Well I’m sorry…I know everyone seems to be on the Fishman wagon but to my ears, the EMG sounded like a guitar to me. The only thing I feel the FISHMAN have over the EMG’s is the option of other voices. To me those other voice 1 I believe, sounded kool and clear but voice 2 sounded like the strings were dipped in pudding. Yes it sounded warm n rounded I want it to sound like a chainsaw. I guess I can say, to my ears EMG’s are it…. FOR ME.
emg's are better. They sound like actives not like a pickup that doesn't what it wants to be for the high price. Emg's sound more articulate,sharper. Fishmans sound like a active that tries to be passive,awkward. A rounder active.
Clean: Fishmans sound a lot more natural to me, where the EMG are plain artficial. Rythm gain: Fishmans sound awful in this demo. Lead gain: Neither bad, just different. These are magnificently built guitars. I own the Fishman version. Am still getting used to it, since all my previous guitars have always been Fender teles, Gretsch and Gibsons, but it is just awesome in terms of build quality, playability and QC. Not to mention how awesome it looks.
Both sets of pickups sounded great. The output of the EMG was certainly noticeable in the comparison. Tone wise they weren’t that different. I prefer the fishman personally.
Fishman is definitely over hyped and over priced for a negligible difference. You can get a set of Zack Wilde’s 81/85 for half the price of a set of fluence moderns.
pickups do definitely matter, I tried some seymour duncans on my old Eclipse and decided to go back to the EMGs because they gave me the sound I wanted while the SD's never did
I liked the EMGs clean better, but with high gain everything changed. Fluences were miles ahead to me, like not even a discussion. I guess taste matters way more than overall quality and stuff. Not that any of these pickups lack it.
Both sound like ass clean. No ring. No chime. Just a dull thud. These pups are strictly for distortion and there are better choices that will give you good cleans too.
