PHOTOGRAPHY SIMON LEES
Shadow SH 145 Prestige
The rivals
SH 145 PRESTIGE
Takamine Tri-Ax £119
Fishman Rare Earth
Humbucking £189
LR Baggs M1 Active
£229
Though considerably
cheaper in the UK,
Takamine’s Tri-Ax is
just a re-branded LR
Baggs M1 Active, in
black, with a unique
triaxial secondary coil
suspension system that
senses top vibration,
active/passive switch,
Allen-head pole pieces
with threadless tops,
gold-plated output
socket and better,
tidier-looking clamps.
The slimmer, black
Rare Earth is less
conspicuous, and
differs in its lack of
adjustable pole pieces
and superior, cork-lined
clamps. As mentioned,
the Baggs M1 Active is
the same as the Tri-Ax,
only with an ivory-
coloured top and no
active/passive switch
114 MAY 2006
GIT276.rev_shadow 114
& SH NFX-AC £119 & £109
Shadow play: two new and intriguing pickups from one of the most
successful and enduring brands in the business, Germany’s Shadow
by Matthew Wig
G
ermany’s Shadow was one of the into the soundhole, but looks fairly slim The SH NFX-AC
pioneers of acoustic instrument from the front. It’s encased in a tough is an under-
saddle pickup
pickup technology back in the early moulded plastic housing, and is lighter with integrated
1970s, and remains a major brand to than its US counterparts. The mounting preamp and
this day. However, it seems that clamps are a bit fiddly, and need longer volume control
Fishman, LR Baggs and B-Band have tightening screws to cater for thick-
been hogging the limelight in recent lipped soundholes (Lowden/Avalon).
years, especially at the professional end Despite this poor design, both clamping
of the steel-string acoustic pickup surfaces are padded.
market. Still, Shadow continues to Internally, this active pickup
produce innovative products; and while uses a stacked-coil hum-
a pro-standard magnetic soundhole cancelling set-up, with two
pickup is nothing that hasn’t been seen samarium cobalt bar
before, its new Nanoflex under-saddle magnets, and is totally
pickups are an intriguing development. shielded from extraneous
electrical interference. The
SH 145 Prestige Phillips head pole-pieces
Like Fishman’s Rare Earth and LR are adjustable for fine-
Baggs’ M1 (issue 253), this unit extends tuning string-to-string balance.
The SH NFX-AC delivers a solid, full-bodied and
generally balanced tone, with negligible background
noise and plenty of output, and you do get a sense of
the acoustic character coming through
30/3/06 2:33:11 pm
 SHADOW SH 145 PRESTIGE & SH NFX-AC £119 & £109
ACOUSTIC PICKUPS

The SH 145 Prestige SHADOW SH 145

has adjustable PRESTIGE
pole-pieces PRICE: £119 (includes
two leads and cable tie)
ORIGIN: Germany
TYPE: Active
humbucking magnetic
soundhole pickup with
volume control
DIMENSIONS: 27 (w) x
110 (l) x 40mm (d)
CONNECTIONS: 3.5mm
output jack socket.
3.66m x 4mm guitar
cable provided (3.5mm
jack to 6.35mm jack) for
temporary installations
and a 560mm x 3mm
cable provided for
permanent installations
(3.5mm jack to pre-wired
endpin jack socket)
POWER: 3V lithium coin-
size battery – one year
lifetime with average
usage
WEIGHT (g/oz): 100/3.5
COLOURS: Titanium (as
reviewed) and black
JHS
The Prestige’s 0113 286 5381
padded clamps spare www.shadow-electronics.
the wear and tear on com
your soundhole
SHADOW SH NFX-AC
PRICE: £109 (includes
The onboard preamp means you’ll have
no problem driving long leads and
The ‘magnetic sound’ is SH 145 PRESTIGE
Build quality
TEST RESULTS one lead and a cable tie)
ORIGIN: Germany
plugging into just about anything, and most evident if you play Features
TYPE: Flexible under-
saddle pickup and
power consumption is refreshingly low.
percussively with the Sound
Value for money
integrated miniature
preamp w/ volume
SOUNDS: More like the Baggs M1 than Prestige, but string ■ WE LIKED Crisp and detailed sound, not control, designed for
mounting on bridge
the Rare Earth, this pickup delivers a
broad open crisp response. We hear
balance is great and all the as heavy as other similar soundhole pickups
and great value DIMENSIONS: Pickup
104 (l) x 2.4 (w) x 1mm
deep well-rounded bass, an effectively intricacies of your playing ■ WE DISLIKED Let down by fiddly clamps
that don’t open wide enough for some
(d); preamp 43 (l) x 33
(w) x 12.5mm (d)
pruned mid-range and smooth treble
that captures all the acoustic sparkle
are captured thick-lipped soundholes CONNECTIONS: 3.5mm
output jack socket.
with the soft-edged attack that only so light it won’t affect tone, and it won’t 3.66m x 4mm guitar
magnetic pickups can achieve. The devalue your instrument unless its actually sounds a bit light, which is most cable (3.5mm jack to
wound strings retain their acoustic stick-on pads affect vintage finishes. likely an installation issue and not a 6.35mm jack) provided.
POWER: 3V lithium coin-
‘zing’, and all in all there’s excellent Despite its size, it’s still a bit unsightly, pickup issue. size battery – one year
clarity. The ‘magnetic sound’ is most and its placement will occasionally However, accidentally whack the lifetime with average
evident if you play percussively, but cramp your playing style. preamp, jack plug or the section of usage
string balance is great and all the Based on Shadow’s patented Nanoflex pickup sticking out from the saddle, and WEIGHT (g/oz): 23/0.8
intricacies of your playing are captured. technology, this system’s pickup is only you realise you’ve got a lot of vibration/
Really nice for fingerpicking. a millimetre thick. Its multi-layered touch sensitive gubbins to avoid. The rivals
structure incorporates an extremely SH NFX-AC
LR Baggs Element Active
SH NFX-AC thin PVDF piezoelectric foil sensor that Verdict £119
This nifty little under-saddle pickup responds to both pressure (strings) and The SH 145 Prestige’s obvious ‘rival’ in Fishman Ellipse VT £145
system is designed to offer quick, easy vibration (soundboard), and is the UK market is Takamine’s Tri-Ax Headway Snake 2 £89
and almost entirely non-destructive particularly flexible. The miniature pickup, and we’d have no hesitation Other systems need a
couple of holes drilled,
installation. However, on a steel-string preamp incorporates so-called recommending the Shadow as a worthy and are trickier to
acoustic bridge, you do need to file a bit ‘Nanoelectronics’ and is attached alternative. If not quite as satisfyingly install, but are hidden.
off the treble end of the saddle to leave directly to one end of the pickup, designed, it still delivers excellent value Baggs’ basic system
an exit gap for the pickup. The preamp ensuring a healthy, low-impedance for money and sounds as impressive. combines the Element
under-saddle pickup
mounts on the treble-side ‘wing’ of the output that you can plug straight in If you specifically want an under- with an endpin preamp,
bridge, using sticky pads and Velcro. It’s with. The volume knob’s a bit fiddly, but saddle system on your acoustic guitar, and has a removable
then at least you’ve got one. but really don’t want to drill any holes in soundhole-mounted
it, then the SH NFX-AC is an affordable volume control.
SH NFX-AC TEST RESULTS
Fishman’s stealthy
Build quality SOUNDS: Despite the quirks of our solution that really works. However, if system combines its
Features Vintage V1100 test guitar, the SH NFX- you love the look of your instrument, standard Matrix pickup
Sound AC’s basic non-EQ’d performance is as you probably won’t want even a little with the soundhole-
Value for money good as any quality under-saddle box stuck to your bridge. mounted Ellipse
preamp, offering tone,
■ WE LIKED Simple installation; quality system. It delivers a solid, full-bodied volume, phase and
tone; lightweight and generally balanced tone, with Shadow SH 145 Prestige switchable voicing.
■ WE DISLIKED Preamp box occasionally negligible background noise and plenty RATING Headway’s Snake
gets in the way, and makes quite a thump of output, and you do get a sense of the combines its 360-
when you hit it; not really an attractive
acoustic character coming through. On Shadow SH NFX-AC degree sensing coaxial
addition to your soundboard cable pickup with an
this review set-up the bottom end RATING inline preamp

MAY 2006 115

GIT276.rev_shadow 115 30/3/06 2:33:17 pm