THE SIZE OF IT
The new Fishman set are soapbars only, so a word of caution: not all soapbar P-90s are exactly the same size. As they usually sit in similarly shaped routs in the body, you need to check that the host guitar you have in mind has the correct-size routs. Fishman’s helpful dimension chart puts its P90 at 34.9mm by 85.17mm – the pickup slightly flares out from the top to the bottom so these are the base dimensions. Measuring the PRS pickups at the widest point as they sit above the top, we get 34.82mm by 85.57mm. Close enough. The Fluence soapbars are a little deeper than most at 22.33mm (including the hook-up pins on the base), which may cause a problem, not least at the neck position if the body rout is cut for a less-deep soapbar [pic 3].
Typically, a soapbar such as this has a ‘cushion’ under the pickup to allow some basic height adjustment once the pickups are secured via the two mounting/ adjustment screws. Fishman supplies some rubber tubing for this purpose, but some hard foam rubber (as you might get with a new pickup) works well, too.
Active pickups, of course, need power. Fishman makes a universal rechargeable battery, but you can still run the Fluence pickups from a good ol’ nine-volt block battery so long as there’s room in the control cavity [pic 4]. Fishman quotes a battery life for the set of up to 60 hours.
Because the Fluence pickups have a lowimpedance output you’ll need to remove the volumes and tones and replace them with 25kohm pots. Two standard pots plus two pots with pull-push switches are provided, all with a 8mm diameter threaded posts, but those threads aren’t long enough to fit on a carved top Les Paul. You can retain your pickup selector switch, but you will need to replace the ‘mono’ jack output socket with the provided ‘stereo’ ring/sleeve/tip type.