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Post by snakehips on Jan 30, 2020 9:56:41 GMT
Hi again !
I went through a phase of getting Highlanders for all the Nationals I owned and all the ones I bought were roughly in the same time period - which resulted in a lot of Highlanders in a short space of time. At one point, I ordered three Highlanders from the company, but only one full system, the other two I wanted without the battery box or stereo lead as I had plenty of them. Seems a stroke of unlucky fate I got maybe most of the dodgy ones. The response from Highlander at the time was disappointing.
A few years after this, I bought another Magnaphonic pickup - but this was an unused Magnaphonic pickupb from someone who bought it then never used it - and was sold without the preamp, battery box or cable, just the pickup alone. The pickup wire end was bare wires without any connector on it - and there were actually 3 wires, not two, as I expected. I emailed Highlander to ask which colour should be connected to what - and I got more help this time, telling me which wires should go where. Their reply email (Holly Martinho) helped me get that pickup working, with my external preamp.
As I have said before though, I still think the Highlander pickups are the best - and I still gig with them.
I should also mention, that I still have one National with a working, full Highlander system (ie. WITH the Highlander preamp).
Just remembered something.
In the first half of 2006, I sent 3 vintage Nationals to this top luthier - one had a Highlander already in it (when I bought it used), but the other two had Highlanders installed for me by the luthier. The Trojan's preamp failed after a while. The Highlander in the 3rd guitar, a 1930 National Polychrome Triolian, still works great. Both installed by the same luthier at the same time.
So, I still have one full Highlander system in a guitar, still working.
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Post by jono1uk on Jan 30, 2020 17:56:01 GMT
Not wishing to add any "fuel to the flames" i know of one working musician who bought a new Tricone and had Highlander professionally fitted and has never been able to cure feedback .. a mutual friend of this forum has had a look and has not managed to cure it . i can't confirm if he has contacted Highander themselves ..
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Post by Michael Messer on Jan 30, 2020 18:11:04 GMT
Not wishing to add any "fuel to the flames" i know of one working musician who bought a new Tricone and had Highlander professionally fitted and has never been able to cure feedback .. a mutual friend of this forum has had a look and has not managed to cure it . i can't confirm if he has contacted Highander themselves .. With the greatest respect, if it has really been fitted correctly, then that is due to how it is used and how the PA settings (EQ, volume, gain, effects etc) are dealt with. I have used a Highlander in a Tricone for 20 years and it always sounds great, but EQ and other settings must be done correctly. These are the finest pickups available for National and National-style guitars and they work brilliantly. Mostly I like to use a mic, but I do use the pickups quite a lot. Shine On Michael.
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Post by gaucho on Jan 30, 2020 18:39:28 GMT
Based on this thread and research and review, I just bought these ( wireless)and I have to say they are awesome! I've now tried them with a Dobro with a Fishman pickup, acoustics with K&K Pure, Highlanders, National Slimlines and P90. I'm very pleased and they were only $39! Very well built and best part, no more hum!
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Post by bonzo on Jan 30, 2020 18:46:03 GMT
Good stuff, exactly how I found the ammoons. Run them through my Fishman Jerry Douglas, sounds awesome as you say on your side of the pond! Lol!
Best wishes to you all, John
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Post by snakehips on Jan 30, 2020 18:57:57 GMT
Hi again !
I agree, the feedback issue will not be a problem with the Highlander pickup system.
There is a slight possibility that the installation of the pickup system could be at fault, and/or other faults/issues, including :
1. Pickup too close or even contacting the underside of the T-bar 2. Perhaps the little metal clip that goes on the underside of the T-bar is loose on the T-Bar, and rattling on the T-bar into feedback, or rattling against the pickup ? 3. The strings between the tailpiece and the bridge saddle are ringing out and need dampened ? Test & solve by placing foam under the strings there to dampen unwanted string vibrations. Highlander actually recommend in their installation instructions, to dampen unwanted string vibrations at the tailpiece end. 4. The guitar player is playing far too loud 5. Any combination of any or all of the above
Getting a Highlander equipped biscuit-bridge single cone guitar to work with a wireless system is still the question needing more answers/suggestions, as that was the initial point of this thread, I believe, so sorry if I distracted from that (although I have given a viable suggestion in an earlier post). I'll refrain from further comments on this thread (...... or at least try to !!)
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Post by Neal on Jan 31, 2020 14:09:02 GMT
Well, fitted one set (of 2) and out of an acoustic with Fishman Rare Earth it works well, ukulele with a sort of “twinspot “ under soundboard it works well. But! Friend’s Gibson acoustic with whatever active system they use it has sort of a squeal. Not proximity based, not feedback. Levels low, high, no matter. Still that persistent odd background noise. Not real loud, but persistent and noticeable.
Maybe his battery is dying? Odd, Fishman is active, sounds good.
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Post by highlanderpickups on Feb 14, 2020 23:43:32 GMT
Hello Michael, Snakehips and Members of the MM Forum,
I would like to address comments made by Snakehips about Highlander. First, I want to say we appreciate the good money people pay for our products and are grateful when they choose a Highlander pickup. We stand by them to ensure every musician has the quality sound we intend to deliver. Highlander has an excellent record (below 1%) as far as not getting any pickups returned due to failure. Our customers are live musicians, so it is incumbent upon us to produce our products to the highest standard. We test every component in the system – pickups, preamps, cables and power boxes multiple times throughout their production and definitely before they are shipped.
We have had to replace a few INLINE preamps over the 29 years we have been in business. We have also had a few returned that were working perfectly. Without being there with the player and viewing their installer’s soldering of the male plug on the pickup or amp set-up, it is really hard to determine what goes wrong. For instance, some players think it is ok to use a preamp that supplies phantom power up the ring of the jack instead of using the power box and stereo cable. We do not recommend this. Also, a cellular telephone or tablet sitting near the guitar will cause a funny, thumping sound making players think there is something wrong with their pickup or preamp when it is the radiation from their device. If there is no signal at all, a review of the soldering of the plug would be our first suggestion because that is the only part left to the installer and we cannot test.
Unfortunately, I do not know who Snakehips is, which makes it impossible to review his past emails to us and our replies. I vaguely recall an email from him. If he would like to email us again at connect@highlanderpickups.com, I can try to find past emails. All I can say is we respond to emails, especially people who write us with problems. And if an out-of-warranty preamp needs to be replaced, we charge a minimal $70 plus shipping, which only covers our costs. Naturally if someone has multiple preamps, some of which are out of warranty, we would like to get them back to our factory for testing before we replace them. That is standard with most manufacturers. We want to test the preamps ourselves to verify a problem, and to also learn if we made a mistake. It is unusual for more than one preamp to fail on one customer, so I believe it is reasonable to ask they be returned for testing.
Respectfully submitted, Highlander Musical Audio Products
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Post by snakehips on Feb 16, 2020 22:39:44 GMT
Aaaarrrrgggghhhh ! I was typing a nice response to your comments - but as I was finishing, I touched the mousepad of my laptop and somehow pressed "Back" and lost everything I typed ! Can't face writing it all again tonight - so will reply tomorrow ! (sorry) !
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Post by snakehips on Feb 17, 2020 13:49:53 GMT
Hi Holly !
Once again, let me state, I use Highlander pickups on 8 of my 9 reso guitars I currently own - one of which I only just got back 2 weeks ago, from Steve Evans of Beltona resonator guitars, from having a neck reset AND a Highlander pickup installed. That in itself says plenty.
The guitar without a Highlander, does not have a pickup at all, as I can't persuade myself to do anything to a fairly minty 1931 Style 1 round neck National Tricone. I usually put strap buttons in the heel of my guitars but have refrained from doing this to my tricone. I am still happy to recommend Highlander pickups to anyone looking for the best pickup money can buy for their resonator guitar.
There are 6 Highlander pickups that failed - 2 of which failed AFTER I sold the guitars on (and was subsequently notified by the buyers - BOTH of these had the pickups installed by a well respected UK luthier, known very well for restoring National guitars. 2 or 3 I still own, began failing within the first year of owning them - some installed by a top UK luthier, some by me. It wasn't apparent to me within the warranty period that it was the preamp that was being intermittant. I usually put it down to faulty stereo cables and/or 9v batteries needing changed - but changing cables and batteries never made a difference. I was however able to swap over cones (with imbedded pickups) from working Highlander system guitars into non working guitars - to find the non working guitar still did not work with another cone & pickup in it. The working guitar still worked with the cone (& pickup) from the non-working guitar. The stereo jack sockets were checked and all found to have intact soldering.
I don't gig regularly and don't "plug in" for playing at home, so for all the failed preamps, it was well after the warranty periods when I worked out (with the help of a local luthier/tech, who builds his own electric guitars and is well verse in installing acoustic guitar pickups etc etc) - that the problems noted started within the warranty period for at least some of those pickups.
In my view, as many of these failed preamps were bought within a short time-frame, I have been darn unlucky to have received most of the ones that failed. I fully understand any product can have a few faulty ones - and I don't see that as a reason to slag off a company, on that point alone. My original unanswered emails were from long ago, on an email account I haven't used for a number of years and never kept copies - so I can't remember the full details other than my first two emails went unanswered, and a third offered what you are now suggesting, no more.
My solution was to use an external preamp on most of my Highlander equipped Nationals as this was a cheaper option.
At the end of the day, the original poster of this thread was asking how to use a wireless system with a reso, equipped with a Highlander pickup system. I had a solution that MM took exception to, asking if I "had it in for Highlander" (which I don't) - and I have written at length to explain my reasoning for my suggestion, which does not attack the Highlander company.
As the Highlander needs a stereo cable to pass 9v to the preamp, from the external battery box, there was a cumbersome option mentioned to use a wireless product - using a short stereo cable between the guitar and the battery box, which would need to be attached to a belt or something on the wearer, then connecet the wireless transmitter to the battery box signal output. The point of this particular type of wireless system is to have as little as possible attached to the guitar or the wearer. My suggestion was thus to simplify what the player had "attached to him" by disconnecting the Highlander preamp from the pickup (a reversable procedure) and wire the pickup cable directly to a mono jack socket on the guitar. The wireless transmitter could be plugged directly into that mono jack socket. The non-preamp'd siugnal would travel wirelessly to the receiver, where upon the signal could be boosted by an external preamp.
From those original, now lost emails, I forget how much I was told a serviced/replaced Highlander would cost, but the cost of shipping six non-working preamps to the US, and then pay to replace the six preamps, was way more than buying six mono jack sockets and a quality external preamp. Phantom powered straight to a PA system meant no more 9V batteries and no stereo cables needed either. For my predicament, it was a good solution so I could STILL use my favourite pickup (Highlander) in all (well, most) of my reso guitars.
You are more than welcome to contact me directly via a private message on this forum. I wish you well, and with your company, and I shall be more than happy to continue using your pickups in my guitars, AND recommending them to others.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 17, 2020 17:10:11 GMT
Aaaarrrrgggghhhh ! I was typing a nice response to your comments - but as I was finishing, I touched the mousepad of my laptop and somehow pressed "Back" and lost everything I typed ! Can't face writing it all again tonight - so will reply tomorrow ! (sorry) ! ctrl+z (windows) or cmd+z (mac) next time Snakey.
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Post by snakehips on Feb 17, 2020 17:39:13 GMT
You think ? Will try to remember that !! Thanks for the info !
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