Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
I've been pretty vocal about my love for Fishman pickups. I do think there is a lot of hype around them, but they really are THAT good.
Don't get me wrong. They don't make me want to throw all my passives away. Passives have still got their place, but I have been an EMG guy ever since the second pickup swap I made (I had a Super Distortion which I didn't quite gel with which I swapped for an EMG 85 in the bridge). I later came to realize the EMG 81 is home for me.
However, recently, newer EMG's have sounded odd. They don't sound like they used to. I don't mean to sound like a boomer, but this change happened like what? 5 years ago? So rather than going through the PITA of searching for pre-2018 EMG's, I decided to give Fishman Moderns a try, and I was blown away. They did exactly what my beloved EMG's did, just better. I always liked how the 81 sounded so tight and focused. Well the Modern Ceramic is tighter and more focused. I love how the 85 is super smooth for leads and balances well with the 81 in the bridge. Well the Modern Alnico is clearer and balances even better.
I then tried a bunch of Fishmans. I loved all of them. Will Adlers, Classics, and then, the KSE's. I love the band KSE, BTW. Especially Alive or Just Breathing. And then the tones on TEOH and ADL are to-die-for.
I love how the KSE's build upon the Moderns. I slapped them in my Gibson Les Paul which is a naturally LOUD, fat, and slightly dark guitar. THe KSE's balance out perfectly. I also have a set of Moderns lying around, and I've fully A/B'd them, but for me, the KSE's just sound better not just in this guitar, but in my Epi (another Les Paul that is less fat and brighter).
The site describes them as being lower output than the Moderns with tighter low-end, and more upper mids. I do find the upper mids more aggressive and in-your-face, but I actually don't find them to have less low-end. If anything, they have a tiny tiny bit more. They do have much less low-mids, thus making the low-end cleaner and arguably tight while still having a tiny bit more oomph to the palm-mutes. No mud or stuffiness. They're also not lower output whatosever. They're equally hot... which is about the same level of heat you get from an 81. But they do feel drier from the less squishy low mids and the bolder upper-mids.
Overall, I think these are my pickups. I've tried a bunch of passives in my Gibson, but I've always found I have to severely drop the bass knob on my amp (sim), use super bright/aggressive/focused boosts that cut tons of low-end, or both. With the KSE's, they're voiced just right for what I go for in a tone. They've still got the typical low-end/high-end rolloff that EMG's and Moderns have, they're just voiced differently.
I've wanted to try the Devins and the Abasis for a while, but I don't know if I'd like them, because what I love about the KSE's is exactly them being scooped right in the mids that I like to scoop out: the muddy, stuffy, bloated lower mids, and it seems like the Devins and the Abasis step in the opposite direction.
So yeah... give these a try if you get the chance.
Don't get me wrong. They don't make me want to throw all my passives away. Passives have still got their place, but I have been an EMG guy ever since the second pickup swap I made (I had a Super Distortion which I didn't quite gel with which I swapped for an EMG 85 in the bridge). I later came to realize the EMG 81 is home for me.
However, recently, newer EMG's have sounded odd. They don't sound like they used to. I don't mean to sound like a boomer, but this change happened like what? 5 years ago? So rather than going through the PITA of searching for pre-2018 EMG's, I decided to give Fishman Moderns a try, and I was blown away. They did exactly what my beloved EMG's did, just better. I always liked how the 81 sounded so tight and focused. Well the Modern Ceramic is tighter and more focused. I love how the 85 is super smooth for leads and balances well with the 81 in the bridge. Well the Modern Alnico is clearer and balances even better.
I then tried a bunch of Fishmans. I loved all of them. Will Adlers, Classics, and then, the KSE's. I love the band KSE, BTW. Especially Alive or Just Breathing. And then the tones on TEOH and ADL are to-die-for.
I love how the KSE's build upon the Moderns. I slapped them in my Gibson Les Paul which is a naturally LOUD, fat, and slightly dark guitar. THe KSE's balance out perfectly. I also have a set of Moderns lying around, and I've fully A/B'd them, but for me, the KSE's just sound better not just in this guitar, but in my Epi (another Les Paul that is less fat and brighter).
The site describes them as being lower output than the Moderns with tighter low-end, and more upper mids. I do find the upper mids more aggressive and in-your-face, but I actually don't find them to have less low-end. If anything, they have a tiny tiny bit more. They do have much less low-mids, thus making the low-end cleaner and arguably tight while still having a tiny bit more oomph to the palm-mutes. No mud or stuffiness. They're also not lower output whatosever. They're equally hot... which is about the same level of heat you get from an 81. But they do feel drier from the less squishy low mids and the bolder upper-mids.
Overall, I think these are my pickups. I've tried a bunch of passives in my Gibson, but I've always found I have to severely drop the bass knob on my amp (sim), use super bright/aggressive/focused boosts that cut tons of low-end, or both. With the KSE's, they're voiced just right for what I go for in a tone. They've still got the typical low-end/high-end rolloff that EMG's and Moderns have, they're just voiced differently.
I've wanted to try the Devins and the Abasis for a while, but I don't know if I'd like them, because what I love about the KSE's is exactly them being scooped right in the mids that I like to scoop out: the muddy, stuffy, bloated lower mids, and it seems like the Devins and the Abasis step in the opposite direction.
So yeah... give these a try if you get the chance.
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, but yeah the balance isn't all that great and you moved on.
