You missed the complete point of these pickups in this video. The point is that they’re noiseless pickups that sound the closest to real single coils on the market. Now everyone thinks these pickups are stupid because they don’t know the concept of them.

Greg himself has said that the main aim with the Fishmans was to get rid of 60 cycle hum. Other than that, it's supposed to sound like 50s and 60s/70s Tele pickups.

Great timing on this video review. I just had a set dropped into my Chapman ml-3 pro and while the change isn't drastic, I find subtle changes in tone that I find pleasing. The pots in the control panel are an improvement over what is in the chapman and the no loss of treble at low volumes I really like. The 2 voiced white/black guard sounds are also useful. The price of this stings and yes some tele players will be "scandalized" to have a usb/battery hookup in their guitar, but overall I am very happy with the upgrade. Thanks for taking the time to review this product. Love your videos, unique and always honest and witty.

Thank you for filming this - I'm building a tele-style guitar at the moment and I need noiseless pickups (or to rewire the electrics of my whole neighborhood apparently) and this set was a contender until I saw this video. I liked the idea of the recharge through the jack plate but they don't have the tone I want. Forgive me if I'm wrong but it seems like you don't have a lot of guitars with active pickups you use for cleans/crunch so you might not know this: something I really like on my actives (EMGs at 18 volts) is that the tone and volume controls are actually independent - de-sparkling with the tone control doesn't lose volume, and making it quieter with the volume control doesn't lose any tone. The way I use that is to setup my amp to be just on the clean side of dirty when the volume on the guitar is 50%; then I can get crunchy sounds just by turning the volume up a little on the guitar - and it doesn't make the overall volume much louder because the amp was already right there. I also set my chain up to sound normal with the tone at 50-70% so I can dial in more brightness if I want that effect but I still have a lot of potential to make the sound darker.

A lot of care & attention to detail in that video....which is appreciated. The top end of my hearing is knackered due to volume abuse, so the sparkly hi fi sound would benefit me. I decided a while back to go with what I hear rather than what my fellow nerds would say is "right", so I found this helpful. Cheers.

Decided to try them....absolutely amazing! Ty.

I really appreciate this guy's honesty! He is obviously not paid by the pickup manufacturer. I just subscribed to his channel and look forward to lots more of his clear and insightful reviews.

Love the honesty. That’s why I’m a subscriber. Thanks homie.

I'm actually impressed. In this video they seem to do what they claim. The voices seemed as advertised. The standard Road Worn Tele is meant to sound like an aged 50 year old Tele and voice 1 sounded the same as the standard pickups to me. Voice 2 had more of everything. They say those things are noiseless too.

Sweetwater has them for $300. Put in one of my teles two weeks ago. Sounds great.

This may be the best video you have ever done!!!!!

"hey that's tech talk OK!!!" you are the best dude

Good honest explanation, thanks for showing it to us, personally as a tele freak, I would stick in my passive good ole tele pu's they sound just right no point to change them... like you said, this set brings so HIFI to your tele sound and that gets rid of all the warmth character and musical sound of the traditional, they sound really cold and soul-less to me. cheers !

I don't get why they don't make the set completely solderless if it comes with all the parts anyway. That could be a (almost) fool proof 20 min installation.

I'm in the process of a tele build. I plan on putting these in it. These will be the first and probably the only pickups in this guitar.

Awesome video Henning. I've had these pickups in my Tele for a year now and concur on a number of items. 1- Clarity..you cannot miss it. For the first time I could hear tonal differences between strings, leads, picks, etc.; 2...Extreme low end bass reduction...that was the first thing I notice. But, to me [using 6V6 and 6L6 amps that was welcome]; and the damn wire is too short...I soldered an extension to it. But, what you missed [IMHO] was that the pickups are exactly what Greg was seeking - A noiseless pickup that looked like a traditional Tele pickup set... didn't look like humbuckers or hot rails. To that extent, they are wonderful..particularly when you consider they are active pickups [which have a battery that lasts 6 weeks between charges]. I believe the perfect candidate for these pickups is someone with an inexpensive Tele that wants to upgrade all the internal components and have a noiseless pick up set that looks like a traditional Tele. No, they are not for someone who simply wants a new set up pickups for a change. Great vid, but some background research would have helped the perspective.

I have these pickups (If you are in Europe, get them from the US - half the price). I love them! They are *noiseless* and the pots are superb. I agree with you interpretation that they are HiFi and not necessarily as vintage as they were intended to be. At £500? Fishman are pushing their luck ... at £250, I would recommend them, but only if you like that 'pristine' bridge pickup sound.

I thought this was a pretty good review. I agree that Henning missed the point of the fact that the noiseless aspect while still sounding like a single coil (which is the main deal with these pups). But other than that it was a very honest review, he was honest enough to point out any shortcomings with his guitar and playing, and at the end of the day he compared both sets of pickups using the same guitar, same player, same everything else which is the only way to truly compare them. Also I think he is a competent player, certainly good enough for demos such as this. Obviously a lot of people watching this are fans of Greg Koch and are drawing comparisons to his awesome technique which virtually no one can live up to!

Great video as always Henning, maybe this set would work better in a swamp ash or mahogany based tele body? Im not sure what the body is on that tele you have there .. so thats why I bring it up.

Really cool video (as always to be fair). It may be a pain for you to do them, but pickup videos are very interesting. Speaker comparisons would be great too (hint hint!) ;)

Strings for a day and rip them off tomorrow was all the dog needed to hear. at 3:40 and he scratched his ass and said see ya.

fishmans all the way, they sound much clearer without sounding harsh. fat n juicy! if i had a tele i would definitely get em!

Glad you did the comparison bits, i haven't seen any one do that... I know the Former VP at Seymour who helped develop the Fluence Pick ups. Falbo Designs friends of G.Mara's in L.A. I'm waiting for Fishman to do a Conventional looking Humbucker w/o a cover before i Try them...

I didn't hear a great difference between the stock pickup and those fish mans. Don't know that I'd invest in them if I had a tele. Having said that, I have a Les Paul Studio that had BB Pro's, that just hated. I swapped those out for a set of Fluence Moderns and the improvement was over the top.

Perhaps for hybrid and finger piking the clarity is the point, but with a pick it miss the little bit of dirt that makes rock n roll in those pick up.

I wonder if the fluence single coils would work well with metal, being that they're active.

Henning-1, Fishman-0. So will you go back to Thomann and change the pickups back to the old ones?

I agree with your view. Thanks for the shootout.

Havent watched a Henning vid in a while but I still love this guy.

This guitar, to me sounds like a typical 'Fender' that has the action set so low that the fret clatter combines with the instrument's tone & gives a 'thin' sound. Raise the action a tiny bit so you get no adjacent fret 'compression' & let the string vibrations ring out more clearly - I wonder if you will like that guitar's tone better.

I hear a difference in clarity in favor of the Fishman's but not the biggest change for so much money. I really like the noiseless and extra tone options, but charging and still having to solder is sort of a downer.

They sound exactly as I'd expect them too, hi fi and great for cutting through the mix.. Did you try change your amp settings to compensate for the extra treble? it may also just neeed more bass to fatten it up. I think the reason the guitar itself sounds thin is because your action is set as low as possible, that's a big no no if you're trying to get good vintage tones!

Can the battery be replaced 5 years afer it dies and can you get one they added a extra plate under the bridge 500 and to have someone to install it

Awesome video looks like your travelling not going to change pickups, what's the brand of the multiple guitar gig bag? thanks

when I have done this sort of thing in the past, I have the guitar I am upgrading in mind and play it without amping and with amping. to find out the sound of the guitar. then I choose pickups to alter that sound in the direction I want. perhaps these would have gone better in a darker guitar or a cheaper one (less resonant). pickup comparisons are very useful. particularly yours because they are not dressing up the sound to sell them. I would love to see you do kinman pickup reviews as they are in a similar price range but kinman is a bit of a recluse. thanks for sharing and dont burn out over gitcon p.s. cough... amped pickups....emg......

This helped me imagine how bad I'd sound playing them. Thanks

cool sound!

i couldn't hear a single position where I preferred the sound of the Fishman. There are definitely better pickups than stock fender pickups but as you concluded I can't see these as being a first choice.

Again Henning thank you for information. I have a fender telecaster Modern Player that I buy for €375 second hand (almost as new) from a Belgium guy. At first I was not happy with it, so I play most of the time my Harley Benton HB35 black. So the telecaster MP sound to tinny. Both I never play it through a tube amp. Because the neighbors issues. I decided to bay little amp that can give me the feeling of a real tube amp. The Yamaha THR10C and with the telecaster MP sound surprisingly brilliant and amazing good. So you are right the total package or configuration that do matter.

Hm... I don't know. It seems to have a bit more high-end now, which is nice but it also sounds kinda brittle to me in comparison, which is not nice. Overall not that bad, maybe a bit better than the originals but considering the insane price I'd say ....pfff ; )

Henning, vintage Tele pickups are thin and brittle haha. I think these sound amazing, honestly. But you're correct, as with any pickup upgrade you need to love the guitar already.

Henning, I know pickups can be a very subjective topic, but, since I find that I agree much more with you than I disagree, especially when it comes to tone, I would like to as for your opinion. On a Telecaster much like the in the video what pickups are your top recommendation. The I have in mind is a 98/99 Fender American Standard Telecaster, butterscotch swamp ash body, maple neck. Mainly used for blues, classic rock (some southern), and pop. Your thoughts on this are highly appreciated. Thanks. Daniel

oh dang, what do you think of these?

I think maybe the thinness or lack of bass might have had more to do with pickup height, or the string gauge, than the guitar itself. I've really overlooked how much of an effect pickup height has. That said, I'm sure that voice wasn't supposed to be super warm or round.

Hi henning, wouldn't a better bridge (like one from Killer Guitar Components or ABM) give this guitar a more hi-end response?

I have a set in my American Standard and they are quite awesome... A bit expensive, but well worth it..Gonna get the strat set next..The battery system works great and lasts a long time...I think you should've had a multi genre player come in... It's not the guitar..it's the player..lol jk! I heard a big difference..you didn't use the tone knob..which is very responsive..If you want a hard bitey tone..keep the tone knob all the way up..Back the tone off a little for darker tones..You can quack that guitar with the tone knob like the old vintage Teles...something that Greg Koch really wanted..You should've had Greg there!

Am I wrong to prefer the original pickups neck tone, the fluence sounded a bit flat to me, almost like DI guitar sound or something.

EytschPi42 would make a great Col. Klink in a Hogan`s Heroes remake!. I can totally see him in a Wermacht officer`s uniform. He kinda reminds me of Donald Pleasance and or Werner Klemperer, lol! Deutschland Uber Alles! Great video as usual; thanks for posting!

eines tages muss ich mir die wohl holen ^^ und du musst unbedingt mal die hornauer pickups testen! die sind ungewaxt, ultra dynamisch und extrem brilliant die sind echt was besonderes :)

I'm going to take my Greg Koch Grizzle set off my Fender American Tele and install them in a TE52 which I should be getting in a few weeks. Should be very interesting. Chuck M

Ich bin eher enttäuscht von diesem Ergebnis. Absolut nicht mein Fall, zum gluck hab ich das Set nicht gekauft! Zum Glück war ich schlau genug mir dieses Video erst hinterher anzusehen! :D Hätte ich es vorher gesehen hätte ich gar nicht darüber nachgedacht das Set zu kaufen. Evtl für eine meine anderen Gitarren. Tolles Video!

Can I have the old tele pickups??

Its not fair because everything you play sounds great.

Have you tried Almunatone pickups? I've heard they are very Hi-Fi.

next video opening: "hello 'that's what she said' jokes aficionados"

No question but that Greg Koch's demo made the pickups sound amazing. Since I'm not a believer in the "tonewood" argument any more, I can only suspect that either the other components - bridge, nut, and tuners - need upgrading or that GK, being a "native" Tele player, knows how to set up his amp and otherwise is better at "playing" a Tele, whereas you seem to be more of a boutique humbucker player. Not a criticism; you're leagues ahead of me.

Cool guitarcase. Where can i find one?

People are getting way to picky gosh anything with dirty power going into it will have some kind of noise or even fluorescent fixtures as well as cell and broadcast antennas oh not to mention every circuit and cable in line as well! Right?

$500? What kind of tariffs is Germany adding? They're $350 (still too expensive if you ask me). I've tried the Strat and Humbucker sets and came away thinking for $350 they are no better than other solutions that cost half as much. Fishman is charging a lot more than they are worth. Pickup noise goes away as soon as you pluck a string, and humbuckers are quiet to begin with, so I don't get these. The $350 price tag is paying for all the artist endorsements they bought.

I'd be inerested how well they hold charge and how bad the Battery degrades over time.

So why didnt you put the pickups in a better guitar?

The old (early/mid-'50s) Teles aren't bright, zingy guitars at all. They can sting and twang but in a lo-fi way compared to later Teles and many modern guitars. That rougher, rawer sound is where it's at Tele-wise for me. IMO-and with the caveat that I'm judging based on YT sound-the original pickups in this guitar get closer to that old Tele tone than the Fishmans.

Please make a review of his p90's :D Greetings! :)

I bought the Strat pickups for a Squier deluxe that plays just as good as any American made Strat I've ever had. I love the squier neck, but the "Duncan designed" pups weren't all that great. I put these fishman strat pups in and PRESTO! I'll put my Squier Strat up against any American Deluxe model and I guarantee you, it'll hold its own but at literally THOUSANDS of dollars less. No, my guitar won't be worth 9 bazillion dollars in 75 years, but I don't give a shit about that, because I won't be here in 75 years.

For anybody wanting a second opinion, there's a nice demo by Ede Wright. He installed his set in a 73 Tele. kzfaq.info/get/bejne/f5iSqsyfud3MeoE.html In general, I think Henning is right. 'Hi-fi' pickups tend to expose the character of the guitar to a glaring light. It's also worth remembering that the classic sound of Tele pickups includes all their shortcomings, such as uneven frequency response, little output above 6KHz, quite a high noise floor, and significant variation between individual samples. The Fishmans will be much more consistent, even, and quiet, and offer more tonal options: but is that really what you want? You may not know until you hear it. And for those of us who are forced to care about such things, the Fluences are very expensive.

Subscribed

Honesty.

Hey can you link me to that 4 space guitar case you have? I think it says "Moderntex" on the front/side. I tried Google but it didn't bring up anything. Did you have it custom made? Thanks

Hallo Henning, was ist das für ein Gigbag/Koffer bei 6:20...WOW...genau sowas suche ich schon lange. Danke Dir für ne Info

I like the dog...I will stay with the fender pick ups

Der Pickup hat doch gar keine Wicklungen, sondern basiert auf Platinenbasis :) (hab noch nicht bis zum Ende geguckt :D)

this sound too much like the n3 from fender, not my kind of tele pickups :/

Personally thought the stock pups sounded better, more raw and natural which is how a Tele should sound. Certain guitars and styles can have a hi-fi type tone that the Fishman's supply but to my ear they nailed the Tele the minute Leo Fender made one, there is no improving it only ruining it.

I don't understand people who buy top of the line Fender guitars and then swap out the pickups. Since the pickups account for 85% of the tone (with the remaining non-wood components accounting for another 10%), it seems like an incredible waste of money to spend just to have that decal on the headstock and the attendant bragging rights. I was considering putting these in a cheaper Tele, along with upgrading the rest of the components. A G&L ASAT Tribute model would work quite well, I suspect.

Anyone put these in a Baja Tele?

I think that these pick-ups will showcase every tiny little flaw in the tele/player by overall amplified every nuances. No offence, great channel!

It's SOLDERING! Engliche remember! ;oP

Doggie wants to Solder the pickups for you ...

'Soldering' - how we say it in the UK (pronounce the L) 'Soddering' - How it's said in the US (VERY close to a casual swear in the UK lol)

I don't own these pickups but I gotta say after watching/listening to several reviews & demos of these koch fluence pickups it seems this particular demo was the least impressive sounding tone to my ears. I'm listening through my jbl phones so maybe it's me but they sounded kinda sterile & bland. At first I thought maybe it was just an amp that didn't tickle my tone bone but after listening to a few more demos I think it might be a pickup height adjustment thing or maybe the battery wasn't charged or something. Idk, just adding my .02 even though no one asked, just didn't want someone to make up their mind on these pups just off this demo, definitely listen to a few before making a decision. I hope it didn't come off judgy, that's not my intent at all. Thanks

Seems to me you are being too polite !! $500 for these is over the top. They sound just like the regular set but with a switchable pre-amp.. Use a regular set and an EP booster or Archer and job done and change in your pocket !

I believe this new technology will bring the same "tube or solid state" arguments we have when comparing amps, but now with pickups. Still, this is quite interesting, but I prefer the hummy old ones.

Meanwhile, Steven Wilson claims that his latest album core is an old Mexican Telecaster.

Where did you get that case?

Difficult videos pickup videos are, that's what Yoda said.

"Soldering" Pronounced as it looks like it should be, atleast with both the L and D here in Australia.

This ia a fad i do not think they will sell manny to much bread what do you think ?

You deserve 4m subs.

They're pretty cool but honestly not 500 bucks cooler

Seems like the guitar tube content is all the same the last week or so. This is the third video today on these pickups and a bunch of videos on the new orange pedals all at once last week. Is this what we should expect from guit-con? That would suck.

They sound better, but still a little tinny

"Does anyone have a USB charger? I need one ASAP!" "What, is your phone dead?" "No, my guitar, and I have a gig in thirty minutes!!" From: dialogues we thought we'd never hear...

Honesty!? You are going to break the whole product "review" system! Maybe the internet! LOL!!! Thanks very much for an HONEST assessment. Subscribed for life... :D

I love them. You don't lose anything IMO and gain a second "voice" i.e. the "white guard" sound of later Teles in addition to the "black guard" sound of '52 et al. I put mine into a G&L ASAT which was a little difficult at the jack and needed the help of a technician. It is a Tribute Classic from Indonesia which had a shrill bridge pup I disliked so I disagree with the reviewer that you should only bother with Fishmans in expensive model Teles. Mine is a nice piece of swap ash and the neck and nut are just fine. I put a Babicz Full Contact bridge on it but that was a bit of kit that didn't payoff that much but cost a lot. The Greg Kock set comes with the rechargable battery built in which is usually a $99 upgrade. So, the pp set is like the other Fluence sets which cost $250 plus the $99 for the battery pack. Not $500 like this guy implied. I can't tolerate noise or hum and don't feel we should have to tolerate that in this day and age. Fishman delivers 100% on that promise. The neck pickup sounds especially wonderful--delivering a Hendrixy Strat neck pup sound if you want and warm jazzy notes. Great R&B "small guitar" sounds all the way to hefty rock sounds come from the bridge. No need for any routes for a battery compartment--the battery never needs to be touched after installation--it is rechaged through a USB port on the jack component which is right next to the 1/4" jack hole. Between guitar which I got as a "Stupid Deal of the Day" from MF and the Fishman set, the total was $700 and IMO is as good or better than conventional Teles twice that price. Final word: I think this reviewer is all wet. This pickup set will matter on any Tele. The only thing that's going to matter to the sound is the bridge and neck pocket, neck and wood density. You don't have to pay $2K to get that. Plus Fishman engineers and Greg Koch spent a long time getting the sound right for the black guard and white guard Tele years. I think the reviewer played only in a rock sensibility and did not put the Tele through country and R&B contexts without gain excesses. These pups shine in nuanced control of volume and tone.

i feel like I'd' rather have something from dragonfire or guitar fetish than this...or even dimarzio. Greg makes em sound great.

I cut out at 11:29. These sound like throwing money into an incinerator. "don't put these on an inexpensie guitar". I'd say just don't waste your money on them for the very slight difference they provide. From my autistic ears perspective, they've made a slightly higher output pup, then put a tap which an internal battery is required to use? BTW, I do know the difference between a split and a tap. WTAF? Why's a battery needed for something pickup manufacturers have done for yonks? I'm sure Seymour's custom shop could do the same for much less. I got OVER A HUNDRED options on my LP just by throwing in some SD triple-shot pup mounts, a phase push-push vol, a series push-push vol and a varitone switch in place of one tone control. FOR LESS THAN £200. I haven't put in my q-filter or black ice yet, I'll put them in another axe that actually needs variety.

Didn’t care for the sound of the fishman myself. Sounded even more thin, definitely needs to be fattened up. Just my 2¢ I’m sure some like that sound.

Man, with all due respect, I designed my own wiring for a couple of Fishman Fluence Moderns which are far more complex than Kochs' (featuring freq tilt, low gain for voice 1, single coil splitting for neck humbucker, and voice 1 and 2 switching) without previous knowledge on guitar wiring, electricity or electronics for that matter. It now even has a Jazz mode and it's a freaking Metal guitar! I'd try another technician... This things are expensive but I can't wait to put those Koch's in my Telecaster American Special. F" this review man. 1000 thumbs down, all day every day, in the streets, tonight!. Greetings from the third world!. I love your reviews by the way.

DOG! 1:43

"Strings for a day." It's a shame ! Everybody reuse his strings...