Fluence Classic Humbucker Open Core 2-piece Pickup Set - Black Review

Fishman Fluence Classic Open Core pickups

I replaced the Fishman Fluence Modern pickups in a Strandberg Boden Metal guitar with these pickups. Huge improvement with increased versatility of sonic options. Also, very easy swap. Only had to solder two wires because of the plugin connectors.

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...which is what makes time travel possible...

So I dropped these into a PRS Custom 24 Floyd. They replaced the stock \m/ metal passive ceramics, which frankly set the bar quite high. They didn't play well with the treble bleed capacitor or the tone cap configuration in the PRS, so, begrudgingly, I installed them per spec....fine make me do it the right way. I decided to install the universal battery pack as well, and because… read more the control cavity on the PRS is so compact the push pull pots weren't really an option, so I used some Seymour Duncan Triple Shots to replace the PRS stock rings. I have the triple shots set up to give me control over voice1/voice2 & HFT on each pickup. Yes, it works. I wish the voice3 coil select could operate via switch to ground instead of jumpered mid run, I'd like to be able to run outside coils in parallel and inside coils in parallel on the stock PRS selector, and maybe I'm missing something but the SCO output did not play well in parallel with the other humbucker... The neck's voice 2 "Clear, Airy Chime" is great. Crystal clear modern tone. As advertised. The bridge's voice 2 is very good, better than adequate, but lacking a little bite. Coming from ceramics this is not too surprising for me, but I just couldn't take the ice picks anymore. The tone control, once wired properly, is incredibly versatile. The pickups definitely react well to different tone settings and are really the first pickups I haven't wanted to have dimed out at all times. The tonal body seems to shift such that as you raise the tone knob not only do more highs come through but the bass and mids cut as well...and vice versa...more like a band pass than a low pass. ...but the PAFs....omg the PAF's....I had no idea...so amazing...dynamic...just the right amount of richness...the bridge sounds better than the V2 for all but the heavy riffage...the neck PAF is just pure butter. So did these pups pass the bar set by the stock pickups? Let me put it this way, I've had to name this PRS 'DeLorean' because every time I pick it up I am somehow transported 3 hours into the future, and the Fluence Classics are like the Flux Capacitor...

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