Fishman Fluence Tosin Abasi Set 8 BK

I bought this set I had been looking at for a long while to replace the EMG 808's I previously had on my Schecter Hellraiser C-8 Special (26.5" scale). The EMG's were really muddy on the low end so I needed something to bring my guitar alive.

What follows is mostly my personal opinion, based on my gear, my taste and experience with the instrument, so take it with a grain of salt.

Pro's:
- Two Voicings + Coil Split gets you plenty of options to play with.
- The above applies to both cleans and overdriven tones.
- Lots of clarity on distortion compared to EMG's.
- Great cleans, versatile, warm, again, plenty of options at the ready.
- Alnico Neck, great for leads and warm round cleans.
- Ceramic Bridge, great for aggressive metal riffs and leads alike.

Cons:
- Do they deliver the best of both worlds (active/passive) ?
No they don't, it's for sure a great improvement and addition to the world of active pickups, and a very different take on active pickups if you will, but they still sound very much active.
- Yes, you do get a lot of clarity but not as much as I had hoped for.

Conclusion:
When I was looking for pickups, my initial idea was to get a set of Nazgul and Sentient pickups, but the price was well above 300 euros, while this Abasi set was 260 Euros. The 100 Euros difference surely played a role in my choice.
I had anyways been always curious about Fishman pickups and the hype around them, especially the Tosin Abasi models for obvious reasons, so in the end I went for this.

Would I buy them again?
Not sure, I was after the classic Meshuggah tone, and I didn't really get there at all. Obviously, I understand that part of my disappointment must originate in my guitar due to the relatively "short" scale for an 8 strings (26.5") and the mahogany body.
However, in all honesty, if I would have to choose again, I would have rather saved up a little longer and get the Seymour Duncan's I wanted initially.

Should you buy it ?
Well it depends on several factors as you can imagine.
They won't make miracles, your guitar (woods) is still a crucial factor in this equation, so scale length and woods is something you wanna keep in consideration.
Bottom line, if you have a guitar that already sounds pretty sharp on its own (swamp ash typically), AND, you are looking into refreshing and cleaning up your tone, AND, you like actives and want different sound option ready, then yeah, these pups will get you deliver greatly.
If you are looking for something that won't sound active, then this product is not for you, in such case you should just go for a good set of passive pickups.

They are fairly priced and deliver their promise, plus the price is kinda great.

Had to pick these up, since almost nothing else slots right into the Harley Benton R-458FFB Roasted MultiScale 8-string, and the stock pickups on that guitar are terrible. Was not my first choice, wanted to outfit the guitar with BKP Juggernauts, but the cost was prohibitive (almost double that of the Fishmans).

Overall, the Abasi set sounds good, the ability to switch between different 'modes' is helpful and offers variety. However, compared to passive pickups, the sound is a bit lifeless and sterile. The 'passive' mode is really the only usable one for a heavy distorted sound, as it has the most low-end and body. With some playing around with amp settings I have managed to *almost* match up the Abasis with the 8-string Juggernauts in my main guitar. A positive is that even with heavy distortion, there is excellent clarity both on the lowest string and when playing chords/arpeggios. Cleans sound good with the coil-split mode and neck or neck/bridge pickups and fit well into a mix.

Install is a nightmare. Been soldering pickups for years and this is one of the most complicated schematics that I've ever had to work my way through. Confusing layout and orientation of the pots, especially regarding the coil-split poles on the diagram. Even a guitar with a generous-sized electronics cavity, such as the HB R-458FFB has a hard time accommodating the mess of wires, with a battery to boot.

Build quality is excellent, though I have to say, they arrived in a very beat-up looking box from Thomann, which made me doubt if they were even brand-new for a little while. Seems like they were sitting in the warehouse for a long time (guess everyone else is buying passives nowadays :)