sounding pickup. I thought this would be ideal for a stoner rock-type of thing. It was articulate as well.
Killswitch Engage- Voice 1 reminded me of an EMG 85 with a little more sizzle. It sounded very modern and a the verge of being hi-fi, but not quite. Voice 2, was a cross between a Super 3 and an EVH pup. Thick, open, on fire.
The modern and Devin Townsend pickups weren't my thing. the Tosin Abosi's were cool, but not what I was going for. It came down to the Classics and KSE pickups. I was demoing them back to back and I was having trouble making up my mind. Both these sets, blow away any active pickup I've ever played. They sound holy organic and have loads of different sounds. At then end of the day, the Classics, made me smile just a little more. They had that great upper-mid attack the the JB does so well, without any of it's negative qualities. And if The JB wouldn't sound right for an application I had a PAF on standby and split coil modes- which sound glassy- If I could lever any complaints, Its that I think the neck pups need a little work. I liked the Tosin neck pickup the most, it was a little more rounded but nothing like that artificial EMG 85 neck PU sound. However, the other neck PU's weren't as rounded and a little too glassy sometimes.
Just my thoughts. I see these as the future of modern pickup designs. All of the tone of passive pups with the good qualities of actives. I might pick up the Killswitch set someday too. They sounded great. I was really having a tough time deciding between the two sets. The classics just seemed more versatile for the music I play (george lynch and punk and fusion).
[*Correction to my original post- I played a 6 string version of the stef carpenter pickups not the Tosin pups. When I looked at fishmans website, to make sure I had the correct info before I posted my review, I didn't see a 6 string carpenter model and assumed I must have played the tosin model. I was wrong. So When I say Tosin pickups, I really meant to say Stef carpenter. Sorry]
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