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Fishman Neo-D Acoustic Soundhole Humbucker Pickup Reviews

Passive Humbucking Magnetic Acoustic Soundhole Pickup with Low-profile Design, Easy Installation

The Fishman Neo-D humbucking Acoustic Pickup features a passive design that fits into the soundhole of most steel-string flat-top acoustic guitars. Fishman uses a state-of-the-art magnetic field/coil structure on the Neo-D (similar to their acclaimed Rare Earth pickup), and its string balance is excellent, thanks to the unique arrangement of its neodymium magnets. Installation is a snap, and this reliable pickup sounds simply fantastic live. Voiced specifically for instruments using bronze or phosphor bronze strings, the Fishman Neo-D is an incredible value!

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Highest Rated Reviews

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Very impressive

By Sweetwater Customer on November 7, 2023 Music Background: VO Talent & Studio Owner

Popped this on my Martin D-20 Special (first time over a PA system) WoW!!! It sparkles!!!

Simple, warm and articulate!

By Manny Lee H. from Chicago, IL on October 10, 2023 Music Background: Professional Singer / Songwriter

I bought this a little over a year ago and used it on my Sigma Martin, 1983 DM-18. I played many gigs with it and it always made my guitar sound clear and warm. It's very simple to install when you need to have a pickup in your acoustic and easier to uninstall when you don't. After using it for a year, I decided to permanently install it into my guitar. That was also easy. I just took out the strap pin and used a hand step drill bit to get a perfect hole for the 1/4" Endpin jack. I didn't use a power drill for fear of ruining the finish. I cut the 9' cable to length and soldered it up. Now it's in my guitar permanently and sounds terrific!

I run it through my Boss VE-8 and am able to use the preamp to boost the signal. This is a passive pickup, so keep that in mind. You need to boost the signal with a preamp of sorts, like with one of the L.R. Baggs acoustic pedals or the Boss VE-8. I also have used an old BI-Fet Acoustic Preamp from the 90's that still works well. I never have feedback and the tone is very rich, especially in combination with the VE-8. I highly recommend this product. I did try the single coil first, but I was getting a lot of feedback. Too much for even the VE-8 to notch out. The humbucker is the way to go if you need a decent volume.

Great Bang for the Buck

By Robert Alford from Lawton, OK on August 8, 2023 Music Background: 60 year player

This Fishman Neo-D is a great pickup. Virtually noiseless in my Guild 12 String I installed it in. I purchased the version with the long cable in case I didn't like it. No problem. It is now installed professionally. This pickup punched way above it's weight.

Sweetwater Service Great as Always

By Stuart from South Carolina on June 1, 2022 Music Background: Many years as a guitar player for fun.

Sweetwater service is fantastic as always. It can serve as a model for all companies that want to delight their customers. Codie, my sales engineer, is always communicative and helpful. The Fishman pickup works as expected. I do not need to move the pickup across multiple guitars, so after giving it a trial run, I cut and soldered the cable to an output jack and installed the pickup and jack permanently. It works and looks great, and there is no cable hanging out of the sound hole.

Fishman Neo-D Humbucker Acoustic Pickup

By Bill Hagen from Linden, MI on March 16, 2022 Music Background: 45+ years of tinkering between drums and guitar.

For both my Martin SWDGT and Guild F30R, I wanted a pickup that could be placed without any alterations. The Neo-D humbucker perfectly fits that need. I'm only using it for home recording and with the options available in my DAW, there's a palette of sounds I can get. Never used it in a live setting, but for recording, it's great. Another win for Geoff Allen!

Great pickup!

By Sweetwater Customer on April 10, 2021 Music Background: Church music director/musician, amateur sound tech

Bought this pickup to use in a friends 12-string. Worked great! Clean acoustic-like sound, punchy but warm. Popped it into a couple other guitars I have and sounds fantastic. Going to be a great backup or supplement for other pickups I use. And as always, Nick Hammer has been the best. Promptly got my confirmation and shipping emails as always!

Fishman Neo-D Humbucking Acoustic Pickup

By Robert from Virginia on April 27, 2020

Better than I expected. Sound is great - easy to install. well pleased.

Awesome pickup

By bobby from NY on November 19, 2019 Music Background: alessi brothers

This pickup sounds great. No need for preamp, I plug it directly into my Fishman amp and it has rich sound with out feedback!

Perfect solution. True sound

By Captain Bob from Texas on August 24, 2019 Music Background: Played night clubs 57 years ago. Now just church and looking into nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

I really wanted an acoustic Electric guitar. Bought several but none had the unplugged sound of my 1987 Fender flat top that I got in 87 for my 50th birthday. I sold or gave away 5 before deciding to try a sound hole passive pickup. This humbucking pickup is perfect. It delivers exactly what I hear. I've seen reviews reflecting a need to crank up the amp volume. Here's an easy fix. Go to Hobby lobby. Buy a 5 pack of cork coaster blanks. $2.99. They're 1/8" thick and perfect for shimming the pickup close to the strings. I set mine .040" from the strings while holding the strings down on the 12th fret. and only have to turn the Master volume up 1 number. Also I hardwire it to a permanent plug outlet (phone jack) at the bottom of the guitar about 5 inches from the center. Perfect. No battery. Downside? No on-board tuner if that's an issue which it truly isn't for me. SWEETWATER? Everyone I've come in contact with has been professional knowledgeable customer service minded. Skyler seems to know exactly what I want and need to achieve the results I'm looking for. He's helped me pick the right Electric guitar and case and everything else I'm looking for. Yeah. I'll be back

Fishman + Taylor = Fantastic Tone

By Mike from North Carolina on May 10, 2019 Music Background: Almost 5 decades of playing

Installed in a 1988 Taylor 810 about 2 months ago. Incredible tone. No top noise.
Easy install. Whats not to like ?

Shocked!

By Bruce from NC on April 7, 2019 Music Background: Novice

I bought this for my son's Ovation acoustic guitar after researching a few others.

I really didn't expect it to work quite as well as some of the reviews I read/watched. I was WRONG!

This sounds fantastic!

I did have to adjust the amps settings a bit, but holy cow!

He loves it, I love it...well worth the money in my opinion.

Great!!

By Ed from Jersey Shore on August 31, 2018 Music Background: I play & build guitars

This pickup works very well as long as your amp has a pre-amp,it's loud and clear . I switch it between guitars in less than 5 minutes.

Fishman Rocks

By Mark Norman from Healdsburg on April 4, 2017 Music Background: semi-pro performer and songwriter

Works awesome with my Fishman Tone D EQ Preamp I bought at the same time. Take awhile to get used to putting on the guitar and totally worth it!

Very Nice!!!.

By Hal from Orlando on May 28, 2016

Bought this after I misplaced my old Dean Markley sound hole pickup and was I surprised!. A Very Nice woody tone that enhanced the sound of my Epi Hummingbird to where I couldn`t believe it,it sounded that good!. Excellent purchase and again,Sweetwater delivered quickly. Kudo`s!!.

Great Pickup!

By Diana B. from Apex, NC on March 17, 2016

This Fishman Neo-D pickup is really great! I was pleasantly surprised when I played at our last concert and all I had to do was plug it into a main speaker output. Super tone for my Martin 000-28EC. Thank you again for the quick shipment Sweetwater.

Fishman Neo-D Humbucking Acoustic Pickup

By Eric Utsler from Columbus, OH on December 2, 2014 Music Background: Pro Musician

I bought this pickup for a Martin D-35S, which has an extra wide neck and string spacing. Other pickups I've tried never seemed to properly pick up the E strings due to the string width, but the Fishman has done a great job in not only picking up the strings, but picking them up with great string-to-string balance. The tone is wonderful and very natural, the pickup is quiet, and the size of the pickup leaves more of the soundhole open for natural tone and volume to come out from the guitar. This pickup would work well for any acoustic guitar, even 12 string! Many thanks to Stuart Niven for his guidance in helping me get this pickup...he's the best!

Best acoustic guitar pickup I've used or heard!

By David Bailey from Nashua, NH on October 19, 2014 Music Background: Pro musician, teacher, conductor, composer

I used this on a gig for the first time yesterday and have to say that I am very very impressed with what a great job this did as a pickup! From the first strum of my Alvarez-Yairi dreadnaught cutaway guitar the richness and the accuracy of the tone was amazing.

I was using this pickup with my newly purchased Roland BA-330 portable PA amp, running entirely on batteries, and this combination left nothing to be desired, sound-wise. There were no feedback issues, even though I sat right beside the amp, and the built-in cord was long enough to allow me freedom of motion.

My only complaint is that the cord is permanently attached -- I can understand why they built it this way but I wish they had had a short cable permanently connected which could simply hang down inside the guitar body when the pickup is not being used, and then pulled out and connected to a regular guitar cable when desired.

As it is, this pickup is very easy to install and remove (just keep a small phillips-head screwdriver in your guitar case) so the permanently attached cable isn't a big deal at all.

I have used the Dean Markley pickup in the past (the one encased in wood that is held in place in the sound-hole with foam-rubber) and I have to say that this Fishman Neo-D Humbucking pickup is far superior.

SWEETWATER NAILS IT AGAIN!

By ROBERT MILLER from WIMBERLEY, TEXAS on April 23, 2014 Music Background: HOME RECORDING STUDIO

EXCELLENT:
PRODUCT QUALITY, & PRICE.
CUSTOMER SERVICE
FAST SHIPPING TIME.
(AND CANDY TOO! :)
IT DOES NOT GET ANY BETTER THAN THIS.

It is everything it says it is

By Delbert Hawes from Mississippi on January 6, 2012

Purchased the Fishman Neo-D Humbucking pickup because the pre-amp/ mixer on my Yamaha acoustic/electric was working intermittent. The install takes as long as it takes you to put those two screws thru the two tabs,slide it in hole and snug it up. Plugged into my Marshall AS100D. Sound was solid and balanced. Best of all no batteries to change. Great job Fishman!

clean, easy, and efficient pickup

By Bill Benwell on November 4, 2011

This pickup makes playing my Martin guitar twice as much fun. Using the slide with this pickup is also a blast.

Great sounding pickup and easy to use.

By Sweetwater Customer from Eugene, Oregon USA on June 14, 2008 Music Background: hobbyist

This humbucker is very easy to install. It took less than five minutes. More importantly, it sounds great - way better than the piezo electric pickups. I plugged it into an effects box and got a nice mix of accoustic steel string and electric guitar effects. It also, sounds better than using an electric guitar to mimic an accoustical guitar. The other great feature is that since it is a neck pickup at the top of the sound hole, I can finger pick without hitting a bridge pickup.

I use customer product reviews all the time when I make pruchases so I returning the favor.

fishman in my 44 year old Fender

By Brian Chase from OAK RIDGE, TN on December 13, 2023

Have 4 amps to choose from...best sounds coming from my Boss Katana MK II 50 watt. The acoustic setting sounds beautiful. Wish to permanently mount it. Sales engineer Brian Massey has been a great help in my gear purchases. Thank you Brian.

Neo -D Not bad at all

By Moe on November 17, 2022 Music Background: 50 years

This is my first pickup for an acoustic guitar so I have nothing to compare it to. I must say the ease of use is fantastic, it takes about ten seconds to install it, you can use it on multiple guitars easily and for me it sounds pretty good. The reason I purchased this is for home use, I did not want to drill holes on my very expensive Martin so this was a no brainer. It's probably not good for onstage use for a pro because of the cable coming out of the sound hole but it could still be used.
With my Seagull cedar top and an Orange Crush I can get really close to the sound in the Rain Song by Zep.
It doesn't pickup all the sounds of a high end acoustic produces but It's still a good sound with a good acoustic amp, I use a Blackstar Sonnet 60. For the price, no feedback, ease of use on multiple guitars and the sound is good makes this a good pickup.

Great, natural sounding pickup!

By Matthew Gonzales from San Antonio, TX on February 20, 2022

I got a steal on a 12-string acoustic. Unfortunately, it did not have a pickup, so I did some shopping around for sound hole pickups. I have always loved Fishman preamps on higher-end acoustics, so I went with this one and I was not disappointed.

Great transparent sound, not plastic-sounding or bright like other pickups. It is great for strumming and finger-picking. My only knock is that it doesn't have a short cable with a female jack, you have a long cable hanging out of your guitar. Having a female plug would make it easier to store, you just unplug it and put it away instead of having an 18-foot cable hanging permanently out of your sound hole.

Having said that, installing an end pin jack and wiring it from the inside was an easy solution, and the guitar sounds terrific!

clean sound

By Sweetwater Customer on September 1, 2020

this pickup worked best without alot of treble or hiss like the Dean Markley single coil or the Seymour Duncan hum bucking pickup. Without a question this is my choice between the three. Works best for the Marshall AS50D out of these three choices.

dream come true

By Sweetwater Customer on August 28, 2020

after trying the dean markley single coil pickup and the seymour duncan humbucking pickup, this pickup worked best without bad sounds from pickup like the other two I tried. I thank God for the Fishman Neo-D humbucking pickup.

Fishman Neo-D

By Mark on February 26, 2016 Music Background: Casual guitar player, part time audio/recording engineer

The Neo-D Humbucker is one awesome piece of equipment! I had originally purchased the single coil Fishman unit from a local store but returned it due to the noise level and after reading reviews about the hum bucking version. I really loved the overall sound of the single coil unit but knowing that I could try get a quieter pickup convinced me to return it. The store did not have the hum bucking version so I ordered one from Sweetwater, which is always a great and easy experience. These guys are great. Got my pickup within a couple of days and was good to go. The pickup is easy to install and sounds awesome and is quiet. The only issue of course is the cord hanging out of the sound hole but I accept this as part of needing the pickup for use on a few different guitars without committing to putting hard wired pickups on some of my less expensive guitars that I still like to play and record with. Again, the sound is amazing but the hum bucker is somewhat darker and fatter sounding that the single coil but this is to be expected from these two styles of pickups. One (the single coil) has great clarity and depth but comes with the price of some hum, the hum bucker is rich and full but lacks some of that clarity like a fine piano. For me, the elimination of the noise was the kicker in sticking with this pickup. Either way they are both amazing. Fishman equates quality and this pickup has it. I love L.R. Baggs products as well, but for my purposes, this was the right pickup at the right time. As always, Sweetwater's sales and service are second to none. The only reason I gave this a 4.5 is because I actually preferred the overall sound of the single coil version.

Great Pickup!

By Bob S. from Atlanta, GA on February 5, 2016 Music Background: Gigging musician

This a great pickup for a guitar that doesn't have electronics and you don't want to change or modify your guitar. I put it in my Martin 000-18GE. Installation is easy and the sounds are high quality. It kind of reminds me in sound of the original Taylor Expression system. The pickup is low output so you need to turn things up a little more to get the sound you want but for an easily installed sound hole pickup you can't go wrong with this product.

Nice but will not work on a 12-string guitar with low action

By Gary from Seattle on November 16, 2021 Music Background: Professional singer/songwriter/acoustic performer

Great sounding passive pickup for a six-string acoustic-----but will not work on a 12-string acoustic----the pickup is too thick for the low action you would want on a 12 string(the low 'E' strings will hit the pickup). The Fishman passive sound hole pickup that is a single coil will work for a 12-string---it has a thinner thickness dimension that the strings won't hit it.

Doesn't skimp on lower registers

By John from Carlsbad, CA on November 23, 2020 Music Background: Club bands

Only thing was I had to shave off a little of the cork because it sat slightly high and when played hard, strings sometimes contacted pickup. The sound was good enough for me to keep it, make the adjustment and it's been a nice sounding pickup. I use a little ART tube preamp pedal to boost volume. Have to be careful not to step on cable as pickup can be ripped out of soundhole, which has happened a couple times but the cork protects it. Got the humbucker model, not single coil. Fat bass, which I like.

Good pickup

By John on June 14, 2017

Works very well with good sound quality produced. I was a little hesitant about attaching the pickup to my Taylor guitar but it doesn't seem to damage the surface of the guitar and so far it is holding on firmly with the cork surfaces provided on the pickup. I noticed there were no instructions included in the packaging which is not really necessary but might have been handy for some folks to have those available.

Fishman Neo-D Humbucking Acoustic Pickup

By Dan from Kitchener On. on June 22, 2016

I purchased the Fishman Neo-D Humbucking pick-up for 2 reasons. First I have Fishman acoustic naturals in 2 guitars already and I knew I couldn't go wrong with thier stuff. .Second I am using this pick up for an old Yamaha FG75 student size guitar with a small sound hole. The Neo-D just fits in, other brands were too big. .I find I get the best natural guitar tone from my PA or Acoustic amp. I might chop the cable and put an end pin jack in.

Excellent and very quiet (no noise!)

By JKC from New York on April 8, 2015 Music Background: Songwriter, Engineer, Guitarist

I bought this for primarily for use with my Martin 000-15. I wanted something that wasn't a permanent install but was a step above the usual Mag type stuff. The pickup sounds fantastic, and there is absolutely no noise. I have another passive soundhole Mag pickup that will remain nameless, but it's very, very noisy. The output on the Fishman Neo-D isn't exactly loud, but that should not be expected from a passive pickup. I'm using this with a Behringer ADI21 preamp and the results are pretty sweet. The Neo-D installs and uninstalls quickly and easily using a little philips screwdriver. I like that the black color doesn't draw attention to itself either. I'm not a fan of creme colored soundhole pickups, so I'm happy this one is just plain old black. Very pleased.

No surprises.

By Phil Pearson from Norman, OK on March 14, 2014 Music Background: Home hobbyist

Very nice pickup. Low noise. Easy install. Stays in place. Humbucking works as advertised. I put it in a Martin, a Big Baby Taylor, and an old cheap Yamaha. Worked great every time. I have a lot of confidence in Fishman, they haven't let me down yet. No regrets.

NICE AND SIMPLE

By TERRY MCGRATH from CHICAGO on January 10, 2014 Music Background: GUITARIST

REALLY NICE , NO FEEDBACK, EASY INSTALL, PORTABILITY. A PRODUCT THAT DOES WHAT IT SAYS AND DOES IT WELL. THE CABLE IS REALLY NON-INTRUSIVE

overall pleased

By Jennifer from Portland, OR USA on February 18, 2013 Music Background: musician

This is the first pickup I've ever used for my guitar, and overall I'm pleased with it. It's also really easy to install on the guitar...just clamp it on and tighten the screws. I think it's a good value for the price, and I have no regrets about buying it.

Not bad

By Chuck from SC on May 27, 2022 Music Background: Always learning

This pick up is not bad for the money . If you want to plug in and don't have much cash or the guitar is not a big investment for you this pick up works for playing at home.

Very easy setup, decent sound, cable both a curse and a blessing

By Rich Sadowsky from Sturbridge, MA on August 20, 2020 Music Background: Musician since age 6, 50 years with guitar mainly as a hobbyist

I had this in my Seagull Maritime SWS Mahogany HG in 2 minutes (literally). I can't imagine an easier method of adding a pickup to an acoustic guitar. Based on reviews and advice, I went with the more expensive Fishman Neo-D Humbucker Pickup.

One must have realistic expectations when evaluating tone for this type of pickup versus fancier dual source pickup systems. It does not capture the same natural harmonics and full body that a good condenser mic does of course. But... it is a pleasant live sound. I tend to use this and an SM57/58 and mix the signals. I found that adding an EQ between the pickup and the pre- or power-amp helps shape the tone, especially when using with a lower end PA setup like the... Powerwerks 50 watt amp I use for super small (backyard) type venues. The amp is of a lower quality and using a 10-band Cadine EQ pedal gives me the control I need. Add the price of the Fishman Neo-D H and you're looking at... an effective small venue solution.

The biggest downside of this pickup is the cable just hanging out of the sound hole. That is also its greatest strength due to ease of setup. You can install it permanently and put a jack in but that requires drilling and cable splicing and not something I am ready to do just yet.

The attached pic is a hastily installed pickup (without tightening the screws) I slapped on last night to test with the EQ in the loop. As you can see it quite easily fits the Seagull dreadnought just fine.

Good pickup for the money

By Steve from oakland on November 30, 2008 Music Background: Semi-pro musician

First I have to say the customer service at Sweetwater is top notch! I bought this pickup to use with my Martin D15. I gig with a band at least once per month and found that using a mic for the acoustic guitar was great for the natural true acoustic sound. However, I could never acheive the right balance and the guitar never sounded loud enough (feedback problems too!). So, I bought this on recommendation as I did not want to drill into my guitar. It's so easy to install - takes about all of 30 seconds. The sound is nice and balanced. The tone sounds somewhat acoustic, but not as pure as putting a mic in front of the guitar. The best thing to do is combine the pickup with a mic. I have yet to hear an acoustic guitar pickup that has the pure acoustic tone. But for volume if you play with a drummer like I do, it's a good idea to get a pickup. This one does the job and sounds pretty darn good.

Just OK for me

By Steve from Berlin. MD on November 7, 2023 Music Background: 50+ years playing acoustic guitars. Retired now pro player, singer, songwriter, Bluegrass and Americana influences. Taylor and Martin lover.

I have enough experience with pick up systems to understand that each guitar and amp will effect the ultimate sound that is produced. I have come to love the L.R. Baggs Anthem pick up system and have installed it in 5 guitars: Jumbo/ Dreadnaught Martins & Taylors, 6 and 12 strings, Small Travel Eastman, and now a BR343 Blueridge, 000 series.
It's the Blueridge that I was trying to use the Fiahman Neo D for. I read and listened to all the reviews and was hoping to save some money on a removable sound hole style pick up system. What I found was that, in this particular guitar, the sound was thin and weak. I tried several amps: Fender Acoustasonic, Fishman Solo Amp, Fender Super Champ 2, and a Fishman LoudBox Mini. The LoudBox Mini was the only amp that produced enough low end response for my ear but I still had other issues. I am a "pro-player" who gigs 1-2 times a week and had a few other issues that detracted from it's usefulness for me: 1. It's a Passive System so it could not be used with my LR Baggs Vwnue DI Box, specifically, the electronic tuner and the mute button when I change guitars. 2. The cord lays funky as it comes out of the sound hole and requires tape to hold it out of the way. 3. The cord is too short for my use and I kept tripping on it as I walked around on stage during a show. (Yes, I like to move around.)
4. The placement to the pick up under the strings did cause me to ground out the strings when I played with a heavy rhythem strum. (Again, my style) So, with all those issues for me, I did bite the bullet and had the LR Baggs Anthem system installed in yet another guitar. LOL But. I suppose for the right guitar and player, the Fiahman Neo D could work. It's worth a try.

needs more treble

By Steve from Oceanside, CA on January 9, 2017 Music Background: 35 yrs playing

Install was easy. It works. But the sound is uninspiring, lacking treble. Even after cranking the highs on my mixer. Maybe I should have bought the single coil.

no hum no fit

By Sweetwater Customer on February 26, 2020

This pu will not fit a Taylor guitar. Too high! Also the mounting/gripping system is not effective.

Fishman Neo-D Pickup

By Mike Webb from INDIANA on September 21, 2016

Should have just invested in a powered system, have to turn my amp to at least 8 and not happy with that. Sure no falt of the guys at sweetwates,they have been great ,I should have just done more research I guess,now guess I need a pre-amp

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