Whats Inside A Fishman Fluence

Whats Inside A Fishman Fluence
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[@OzziePete1]

Cutting off the sixth pole piece, you have created the Keith Richards Signature Model!

[@cmark199]

Hilarious lol

[@cornelius5595]

Thanks for cutting that up. I really enjoy seeing how these things work and I appreciate you braving the internet trolls and keyboard warriors to uncover the science behind this stuff and not just sticking with the marketing material. That was a good analogy about Mclaren and Lamborghini having to crash cars in order to sell them.

[@TheBigMclargehuge]

Yeah people might say words, SO BRAVE.

[@heavymetalATC]

Great video! Thank you for taking one for the team. A+ content Dylan. Also good to see its the real deal and not just the same deal with a new name.

[@docsiltanen]

Hey Dylan. I bought a Fluence Gristletone set for a tele project I put together for an ALS benefit. They sounded dead quiet even with gain and very clear and articulate. I was impressed. Definitely a unique way to have a quiet single coil like sound ....love the videos. You can’t cheat physics !!!

[@rommelrivera1186]

It's mindblowing how the music instrument industry has applied high tech. Now we have amp, guitar and effects modeling; impulse responses; virtual and wave drums, etc. Printed pickups is the latest to catch my eye. I just bought a Reverend Gristle 90 guitar and I love it. To achieve that level of control and consistency over guitar tone is nothing short of miraculous. Can't wait to see the other cool things that will result from the collaboration between engineers and musicians.

[@captncrunch1726]

very interesting video, looking forward to the rest of this series!

[@dametalone]

So I stumbled on your channel when I was doing some homework on Pots. Gotta say, really great stuff on here. Just subscribed. Look forward to future content.

[@brianlewis7598]

Love the video! I've had a set of the Fishman single coils in my California Stratocaster for a while now and absolutely love them. Mainly stay in the "60's" sound, but the are times when the "50's" works great also.

[@adolfoagudelo8462]

Great video! Thanks Dylan!

[@jacquesduplessis8382]

Thank you so much for doing these type videos. This was really interesting

[@AXPena]

Thanks for doing this. I know this isn't what you originally had planned for the Fishman video. Really cool to see how it all works. I have the 7 string Tosin Abasi signature set and love it. They are the best split tones I've ever tried. This video helps to explain why/how they can get those single coil sounds to be so good!

[@BonzoNaphtol]

thank you for cutting it in half and sharing knowlege.you've got a new suscriber and thumb up! Greatings from France.

[@jakeadams-wilson7697]

Thanks for doing this. I appreciate your work!!

[@pleasantlindsey33]

Thanks , I've been waiting for someone to go in depth on this and somehow knew it would be you.

[@zolibxl]

Awesome experiment :) Congrats for the guts to cut this thing up! I've been playing Fishman Fluence Modern humbuckers in one of my guitars for a couple of months, they really sound awesome and break new ground. Now I'm starting to get why.

[@plindsey3]

I have been waiting for someone to give an in-depth explanation of the Fishman Fluence. I’m not surprised you were the one to do it, thanks for this. You can send me the cutup pickup.

[@InGratitudeIam]

Definitely adds new meaning to the term, "Go with the flow." That was really interesting. Thanks.

[@DACREM1ST]

Really enjoyed the video on these new technology Fishman Fluence. I am fairly new to electric guitar, and will say that I have learned more on your channel than ANY OTHER channel that I have visited or subscribed too. From a technical perspective I love what you do on here. I have been on your Channel for only 2 day and have marathon watched so many of your videos. Keep up the great work. One day my comment might just land me a free gift from you (not that it matters to me in that way since your content is Free here on KZbin 😄and that is plenty good). Have a great day/week!

[@vanshankguitars]

Fantastic! Very interesting design for sure! Keep those videos coming bro!

[@jameshocking1188]

Totally awesome stuff. I also like the direction you take as the theme in your show. To my knowledge no other show out there like this. It's science!!!

[@raychavezmt]

Another great vid! I’m with you, I like how you think!

[@cloudlesssky5763]

I can’t get enough of u,I love ur channel

[@Terry3Gs]

Awesome video dylan !! So in essence its like a "what if" if lace took things to the next level per say. And now seeing inside one .. yes explains ALOT & makes sence why these pickups can do what they do. Awesome job again explaining it all !!

[@damianjacobs2193]

Happy Holidays Dylan and Family!

[@Iggytommy]

Thanks for doing this!

[@cameroncampbell2564]

By the way Dylan love your work and logical approach to dissecting the guitar sound making process.

[@fideldiazmusic]

great insight men! love your videos! very inspiring! hope you're doing great!

[@JHenzly]

Thank you. I'm currently shopping for some pups and this helped. Im stuck between Moderns or EMG's 57/66. Thanks again.

[@ChrrZ]

great video, thank you!

[@nickbenjamin6527]

The offset aspect is probably the areas where each wafer joins through to the ones either side: the through holes you pointed out visible on top aren't on top of the coil traces...

[@robertmodlin2599]

You the man, Dylan!

[@JayKughan]

Awesome video 🤘🏽

[@AngelsINIDemonsCafe]

Well done, Thanks for the Knowledge... I want some More.

[@ravenslaves]

As far as the asymmetrical coils go. It's probably simply the case of being able to produce only one pc/coil, and then flipping it over to reverse the coil direction for the humbucking effect. I could be wrong without seeing it for myself, but from a manufacturing point of view that would make the most sense. Modular coils. Interesting idea.

[@cameroncampbell2564]

I would concur. The printed coils would be consistent and can't really see how they are laid out on each plate of the separating material. When you look at the overhead image there is a row of feed throughs on the inner side and a row on the outer side which creates the offset. I would guess that the stacks are the same layout top and bottom but the lower one is flipped for a coil in the reverse direction. Looking at the copper dots (tracks) exposed at the cut it may be possible to count /estimate the turns on each layer/stack for a rough equivalent to standard wire. I suspect the advantage of the printed coils is that the are within limits exactly the same each time eliminating the variation from manual/machine winding and a skill process. The raw output from the coil will be low so presumably requires a boost to get it up to normal pickup output at the jack.

[@MilesTippett]

I got the Greg Koch model in my Jazzcaster.... Love them!

[@blackfender100]

That is very cool stuff Dylan.Pickup future is looking good.

[@choimdachoim9491]

No need to wax, no loose parts to rattle. Check. I'm glad to see this because since I discovered your site 6 months ago I've been thinking of possible different ways to make pickups. Who knows what the future holds?

[@tsargoyle]

I have Fluence ina few of my guitars and never really thought about the technology til today. It’s impressive how I have two completely different and distinct voices in one bridge pickup, plus coil split. They sound superb too.

[@truce11]

Did not come on KZbin looking for this but I'm glad I found it

[@chimpfwee]

That was really neat. I wonder how far this concept can go

[@redbuttonmatt]

Very very cool stuff, thank you very much for cutting into the cross section!! I had several assumptions about the layering technique and intersecting holes but I never thought about the stacked cross sections like that. Like you said, it lets you pick and choose any coil you want. I have a set of fishman, kieth merrow's that will be going into a build sooner or later. Where you able to find any of the active circuitry? I'm assuming they have an on board amplifier for the batteries and it might be between the coils and the board.

[@christopherlafreniere7141]

Thanks, that was fun!

[@mikeblue385]

maybe the stacked coils are for the two different voicing s.

[@MikeCindyWhite]

Super cool bro! Great video!! Is this going to change the way you make your pups at all?

[@thomaszonkowski2115]

Dylan! I love your channel. I have a request, how about the Bill Lawerence pick ups that would have been in the Gibson Marauder and S-1s? Don't cut one open though!

[@christyler1647]

I'm impressed with your Dremel skills. They "get away from you" so easily! I have a love hate relationship for sure. Thanks for such a great video!

[@waderowland9758]

I have the Greg Koch Gristletone Telecaster set in a Thinline build and an SSS set in a Stratocaster build. They are quiet as described and the ability to toggle between two sets of matched pickups gives them both a good deal of sonic versatility. The Tele set toggles between a 50s blackguard and a 60s whiteguard and the Strat set toggles between a vintage '59 set and the modern Tex-Mex set. It doesn't seem like a far stretch for them to create a pickup that can match the tone of more than just two other pickups, perhaps on a rotary switch? I've been describing the manufacture of these pickups since I learned about them a couple years ago because they're so fascinating; it sure helped to see the nuts and bolts to truly understand the practical application of the technology.

[@davehallock3656]

Dylan, Thanks man. Interesting. In theory you could tap any where or by sections or level i, 12, 30 etc. As you say certainly able to shape tone in new ways right at the pickup. Maybe some day a rotary switch like Lucelle has but used differently. Dave loves tone but his ears love ringing constantly so..... But I dig the channel and if I can't be hangin with the cats this is damn good.

[@martijn260571]

There in my strat, I love them. The biggest benefit to me is that they are even in volume between all 5 pickup selections 😃

[@lorencing]

Great video, something completely different those Fishmans.

[@artysanmobile]

Those PCB interlayer connections are called feedthroughs.

[@JasonWW2000]

Aka, vias.

[@KLucero22]

You should take a look at Zexcoil pickups. They are also hum-cancelling except they are passive, not active. they have individual coils for all 6 magnets.

[@cpamiseso]

Such a daring move!

[@notanotherguitarchannel]

Imagine configuring it so that you can select between a tall strat-style coil or a flatter p90-style coil all on the same pickup. It'd give you more options than you could handle.

[@xxstfubmx]

they do go get the greg koch gristle tones best sounding pick up I've owned

[@spynae]

I honestly love the Fluence pups on guitar, but I'm still not convinced their bass versions are particularly great.

[@afgafg6471]

Just watched an older episode where you made the 500ft guitar cable. 🤣 Great stuff. Could you talk about using a wireless system (which of course has a buffer at both ends) verses a straight cable. I bought a Radial Dragster which is basically and additional resistance pot between the Gtr output and the wireless transmitter input to add more or less impedance ‘load’ to the circuit. Your perspective would teach me a lot.

[@topwanker]

Thanks for this! I was scared for my eyeballs watching that even on a screen, lol. (I know you had glasses on)

[@thomastourville1674]

Very cool!

[@lordgraga]

You NEED to do this: Cut the little end bit of the pickup in half, along the vertical axis (pickup sitting on table). Because you need to verify if it’s even wound in traditional loops around the magnet, or if the sides are separate so that you have 4 different sections to combine for various tones: high near, high far, low near, low far. My hypothesis is that the latter is true because it gives a ton of voicing options since all the coil sections will have different EQ chararacteristics and can be combined not only in series, but also out of phase and in parallel!

[@ResoBridge]

I suspect Fishman do the voicing electronically in the Fluence pre-amp. An ideal analysis of the Fluence system would include tracing the circuit of the pre-amp and a simulation of how that works.

[@marcoantoniorey4539]

Gracias muy bueno el contenido quisiera saber mas

[@philmorbey1827]

I do find some comments here really annoying! Things like sterile and I guess you can't get x sound. These pickups are great they do everything singles do! People should stop being arm chair experts and actually try the thing before condemning it!

[@piotrkarel]

Pure science! Love it! :)

[@TheBaconWizard]

I'd be interested in how good you can get this kind of idea as an individual at home. Like by designing a board with free software and ordering a few of them to stack around some magnets. I mean, I'm sure it would not be as good as the fishman ones, but could one feasibly design and make their own pups that are usable?

[@pasikeranen]

Thank you, good info. Finally understood how Fishman does their thing.

[@markgordon4368]

Very interesting, muli layer pcbs have been the staple for phones, pcs, game consoles for many years, so kudos for utilising that technology it will make the pickup's response completely repeatable on a manufacturing level, reflecting on the two sets of pcb coils flipping that bottom coil 180 degrees in both axes very smart in production of a stacked "humbucker" noise cancelling pick up I would not be surprised to see similar technologies being pumped out of China in all shapes and sizes in everything from harley benton to gibson

[@XChristianNoirX]

I wish you did this with the it open core humbuckers that have pole pieces (not covered/blades) to see if we could do some surgery on these to turn them into fanned fret, angled pickups.

[@bobceffo]

very cool!

[@maclarke74]

Dylan, can you do a video where you take apart a John Birch pickup? I'm interested in his P90 size pickups that have 11 pole pieces

[@stepvanjoe3469]

Snap ...and that was my last cutting wheel. See you next time on D.T.T. hey send a piece of that my way, it would make a cool key chain! Pretty cool stuff for sure. Always kinda wondered myself about these and EMG's as to what was the core construction involved in building

[@DylanTalksTone]

lol.. we keep PLENTY in stock

[@crsmade]

I’m going to try and re create one based on what I just saw here

[@yikelu]

One additional point ... there was a Frank Falbo interview where mentions that the resonant peak of the Fluences is somewhere in the 60 (30? don't quote me) kHz region. IE, they're basically completely flat in the guitar range, hence you can use an internal EQ to shape it exactly how you want to without having to fight the LCR circuit of the coil itself.

[@kostaskritsilas2681]

Fishman can get a lot of control over the tone using the PCB type coils. Not only can the have a lot of control over the number of windings (=inductance), but very tight control over the capacitance. In "regular" pickups, capacitance varies due to the way coils are wound (level wound or scatter wound), gauge of wire used (which influences total number of winds you can get) and minute variations in the varnish layer on top of the coil wire. In today's PCB manufacturing there is very tight control over all the parameters influencing inductance, capacitance, and resistance, so the Fluence pickups can be very consistent.

[@jannisderksenmusic665]

Mind Blown.

[@adrianpierce3047]

agreed, very cool, & im a brit so i dont band that comment around willy nilly, im worried though as i see you guys using these hand held cutter disc tools, they have a tendency to grab and twist, and shatter, i think they should make mini angle grinders or attachments to eliminate the flaw in that application, its a great chanal Dylan, iv just came across it

[@nnicolasmora]

do you think you could make a video on how a guitar would sound if it had no ground wire from the bridge

[@andychatterman5809]

Hey Dylan have you seen the new bipolar single coils from fender?? Those look pretty easy to make and they allow for extra tones I was interested in your thoughts on them and if youve ever tried to make them yet

[@otherGuise]

I've got three sets of fishmans, SSS strat(regular+hot Texas), Classic Core (PAF,BoostedPAF,single coils), Tosin Abasi Signature (metal,PAF and 2&4 single coil position) SSS strat I don't like, because I don't like the way normal wound SSS strats sound. I prefer the hot texas version and mine always has the dpdt pulled out to enable it. Regular SSS setting doesn't have a lot of output play, so digging in isn't very responsive. Turn the hot texas mode on and you get more response to your play style. I like the clarity and to use this with a boost pedal to finger pluck. Classic Core (paf) is why I dumped my PRS pickups and Les Paul Standard. Came in an EC1000t. I got tired of inconsistencies with other PAF inspired pickups and just wanted it to sound great, be easy to setup and have some diversity. As an all around package this one sounds the best of the three because all three options (PAF, bOOST, single coils) sound good together. You get the PAF sound, but a ton of clarity. I like this for Rock/Metal. I don't play much blues, but I bet it'd be fine for that. Tosin Abasi replaced the 85/15PRS pickups in my custom 24se with these. There isn't a comparison they're just better than the 85/15. It comes with modern, PAF and single coil options. I like switching through Modern/PAF and driving an amp with it to see the different responses. Compared to the Classic Core options all pickup configurations have more output with Tosins. The Tosin Modern has more bass compression than regular moderns (its on the box) and its nice for palm muting. It's crazy convenient for testing different gear layouts. You can go from MetalModern to PAF inspired to single coils with one guitar and get a good idea of what they'll generally sound like. The reason why I don't rate this as the best is because in the same song it doesn't make a ton of sense to use all three settings, unlike the Classic Core. The three options don't jive as well together.

[@robbusch9564]

Cool demo. Do the fluence PUs have an internal op amp?

[@larryperez5761]

Awsome video, hey they criticized Davinci for examining cadavers too so you're in good company

[@MichaelTMcCoy]

Nice video. You are the pick-up surgeon! I like to know more of the inner working of this pick-up. If you could deconstructed this circuit more I would like to know if the coils were wired separately (4 wires inside) and then mixed down to the 2 wire outputs. I agree about the tone output sound videos. I been looking at other tone videos and i'm getting bored of them.

[@ScottfromBaltimore]

That was hard to watch, but you did it for science, so thanks!

[@inthefade]

Hey so are there pickups where each and every pole is wound individually? I would assume that there would be EM interference between the coils if they weren't coiled in alternating directions, and then there would be phasing issues with bleed from the neighboring strings pushing an inverted signal into neighboring coils, but it just seems like it would be negligible, or they could be shielded somewhat. Maybe it would produce a different sound. Maybe it has been done! Just a thought! Thanks.

[@robcerasuolo9207]

I hate to be THAT guy, but I came up with a similar idea a few years ago after learning more about how pickups work. I didn't have a working idea, cuz I'm not an engineer, but basically I figured there had to be a way to print and etch the coils just like they do with microchips. It didn't occur to me to vary the coil amounts using control circuitry. I'm going to have to look into these some more.

[@SSRT_JubyDuby8742]

Nice one 😎🎙🎸✅

[@skidogbill]

Did you discover what kind of amplification is in there? I’m particularly interested in whether there is some sort of EQ, or some way to “normalize” levels between the different tones, ie make the single coil sound as loud as the overwound on the P90s.

[@SionynJones]

I'd expect so the the blerb doesn't really tell you much about how fluence works. They talk about the position of magnets which have been engineered to shape the magnetic field to induce the right amount emf into the pickup coils. The coils are also balanced properly and easily to manufacture to better tolerances than winding. I suspect also they are using either a DSP system or a programmable op amp to eq operations on the pickups output signal. Guess we won't know until someone pulls one part some more.

[@MrMortadelas]

OK, now that we 've got strat, tele, lipstick, humbuckers, lace sensors, p-90s, jazzmaster and whatever I forgot covered. If you were to design a totally new pickup, what would it look like? No need to be restricted by existing dimensions. It can be a stacked, pcb jazzmaster on one coil and a "lace sensor" p-90 on the other coil that acts like a weird humbucker.

[@brocktechnology]

I had not heard these pickups before this video. What I find fascinating is that these are entirely constructed through standard circuit board manufacturing techniques, which is mature technology that you can hire from hundreds and hundreds of companies worldwide. The manufacturing cost is most likely shockingly low in decently large quantities and the finished part can be counted upon to have exactly the same properties unit to unit. All the messy and unpredictable art and workmanship present in the conventional design is eliminated.

[@scottwilcox6313]

That was cool loved the video. But since this pups are made with automation and printed, do you think that they will sound the same? I mean sometimes you can get special pup that has a great tone that can only be hand wound and some are better than others right? I know these new pickups are tunable but sometimes unknown variations sound awesome and thats the fun part. Happy coincidence 🙂

[@nikolajozanov]

I guess this pickup is not microphonic. Does this stacked single coil vibrates like a regular wax potted or not? Is it a good or bad thing if you want some squeak sounds? I guess it's too rigid /stiff with all that plastic inside...

[@bluwng]

Lace Pickups are unique, they work and act as active although they are passive

[@timeflies98]

where is the preamp of the pickups located? Is it inside the pickup itself?

[@roberthastings708]

Just reviewing some older posts and saying thanks.

[@fdavpach]

9:08 I think this shift has nothing to do about voicing or things like that, I think that shift it's because of the vias connecting the layers of the coils makes it shift a liitle bit to have room for it, one it's in the opposite way of the other in order to have some hum-bucking action, the easiest way? just turn it upside down

[@jaxonvictoria4345]

I’ve had 3 sets of Fluence pickups: a Will Adler, Modern 6, and Modern 7 and i’ve sold all three for a reason. One of my guitars went back to passives, one went back to EMGs, and the other I plan to purchase a set of Dave Mustaine Livewire. The Fluence pickups, while great sounding, were far too *clear* for my liking. It sacrificed saturation in my opinion.

[@bluwng]

I discovered Lace winners all around

[@hchoe741]

this might be a dumb question, but why not use copper SHEETS instead of wire to wind pickups? fishman points out that conventional pickups are wound inconsistently, but maybe if they were wound with copper sheets that are the exact diameter of the pickup bobbin they'd be wound much consistently.

[@dennisnashville7114]

That’s a good idea. 🎸

[@JasonWW2000]

Bad idea. You would not get enough windings. This acts as a transformer in a sense. All things being equal, the more coils, the higher the output. This design has only about 700 coils as opposed to many thousands of coils in a traditional pickup. Current output is fairly low, hence the built in amplification. If the vertical coils where combined to a sheet shape, you'd only 60 coils.

[@TylrVncnt]

Dylan, you are the *best* ...!!! Taking a fuckn DREMEL to these things to figure what’s under the hood - I LOVE IT (!!!!!) All in the name of science man! This is still the only video that *actually shows* the tech going on under the hood. Fantastic fantastic! Thank you sir 🙏

[@J0uzze]

My question is, could you make a passive pickup using those printed PCB winds?

[@JasonWW2000]

There is no where enough windings to get adequate output. I count roughly 1500 loops.

[@DDE_ADDICT]

BTW the RV idea is the only way to go

[@dalgguitars]

cut. it. in. half. That's science baby!

[@michaelcottle6270]

Yes, but will it blend?