Fishman Guitar Leaflet

(8.7mm) outside the guitar's body for proper fit.

Fit the small dress washer and nut over the end of the jack, then insert a 3/32"
Allen wrench through the small hole on the end of the jack. Tighten the nut
with a 1/2" open-end wrench while holding the jack in place with the Allen
wrench. Thread and hand tighten the strap button.

Note: With the strap button in place, the end of
the jack should protrude slightly, so that when a
plug is inserted, it will snap securely in place.

We recommend that you attach the battery clip to a small piece of hardwood
approximately 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" x 1/2" (4cm x 4cm x 1.1cm) thick. Mark the screw
hole locations on the block using the battery holder as a template. Drill the screw
holes using the 5/64" (2mm) drill. Attach the battery holder using the two supplied
1/4" screws. Attach this assembly to the inside front block (neck block) using either
wood glue or a gap filling cyanoacrylate such as Loctite

®

Black Max™.

Important!  Although the supplied battery holder should provide adequate
capacity to grip the battery at all times, we strongly recommend that you remove
the battery when shipping your instrument. FAILURE TO REMOVE BATTERY
COULD RESULT IN DAMAGE TO YOUR INSTRUMENT. Fishman will not be held
responsible for any damage incurred to instruments from a loose battery.

A set of adhesive backed clips has been provided to secure the pickup cable
and battery leads inside the guitar once the endpin jack has been installed.
Remove the plastic film from the back of each clip to expose the adhesive.
Secure the cable/clips to the kerfed lining of the guitar.

Power Supply:

9 Volt Alkaline battery

Battery Life:

Natural I - 6,000 hours 
Natural II - 6,000 hours  

Maximum Output Voltage:

4V peak to peak 

Output Impedance:

Less than 5kOhm

Signal-to-Noise Ratio:

94 dB

Discrete Component Design: FET low noise class A 

input stage, bipolar class 
AB output stage

All specifications subject to change without notice.

There are two ways to widen the endpin hole to accept the preamp.

Slow and Safe
If you have the time, this is the preferred method. Remove the endpin and
widen the hole to size with a 15/32" (11.9 mm) reamer (available in the US
& Canada through Stewart MacDonald, 800-848-2273 part #4323).

OR ...

Quick & Clean
The objective here is to quickly drill out the endpin jack hole, with the endpin
or other suitable plug in place. You may remove a loose endpin and refasten
it in the endblock with cyanoacrylate glue before starting the procedure.

Note: We do not recommend this method for instruments with brittle
ornamental veneers (ex: abalone) around the endblock.

1. Apply masking tape around the endblock area to protect the instrument.

2. Locate an X-Acto

®

saw blade 1/16" (1.6mm) away from the body and saw off

the endpin.

3. Centerpunch a guide hole in the center of the trimmed endpin.

4. Drill a 1/8" (3.2mm) pilot hole through the endpin.

5. Line up a 15/32" (11.9mm) Spade bit in the pilot hole and begin drilling.

Maintain a perpendicular plunge in relation to the instrument. Use steady (but
not heavy) pressure, especially as the drill exits inside the guitar.

6. To avoid damage to the instrument, let the drill come to a complete stop

before removing it from the hole.

1. Unscrew the shielding cap to access the preamp circuit board.

2. Strip 1/4" off the outside jacket of the pickup wire. Tin both the inner con-

ductor and the ground wire.

3. Thread the pickup wire through the shielding cap.

4. Thread the pickup wire through the center strain relief hole, then solder the

signal wire from the pickup (hot  wire) to the pad marked "IN" on the preamp
circuit board. Solder the ground wire from the pickup (shield) to the adjacent
pad marked "G" on the preamp circuit board. (See Fig 1) Do not over heat
the solder pads! Doing so may lift the pads from the circuit board.

5. Fasten the shielding cap to the jack. Be careful not to allow the shielding cap

to come in contact with the end of the circuit board.

6. Lock the shielding cap to the first large hex nut.

The Fishman Switchjack™ switching endpin jack is integrated into the Acoustic
Matrix™. A variety of stereo wiring options are available for pickup+microphone
or pickup+pickup:

(use with the Fishman Blender System)

Note: Before you install a microphone, check the manufacturer’s
specific wiring instructions (color coding).

Follow this sequence when installing the endpin jack:

1 - Preamp / Shielding Cap

2 - 1st Large Hex nut

3 - 2nd Large Hex Nut

4 - Large Dress Washer

5 - Star Washer

6 - Guitar End Block

7 - Small Dress Washer

8 - Small Dress Nut

9 - Strap Button

The jack should protrude at least 5/16" (7.9 mm) and no more than 11/32"

3 4 5

6

7

8

9

2

1

Weak string 

or strings

F

I S H M A N

A

C O U S T I C

M

A T R I X

™

Symptom

Cause

Solution

Saddle is not completely seated.

Push the saddle down over the weak strings.

Bottom of saddle is uneven or out of square with its sides.

Check bottom of saddle for flatness and squareness.

Debris in the saddle slot.

Improper saddle fit (too tight or loose).

Saddle material.

Not enough downbearing pressure on saddle.

Uneven or belly up saddle slot.

Wire hole too tight.

Pickup binding in saddle slot.

Remove debris from the saddle slot.

Make sure that the saddle has a sliding fit in the slot.

Do not use bone, ivory or other organic materials 

for the saddle material. We recommend the 

Fishman Cleartone™ high-performance saddle.

Follow the 50/50 rule.

Sculpt the bottom of the saddle to compensate for depth 

differences in the saddle slot or re-rout the saddle slot.

The wire hole must be .094" diameter.

The saddle slot must be .125" wide for Wide Format and

.094” for Narrow Format. Rout the slot to the correct width.

Thin or weak signal

Weak downbearing pressure due to low string break angle.

Observe the 50/50 rule. Ramp the string slots if necessary.

Hum

Improper saddle fit (too tight, resulting in poor s/n ratio).

Check saddle for sliding fit in the slot.

Torn pickup shield.

Examine the pickup. Replace pickup if the material is torn.

Unshielded jack.

Fasten the Shielding Cap to the jack.

Pickup

intermittent

or dead

Pickup binding in wire hole 

(wire hole too small or misaligned).

Align or widen pickup wire hole.

Pickup binding in saddle slot.

Widen or lengthen pickup saddle slot 

to accommodate the pickup.

+

-

Pickup Signal

to IN pad

REV. 4.0

IN

R

G

G

Pickup Shield

to Ground ("G")

REV. 4.0

IN

R

G

G

2nd Pickup Shield

to Ring ("R")

2nd Pickup Signal

to Ground ("G")

Pickup Signal

to IN pad

Pickup Shield

to Ground ("G")

REV. 4.0

IN

R

G

G

Pickup Signal

to IN Pad

Microphone Signal

to Ring ("R")

Pickup Shield

to to Ground ("G")

Microphone Shield

to Ground ("G")

Zener
Diode

REV. 4.0

IN

R

G

G

.068 mF

Capacitor

Ground

V OLUME

20K Audio

TONE

20K Audio

182

Remove 

1.8K Resistor

1K

Resistor

®

340-D Fordham Road Wilmington MA 01887 USA

Phone 978-988-9199 • Fax 978-988-0770

www.fishman.com

009-066-004  •  Rev 4  •  5-00

®