Cool video! Moderns are not for everyone but we have a variety of different flavors right now. Tosin's are great but you might want to try the Keith Merrow or Javier Reyes pickups too!
Great exploration video. I wish there were more people who treated tone analysis like this because it is subjective but there also tons of objective factors that play into what the guitar sounds like which gets over simplified way too often
For the first 2 years i had FIshmans in one of my 7's i liked them but they didnt blow me away. Then i realized i needed to dial in too much gain at the amp but then dial back the volume on the guitar to get to just the right amount of gain. I also made every single option switchable so its incredibly versatile. Ever since i started dialing in the fishmans right they have completely blown every other Seymour Duncan in my other guitars away.
@@PariahVSGear Excellent, good luck brother! What helped me was realizing that Active pickups arent "really" high output. They are low output with a preamp as you likely already know. So dialing in more gain rather then less then dialing back the volume on the guitar will get you right where you want to be. No more excess compression cause your not boosting or cutting the output but leveling it out to around 0.
I have Tosin Abasi Fluence 7 string set in my RG7421PB and love them because they have a lot of range in tone, but just sound "nicer". Distorted and clean, the crystal cleans are amazing, and well, I don't like Moderns and did compare them in the store and what a difference. They a tad pricey but as they say, you pay for what you get, and I am very happy with them. I am checking out the KM set or KE set, for other tone options.
I kept expecting the modern fluence to really wow me but they always sounded a little muddy. Tosins I REALLY wanted to love but felt like they just weren’t 100% for me I’m starting to really enjoy will adlers set. Which really surprised me. May have to let that sit in my head for a bit before I get a pair
To my xpierence with many pickup brands the fishmans are usually very strongly voiced meaning wood wont make as much of an impact than with passive pickups thats why mahogany or black korina wont make a diffrence when using fishmans wich is one of the things i like about them since u can make a cheap guitar sound premium that way
Pickups are a journey. My favorite sounding pickup of all time is the SD Screamin Demon, but it doesn’t push. So I moved to the JB- which is similar, but with more output. Then I freaked out one day and decided to try something new, which resulted in years of changing pickups in 10-15 guitars. A decade later- all JBs again.
The Screamin' Demon is definitely lower output. ESP and Duncan have noted that Lynch likes his pickups to be super clean. So that's the reasoning for the lower output on those.
@@systematic11 Absolutely, but the tone of that pickup is incredible- it just doesn’t push. I used to run it through an onboard 20db preamp. The JB’s tone is close though
After years of trying different pickups, I've come to the conclusion that the best sounding pickup I've ever heard, for me, is an old DiMarzio PAF Pro, lol.
Hey. First of all thank you very much for your content to provide some help for all tone enthusiasts. I have a question about the fluences. I currently have an 8 string guitar woth emg 808x pickups in it and i wanna swap them to either alpha/omega pegasus/sentinent , fluence abasi or fluence reyes set. I guess you test your fluences in different guitars. Do the fishmans Sound equal on every guitar or do they sound different depending on wood build etc.? I have a custom 8 and think its counterintuitive to Put Pickups on which sound the same on all guitars. Hope you can help me.
Hey dude. I haven't tried the same fluences in the different guitars unfortunately. Unless you're a big fan of actives, I would stick to passives though. They always seem to be a bit more expressive to me
My favorite pickups in the last 5 years are the Seymour Duncan Nazgul Sentient set in my PRS and the Whole Lotta Humbucker set w/the Jimmy Page wiring mod in my Les Paul. The Page mod allows me to get some of the most brutal (and dynamic) tones I've ever heard out of my high gain amps, as well as being the most versatile guitar setup I've ever played through. Ironically, more so than even my favorite custom Tele that has SD P-Rails w/the switchable SD Triple Shot pickup rings and a Stellartone Tone Styler varitone type tone control. Pickups and speakers are actually the meat and potatoes of your overall sound; at least in my own opinion as a musician of 44 years, guitar tech of almost 33 years and certified Luthier and amp tech of 17 years personally taught by John Carruthers and Seymour Duncan.
Oddly I'd thrown a set of Abasis in one of my Strandbergs that I got with BKP Juggernauts, but threw a Lace Alumitone I had laying around in the bridge. Both the Juggernauts and the Abasis passive voicing had a very similar low end that was imo overly compressed and overbearing. I tried living with we m then for about a year. That guitar ended up getting a set of Kiesel Lithiums after the Laces went microphonic. I've liked a bunch of the other Fluence stuff: moderns, Devin Townsend, Classics, and my favorite thus far are the KSEs. I really wish the KSEs were available for 7 and 8 strings.
I have a pair of moderns in my KM6 and I enjoy the brightness they provide. I also have a pair of the KM sigs in my E-II Horizon III that sounds heavy and thick but warm and sharp when doing solos or melodies..
Great vid, would be curious to see if you swapped the pups in both guitars and still preferred the schecter even with the moderns. I may be invoking internet wrath here, but I had a limba rg752 with the same pickup set that were in my mahogany 752...it sounded much darker with a lot less snap to it (to me it sounded dead). Maybe that’s part of it as well?
Totally possible! I'm not a huge believer in the tonewood thing for electric guitars, but nonetheless, different guitars can definitely sound different for a number of reasons
Pariah VS Gear totally understandable, I only hear a difference in the more extreme end-members like mahogany and swamp ash, it was also a feeling thing...felt like the limba 752 had significantly less response to my pick attack.
Just ordered my first set of Fluences yesterday. Grabbed the Tosin set to swap out the pickups on my RG8. Seems like I made the right choice. Great video!
Hey man! I still personally recommend Blackat as being among the best for the money. Also check out Balaguer Guitars, but I haven't personally tried one.
Pariah VS Gear i just bought a $300 naxjoy out of china (its a grote clone which is a strandberg clone) it’s surprisingly good for the price. The stock pickups arent bad, but i just took it to the luthier to get strandberg style tuners installed and the tosin abasi pickups installed. Also was getting the neck reprofiled ( having a 1/16 of an inch off the whole radius). Im also getting a true temperament fretboard installed after the luthier work is done. The objective was to build a better strandberg for less than half the price and I think its there!
Hey man if you want to explore for on the passive side, check out voodoo custom pickups. The guy is awesome and the pennywise that I have in the bridge sounds really good, almost like a more affordable warpig.
got two 8 string guitars very recently within a couple weeks of each other by the same manufacturer... the fluence modern didn't feel or sound modern to me but three emg in the other are amazing bright, clear, precise, and compressed feeling. love them probably going to pull the moderns out LoL
Hey Pariah do you prefer the Tosin Abasi 8 string pickups over the 57/66 EMG’s for 8 string? I have the Schecter C-8 hellraiser and am thinking about swapping out the pickups, would appreciate your input.
Hey dude. In my opinion, YES. The 57/66 did nothing for me, and the abasis are probably my favorite active pick-ups, though I still prefer passives when possible
I use Modern hub and recently done a recording with them. Best pickups I've ever played (I have experience with Dimarzio, EMG and Duncan) and I've recorded at least 8 albums in total). The clarity is huge, the low is tight, mids are crunchy and high's are rich. They are also very very dynamic and the fact that you have 2 voices and coil split gives you numerous tone styles. It is expected that not everyone will be satisfied. But it's totally different compared with someone saying that Fishman sucks.
For sure man. Thus I posed it as a question and showed my own findings. I like the Tosins a heck of a lot, especially in comparison to the moderns. It's fine for people to disagree with how I feel about it haha.
Off topic, although I am not usually a fan of red guitars, your Blackat is simply stunning. Also I love the Fluence Moderns in my Strandberg, but they do lack a certain something for me that passive pickups usually have. I don't plan to change them though since to me that's how my guitar is supposed to sound, if that makes sense.
glad I happened upon this video. after reading all the glorious reviews online about the Moderns I was starting to think I was the only person on earth that thought they sucked. Changing mine out for some emg's soon.
I felt in love with my moderns, but there is something very interresting with pickups from Bareknuckle, and im wondering if Tosin set is what im seeking... Any advice ??
Did you listen to the video that Tosin himself did where he compared his pickups to a bunch of other ones? That's a great place to start. BKP is my favorite, but I very much like the Tosins as well.
@@PariahVSGear Yeah I did, but it's quite hard to build a good vision of how the pickups sound compared to the moderns, and how they sound overall because Tosin's particular tone, even if the video is really great There is a video from Abel Hernandez that is really interesting, but it's not a comparison RUclips surprisingly lack of comparison video between those 2 pickups
Which two in particular? Be aware that they are in different guitars of course, but I can compare my Tosin loaded guitar with any ofy BKP guitars for ya.
I do notice what at least sounds like a difference in output, but it really may just be an EQ curve. It's noticeable, but I pretty much tend to enjoy the Tosins in Active mode mostly, for heavy stuff anyway.
@@PariahVSGear I'm stuck. Idk what to pick. Juggernauts, aftermaths, cold sweat, tosin fishmans or modern fishmans. All for 8 strings. For 9 string idk how much more it'll cost for custom of the bareknuckles but thinking the same pickups. Fishman finally showed some 9 string moderns. Starting with Lucas from rings of saturn. Josh travis was naughty and showed some on his 9 string. Steph will have his own 9 string fishmans.
I have fishman moderns. In my schecter sls elite 6 and 7 string and I love them. They achieve so many different tones. I do want to put an abasi set in my 7 string. Just because I want something a little different and I feel like they will be a better match for my 7 string. But I'll definitely be sticking with fishman fluence. Also wish I could get a Keith merrow set.
Saw a paul gilbert lesson 20 years ago, its about turning down your volume knob on your guitar to 0 whenever you're not playing. He calls it a "pro" trick or advice or something *wink²*. Its a habit now for me, especially if you're playing high gain (im a lead player)
The other guitar player in my band usually leaves his volume up when he's not playing and whenever I hear the strings jostle I always have to yell at him "VOLUME KNOBS ARE THINGS DUDE".
I vastly prefer the Tosins vs the Moderns. The moderns have a quacky and overly middy eq that sounds liked a cocked wah on most amps. The moderns are all mids and high mids. The Tosins however have a more reasonable eq. It has much more bass and low mids and a bit relaxed in the middle while also retaining the cut of the moderns. Your headless doesn't sound dark. It sounded nasal. The Tosin pups have a nicer and more even eq. I like the moderns when im using a dark or really bassy amps like a recto or a herbert/dmoll. On an amp like a fortin meshuggah, it would sound very nasal.
I do think that we perceive sound differently..but we all DEFINITELY describe it differently haha. I see your point, but for me, I think it's mostly just a lack of clarity that I'm experiencing in the Blackat. Seems to be present in the Tosin loaded guitar
Moderns are one of top sellers and if you are looking for active sounding pickups, they are great. We have so many different pickups so if "Active" isn't you thing, then try some of our passive sounding pickups. Tosin's are great as well too!
@@Fishman_Music I'd definitely like to try Javier's in the Blackat if it's an option. Considering the angle and soapbar routes, I'm not sure if it's possible though. Any words of wisdom? Also, if I'm talking to Ken here, just wanna say, big fan, big fan. 😂
Man I’ve had so many sets of Fishman Fluence pickups and haven’t jived with any of them. Granted, it’s been a few years and my ears change over time, so maybe I’ll like them later?
Hey! Mostly following the right people, and spending too much time on reverb lol. I'm about 50/50 between just having people sell guitars, and in having them custom made.
Crazy. The moderns are the best sounding pickups by far for me. I tried BK Juggs and wanted to like them because they were expensive, but they were terrible compared to the Fishmans.
To me the fishman fluence sounds like it’s played from a distance ad almost like a blanket is covering the sound. I have always thought dishman fluence aren’t for me either, as I find them to be very uninspiring, forgetful, and measured with a precision that makes it almost robotic sounding like I can’t feel the riffs as much when I’m playing with the fluence. I really like Duncan invaders more. They and d activators are really sick, but even listening to Trivium albums and bands that are using these fluence pickups, I tend to get bored with the sound of the guitar despite the incredible riffs and solos. The pickups suck the life and soul from the sound to my ears. I don’t know why these are so popular and I thought I was being paranoid, but I went to guitar store yesterday, tried fishman fluence again, and sure enough, the same vanilla, dull and lifeless pickups reminded me that I don’t like them in the least bit. For me, when I play with Duncan invaders, the tone inspires me and makes me play guitar a lot more often with happiness and excitement.
0:58 Pickups don't matter that mutch if you are playing on 6-7 string guitar, until they are really bad. Pickups matter a lot in 8,9 and 10 strings guitars because they can be really mudy and make chords on thick strings sound really bad. Shaping sound on amps and effect can bring back to life in some way bad pickups, but they also reduces amount of possibilities of creating different sound, you are just limited by bad pickups.
My Favorite pickups are still the Cazares Blackouts for 7/8 string and actually the Mustaine Live Wires for 6 string (they handle my drop A/G tuning stunningly well). Ive some tried of the Fluence pups and they just dont do it for me. I think its great we have so many options though!
That looks like a Armored Sabot. I own one. Lol. But on to the fishmans. I have a set of Moderns that are in Ltd ec 1000 Deluxe Mahogany neck through body which sound killer in that guitar. Tried Moderns in my Ibanez Walnut neck through body, the Moderns did not do it for me. Put a set of Abasis in my Ibanez sound awesome.
Dude, either your video is mirrored and all the labels on your stuff are the wrong way around oooor...you're just holding the guitar wrong in some way shape or form... :P
Yeah, new internet trend is to say Fluence suck unfortunately. I tried SD Blackouts 7, SD Retribution 7, EMG 707, EMG 81-7 and then the Tosin 7 strings (all in the same exact guitar). The Tosin pups are probably my favorite. Never tried the regular Modern Fluences though. Maybe they do suck? *shrug*
Yeah, it's a lot of factors to consider. I can imagine them being perfect for someone, in some guitar. Just not doing it for me in a guitar that I really want to love haha
They are our top seller and if you are looking for active sounding pickups, they are great. We have so many different pickups so if "Active" isn't you thing, then try some of our passive sounding pickups.
Is it possible you're just not vibing with the sound of that guitar? All guitars have their own natural resonance that will always sorta be there regardless of what pickups are in it. I had a 7 string Schecter that came stock with Nazgul / Sentients and I HATED the tone, so I swapped the pickups SO. MANY. TIMES. I tried a Crunch Lab, Illuminator, Pegasus, SH-5, Mick Thompson pickups. It really taught me that pickups do matter but at the end of the day if you do not at least sort of like the tone of a particular guitar, the problem could be the guitar itself. You should experiment and swap the Tosin with the Modern just to see if it's any better, if the tone isn't there its the guitar itself
I bought a strandberg boden prog 7 and I'm returning it because I'm so disappointed with the sound of the moderns. I hyped myself up because I've seen how good and clear they sound compared to normal pickups (active and passive) and I've finally gotten money together to buy my first high end guitar. But the sound I'm getting from them is very muddy and bass heavy even using the bridge pickup, and my old, second hand petrucci music man 7 sounds miles better which is seriously disappointing considering I spent 3.5k cad on it 😔 I was hoping I just got a dud with issues in the wiring or that the battery was low, but I don't think so. Maybe it's just because I've been really lucky with the passive pickups I had on my first 7 string but I've kinda lost faith in fishman now, turns out I might not be someone who can benefit from their revolutionary new invention. I was really looking forward to owning a pair
Sorry to hear that man. Yeah.. moderns definitely seem to be for a certain sound. I hope that switching to Tosins does work for me. Maybe it's work for you too
Wood has very little effect on the tone. From my experience A/B ing different woods in identical guitars otherwise it's not noticeable unless you're playing cleans or using piezoelectric pickups. It's like 45% amp, 45% pickups and 10% everything else(wiring, pots, capacitors, wood). If you want to darken a tone on humbuckers, changing out the capaciors for higher resistance orange drops does a lot. For fishmans, they are too bright and compressed. Makes them great for low tunings and like nails on glass for standard or higher...
I've never played fluences, but alot of people love them which is cool. Personally, from all the videos and soundclips i've heard they just sound like worse EMG's. I have no need for 2 voicings either - Metal is the only genre i would want to play with actives.
So after watching a few of this guys vids I'm confused on how he even attempts to "read" the response and tonality. Every single video his go to his go to sound is so muddy incoherent and lacks any clarity. Using preamp pedals and distortion pedals into IRs could be why. I'm curious as to how things would sound directly through that $3k amp in the background into a cab or running the pedals through the effects return then into a cab. I think the best way to explain the sound besides muddy overprocessed and sludgy is just over processed. I think with all the options available today people are jumping on the fanboy wagon spending alot of money on products with today's big guitarist or whatever bloggers praise makes it look good. The bottom line is tone is subjective and things sound different under different circumstances but maybe start out getting a good base sound and then achieve saturation or whatever your looking for. I dont know what the answer is but for a third the cost of some of that gear a better sound could've been had with passive pickups a decent head and a solid cab......for the money I'll stick with a horizon 3 with duncan JB and jazz pups a 5150 and a 2x12 with v30's even without processing I get less "noise"
You mean me? I'm a little confused by this feedback haha. This is USING the meshuggah here. I agree that tone is subjective, that's why I'm here trying to give folks examples of options and such. That said, it's a couple of Preamps that DO sound perfectly great direct to interface, to me anyway.
Have a Jackson with Fishman open cores, and I'm Def not jiving with them.... Extremely sterile and lifeless...... Can't even get inspired when playing that guitar.
I liked your comparison (and your note in regards to moderns sounding kinda cooler after all) but please stop spreading more tone-wood bullshit. You are going for the wood instead of bridge and nut which are the actual timber affecting elements here. Cheers and keep the good work!
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Cool video! Moderns are not for everyone but we have a variety of different flavors right now. Tosin's are great but you might want to try the Keith Merrow or Javier Reyes pickups too!
Keith merrow series is something I want to try put, I can imagine them being great as well!
This is the best response to criticism from a brand that I've seen in a hot minute. Kudos to y'all.
we want keith merrow square(soapbar) pickups
@Fishman Transducers HEY WE ALSO NEED SIGNATURE 8 AND 9 STRING JOSH TRAVIS PICKUPS!
@@AaronMorgan666 Maybe soon :)
Great exploration video. I wish there were more people who treated tone analysis like this because it is subjective but there also tons of objective factors that play into what the guitar sounds like which gets over simplified way too often
Subscribed! Tobin in a Schecter. This is exactly what I was looking for thanks. Can't wait to put them in my Omen.
Yeah man. Still have them in there, and really like em!
For the first 2 years i had FIshmans in one of my 7's i liked them but they didnt blow me away. Then i realized i needed to dial in too much gain at the amp but then dial back the volume on the guitar to get to just the right amount of gain. I also made every single option switchable so its incredibly versatile. Ever since i started dialing in the fishmans right they have completely blown every other Seymour Duncan in my other guitars away.
I'll play around with that!
@@PariahVSGear Excellent, good luck brother! What helped me was realizing that Active pickups arent "really" high output. They are low output with a preamp as you likely already know. So dialing in more gain rather then less then dialing back the volume on the guitar will get you right where you want to be. No more excess compression cause your not boosting or cutting the output but leveling it out to around 0.
Interesting and I'm going to try this when I get home. Have you found that this improves the clean tones as well?
Great video, and helpful as I consider purchasing a new guitar with the F Modern pickups stock. Keep rocking!
I have Tosin Abasi Fluence 7 string set in my RG7421PB and love them because they have a lot of range in tone, but just sound "nicer". Distorted and clean, the crystal cleans are amazing, and well, I don't like Moderns and did compare them in the store and what a difference. They a tad pricey but as they say, you pay for what you get, and I am very happy with them. I am checking out the KM set or KE set, for other tone options.
I kept expecting the modern fluence to really wow me but they always sounded a little muddy.
Tosins I REALLY wanted to love but felt like they just weren’t 100% for me
I’m starting to really enjoy will adlers set. Which really surprised me.
May have to let that sit in my head for a bit before I get a pair
To my xpierence with many pickup brands the fishmans are usually very strongly voiced meaning wood wont make as much of an impact than with passive pickups thats why mahogany or black korina wont make a diffrence when using fishmans wich is one of the things i like about them since u can make a cheap guitar sound premium that way
Pickups are a journey. My favorite sounding pickup of all time is the SD Screamin Demon, but it doesn’t push. So I moved to the JB- which is similar, but with more output. Then I freaked out one day and decided to try something new, which resulted in years of changing pickups in 10-15 guitars. A decade later- all JBs again.
The Screamin' Demon is definitely lower output. ESP and Duncan have noted that Lynch likes his pickups to be super clean. So that's the reasoning for the lower output on those.
@@systematic11 Absolutely, but the tone of that pickup is incredible- it just doesn’t push. I used to run it through an onboard 20db preamp. The JB’s tone is close though
same here. jb's for me to. always end up with a jb. it really depends what you like. not a bad thing to try things out.
After years of trying different pickups, I've come to the conclusion that the best sounding pickup I've ever heard, for me, is an old DiMarzio PAF Pro, lol.
Hey. First of all thank you very much for your content to provide some help for all tone enthusiasts. I have a question about the fluences. I currently have an 8 string guitar woth emg 808x pickups in it and i wanna swap them to either alpha/omega pegasus/sentinent , fluence abasi or fluence reyes set. I guess you test your fluences in different guitars. Do the fishmans Sound equal on every guitar or do they sound different depending on wood build etc.? I have a custom 8 and think its counterintuitive to Put Pickups on which sound the same on all guitars. Hope you can help me.
Hey dude. I haven't tried the same fluences in the different guitars unfortunately.
Unless you're a big fan of actives, I would stick to passives though. They always seem to be a bit more expressive to me
Gave you a subscribe because you helped me narrow down my pick up search. And your playing is killer.
Hey I appreciate that dude!
And thanks for that! Let me know if there's anything you'd like to see!
@@PariahVSGear if you get a chance, I'd love to hear the voicing on some bare knuckle nailbombs for seven string.
I'm sure I'll get around to nailbombs. My favorite player (John Browne of monuments) has been using them for a while.
My favorite pickups in the last 5 years are the Seymour Duncan Nazgul Sentient set in my PRS and the Whole Lotta Humbucker set w/the Jimmy Page wiring mod in my Les Paul. The Page mod allows me to get some of the most brutal (and dynamic) tones I've ever heard out of my high gain amps, as well as being the most versatile guitar setup I've ever played through. Ironically, more so than even my favorite custom Tele that has SD P-Rails w/the switchable SD Triple Shot pickup rings and a Stellartone Tone Styler varitone type tone control. Pickups and speakers are actually the meat and potatoes of your overall sound; at least in my own opinion as a musician of 44 years, guitar tech of almost 33 years and certified Luthier and amp tech of 17 years personally taught by John Carruthers and Seymour Duncan.
Oddly I'd thrown a set of Abasis in one of my Strandbergs that I got with BKP Juggernauts, but threw a Lace Alumitone I had laying around in the bridge. Both the Juggernauts and the Abasis passive voicing had a very similar low end that was imo overly compressed and overbearing. I tried living with we m then for about a year. That guitar ended up getting a set of Kiesel Lithiums after the Laces went microphonic.
I've liked a bunch of the other Fluence stuff: moderns, Devin Townsend, Classics, and my favorite thus far are the KSEs. I really wish the KSEs were available for 7 and 8 strings.
I have a pair of moderns in my KM6 and I enjoy the brightness they provide. I also have a pair of the KM sigs in my E-II Horizon III that sounds heavy and thick but warm and sharp when doing solos or melodies..
Great vid, would be curious to see if you swapped the pups in both guitars and still preferred the schecter even with the moderns. I may be invoking internet wrath here, but I had a limba rg752 with the same pickup set that were in my mahogany 752...it sounded much darker with a lot less snap to it (to me it sounded dead). Maybe that’s part of it as well?
Totally possible! I'm not a huge believer in the tonewood thing for electric guitars, but nonetheless, different guitars can definitely sound different for a number of reasons
Pariah VS Gear totally understandable, I only hear a difference in the more extreme end-members like mahogany and swamp ash, it was also a feeling thing...felt like the limba 752 had significantly less response to my pick attack.
The passive in tosins seems super nice, love the growl/“barf” of them xd
Just ordered my first set of Fluences yesterday. Grabbed the Tosin set to swap out the pickups on my RG8. Seems like I made the right choice. Great video!
Still loving my tosins to this day!
@@PariahVSGear I'm glad! I should have my pair on Thursday. Can't wait!
IM ALSO A HEADLESS LEFTY PLAYER! Please tell me what brands make good lefties. Ive been restricted to buying Chinese guitars due to availability
Hey man! I still personally recommend Blackat as being among the best for the money.
Also check out Balaguer Guitars, but I haven't personally tried one.
Pariah VS Gear i just bought a $300 naxjoy out of china (its a grote clone which is a strandberg clone) it’s surprisingly good for the price. The stock pickups arent bad, but i just took it to the luthier to get strandberg style tuners installed and the tosin abasi pickups installed. Also was getting the neck reprofiled ( having a 1/16 of an inch off the whole radius). Im also getting a true temperament fretboard installed after the luthier work is done. The objective was to build a better strandberg for less than half the price and I think its there!
I have an ibanez with Fishman Moderns and I love the tone but I feel like they're not very harmonic. Have you experienced this?
harmonic how?
I have them in my 7 string kiesel. Great pickups
Lol. Just got some BKPs actually.
Hey man if you want to explore for on the passive side, check out voodoo custom pickups. The guy is awesome and the pennywise that I have in the bridge sounds really good, almost like a more affordable warpig.
got two 8 string guitars very recently within a couple weeks of each other by the same manufacturer... the fluence modern didn't feel or sound modern to me but three emg in the other are amazing bright, clear, precise, and compressed feeling. love them probably going to pull the moderns out LoL
I have Fishman Fluence Modern pickups in my Jackson and they sound amazing.
Yeah, it's mostly a taste thing. Think the Moderns seem to be a hit with the EMG crowd
@@PariahVSGear I feel that. I
Hey Pariah do you prefer the Tosin Abasi 8 string pickups over the 57/66 EMG’s for 8 string? I have the Schecter C-8 hellraiser and am thinking about swapping out the pickups, would appreciate your input.
Hey dude. In my opinion, YES. The 57/66 did nothing for me, and the abasis are probably my favorite active pick-ups, though I still prefer passives when possible
@@PariahVSGear hell ya! I made the right decision then, they are being installed in my guitar as we speak. Thanks 🤟🏻😁🙏🏻
I use Modern hub and recently done a recording with them. Best pickups I've ever played (I have experience with Dimarzio, EMG and Duncan) and I've recorded at least 8 albums in total). The clarity is huge, the low is tight, mids are crunchy and high's are rich. They are also very very dynamic and the fact that you have 2 voices and coil split gives you numerous tone styles. It is expected that not everyone will be satisfied. But it's totally different compared with someone saying that Fishman sucks.
For sure man. Thus I posed it as a question and showed my own findings. I like the Tosins a heck of a lot, especially in comparison to the moderns. It's fine for people to disagree with how I feel about it haha.
Off topic, although I am not usually a fan of red guitars, your Blackat is simply stunning. Also I love the Fluence Moderns in my Strandberg, but they do lack a certain something for me that passive pickups usually have. I don't plan to change them though since to me that's how my guitar is supposed to sound, if that makes sense.
Try voice 2, that's a passive sound. If not, check out the Open Core, Keith Merrow, or Javier Reyes. Might be more up your alley.
glad I happened upon this video. after reading all the glorious reviews online about the Moderns I was starting to think I was the only person on earth that thought they sucked. Changing mine out for some emg's soon.
It's kinda weird man. I'm liking them a lot more in the guitar I just got haha
That was helpful, tnx!
love all these guitars
I felt in love with my moderns, but there is something very interresting with pickups from Bareknuckle, and im wondering if Tosin set is what im seeking... Any advice ??
Did you listen to the video that Tosin himself did where he compared his pickups to a bunch of other ones? That's a great place to start.
BKP is my favorite, but I very much like the Tosins as well.
@@PariahVSGear Yeah I did, but it's quite hard to build a good vision of how the pickups sound compared to the moderns, and how they sound overall because Tosin's particular tone, even if the video is really great
There is a video from Abel Hernandez that is really interesting, but it's not a comparison
RUclips surprisingly lack of comparison video between those 2 pickups
Which two in particular? Be aware that they are in different guitars of course, but I can compare my Tosin loaded guitar with any ofy BKP guitars for ya.
@@PariahVSGear Between Moderns and Tosin's set, but if you have a set of BKP Juggernauts, it would be very cool if you can record a comparison test !
How would you say the passive vs active voices sound? Are they their own sound or is it like 81 for the active voice and 81x for the passive voice?
I do notice what at least sounds like a difference in output, but it really may just be an EQ curve. It's noticeable, but I pretty much tend to enjoy the Tosins in Active mode mostly, for heavy stuff anyway.
@@PariahVSGear I'm stuck. Idk what to pick. Juggernauts, aftermaths, cold sweat, tosin fishmans or modern fishmans. All for 8 strings. For 9 string idk how much more it'll cost for custom of the bareknuckles but thinking the same pickups. Fishman finally showed some 9 string moderns. Starting with Lucas from rings of saturn. Josh travis was naughty and showed some on his 9 string. Steph will have his own 9 string fishmans.
Please release whatever’s at 4:00 as a full song if you haven’t yet.
That's an EP riff haha.... keep an eye out for that soon if you like 🙂
do you have right handed fishman pick ups in a left handed guitar? does that matter?>
Doesn't matter, magnetic field is t he same across whole pickup.
I have the moderns in my 6 string, I love them!
Thanks!
I have fishman moderns. In my schecter sls elite 6 and 7 string and I love them. They achieve so many different tones. I do want to put an abasi set in my 7 string. Just because I want something a little different and I feel like they will be a better match for my 7 string. But I'll definitely be sticking with fishman fluence. Also wish I could get a Keith merrow set.
Saw a paul gilbert lesson 20 years ago, its about turning down your volume knob on your guitar to 0 whenever you're not playing. He calls it a "pro" trick or advice or something *wink²*. Its a habit now for me, especially if you're playing high gain (im a lead player)
The other guitar player in my band usually leaves his volume up when he's not playing and whenever I hear the strings jostle I always have to yell at him "VOLUME KNOBS ARE THINGS DUDE".
@@CamCochlanPresents yea lol. imo its a good habit to have.
Maybe check out the devin townsend sets. Ive heard good things.
Brian Daggar really enjoying mine!
I vastly prefer the Tosins vs the Moderns. The moderns have a quacky and overly middy eq that sounds liked a cocked wah on most amps. The moderns are all mids and high mids.
The Tosins however have a more reasonable eq. It has much more bass and low mids and a bit relaxed in the middle while also retaining the cut of the moderns.
Your headless doesn't sound dark. It sounded nasal. The Tosin pups have a nicer and more even eq.
I like the moderns when im using a dark or really bassy amps like a recto or a herbert/dmoll. On an amp like a fortin meshuggah, it would sound very nasal.
I do think that we perceive sound differently..but we all DEFINITELY describe it differently haha.
I see your point, but for me, I think it's mostly just a lack of clarity that I'm experiencing in the Blackat. Seems to be present in the Tosin loaded guitar
Moderns are one of top sellers and if you are looking for active sounding pickups, they are great. We have so many different pickups so if "Active" isn't you thing, then try some of our passive sounding pickups. Tosin's are great as well too!
@@Fishman_Music I'd definitely like to try Javier's in the Blackat if it's an option. Considering the angle and soapbar routes, I'm not sure if it's possible though. Any words of wisdom?
Also, if I'm talking to Ken here, just wanna say, big fan, big fan. 😂
Another Warpig fan! Yeah, man when they're in the right guitar...they just absolutely destroy.
Man I’ve had so many sets of Fishman Fluence pickups and haven’t jived with any of them. Granted, it’s been a few years and my ears change over time, so maybe I’ll like them later?
As a lefty how do you find such dope guitars?
Hey! Mostly following the right people, and spending too much time on reverb lol.
I'm about 50/50 between just having people sell guitars, and in having them custom made.
Would love to see tosins in the blakat
You will!
But I'm definitely most excited for my 7 string blackat to get here later this year. Going with BKP in that one haha
Its all about your style and adaptation. The fishman moderns are a beast to tame and expose alot of flaws and you gotta play up your game
I'm just about to switch to Seymore active mount Nazgul because I'm sick of my Fluences
Tossin active was the best. Almost no mud. Weirdly there was even high end mud on the highs.
The 6 string moderns are beastly
I could actually see them being preferable in a 6 string format
Crazy. The moderns are the best sounding pickups by far for me. I tried BK Juggs and wanted to like them because they were expensive, but they were terrible compared to the Fishmans.
I have the Open Core Classics by far the best tone I have ever had in my career., nothing comes close.
you play really good bro
Hey thanks bud!
@@PariahVSGear absolutely
To me the fishman fluence sounds like it’s played from a distance ad almost like a blanket is covering the sound. I have always thought dishman fluence aren’t for me either, as I find them to be very uninspiring, forgetful, and measured with a precision that makes it almost robotic sounding like I can’t feel the riffs as much when I’m playing with the fluence. I really like Duncan invaders more. They and d activators are really sick, but even listening to Trivium albums and bands that are using these fluence pickups, I tend to get bored with the sound of the guitar despite the incredible riffs and solos. The pickups suck the life and soul from the sound to my ears. I don’t know why these are so popular and I thought I was being paranoid, but I went to guitar store yesterday, tried fishman fluence again, and sure enough, the same vanilla, dull and lifeless pickups reminded me that I don’t like them in the least bit. For me, when I play with Duncan invaders, the tone inspires me and makes me play guitar a lot more often with happiness and excitement.
I just ordered the will Adler set.
0:58 Pickups don't matter that mutch if you are playing on 6-7 string guitar, until they are really bad.
Pickups matter a lot in 8,9 and 10 strings guitars because they can be really mudy and make chords on thick strings sound really bad.
Shaping sound on amps and effect can bring back to life in some way bad pickups, but they also reduces amount of possibilities of creating different sound, you are just limited by bad pickups.
I love em. Different strokes ya know
Absolutely!
@@PariahVSGear They also sound fantastic in a bass. If you haven't checked out the Schecter SLS 5 you may enjoy them in that application.
My Favorite pickups are still the Cazares Blackouts for 7/8 string and actually the Mustaine Live Wires for 6 string (they handle my drop A/G tuning stunningly well).
Ive some tried of the Fluence pups and they just dont do it for me. I think its great we have so many options though!
I agree with you , Warpigs are my favorite pickups hands down.
Yeah, based on their description, I really thought I wouldn't dig them. I was wrong!
@@PariahVSGear have you heard the ragnaroks.
Not yet, but they will be in my next guitar!
That looks like a Armored Sabot. I own one. Lol. But on to the fishmans. I have a set of Moderns that are in Ltd ec 1000 Deluxe Mahogany neck through body which sound killer in that guitar. Tried Moderns in my Ibanez Walnut neck through body, the Moderns did not do it for me. Put a set of Abasis in my Ibanez sound awesome.
Hmmmm. I like the moderns a lot more over the tosin ones.
Dude, either your video is mirrored and all the labels on your stuff are the wrong way around oooor...you're just holding the guitar wrong in some way shape or form... :P
loooool
For me any kind PU for metal that is active PU is good ' active PU all the way
Yeah, new internet trend is to say Fluence suck unfortunately. I tried SD Blackouts 7, SD Retribution 7, EMG 707, EMG 81-7 and then the Tosin 7 strings (all in the same exact guitar). The Tosin pups are probably my favorite.
Never tried the regular Modern Fluences though. Maybe they do suck? *shrug*
Yeah, it's a lot of factors to consider. I can imagine them being perfect for someone, in some guitar. Just not doing it for me in a guitar that I really want to love haha
They are our top seller and if you are looking for active sounding pickups, they are great. We have so many different pickups so if "Active" isn't you thing, then try some of our passive sounding pickups.
believes in tonewood, immediately disqualifies his opinion
Wow. A lot of black men are left-handed guitarists. I'm also a black left-handed guitarist! aha
jimmy hendrix too :o
Try a 24 volt mod on actives the extra headroom improves them all 10 fold
The 24V trick only works on pickups that need headroom help. Fluence's sound is maximized at 9V
Is it possible you're just not vibing with the sound of that guitar? All guitars have their own natural resonance that will always sorta be there regardless of what pickups are in it. I had a 7 string Schecter that came stock with Nazgul / Sentients and I HATED the tone, so I swapped the pickups SO. MANY. TIMES. I tried a Crunch Lab, Illuminator, Pegasus, SH-5, Mick Thompson pickups. It really taught me that pickups do matter but at the end of the day if you do not at least sort of like the tone of a particular guitar, the problem could be the guitar itself. You should experiment and swap the Tosin with the Modern just to see if it's any better, if the tone isn't there its the guitar itself
Always possible! I've since changed pickups in it, and it has made a great difference though.
I love your content but I think you should change your camera angle bro, this feels very awkward to me.....
Eh. As I said, new place soon. Sounds like I'll be able to have a whole room dedicated to this, so yeah, lighting and angles will be better.
I bought a strandberg boden prog 7 and I'm returning it because I'm so disappointed with the sound of the moderns. I hyped myself up because I've seen how good and clear they sound compared to normal pickups (active and passive) and I've finally gotten money together to buy my first high end guitar. But the sound I'm getting from them is very muddy and bass heavy even using the bridge pickup, and my old, second hand petrucci music man 7 sounds miles better which is seriously disappointing considering I spent 3.5k cad on it 😔 I was hoping I just got a dud with issues in the wiring or that the battery was low, but I don't think so. Maybe it's just because I've been really lucky with the passive pickups I had on my first 7 string but I've kinda lost faith in fishman now, turns out I might not be someone who can benefit from their revolutionary new invention. I was really looking forward to owning a pair
Sorry to hear that man. Yeah.. moderns definitely seem to be for a certain sound. I hope that switching to Tosins does work for me. Maybe it's work for you too
I hope so too man! Subscribed to find out, and see if you like them once you get a pair in there
Wood has very little effect on the tone. From my experience A/B ing different woods in identical guitars otherwise it's not noticeable unless you're playing cleans or using piezoelectric pickups. It's like 45% amp, 45% pickups and 10% everything else(wiring, pots,
capacitors, wood). If you want to darken a tone on humbuckers, changing out the capaciors for higher resistance orange drops does a lot. For fishmans, they are too bright and compressed. Makes them great for low tunings and like nails on glass for standard or higher...
I've never played fluences, but alot of people love them which is cool. Personally, from all the videos and soundclips i've heard they just sound like worse EMG's. I have no need for 2 voicings either - Metal is the only genre i would want to play with actives.
The voicings are cool, they just let your guitar work better into certain different rigs.
I really like the fluence abasi
So after watching a few of this guys vids I'm confused on how he even attempts to "read" the response and tonality. Every single video his go to his go to sound is so muddy incoherent and lacks any clarity. Using preamp pedals and distortion pedals into IRs could be why. I'm curious as to how things would sound directly through that $3k amp in the background into a cab or running the pedals through the effects return then into a cab. I think the best way to explain the sound besides muddy overprocessed and sludgy is just over processed. I think with all the options available today people are jumping on the fanboy wagon spending alot of money on products with today's big guitarist or whatever bloggers praise makes it look good. The bottom line is tone is subjective and things sound different under different circumstances but maybe start out getting a good base sound and then achieve saturation or whatever your looking for. I dont know what the answer is but for a third the cost of some of that gear a better sound could've been had with passive pickups a decent head and a solid cab......for the money I'll stick with a horizon 3 with duncan JB and jazz pups a 5150 and a 2x12 with v30's even without processing I get less "noise"
You mean me? I'm a little confused by this feedback haha. This is USING the meshuggah here. I agree that tone is subjective, that's why I'm here trying to give folks examples of options and such.
That said, it's a couple of Preamps that DO sound perfectly great direct to interface, to me anyway.
Have a Jackson with Fishman open cores, and I'm Def not jiving with them.... Extremely sterile and lifeless...... Can't even get inspired when playing that guitar.
I liked your comparison (and your note in regards to moderns sounding kinda cooler after all) but please stop spreading more tone-wood bullshit. You are going for the wood instead of bridge and nut which are the actual timber affecting elements here. Cheers and keep the good work!
tosins sound better then moderns yea, also glad you like polish guitars!
If you're looking for his sound, yes! It depends on what you're looking for.
I just don't understand how people like them.. they sound so artificial. Yet again, Americans eat their "food" and like it, so....
I can't stand Fluences, I've had Moderns/Merrow/Classic/Devin Townsends I they all sounded like plastic to me.
I don´t like Fishman Fluence... yes, sucks.