Harley Benton TrueTone SH-30H Pro Active

Stavo cercando un pickup abbastanza economico da montare sulla mia acustica, alla fine ho deciso di prendere questo. Sono molto soddisfatto dell'acquisto, ci tengo a dire che non sono un audiofilo e questo è il primo pickup, ma devo dire che il suono mi sembra molto naturale, poi aggiustando il microfono con l'apposito regolatore, si riesce ad avere un suono più o meno naturale, li sono gusti. L'unica cosa forse è che mi sembra siano più presenti gli alti rispetto ai bassi, quindi le corde sottili si sentono di più rispetto a quelle spesse, ma non ne sono certo, ad ogni modo io sono soddisfatto e mi sento di consigliarlo a qualcuno che cerca una soluzione affidabile e abbastanza economica.

After reading the reviews, I really thought it was going to be great : prospect of the sound, easy installation, I even considered drilling the guitar to install it permanently.
I play an acoustic guitar, through a mixer, a PA, just a bit of chorus & reverb, with a singer, so I want a bit of energy from my sound. It doesn't have to be electric, nor fully acoustic but it still needs to come through loud and clear.
So a mix of a magnetic PU and a mic was a great prospect. Also, the idea of hearing the tapping for percussion on the guitar table was very appealing especially through a loop pedal. But honestly it really didn't suit me. I thought the sound was thin, especially in the high strings, and unbalanced with the microphone, even at the lowest setting, the mic "picked up" everything. No way to tame it. It really surprised me and not the right way. But the big let down for me that disappointed me even before plugging the PU in. The PU kept moving in the soundhole!! There are those little foam pads on the side of the pick up that looks like they are going to "sandwich" the hole's wood and squeeze it and securely keep it in place, but it didn't! At all ! The pickup moved immediately, it wasn't holding on to the wood at all, a simple tug on the cable, or just moving the guitar and the pickup would move diagonally too. That is the lowest point for me, because if I had spent time digging into the mixer's EQ and refine the sound, it probably would've worked out, but if the pickup doesn't even hold in place, even without playing the guitar, what good is it in a live situation?, when you move, tap, tug the cable etc... no way. If the pickup is not secure it would've fallen during the performance and that's a big NO NO.
So overall, I was really disappointed. It wasn't for me at all and I expected a much better product.
Build quality is ok, for the price it's fine. No big issue here.
But please work on a better attachment system, with cork and screws like the fishman, anything would be better than that flimsy foam. Even if it pushes the price by €5 it would bring peace of mind to know your pickup isn't going to fall off when you play.
I can't say I would recommend the product or not, it just wasn't for me.

Für meine alte Ibanez Artwood (80er) Jahre, die ich gebraucht erworben habe, suchte ich einen günstigen Pickup und habe mich nach ausführlicher Belesung für o.a. Tonabnehmer entschieden. Der Vorbesitzer der Gitarre hat leider einen TA eingebaut und dafür ein ziemliches Loch in die obere Zarge gefräst und auch unterm Steg ungleichmäßig ausgeschabt, so dass die Saiten unterschiedliche Lautstärken produzierten. Der einzige Vorteil war, dass ich dass aufgebohrte Loch für die Endbuchse des HB nutzen konnte. Ich habe also kein Kabel aus der Gitarre hängen, sondern kann direkt in die Gitarre einstöpseln.
Nachdem Fa. Thomann wie wie gewohnt prompt und zuverlässig geliefert hatte, war ich mit dem Einbau in 10 Min. durch. Bin dann sofort in den Probenraum gefahren und habe die Gitarre mit meinem ACUS ONE - 8 Amp verbunden, den ich zeitgleich auch für Gesang nutze. Der Pickup gefällt (mir) erstmal optisch. Soundmässig musste ich mich langsam rantasten, das Drehen der an der Unterseite des TA befindlichen Reglern ist erstmal gewöhnungsbedürftig. Aber die Regler sind sehr leichtgängig und wenn man den "Dreh" erst mal raus hat....kein Problem. "Rauschfrei" hiess es - Rauschfrei ist es ! Der Sound in der Humbucker - Version bietet eine warmen Klang, der nicht zu elektrisch klingt, wie viele andere Pickups in dieser Preisklasse. Wer´s etwas heller mag, dreht einfach das Mikrofonpoti , bis er seinen gewünschten Sound hat. Natürlich werden dann auch die Geräusche, die man auf dem Korpus erzeugt (Klopfen -Trommeln) übertragen, wer dass sucht wird zufrieden sein. im Zusammenspiel mit Band erweist sich der H B als absolut durchsetzungsfähig.
Fazit : Ich werde die Kombi Ibanez - Harley Benton im Probenraum nutzen, dadurch entfällt der Transport meiner Hauptgitarre ( Yamaha
APX 9 C ). Soundmässig ist das schon ein ziemlicher Unterschied, aber
wer eine preisgünstige Alternative für den Alltagsgebrauch sucht, sollte diesen Pickup testen. In dieser Preisklasse meiner Meinung nach
nicht zu schlagen.