Fishman Pickup Swap

[fuzzbox-UK]

Hi guys,
I would like some advice please.

I purchased a Parker Fly Mojo from new 10 years ago. The Fly had various problems over the years from selector switches breaking, replacement switches breaking, string buzzing at the 7-8th frets, tremolo plate issues whereby could not tune correctly. This caused the Parker to be put in the corner and other guitars favoured. Issues have been resolved and want to start using it again.

So, I thought I might swap the Seymour Duncan pickups to Fishman Active pickups (https://www.thomann.de/gb/fishman_fluen ... YwQAvD_BwE) and would like to ask if anyone here has had the experience and/or can offer advice?

I have read the manual(s) on this site and get the feeling that it is possible and it may take a complete re-wire and maybe mechanical alteration of the pickup base plate? I'm willing to do this work but just want to know from the experienced here, are there any potential pitfalls?

Thanks for reading

Regards

Kevin

[mmmguitar]

Welcome, @fuzzbox-UK/Kevin. First of all, the mod is very much possible. But there are considerations to be made:

The covered Fluence pickup SKUs (such as the Modern you linked to) have square corners which will likely require modification to the guitar's pickup routs to accomodate them. If you were to use one of the uncovered Open Core designs with radiused corners (pictured below), then the only modification required to fit the pickup to the shape of the Mojo rout would be to carefully clip the mounting tabs off the baseplate using tin snips or a dremel cutting disc.

Note that the baseplate of the Fluence pickups have multi-pin connectors which output several bundled wires toward one side. You will potentially need to enlarge the pickup wire channels from the routs to the control cavity with a larger diameter drill bit to accomodate these.

The pickups will require double-sided mounting tape to be affixed to the bottom of the Fly pickup routs; as there will be no mounting screws. This, combined with the added height of the baseplate multi-pin connectors, may result in the pickup sitting so tall in the stock pickup routs as to necessitate deepening the pickup routs and test-fitting the modified Fluence pickups until the desired height has been achieved.

Finally, you can be certain that any modification to the pickup baseplate will void the Fishman warranty. If you wish to keep the pickups unmodified, then the pickup routs of the guitar will need to be enlarged to accept the pickups' mounting tabs (which would themselves require much shorter mounting screws, given how thin the Fly body shape is).

From there, wiring the thing up would be no more difficult than any other active pickup installation (i.e., swapping in different value pots and deciding where the battery will be located).

#PickupPreferences

[fuzzbox-UK]

mmmguitar,
thank you for your prompt reply!

there's a lot there to take in... But I understand what you're saying as it is clearly written.

Yeah, good point, I do not want to alter the new pick ups as if they do not sound very good then I will swap them out on another guitar. That said, I'm sure they will sound awesome.

I will go and see my guitar tech on Tuesday and put this to him. He is more wood, materials and setup and not keen on rewiring electronics. So, I will do that as I understand a bit more about electronics. So, I will ask him if he is able to enlarge width and depth for the Fishman pickups and enlarge any holes for the cabling. If so, then I will attempt to complete the electronics.

One question that comes to mind is the existing piezo bridge, do you think I can keep that function untouched (re-wiring as needed of course)?

Thanks

[mmmguitar]

One question that comes to mind is the existing piezo bridge, do you think I can keep that function untouched (re-wiring as needed of course)?

Yes. If your Mojo has chrome saddles, it's a Fishman Powerchip piezo saddle/preamp system. If they're black, it's a Graph Tech Acousti-Phonic. In either circuit, the magnetic pickup signal output from the volume pot goes to a dedicated input of the piezo preamp. Your Mojo already has a TRS barrel jack for active pickup battery connections (plugging a 1/4" cable into the jack turns the piezo preamp on by grounding the 9v negative wire soldered to one of the lugs on the jack); so it's likely you won't have to rewire anything in the piezo circuit.

I have no firsthand experience with powering both the Fluence and piezo preamp with the same battery - but I'm aware that others have done it with EMGs (Here's Graph Tech's version of doing so) - I recommend reaching out to Fishman tech support to see what power options you can get away with. Otherwise, fitting a second 9v battery into the guitar may prove challenging unless you rout additional space for it.

Having your tech convert the Mojo pickup cavities so they have a typical direct mount rout for humbuckers is definitely the cleanest option for auditioning a set of Fluences. So long as you can live with the permanence of the mod, you seem ready to move forward with it. Please update us to let us know how things go - I love this kind of stuff; and will be living vicariously through you: I like Fluences enough to consider putting them in a Fly - But also like passives enough to keep them in the Fly.

[fuzzbox-UK]

..thanks for the update. More food for thought.

My Fly has black (Graph Tech) saddles. BTW Will post photos before, during and after the work... If I go ahead of course.

I have purchased a rechargeable battery pack from Fishman https://www.thomann.de/gb/fishman_unive ... y_pack.htm. So, I already have a battery compartment on the back plate. So, I should be able to re-route (and/or re-wire) the existing wires so I just have one battery for everything. I don't think I can use the space for the existing battery slot... but it's plastic so... maybe a little re-work in that area.

I will reach out to tech support at Fishman today and see what they suggest.

[mmmguitar]

I don't think I can use the space for the existing battery slot... but it's plastic so... maybe a little re-work in that area.

I will reach out to tech support at Fishman today and see what they suggest.

I've routed instruments for Fluence battery packs and 9v boxes - Given the Fluence li-ion pack and cable connector require more internal space, it would certainly be helpful to be able to run two preamps off the one battery. I look forward to reading what Fishman has to say about powering the Fluence and Powerchip preamps with one of their battery packs: This could prove encouraging to other Fly owners curious about installing Fluences, or alert them to a potential pitfall. We're entering uncharted territory for Flykind!

[fuzzbox-UK]

Here's an update on my project.

Overview:
I want to add Fishman pickups and a battery pack to my Fly Mojo. The guitar has been in the case for the last three years and I thought I would give it another try but with new active Fishman pickups. But first I want the guitar setup again by my guitar tech as there's a couple of fret buzzes and crackly tone pots. In the meantime, I contacted Fishman for confirmation of my re-work. I will complete all the electronic work.

Fishman agree with me that you can run the internal piezo preamp and the new active pickups from one battery. Just bear in mind that the current draw is greater and hence the battery life will be reduced or you may need to re-charge the battery pack more often. Makes sense.

Unfortunately for me, I can't get my guitar tech to do the routing. He said that it is too risky for him to attempt as he feels that he might ruin the finish plus he thinks the body looks too thin to add the new pickups. Ok, I thought, so I might go down the trim the pickup tags so they can match the existing pickups... But during my fret buzz check, my guitar tech noticed that there are at least 3 frets lifting. There's the buzz issue right there! My tech fixed them and now it plays better but it is still a little rattly... But I will need all the frets re-set at some point in the near future, it will cost more as they're glued on. So, after a day or so thinking about it... It's a no-go for the project. I will not be changing the pickups.

[mmmguitar]

Thanks for filling us in on the elements conspiring against you at the moment, @fuzzbox-UK, as well as confirming by way of Fishman support that one could power their Powerchip and Fluence preamps off a single battery, should they wish. Note that you're still free to swap any "trembucker"-spaced Duncans (or other brand pickups with 52.6mm spacing) into your Mojo by swapping or modifying the baseplates (as detailed with a Dimarzio-equipped Fly in this thread).

[fuzzbox-UK]

..Interesting... Food for thought. Thanks for the video.

At this moment in time, I do want an active pickup to add to my guitars.