Fishman Full Circle 1/4-20

I got the Full Circle to replace a cheap "under bridge" piezo that I wasn't satisfied with. I also wanted a more "upfront" sound with more focus on the strings than piezos under the bridge can provide.

I'm very happy with the sound of the Full Circle. It is a lot more focused, has better clarity and also bigger, tighther lows than my old ones. A lot less muddy.

The sound has a slight focus on strings rather than body. The G string is bordering on harsh but I wanted an upfront sound that would be heard in a (prog rock) mix so it's perfect for me. This may not be everyones taste though. There are certainly smoother sounding pickups out there! I should add that my bridge has threads up. Bridges with threads down are supposed to give slightly more focus towards the sound of the body with this pickup so probably smoother sounding.

Build quality... Well, it seems a bit fragile to be honest. I'm not confident that the wire going into the piezo will last forever. Also the design of the jack input never worked for me. It just kept falling off. I used an old sock + some duct tape to make another solution where I can insert it sideways under the tailpiece.

Installing it was very easy but obviously requires removing the bridge from the instrument, which is not something I would want to do on a regular basis.

I'm very happy with the sound, even though other pickups in the same price range can certainly provide a fuller/smoother sound (if that is what's needed). I would have expected slightly better build quality at this price but I guess it's not easy to make a robust design for a pickup like this so overall I'm reasonably happy with it.

I use the fishman full circle for gigging with bands since 2 years now and I'm fairly satisfied with it. The sound of it isn't as super natural as the realist pick up but it doesn't have any of the downsides of the realist either. Which means there's no problems with the feedback so you can turn up the volume, it cuts through the band quite effectively especially if there's a drummer in the band too and it covers the whole of the sound range quite well. For recordings it might not be the best choice or if you're only playing arco stuff but I would defo recommend it if you're looking for a reliable pick up for basically any type of gig that comes your way.

Habitant à La Réunion nous avons posé cette cellule avec un luthier spécialisé installé depuis peu (Alex Villain) sur mon chevalet non équipé de molette. Il fallait la précision du luthier pour y arriver et quelques conseils de spécialiste ( Bruno Brette) car la notice Fishmann propose deux façons de la monter. De l'avis général il faut la monter le pas de vis vers le bas et c'est ce que nous avons fait. Ensuite le pas de vis américain 20 filets par pouce ne permet pas de trouver facilement une pièce femelle métal non fournie ni même de la tarauder. Le pied du chevalet est donc taraudé dans le bois à vif. Le perçage a été réalisé avec une mèche métal pour ne pas détruire le bois et un espace a été laissé comme conseillé sous la molette pour ne pas la comprimer. Au final le son est très naturel. Un ravissement.
A manipuler avec précaution. Personnellement je trouve ma contrebasse un peu dénaturée surtout pour jouer en classique avec cet affreux système d'attache entre deux cordes et je pense me replacer un chevalet classique pour un usage exclusif. Pour le jazz c'est enfin le son piezo qui permet aussi de sortir son archet sans craindre la chair de poule !