bscha Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Has any one tried the new Fishman Blackstack pickup yet? It is a magnetic sound hole pickup that looks similar to a Sunrise. I seem to favor sound hole pickups on my J-45tv. I am thinking of buying one and giving it a try. I do not like the brittle sound of ust and play to loud to have luck with soundboard transducers (k&k, I-beam, etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drathbun Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Has any one tried the new Fishman Blackstack pickup yet? It is a magnetic sound hole pickup that looks similar to a Sunrise. I seem to favor sound hole pickups on my J-45tv. I am thinking of buying one and giving it a try. I do not like the brittle sound of ust and play to loud to have luck with soundboard transducers (k&k, I-beam, etc.). Give us a review when you get it bscha. Sound samples would be great too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Yes, buy it and review it for us, please. That caught my attention in a mag the other week and there is zip about it anywhere, except the Fishman party line stuff. I want to know what 'vintage tone' means in this case - are they trying to sound ike an old DeArmond style pickup or do they mean something else? I am in line for a couple if they are any good.... BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drathbun Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Precisely BK. Vintage may sound good when it is an acoustic guitar but for pickups? Not so much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gio Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 I had a Sunrise on a D-18 and the amplified sound was really beautiful but it was so heavy that the acoustic sound of the instrument was really altered by it. So, since I didn't play very often with an amp, I took it off. This Fishman pickup pays homage explicitely to that pickup: But it seems to me it may sound too electric. In my 000-18GE and Hummingbird Artist I have installed an LR Baggs M1 passive pickup which to my ears is the best sounding pickup available (there's also an active version available). It is light and even if you install the jack in the guitar you can mount and dismount it without taking the strings off (as it was with the Sunrise). Additionally, due its construction, the M1 is sensitive to the top's vibrations, so that its sound is never thin. And it looks great on my HB's heritage cherry top! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Yes, buy it and review it for us, please. That caught my attention in a mag the other week and there is zip about it anywhere, except the Fishman party line stuff. I want to know what 'vintage tone' means in this case - are they trying to sound ike an old DeArmond style pickup or do they mean something else? I am in line for a couple if they are any good.... BluesKing777. I,m with ya BK! Not sure WHAT they are comparing to! Also, they don,t sound like they are TOTALLY happy with it yet! I am not convinced! Please. You buy one and try it. I will listen to your review before theirs.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 So, We all sit like little ducks with our mouths open waiting for bscha to buy a pickup and try it, or somebody else to pop up with one.... I like the idea of battery free and adjustable pole pieces. I have a Blues King and a J45 both with the dreaded 'battery bag' waiting to 'just loosen a couple of strings to reach inside the guitar and change the battery' at the most inconvenient moment. I have a few diferent mental pictures of that based on previous experiences! The adjustable pole pieces would be good on a guitar I have that has quite high strings. I would get the Baggs m1 passive, except I don't like the colour! A black Fishman, even a neo-whatsit disappear a bit better. BluesKing777. P.S. The first pickup manufacturer that comes up with a wireless soundhole pickup arrangement is going to be a billionaire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Sounds like maybe a just a quieter version of the old DeArmond 210. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gio Posted July 21, 2011 Share Posted July 21, 2011 I always thought the Baggs M1 looked great on sunburst guitars: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bscha Posted September 10, 2011 Author Share Posted September 10, 2011 Ok, the suspense was killing me. After a total lack of information and reviews on line I finally broke down and bought the new Fishman blackstack pickup. The unit came in a metal box with a deck of cards and some blackstack poker chips, weird but ok. The pickup was much lighter than I thought it would be. Weight is somewhere between a sunrise and the rare earth, closer to the sunrise. It has a detachable cord, mini xlr to a 1/4 inch socket. Pickup was installed in my j45tv. I was pleased that the pickup can be installed without having to loosen the strings. Played it through my loud box performer and a full pa setup. Being passive, the pickup sounds much fuller and richer when used in conjunction with a di or preamp. I found that the sound of the blackstack straight into the pa was not as full as I like. I went with my trusty lr bags para di. Once connected and turned up,I was impressed that the pickup had zero hum or hiss at any volume, it is dead quite while not playing. I am really impressed with the sound of this pickup. It has a very strong and well balanced voice and actually sounds very natural for a magnetic pickup. I had concerns about the information on the Fishman website that talked about vintage voicing. I assumed that it would sound very electric, but to my ears it sounds very natural, with minimal eq from the preamp. I did try to run the unit through my bassman reissue, but I really did not like the sound from the electric amp at all. All in all I am very impressed and I am keeping the blackstack and plan to use it as my main pickup. I really prefer the strong voice compared to my rare earth and m1. I think the pickup, while not perfect, is an excellent compromise. Not harsh sounding like an under saddle unit and no feed back concerns at any volume, which I struggled with soundboard units. I highly recommend some sort of a preamp when using this pickup in order to bring out the best sound. Very similar to a sunrise, but has it's own voice. In my opinion it's a winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted September 10, 2011 Share Posted September 10, 2011 Thanks BSCHA - nice report. Someone had to break the ice and buy the thing! It has been a long wait....3 months or so. I am afraid I couldn't wait for you to try the pickup, and went for passive undersaddle Fishman pickups (no batteries!) for a couple of my Gibsons because I use the Fishman Spectrum Aura DI and they recommend u/s. I also had a undersaddle Fishman pickup put in my metal Dobro. I had one put in about 10 years ago but it has been rattling and pinging for a while, so I thought I would replace it and try it through the Spectrum. Well, all guitars now sound fabulous through the Spectrum (and through a Genz Benz stereo acoustic amp). The Dobro was difficult to mike on stage - above and beyond the average sound tech's ability - so really good to have my own controls and eq's etc. Next I intend to change the Baggs pickup from my Blues King to a passive Fishman pickup.... BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Updated Post: Acoustic Guitar mag latest issue reviews the Blackstack pickup. I don't need a pickup but being a sucker for tins I would almost buy it for the Blackjack marketing tin! Any update from BSCHA? Here is a link to the review and video: http://www.acousticguitar.com/article/default.aspx?articleid=26943 BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 It looks and sounds basically exactly like the Baggs M1(a). .... unfortunatley. Based on the demo I have to say I really dont care for the tone coming out it, it sooooh magnetic that it almost sounds like hallow body electric being played. No wonder the reviewer then tried an electric piece through the acoustic to see where it can fit it. Anyway, not for me thank you. If you want a good soundhole pickup however I really, really like the Fishman rare earth blend. I bought it used from a member on the AGF and have to say the blending capability of mixing mike and humbucker pickup works a treat. Very natural tone, and you can blend more mike for fingerstyle or if you want a grittier blues tone change for more humbucker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RASHARU Posted October 11, 2011 Share Posted October 11, 2011 Looks interesting. Let us know how it works out for you. Also, has anyone tried the Shadow Nanomag acoustic pickup yet? I've really been wanting to try one of these but no one even stocks them to sell! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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