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Reviewed in the United States on September 22, 2024
I got this Banjo pick up in August 2024 for my birthday and it has been nothing but trouble. The wiring that connects to the jack constantly shorts out and stops working. I've had a luthier install it and then fix it and within a week it did it again. On top of that, it doesn't even work well with my banjo, It basically only picks up the 3rd and 4th strings which drown out any of the other strings. It sounded like garbage the one time i played it live and sounds like garbage in the recording studio . Considering I've owned it 6 weeks, used it once and in the first week it was installed and it crapped out...I'd love to get my money back. Needless to say, don't bother. I've used the KNA pickup on 3 different banjos and it works well. Sounds good recording and their customer service and tech support is better.
bluesrider
Reviewed in the United States on February 24, 2024
Ok
William Carter
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2024
This is by far the best sounding banjo pickup that I have heard in person. However, mounting it was a complete nightmare that took me nearly 8 hours and 4 trips to a hardware store. The offset washers that come with it, along with the curved bracket will not fit a Gold Tone OB-3 banjo. I would definitely buy this pickup again. But, knowing what I know now, I would have ordered the jack bracket from Gold Tone that fits their SMP+ pickup model. Talking to an experienced banjo player, I found out that you cannot replace the jack itself with a Gold Tone jack, because it will drain the battery really fast. The bracket that mounts the Gold Tone pickup jack looks like it would fit the Fishman jack perfectly, so all you would need from Gold Tone is the bracket. Without having a proper bracket, I had to improvise by stacking different sizes of washers, and my end result is still not ideal. I was also told by a luthier that he has had to resort to using zip ties to make this fit a Gold Tone banjo.
Kirsty Trice
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 24, 2023
I have purchased and returned and purchased again - this product does not come with the jack input either time. I do not know where to buy the jack input in order to install this properly. The photo of the product is misleading as it suggests it comes with the silver quarter jack input.
SIA Raxti
Reviewed in Germany on June 13, 2023
I think I may have received a defected product. I had the pickup installed by a professional, and it worked but the problem was that no matter how I set it up under the banjo head it would not pick up the strings to the sides – they were extremely quiet in comparison to the middle strings. I have a 5 string Recording King banjo. Maybe the magnets were off, I'm not sure. I tried moving the pickup up and down the trusses inside the banjo on a vertical axis. I tried turning it around 180 degrees. I tried placing the pickup so that it would touch the banjo head and then tried leaving a space between the pickup and the drum head. Nothing. It would not pick up the sound from the strings to the sides. The disbalance in the loudness was very pronounced and annoying. The middle strings that the pickup did pick up, however, sounded ~okay. I wasn't blown away by the sound but if someone decides to give these pickups a try, they sounded decent. I'm going back to a DPA 4099 microphone for live gigs. I hoped this pickup might replace it (because I've always had problems with the banjo when I play live with a mic because of feedback) but the DPA microphone was better than this pickup if you point it at a resonator hole.Installing the banjo pickup was easy so no problems there. I returned the product, though, and am now waiting for a refund. I guess I could recommend people try it. The sound was just "okay" for the price, I think.
Ron J. N.B. Texas
Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2023
Fishman pickups and amplifiers are the best acoustic instrument accoutrements on the market. However this particular product/ Pickup application can BE VERY MISLEADING. I have a GOLD TONE GT 6-Six string banjo and was attempting to upgrade its pickup system to make the banjo more PA system friendly. My luthier informed me that this pickup, ADVERTISED AS ACCOMMODATING AND COMPATIBLE WITH ALL OPEN AND RESONATOR STYLE BANJO'S, Could not be installed in my Banjo without massive modifications. I sent this pickup back to Amazon to return to Fishman. So please be informed if you have a six string Banjo the only Pickup that will work is the Goldtone magnetic wide width, no preamp style pickup. I reiterate. THIS PICKUP IS FOR 5 STRING BANJO'S ONLY !!!!!!
Joff
Reviewed in the United States on December 20, 2023
This pickup authentically reproduces the sound of my Flatiron Sweetgrass five-string banjo without making it sound like an electric guitar. It's nice to hear the banjo amplified and stay true to its sound.There are no installation instructions included in the box. You need to go to Fishman's website and search for banjo pickups. The installation instructions there are sufficient, although they do not exactly replicate the hardware that comes with the pickup. You will NEED a soldering iron to finish the installation. In Fishman's defense, they do suggest a professional installation. All in all, I am happy with the finished product.
bill kinsella
Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2018
When I gave the Fishman pickup to my luthier, he installed it and the unit did not work!!! Fishman told us to return it to the retailer, which I did following a phone call to Amazon. They sent me a new one immediately and gave me a shipping label to return the non working one, which I was real happy about. The pickup sounds great!! Definitely picks up the "banjo" sound which has been confirmed by several listeners, while playing out.I like it so much I bought a second one to replace an older pickup in another banjo. Pick on !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
John C Warner V
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2017
I've always just played acoustic instruments, but I've got a performance coming up and need to be able to amplify my banjo. I asked a professional banjo playing friend for his advice and he recommended this Fishman banjo pickup. I was hoping to be able to install it myself, but when they say they recommend professional installation, they're not kidding - it was beyond the scope of my knowledge and the tools I have, so I had it done at a local shop. Anyway, it sounds great.
D. J. Thomas
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 21, 2017
I'm really happy with the sound of this via a Fishman preamp, but not straight. The only difficulty was fitting the bridge which took a long time.
Customer
Reviewed in the United States on March 25, 2016
Excellent pickup! So much better than the K&k banjo twin, which made my $2,000+ banjo sound like a $50 banjo. Pair this with a Fishman Platinum DI or L.R. Baggs & you have a banjo pick that makes your acoustic instrument sound like one, even in large venues.If you are a real banjo enthusiast and have some common sense, its really not difficult to install. You can find the instruction for installation online.Great pickup!
Customer
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 16, 2014
Slightly awkward to fit. It requires a bit of fiddly soldering and customising. Great sound though. Much better than the transducer I was using before.
maurice baker
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 4, 2013
The Fishman banjo pickup was fine but I did not find it easy to fit and needed a specialist to install. However, this was the recommendation with the product.
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