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DTAR, Matrix, and the Rare Earth. Acoustic Pickups
So, we have been experimenting with some acoustic pickups lately, and I thought I would share some of the thoughts we have had.
We have for some years now recommended the Fishman Matrix (the Natural I) over any other pickup on the market, and we usually try to have one installed in one of the guitars on the wall, just as an example of what to expect from them. A few months back, Duncan/Turner Acoustic Research (Rick Turner and Seymour Duncan's new company) sent us one of their Timber-Line pickups to try out, and see what we thought. A week or two ago, we finally got around to installing it, and we also installed a Fishman Rare Earth in an old Harmony one of our employs owns. Now granted that the Rare Earth is in a MUCH cheaper guitar, these are my thoughts on the matter.
Fishman Matrix - This is a great pickup, which we like a lot. It does NOT sound like the guitar it is installed in, but it does sound like an acoustic guitar. Myself, I have always felt that was a good trade off between the sound of a mic and the mobility of the performer. I still like it, and it is so much easier to install than the other under-saddle pickups, it is still my first recommendation for most people.
Fishman Rare Earth - The Rare Earth is a magnetic pickup. It sounds like a magnetic pickup. However, the only magnetic pickup I have found which sounds more like an acoustic is the Sunrise, so if you don't like under-saddles for whatever reason, this is a viable alternative to the Sunrise, and it costs a bit less, and is easier to find, due to Fishman's much larger dealer network.
DTAR Timber-Line - A new company, sort of. It is a division of Seymour Duncan, with Rick Turner as the primary designer Rick is of course best known as one of the founders of Alembic back in the seventies, where he built guitars and basses for the Grateful Dead. While at Alembic, he was one of the early innovators in the field of active pickups for electric guitars, and I for one believe that the Alembic active bass pickups are still the best bass pickups made. Bartolini is close, but Alembic is better. Rick is also known as the designer of the Model One electric guitar, which has been Lindsey Buckingham's main guitar for twenty years, as well as the Renaissance "acoustic" solid body, which is designed to give an acoustic sound for live situations, while reducing feedback. Rick was also one of the designers of the Highlander acoustic guitar pickup, which was the first pickup to have an active preamp built into the endpin jack. This basic design has been taken up by most pickup designers in the intervening years. The Highlander was also the first to use a continuous piezo element, as opposed to spaced crystals, which made it possible to use a pickup for any string spacing without having balance issues. Needless to say, whenever Rick is involved in something new, the world of luthiery is interested, and he is highly respected.
The major change from the Highlander to the DTAR is power. As in the power required to run it. Rick's thought was that most pickups are underpowered, and as a result they will distort when if you play too loud. Most piezo pickup systems (such as the Highlander or the Fishman Matrix) use one nine volt battery for power. The Timber-Line uses two nine volt batteries, in an 18 volt system. This has the added advantage of giving an improved signal-to-noise ratio. Additionally, they have a new preamp design, and the piezo cable is a brand and model previously unused on guitars. Rick says it is better.
The major difference between the Fishman Matrix and the DTAR Timber-Line, sound wise, is in the high end. I have never played so hard that I could clip a Fishman, but I do have to give Rick the (slight) edge in the sound department. We installed the pickup with the bass boost set flat, and in that setting the Timber-Line is considerably brighter, but with out the harshness you would expert out of a piezo pickup. It has a very nice, smooth, high end which we all found very pleasant. A few of our more discerning customers have tried it out here in the shop as well, and their first impressions have all been very positive. It is, however, a cable transducer, as opposed to the ribbon used in Fishmans, which is much more difficult (read expensive) to install in the guitar.
It is due to the difficulty in installation for the DTAR that I would still recommend the Fishman. I do not think the sound of the DTAR is enough improved to justify the added expense, at least not for most people. None the less, the DTAR is an interesting new development in the world of acoustic amplification, and I will be interested to see how they do.
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"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
So, we have been experimenting with some acoustic pickups lately, and I thought I would share some of the thoughts we have had.
We have for some years now recommended the Fishman Matrix (the Natural I) over any other pickup on the market, and we usually try to have one installed in one of the guitars on the wall, just as an example of what to expect from them. A few months back, Duncan/Turner Acoustic Research (Rick Turner and Seymour Duncan's new company) sent us one of their Timber-Line pickups to try out, and see what we thought. A week or two ago, we finally got around to installing it, and we also installed a Fishman Rare Earth in an old Harmony one of our employs owns. Now granted that the Rare Earth is in a MUCH cheaper guitar, these are my thoughts on the matter.
Fishman Matrix - This is a great pickup, which we like a lot. It does NOT sound like the guitar it is installed in, but it does sound like an acoustic guitar. Myself, I have always felt that was a good trade off between the sound of a mic and the mobility of the performer. I still like it, and it is so much easier to install than the other under-saddle pickups, it is still my first recommendation for most people.
Fishman Rare Earth - The Rare Earth is a magnetic pickup. It sounds like a magnetic pickup. However, the only magnetic pickup I have found which sounds more like an acoustic is the Sunrise, so if you don't like under-saddles for whatever reason, this is a viable alternative to the Sunrise, and it costs a bit less, and is easier to find, due to Fishman's much larger dealer network.
DTAR Timber-Line - A new company, sort of. It is a division of Seymour Duncan, with Rick Turner as the primary designer Rick is of course best known as one of the founders of Alembic back in the seventies, where he built guitars and basses for the Grateful Dead. While at Alembic, he was one of the early innovators in the field of active pickups for electric guitars, and I for one believe that the Alembic active bass pickups are still the best bass pickups made. Bartolini is close, but Alembic is better. Rick is also known as the designer of the Model One electric guitar, which has been Lindsey Buckingham's main guitar for twenty years, as well as the Renaissance "acoustic" solid body, which is designed to give an acoustic sound for live situations, while reducing feedback. Rick was also one of the designers of the Highlander acoustic guitar pickup, which was the first pickup to have an active preamp built into the endpin jack. This basic design has been taken up by most pickup designers in the intervening years. The Highlander was also the first to use a continuous piezo element, as opposed to spaced crystals, which made it possible to use a pickup for any string spacing without having balance issues. Needless to say, whenever Rick is involved in something new, the world of luthiery is interested, and he is highly respected.
The major change from the Highlander to the DTAR is power. As in the power required to run it. Rick's thought was that most pickups are underpowered, and as a result they will distort when if you play too loud. Most piezo pickup systems (such as the Highlander or the Fishman Matrix) use one nine volt battery for power. The Timber-Line uses two nine volt batteries, in an 18 volt system. This has the added advantage of giving an improved signal-to-noise ratio. Additionally, they have a new preamp design, and the piezo cable is a brand and model previously unused on guitars. Rick says it is better.
The major difference between the Fishman Matrix and the DTAR Timber-Line, sound wise, is in the high end. I have never played so hard that I could clip a Fishman, but I do have to give Rick the (slight) edge in the sound department. We installed the pickup with the bass boost set flat, and in that setting the Timber-Line is considerably brighter, but with out the harshness you would expert out of a piezo pickup. It has a very nice, smooth, high end which we all found very pleasant. A few of our more discerning customers have tried it out here in the shop as well, and their first impressions have all been very positive. It is, however, a cable transducer, as opposed to the ribbon used in Fishmans, which is much more difficult (read expensive) to install in the guitar.
It is due to the difficulty in installation for the DTAR that I would still recommend the Fishman. I do not think the sound of the DTAR is enough improved to justify the added expense, at least not for most people. None the less, the DTAR is an interesting new development in the world of acoustic amplification, and I will be interested to see how they do.
Light
"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
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