Danny Taddei from Lafayette Louisiana, USA
Subject:
Fishman rocks but there are other things to think about
Quality:
Handling this it feels top shelf all the way but I didn't have it long before I returned it. Read on to see why but it was not the fishman's fault
Overall:
I had the DTAR Mama Bear & the Fishman Aura side by side for nearly 5 hours & tried a few good guitars on it in that time. First off, I was not impressed w/ the Mama Bear at all but the Fishman was AWESOME & easy to use. Playing an Alvarez MD90 with a K&K pickup this little box made my guitar sound almost mic'd & without doubt, great. I A/B'd the sound from un-effected pick up through the board to though the box with the button set to off/ or bypass and with the effect on but blended out and then all the was to blended full on all 16 settings. As far as my setup went with the MD90 and the K&K, settings 1-7 sounded great but 8-16 got a bit funky and I wouldn't use it. You only really need one setting to work. (the mama bear had exactly ONE setting that sounded OK but not great). Thing is that the preamp stage of this box is the best sounding part. The setting number and blend did vary little beyond what that first stage did, even when the unit was bypassed by the stomp button.
Playability and Feel:
This is a well made unit and I think it will sound better on guitars with cheaper pickups. Its built for that.
Tone:
It brought my K&K western mini pickup to a near mic'd sound. With all the good I have to say about this, the best sounding pickup I have ever still heard is the Avarez 600T's I have in my masterworks cutaway guitars. They sound great plugged right into my board. If you have another pickup that has that nasty under saddle twangy sound, the fishman is without doubt a great way to fix that. I returned Aura because I have two 600t's in two of my guitars. I still can't match them with anything else - which is what I was trying to do with the aura.
Finish:
The box looks sharp and will fit nice into any pedal box but it doesn't come with the AC power supply so you need to buy one or buy 9 volt batteries
Action:
As for that pro rock star thing below - I did have a triple platinum album many years ago and a few tiny minor hits besides that. Rock star - not so much.
Skill Level:
Pro-Rock Star
Do you own this product?:
yes but I am returning it
Date submitted:
May 20. 09
Alan Land from Oceanside, CA
alan626@cox.net
Subject:
Fishman got it right
Quality:
The product is manufactured well, and looks like it will hold up to the rigors of performing.
Reliability:
I recently received it, so I do not know yet.
Overall:
Overall, it's good, but there are some "warts."
Playability and Feel:
Not really applicable
Tone:
Tone is the reason to buy this product. It is great.
Finish:
Finish is good, but the lettering is unreadable. Not that many controls, so they can be memorized, but still . . .
Do you own this product?:
Yes
Date submitted:
May 11, 2009