Wiring active Fishman Fluence pickups in series

[olko]

Hi,

I'd like to ask people here who know more than I about pickups, is it possible to wire 2 (or even 3) Fishman Fluence pickups in series? They are active but only thread discussing active pickups in series that i found was from 2004, so that's a long time ago and I imagine that technology might have change inside active pickups. Since they also have way to do "split" pickups and are being fed to active preamp ( that is sold together with pickups ) I think it could be possible but still, don't wanna fry my pickups .

Any help appreciated!

 

[ctmullins]

I don’t think so. Each pickup has its own integrated preamp, meaning you can’t tap into just the coils by themselves.

That said, why do you want to do this? Usually people pursue a series mode in order to get a fatter, thicker tone, but the Fluence already has a “Classic” mode which I think could get you there?

 

[olko]

I don’t think so. Each pickup has its own integrated preamp, meaning you can’t tap into just the coils by themselves.

That said, why do you want to do this? Usually people pursue a series mode in order to get a fatter, thicker tone, but the Fluence already has a “Classic” mode which I think could get you there?

Thank you for the answer

to answer your question on why i would do it, i just like to add tonal possibilities to my instruments - for example all of my guitars are modded to do north coil/series/parallel/south coil switching on humbuckers and also parallel/series connection between neck/bridge (tho on guitars i like passive pickups more).

This is my first time modifying the bass so i was just applying the same thought to it, almost started soldering but then i started to think that since it needs battery power for something it is not as straightforward as 2 coils with magnet

 

[ctmullins]

Well, the Fluence already have six different tones built into them!

• Classic dual-coil
• Modern dual-coil
• Modern scooped dual-coil
• Classic single-coil
• Modern single-coil
• Modern scooped single-coil

Add the tone-shaping of the two-band active EQ, and that’s a truckload of versatility right there!

 

[olko]

Well, the Fluence already have six different tones built into them!

• Classic dual-coil
• Modern dual-coil
• Modern scooped dual-coil
• Classic single-coil
• Modern single-coil
• Modern scooped single-coil

Add the tone-shaping of the two-band active EQ, and that’s a truckload of versatility right there!

yea i already have them in my bass, but am adding third one to the mix, doing lowkey poor man's dingwall (it's redsub coliseum 5 ) but i lack that neck pickup tone since both pickups are too close to bridge. Since i will be already redoing the whole electronics (adding 5 way rotary pickup switch) i wanted to add maybe some new tone by having switches to be able to any combination of pickups in series/parallel

I would say it was just to add maybe some option that is possible and it could have some "new" kind of sound

 

[DangaDanga]

I actually asked fishman this question because I was curious myself with the technology being different. They do not recommend. Here was their response-

Hello
Fluence pickups are not designed to and cannot be wired in series. Doing this will potentially damage the pickups and cause them to not work. This is NOT recommended. Thanks.
-Mike-

 

[olko]

I actually asked fishman this question because I was curious myself with the technology being different. They do not recommend. Here was their response-

Hello
Fluence pickups are not designed to and cannot be wired in series. Doing this will potentially damage the pickups and cause them to not work. This is NOT recommended. Thanks.
-Mike-

Thank you, I actually wrote them too, but with this information i can prepare my wiring

 

[olko]

So i just got reply from fishman and yeah as you said they aren't to be wired in series. Just for purposes of anyone finding this thread in future this is response i got from fishman

Hi Oliver,





Our Fluence pickups are not designed to be wired in series. Was there a specific tone you were looking to achieve? If so, let me know as there may be another way to get the tone you want.





Regards, Derek

Also they were pretty quick to reply

 

[micguy]

Active pickups have electronics as their output - they're small amplifiers. Just as we don't generally tie the output of two power amplifiers together, the same principle applies here - combining active pickups has to be done with an educated understanding of what you're doing, or the final results will be less than mediocre.