Schatten HFN Series Pickups for Steel String Acoustic Guitars
Studio Microphone Quality Sound
 HFN Player (passive) |
|
 HFN Artist (active) |
"The sound of this new guitar pickup is as close to that of a good quality mic as you've ever heard from a guitar pickup...."
The HFN's give you a sound that is much more realistic than that of under the saddle pickups. Along with being simple to install, these pickups exhibit excellent feedback rejection and good string to string balance.
There is nothing artificial about the sound of the HFN and the usual compressed 'quackiness' inherent in under the saddle pickup systems is noticeably absent in the HFN series.
The HFN series for steel string guitars is available in two model ranges: As the HFN passive which does not come with a preamp, and as the HFN Artist which comes with an endpin jack preamp. We offer the passive model of the pickup for use in instruments that already have a preamp onboard or for those customers that wish to use an outboard preamp.
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Details
HFN
The HFN is designed to give you a full, rich sound and will
reproduce exactly what your guitar sounds like.
The HFN series of
pickups utilizes an elegant combination of materials: rosewood for its
main structure and arching with a light weight brass shell for its noise
shielded piezo unit. Total weight of the pickup is a very light 0.2 ounces
(7 grams). It will not affect the acoustic sound of the instrument when
not in use.
The HFN will fit virtually any X braced steel string
acoustic guitar whether it has a pin bridge or not. The only hole that you
need to drill is for the endpin jack or endpin jack preamp. The HFN's have
been tested on and installed in 7 and 8 string guitars and also work very
well in those instruments.
HFN Artist models are available with
either one or two thumbwheel volume controls. These thumbwheel controls
simply stick to the underside of the lip of the sound hole. A single
thumbwheel control would be used to control the volume of our HFN pickup.
The second thumbwheel control would be used if you wish to add a secondary
pickup (like a magnetic sound hole pickup). Having two thumbwheel volume
controls allows you to mix and blend both pickups as you like.
Installation is quick and simple and takes about 15 minutes. All HFN's
come fully wired, complete and ready to install. The Artist models also
include a self adhesive velcro mount cordura nylon battery bag. Neat and
tidy.
Pictures
HFN element shown mounted to the bridge plate
HFN Player (passive)
HFN Artist
 |
Thumbwheel volume controls available in the HFN Artist Plus 1 and Plus 2 models |
Technical
The Design Of The HFN
Due to its' design, the HFN for steel string guitars sounds like and
behaves more like a good quality studio microphone; something that you
would never expect from a pickup. Noticeably absent is the usual 'quack'
that you get from under the saddle pickups because what you're getting is
the sound of the instrument itself, not just the percussive response that
you get from placing a pickup in contact with the underside of a guitar
saddle. Since the pickup really does respond and sound like a mic, adding
any sort of microphone in conjunction with the HFN is really quite
unnecessary.
The pickup is designed to allow it to flex and move
along with the soundboard of the instrument. There is a certain amount of
flex built into the arching of the rosewood pickup base and as well there
is both some flex allowed and some isolation from the soundboard provided
by the 3M VHB foam mounting tape.
Utilizing a single piezo sensing
element that comes into contact with the soundboard of the guitar through
the 'feet' of the pickup base allows for several things. First, the HFN is
able to sample from more than one spot and to sample those spots across a
span of time. Second, since we are able to do all this with just the one
element, the chances of creating mechanical phasing issues caused by
having to use more than one sensing element is eliminated.
About The Preamp That Comes With The HFN Artist
The HFN
Artist now comes with our latest generation of Artist II endpin jack
preamp featuring multiple power capability. This means that the preamp can
be run from an onboard 9 volt battery, or from Phantom Power (up to 48
volts dc), or from an outboard battery box. The Artist II preamp has 2
channels which means that you can run an existing magnetic pickup along
with our HFN and there is a trim pot for each channel on the circuit board
for setting maximum gain per channel. Because an HFN behaves and sounds so
much like a mic, using the second channel for an onboard mic is not
necessary, nor is it recommended. So, the choice is yours: "Do I put a
battery in there.....or don't I?"
Installation Instructions and Fitting Template
Installation Instructions: HFN Artist (active) pdf HFN (passive) pdf
Should you have any concerns about whether an HFN will fit
properly within your guitar, you may download the following pdf which
contains full size drawings of all HFN bases. Do not scale this page when
you print it after downloading:
HFN Pickup Template (if you need to check the fit) - pdf
Sound
If you take a moment or two and bounce back and forth between the
pickup samples and the studio mic sample you'll see what we mean when
compare the sound of the HFN Artist to the sound of a studio
mic.....it's pretty darn close.
The sound bites provided for steel string guitars all
come from an independent source: guitarist Doug Young
www.dougyoungguitar.com
We'd like to thank Doug for helping to beta test the HFN Steel String
and for taking the time to record these samples.
| Without naming names (except for our's) here's how things sound: |
| Guitar with a studio mic |
| Guitar with Schatten HFN Artist (bridge plate mounted system) |
| Guitar with Schatten HFN Artist (bridge plate mounted system) EQ'd |
| Guitar with Brand 'X' pickup (under the saddle pickup) |
| Guitar with Brand 'Y' pickup |
|
|
| Here are a couple of other sound bites courtesy of Poor Charlie |
| 00 Martin with HFN-Artist- A little slide and bottle neck (no EQ) |
| 00 Martin with HFN Artist- A little more (No EQ) |
Reviews
August 16, 2010
Hi,
I had recently ordered a Schatten HFN-C (passive) and was blown
away by the sound on my classical guitar using a K&K preamp! You
guys have a good thing going for sure.
I quickly ordered a second pickup for steel string (see below),
and I was hoping it could arrive in Iowa by this Friday...
is that possible?
Thanks,
Jon
August 17, 2010
Hello Jonathan, and thank you for your order.
We shipped it on Monday August 16 with UPS and it is scheduled to
arrive at your destination on Thursday August 19. Here is the
tracking number so you may follow its progress. 1xxxxxx 68 4467
xxxx.
Please let me know your thoughts on the pickup or if you have any
other questions.
Rod Rose
Sales Manager
Schatten Design Acoustic Pickups
August 20 2010
Thanks, arrived, installed and sounds great. Best amplified sound
I've had yet on steel string. Warmer than K&K and less sensitive
to hand pressure on the bridge (I do a lot of damped string
strumming)
Cheers
Jon
From one of Canada's most famous JUNO and CCMA performing and recording artists:
.........I had Les put one of his new HFN acoustic pickup systems
in my road guitar (that's the Lado that I'm playing in this
photo). The amplified sound is amazing. I feel like I'm playing
one of those guitars worth about 3 or 4 grand. In the future I
plan on asking Les to design me a mandolin, with of course, one of
his new pickups........Their pickup technology is wonderful and
they're nice people too!
Sincerely,
Jamie Warren
I first came across the Schatten HFN series pickup while we were
on tour in Australia with Xavier Rudd. His tech had an HFN and was
raving about it. It wasn't until 6 months later when I actually
got around to picking one up and having it installed that I
realized - this pickup was designed by Les Schatten - who just
happens to be my hometown luthier.
When I had the pickup installed in my guitar and tried it
out, I was almost speechless. I tour with a Martin acoustic, and a
couple of Taylors. Although i do love Taylor guitars, I found
their "Impression Pick-up System" to be pretty weak...it always
seemed to sound thin, especially in larger venues.
All that is now a thing of the past now, having
installed the HFN. It's a mind boggling pickup. The closest to
microphone sound I've ever heard - and very stable on stage even
when stage volume has to be cranked. The fact is, Schatten pickups
sound WAY better than both my Martin, and my Taylor systems, and
will undoubtedly be planted in every guitar I own -I'm tellin'
everyone I know :)
D'Ari Pouyat
I am very,
very happy to be a Schatten user. I have the HFN Artist in my
vintage Gibson J45. I love it so much that I'm installing one
in my vintage Martin D28 as soon as I receive it in the mail. I
also have your VVM mando pickup on my Loar era Gibson A mandolin.
I am a full time working professional and I expect the
best sound out of my instruments. I also expect to reproduce that
sound through the PA. And lately sound guys are taking note of how
good my instruments sound coming down the line.
Thanks so much for making non-permanent, great sounding gear.
Kudos,
Clay Cook
http://www.claycook.com/
Hey
Rod ol' buddy,
I just got off stage one and a half hours ago and I gotta
tell you this now (before I hit the after show get together) the
HFN Artist is sensational! The band immediately noticed the
difference at the sound check and I got a load of compliments
after the gig.
No feedback (and you're not going to believe this but) my channel
on the main FOH (front of house) mixer was not at all equalized.
You read it right, my channel did not
need to be EQ'd. I plugged into the stage board that went straight
to the mixer and whammo, that was it! It was just pure guitar,
pure Schatten pickup and linear mix and it kicked butt.
We had a PA of 2000 watts tonight and that's loud for an acoustic
band. So you go figure.......Tell Les for me.....Yes!!
Talk later, Regards, Roly
..........Noted guitarist and teacher George Arvola endorses Schatten Design pickups for steel string guitar and nylon string classicals.
Hey Les,
Here is a testimonial to the HFN acoustic
guitar pick-up. It is absolutely dynamite. I have given it a short
test with the mixer set flat and indeed, the pick-up rivals my
M-Audio recording mikes.
I was hoping for a good result from the acoustic guitar
pick-up and I got more than what I hoped for. In the past, when I
was using a recording mike, I had to turn off my computer and
printer which reside in close proximity to my recorder. I also had
to turn off the humidifier at the other end of the room even
though it is about thirty feet away. Then I had to wait for the
furnace to turn off and now in relative silence, I had a short
window of opportunity to record the project. Having my new
Schatten pick-up allows me to let all of the machinery keep on
running and regardless of what signal strength I am looking for, I
can get the recording done without having the background noises
added for that special ambiance. Maybe I'll sell the microphones
because my singing ain't so good anyway.
Thanks again
George Arvola
www.georgearvola.com
Hi Les,
Love the new pickup you installed in my
1972 D28 Martin a few days ago. (What took me so long?!?!) Looking at
different options, yours is clearly the least obtrusive acoustic pickup
(invisible) and captures the authentic acoustic sounds best of anything
I've heard. It's what I need for folk, celtic, bluegrass (and likely
anything else).
Also, here's a pic from Cederatree Studios a few
years back while recording here with Northern City Limits. It shows
another Martin (1977 D18 . . . next on the list to receive a Schatten
pickup!)
All the best and thanks again for turning this around on
very short notice!!
Tom Nunn
Related Items
About Pickups & Amps
Terminology
Passive Pickup - A piezo pickup.
Impedance - To simplify things as much as posssible we'll say that impedance refers to the range in which an amplifying device can 'hear' a pickup plugged into it.
Preamp - A device specifically designed for use with piezo pickups that increases the signal strength and lowers the impedance of a passive pickup.
Active Pickup - A piezo pickup with an attached preamp.
Microphone Preamp - a device that may be built into P.A.systems and mixers that is designed to work with microphones. These units will not generally work with passive pickups.
'Normal' Electric Guitar Amps: A passive pickup has an impedance of approximately 2 mega ohms (2 million ohms) which virtually all 'normal' electric guitar amps can generally handle without issue.
'Acoustic' Amps: may or may not require the use of a preamp with a pickup and that will depend upon whether or not there is a special built in preamp section to that amp that specifically allows for the choice in plugging in either a passive (non-preamped) or active (preamped) pickup. This choice is quite often in the form of pushbutton on the amp's control panel. Many acoustic amps show a selection that may indicate the choice of 'high impedance' and 'low impedance'.
Low impedance in these instances usually indicates that in this range the amp will handle an impedance of 1000 ohms or less - which will allow active pickups with preamps to be used.
High impedance in these instances may indicate an allowable impedance into the 2 or 3 mega ohm range - which will allow passive pickups to be used. Or it may indicate a maximum input impedance allowed of 20,000 ohms or less - which will handle magnetic electric guitar pickups but not passive pickups. You should carefully read the technical specifications of your acoustic amp in order to see what it will do.
P.A. Systems, Mixers: all of these units will require the use of a preamp between themselves and a passive pickup. Microphone preamps built into P.A.'s and mixers are not designed for use with passive pickups and will not work properly.
Computers: Due to the vagaries and variables inherent in the sound cards found in computers, the only thing that we can advise is that a preamp will almost certainly be necessary.
