Fishman Pickups and Amplifiers • Shoreline Music

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Fishman Transducers has since 1981 produced some of the industry's finest acoustic amplification equipment. Nearly 30 years later, even in a market saturated with guitar amplification choices, Fishman pickups and preamps are still the standard against which most other gear is judged. And most guitar builders who include electronics in their guitars still use either Fishman pickups or Fishman pickup/preamp combos. And, of course, Fishman pickups and preamps are used on stages worldwide, by pros including Dave Matthews, Chis Proctor, Jacques Stotzem, Ed Gerhard, and countless others.

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Fishman pickups and pickup systems:

Matrix Infinity - The standalone Matrix Infinty system is the current update to the older Acoustic Matrix systems. Think of the Matrix Infinity as the offspring of several earlier Fishman systems, including the Acoustic Matrix Natural I, the Acoustic Matrix Natural II, and the Ellipse VT. Like the VT, the Infinity includes a soundhole-mounted volume and tone control, a long-awaited addition to the standard Matrix line. Also, the Infinty allows you to switch between the Natural I and Natural II voicing, again, an overdue upgrade to the line. And have you ever hesitated to install battery-powered onboard electronics because you didn't want the battery to fail in the middle of a set? Well, the Matrix Infinity includes a low-battery LED. Every guitar pickup system should have one of those. Customer reports are very positive, so if you've been looking at a Fishman system, it's worth taking another glance at the Infinity.

The Acoustic Matrix element in this pickup is the backbone of most Fishman pickup systems. All Fishman products which include the Matrix pickup are available in Wide (1/8") and Narrow (3/32") formats (for help determining the width of your saddle groove, visit our FAQ).

Ellipse - Fishman has three essential styles of undersaddle pickup system. The first is the Matrix Infinity, mentioned above. It's just the pickup and a small soundhole control. Next up the list are the Ellipse systems, which still use the same pickup, but you graduate to a larger circuit board inside the soundhole, and this gives you a lot more features. To be perfectly candid, I'm not convinced that a sizable circuit board adhering to the inside of your soundhole is the best thing for your unplugged tone—or the travelability of your guitar. But we have lots of customers who love the Ellipse systems, so if you're playing mostly onstage, and not handing your guitar over to baggage handlers on a regular basis, then it's worth taking a look at these. The Ellipse VT (high-res pic) is the simplest model, giving you a volume and tone control. Note that the tone control is not your typical bass/treble pan or slider, but rather a slider that moves between "scooped" and "flat". The Ellipse Matrix Blend (high-res pic) blends the Matrix pickup with a gooseneck microphone. The Ellipse Aura (high-res pic) takes advantage of Fishman's award-winning Aura imaging technology (described below), and includes a USB port for downloading guitar images.

Prefix - The third style of Fishman undersaddle system is the Prefix. These systems combine the usual Matrix undersaddle pickup with side-mounted electronics. Installing a Prefix system does mean that you have to cut a hole in the side of your guitar (unless there's already one there), but you get lots of extra features, as well as fingertip control of your tone. For many players, the easy access and robust tone controls of a Prefix more than compensate for the hole cut in the side of their instrument. The main Prefix lineup has been whittled down to two products: The first, the Prefix Plus T (high-res pic) gives you broad EQ control and an onboard chromatic tuner. The Prefix Premium Blend (high-res pic) adds a detachable mic, which, if placed properly, helps you grab some of the air from the inside of the guitar to complement the string tone from the Matrix undersaddle.

Onboard Aura - The newest pickup systems from Fishman use preamps that fit in the standard Prefix-sized hole, but they also incorporate Aura guitar images, just like the Ellipse Aura described above. The preamp boasts the same features as other Prefix models, including 3-band EQ, phase switch, onboard tuner, and more. See the Aura Pedal description below for more details about the Aura family of products. (high-res pic)

Rare Earth Soundhole Pickups - The Fishman Rare Earth pickups have been racking up awards since their introduction. In fact, the Rare Earth Blend (high-res pic) was voted Favorite Acoustic Guitar Pickup by the readers of Acoustic Guitar magazine a few years back. To be honest, however, I was never a big fan. These always sounded too muddy and electric to me. But I have good news: The Fishman Rare Earth has been revoiced, and I now can recommend them wholeheartedly. All magnetic pickups sound, well, magnetic, but any time they at least lean toward the acoustic, they become very usable in stage settings. This newer voicing, undoubtedly inspired by the great success of the Baggs M1, has been received well by customers, so it's worth considering. Available in single coil, humbucker (high-res pic) and humbucker/microphone blended setups.

Neo-D - This is the more affordable version of Fishman's Rare Earth soundhole pickups. It uses the same magnet technology, but it gets wrapped in a passive pickup that plugs directly into an amp. Available in single-coil and humbucker varieties.

Fishman Acoustic Amps:

Loudbox - Fishman's Loudbox lineup of amps aren't just great acoustic amps with transparent, clean tone—they pack up to 130 watts of punch so you don't have to worry about getting killed acoustically by your drummer and bassist. In fact, the original Fishman Loudbox was designed expressly for acoustic players in loud bands. That original Loudbox won the 2005 MIPA award for Best Acoustic Amplifier, and the subsequent variations of this amp have racked up their own industry awards from regular players and professionals alike.

The current Loudbox lineup includes the Loudbox Performer, Loudbox 100, and the new Loudbox Mini. The Loudbox Performer (high-res pic) is a feature-laden 130-watt amp: It boasts 2 channels, each with its own effects, EQ, phantom power, effects loop, and phase switch. Plus, it's tri-amped, giving you much cleaner tone for each section of the audible spectrum. The Loudbox 100 (high-res pic) takes the same signature Fishman tone and squeezes into a more portable box. The 100 still has plenty of guts, though, and, like the Perfomer, it boasts two channels, 3-band EQ and digital effects. The new Loudbox Mini takes it one step further. It knocks 3 pounds off the weight of the Loudbox 100, and includes a smaller set of features (but still two channels, plenty of EQ, etc.). But the most appealing feature of the Mini is its price: At $299, it's one of the most affordable high-performance acoustic amps around.

SA220 - Fishman's top amp has been taking the coffeehouse circuit by storm. You may have originally seen it called the "SoloAmp", but I'm guessing there was some trademark violation somewhere, so it has been renamed the SA220. The SA220 is nearly the perfect blend of portability, punch, and tone. The SA220 works on a principle similar to the Bose PAS, that is, it's a stand amp that works as a portable PA. You can play through and sing through it, and it may very well be the only acoustic amp you'll ever need. (high-res pic) (front panel detail) (in transit)

Aura Pedals:

The original Fishman Aura was a groundbreaking, if flawed, modeling/imaging preamp. In principle, it was genius: Record a guitar with a pickup and microphone simultaneously, then track the digital difference between the two signals. Then when someone plugs that guitar in onstage, use the Aura's processor to reverse that digital difference, so that all you hear through the speakers is the sound of a guitar and microphone, without all the liabilities of using a mic onstage.

However, the original Aura was unwieldy, with a slew of uncategorized guitar images to choose from, and, quite simply, it was just too hard to make your guitar sound good through it. Enter the Aura Pedal, which in its original incarnation took a select few of only the best tonal "images", and stuck them in a compact, easy-to-use foot pedal. This is something I've been asking DTAR to do ever since I beta-tested the Mama Bear, but Fishman was first to market, and they've done a bang-up job. Customer reports for all models of Aura Pedal have been unanimously positive, and I highly recommend them. The one caveat is that, like the Mama Bear, all Aura products really only work with undersaddle pickups. If you've got a K&K Pure Western, the Aura won't improve your tone.

Aura 16 - Originally, the Aura Pedals were offered with different versions for different guitars: If you had an OM, you got the best Aura images for an OM. If you had a 12-string, they had a model for that. But by far the best-selling model was the Dreadnought (in our shop, it outsold all other models 10 to 1). The new Aura 16 (high-res pic) starts with essentially the same guts as that Dreadnought-specific Aura Pedal, but gives you the added bonus of Fishman's entire library of downloadable images. You get the ease of use of the simple Aura Pedal, but with images for any guitar you want (the box includes the software and a USB cable).

Aura Spectrum

high-res pic

Fishman Pickups & Pickup Systems	Description	Price*
Matrix Infinity	Undersaddle pickup with active endpin preamp	$139
Ellipse VT	Matrix pickup with soundhole mounted controls.	$169
Ellipse Aura	Like Ellipse VT, but with downloadable Aura images added to the mix.	$299
Ellipse Matrix Blend	Soundhole-mounted internal dual-source system.	$219
Prefix Plus-T	Side-mounted preamp with EQ controls, onboard tuner	$309
Prefix Premium Blend	Prefix stereo blender with onboard tuner and detachable mic	$399
Onboard Aura	Prefix-sized preamp blends Matrix pickup with Aura images	$449
Rare Earth Single Coil	Magnetic soundhole pickup	$109
Rare Earth Humbucker	Includes volume knob	$139
Rare Earth Blend	Rare Earth Humbucker pickup with gooseneck mic	$299
Neo-D Single Coil	Affordable passive soundhole pickup	$59
Neo-D Humbucker	Neo-D with humbucking coil	$79
Fishman Pedals	Description	Price*
Aura 16	Aura Dreadnought Pedal with downloadable images.	$199
Aura Spectrum	All the Aura pedals rolled into one. Includes tuner, EQ, preamp, and DI.	$329
Fishman Loudbox Amps	Description	Price*
Loudbox Performer	130-watt acoustic amp with 2 channels, onboard effects	$689
Loudbox 100	100-watt version. Includes 2 channels, EQ, onboard effects.	$599
Loudbox Mini	60-watt version.	$299
SA220	Full-featured portable amp system	$999

*All Fishman pickup and amp prices include free shipping anywhere in the US. CO residents add 2.9% sales tax. Please see our Shipping page for additional shipping information.