Fishman (established 1981) is an American company based in
Andover, Massachusetts
Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. It was Settler, settled in 1642 and incorporated in 1646."Andover" in ''Encyclopedia Britannica, The New Encyclopædia Britannica''. Chicago: Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 15th ed. ...
, known for making
guitar pickup
A pickup is an electronic device that converts energy from one form to another that captures or senses mechanical vibrations produced by musical instruments, particularly stringed instruments such as the electric guitar, and converts these t ...
s and other products involved in the amplification of acoustic guitars and other stringed instruments.
History
In 1980 Larry Fishman made a prototype
acoustic pickup in his basement, and by 1981 he had taken orders for pickups from the
Guild Guitar Company
The Guild Guitar Company is a United States–based guitar manufacturer founded in 1952 by Alfred Dronge, a guitarist and music-store owner. The brand name currently exists as a brand under Córdoba Music Group. In February 2023, The Yamaha Gui ...
. In 1982 the
C.F. Martin Guitar Company ordered Fishman pickups; to accommodate it, Fishman and his company rented a larger manufacturing space, and began designing and making pickups for banjos, mandolins, violins, cellos and basses as well.
The company has also produced amplifiers and other guitar-related equipment since its beginning in 1981. They have been particularly known for producing high-quality acoustic amplifiers.
Fishman Fluence
In 2012 the company began working on a new pickup for electric guitars.
Most guitar pickups are made with wire coiled around a magnet. The Fluence was a solid-core pickup with a conventional magnet and two 48-layer circuit boards
—a completely new approach, using techniques previously used in the aerospace and telecommunications sectors.
Fishman hired Ching-Yu Lin, Ph.D. to analyze and charge the magnets used in their pickups. The company was able to control the consistency of the magnets and the stacked solid core to make each pickup consistent.
They began manufacturing the new product in 2014.
Fishman continues to design and make pickups for guitar makers, including
Paul Reed Smith guitars.
They have designed an acoustic guitar pickup for the
Fender Musical Instruments Corporation
The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation (FMIC, or simply Fender) is an American manufacturer and marketer of musical instruments and amplifiers. Fender produces acoustic guitars, bass amplifiers and public address equipment; however, it is b ...
.
ESP Guitars
is a Japanese guitar manufacturer, primarily focused on the production of electric guitars and basses. They are based in both Tokyo and Los Angeles, with distinct product lines for each market. ESP Company manufactures instruments under sever ...
sells guitars incorporating Fishman Fluence pickups.
installs Fishman pickups in its G-45 Series acoustic guitars.
In 2019
Ibanez Guitars
is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki was one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as ...
began selling a guitar model with Fishman pickups.
Reverend Guitars,
Schecter guitars
Schecter Guitar Research, commonly known simply as Schecter, is an American manufacturing company founded in 1976 by David Schecter, which originally produced only replacement parts for existing guitars from manufacturers such as Fender and Gib ...
and Solar Guitars sell guitars with Fishman Fluence pickups,
and Caparison has begun installing Fishman pickups in their Dellinger basses.
Also recently,
Cort Guitars
Cort Guitars (Cor-Tek Corporation) is a South Korean guitar manufacturing company located in Seoul. The company is one of the largest guitar makers in the world, and produces instruments for many other companies. It also has factories in Indonesi ...
have launched the KX500 model which comes loaded with Fishman Fluence pickups, making Cort guitars a new staple on modern guitar players.
Products
* Guitar pickup system
*
Pickups
** Acoustic guitar soundhole pickup
*
Guitar bridge
*
ToneDEQ Preamp
*
Effects pedals
An effects unit, effects processor, or effects pedal is an electronic device that alters the sound of a musical instrument or other audio source through audio signal processing.
Common effects include distortion (music), distortion/overdrive, ...
*
Acoustic guitar amplifier
A guitar amplifier (or amp) is an electronic device or system that strengthens the electrical signal from a pickup on an electric guitar, bass guitar, or acoustic guitar so that it can produce sound through one or more loudspeakers, which are ...
s
*
Performance audio systems
See also
*
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...
*
Busking
Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuity, gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performa ...
*
Humbucker
A humbucker, humbucking pickup, or double coil, is a guitar pickup that uses two wire coils to cancel out noisy interference from Single coil guitar pickup, coil pickups. Humbucking coils are also used in Microphone, dynamic microphones to can ...
*
Single coil guitar pickup
A single-coil pickup is a type of magnetic transducer, or pickup, for the electric guitar and the electric bass. It electromagnetically converts the vibration of the strings to an electric signal. Single-coil pickups are one of the two most po ...
External links
Larry Fishman Oral HistoryFishman artists
References
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Companies based in Massachusetts
American companies established in 1981
Manufacturing companies of the United States
Guitar pickup manufacturers
Electromagnetic components
Guitar amplifier manufacturers