Fishman Neo-D Humbucking Acoustic Pickup

There are many great pickup options for acoustic guitars these days. My absolute favorite pickup, all things considered is the K&K soundboard line of pickups. No battery, no ugly and superfluous controls added to the guitar, just pure perfect sound. However, the quality of sound produced by the K&K is highly dependent on the installation. Since my hands are way too large to enter the soundhole and accurately place the pickups, I have to rely on someone else to do it. One installer did a great job but said never again. A second installer (2nd guitar) did not spend the necessary time to properly locate the pickups so the sound is not as great as it could be. So...Lately I have gone the soundhole route. I own the M1 LR Baggs soundhole pu, and it is great. I like that it is designed (strap jack feature) to connect to the amp cable through the strap button at the rear of the guitar. But, it is a bit pricey ($130+) and is rather bulky. Sounds good though.This time around I decided to try the Fishman Neo-D and I am about to order another one. It sounds amazing. I have tried it direct to the mixer, to the mixer through a DI box (UltraSound DI+), and direct to a guitar amp. Either way it sounds great. What is amazing is that it retains the character of the guitar, not just picking up the strings. I know, that is impossible right? I tested it using headphones thus blocking out the natural sound of the guitar, and I could hear the nuances of the guitar acoustics.It is well made, I appreciate the cork pads on the clamp surfaces. My only gripe, and I knew this going in, the cable extends outside the soundhole and down the front. I route around and past my strap to kind of get it out of the way, but I prefer the LR Baggs M1 method (strapjack). Also, and maybe it is just the guitar I am using, the pickup is a bit narrow for the soundhole, I had to position it at the very top of the soundhole.Regardless of the incredible price ($40), this is an excellent pickup and I plan to order a second for another guitar.PS: After writing this I forgot to mention that I purchased the single coil version. I have not experienced hum and it is perfectly quiet,

I have a 1976 Takamine "lawsuit" acoustic guitar. It sounds great, but its value is mostly sentimental to me, so I don't want to drill it. The Fishman Humbucker is a great alternative. Really nice sound, and I found it to be perfectly loud enough through a Bose S1 Pro. Super easy to install and I don't have any issues with the cord hanging out of the soundhole. I would definitely recommend it for these reasons. Price is right too.

To start with, I'm left handed and my guitar is as well. My on-board pre-amp failed within 4-5 years of purchasing my guitar (thanks Ibanez-I've read several complaints about the premature failure of your AEQ-SST pre-amp) and the cost of replacement almost equaled the original cost of the guitar.No pick-ups within my price range specified left or right, so I was hoping there would be no difference in how this sounds if installed right side up on a left or right handed guitar. Turns out, there is a little difference, but not so much that I'd give this a negative review .If this is installed in a standard way (placed closer to the headstock side of the sound hole) on a left handed guitar, you get more 'twang' on the G, B & high E strings and less volume of the low E, A and D - not favorable for me in terms of sound. If this is installed upside down on a left handed guitar, then the sound seems much more balanced and warm as described in most of the reviews here.The only problem is that the angled ends are designed for installation on a right handed guitar, so I've installed this further down the sound hole, towards the bridge, upside down. Gets in the way a bit, but a fair compromise for the price. Consider this carefully if you plan on installing on a left handed guitar.Finally, I agree with other reviewers who say that the sound is low. Gotta turn the volume and/or gain higher than usual, but I guess that's the humbucking design.ProsEasy installationLong CableSound is warm'Inexpensive'DurableConsDesigned for right handed guitars ONLY (seems so to me at least)Sound is low

While nothing will replace a built in pickup this works as well as the best sound hole pickups I’ve seen. As with most the sound can come out a bit tinny…be sure and adjust this on your mixer for best results. I suggest cutting down a bit of your high and mid range and bumping up your low end just for fullness.

I didn’t have great expectations for this type of pickup so I was pleasantly surprised at how great it is. It installs in seconds, is very safe for your guitar finish and it sounds awesome.I plugged directly into an acoustic amp and was immediately impressed with the results.This is the perfect solution for those of us who don’t want to drill holes, etc. It can be easily move amongst all of my guitars.I got the Humbucking version and highly recommend it.

I knew very little about pickups, and got this single coil because my Strat has single coils. But I didn't think about active versus passive pickups. This one is passive, meaning there's no power and it doesn't amplify the signals. It sounded good but the signal I got from it is at instrument level, not line level, and I had to compensate in my DAW to the point that it gave a hum. I'm probably misusing it, but I ended up returning it and getting an active Fisher humbucker pickup. Same manufacturer, but it's got batteries to power a preamp that raises the gain before it gets to my audio interface. I'm much happier now. There's no hum (duh, humbucker) and I like the warm sound, particularly the bass.