Yo biker! All jokes about moaning aside, the Fishman Prefix Plus is one of the coolest pickup systems available. Yes I know the little switch inside says "stereo/mono"", but of course, Tex is right.
Way back when I was just starting the nearly-complete CD, I needed to get some guide tracks out to the overdub staff in a hurry. I was having a devil of a time playing a couple of the songs without singing them, so I said "what the hell- I'll just track them with the guitar DI as scratch tracks, and record them with mics later."
I set the Fishman for "stereo" output, and used a send and receive cable to send the two signals to the two channels of a Joemeek twinQ. I set the notch control at about 10:00, frequency selector at 250hz, EQ flat. Both signals were compressed at 3:1, slope 3, attack 5ms, release 1.0 sec. bass cut on, EQ LF -2db, mid and high flat.
My conclusion- the mic alone is clear and has high end sheen, but lacks bass and presence- it sucks. The pickup has more bass and presence, with some notable distortion that makes it sound like something trying to be an electric guitar and failing- it sucks. But... when I used the mic track panned down the middle, and then started adding pickup, Holy shit!! I reached a point where it sounded like a mic'd up guitar. So good, in fact that although the rest of the tracks were finally recorded with mics, one of them was kept, because there simply was no need to re-track it.
I didn't use a mic then, but I suppose I could. After mixing and mastering, it sounds every bit as good as the other tracks that were mic'd up pretty. Who would've thunk? The mixed and mastered tracks are not posted up (and won't be), but I do have the raw tracks up on line. This is a house mix, mono, no panning, no reverb, EQ and compression as noted above, all from the Fishman itself, or the Joemeek. If you want to hear it, check the link below and listen to "Goody's Song". Although I made many mistakes recording "Reunion", after mixing and mastering, "Goody's Song" is the best example of
acoustic guitar by DI I've ever heard. I guess if you give a monkey a typewriter, he's bound to spell a word.-Richie
http://www.nowhereradio.com/artists/?aid=3239/album680
