Fishman Rare Earth Mic Blend User manual

USER GUIDE
RARE EARTH SOUNDHOLE PICKUPS

Quick Install

To temporarily install the pickup, loosen the clamps with a Phillips screwdriver.

Position the pickup in the soundhole, parallel to and as close to the end of the
fingerboard as possible. Gently re-tighten the clamps. For now, run the cable out
through the soundhole.

Precaution: Don’t let the pickup cable rest on your guitar’s finish for long
periods. The rubber jacket could interact with the finish and leave a
permanent mark.

If you travel with your guitar or store it for long periods with the pickup in place,
we strongly recommend that you have the endpin jack permanently installed in
the guitar. Installation instructions for professional installers are available from
Service & Support at www.fishman.com.

3

Mounting Clamps

The jaws of the clamps are lined with natural cork, which will not interact with

the guitar’s finish. Use gentle pressure to tighten the clamps. Note that
over-tightening may perforate the guitar finish.

Power

The Rare Earth switches on when you plug in. To conserve the batteries, unplug

the endpin jack when not in use.

The batteries for the Rare Earth are conveniently mounted to the underside of

the pickup. You can expect over 240 hours (110 hours for Rare Earth Blend)
between battery changes. When the signal from the pickup starts to distort it is
time to change the batteries. See page 9.

4

Pickup Voicing

The Rare Earth has been carefully voiced to reproduce a balanced string

response. If your guitar has very high action on the bass side or very low action
on the treble side, you may hear slight imbalance between the outside strings. In
these cases, raise the bass side of the pickup with a shim.

The Rare Earth is voiced specifically for bronze or phosphor bronze strings. If

nickel electric guitar strings are used with the Rare Earth, the lower wound strings
will overpower the higher plain strings.

Preamp

All Rare Earth models feature a miniature preamp, housed within the body of

the pickup. A low-noise circuit design preserves the pickup’s performance in any
audio environment. Plug the Rare Earth into an acoustic instrument amplifier, an
unbalanced input of a mixer or a direct box, without signal loss or degradation.

You may run cables up to 80' (25m) in length without audible signal loss.

5

Pickup Types

Single Coil

This model is for those who prefer the brightness and character associated with a

single coil pickup. Note that this version, like all single coil pickups, is susceptible
to 50 – 60Hz hum. To minimize noise, keep the Rare Earth Single Coil away from
fluorescent lights, light dimmers, computer monitors and transformers.

6