Fishman Triple Play Reviews

Impressive for pitch to MIDI device...

OK, so a little background. I've owned twice the GR20/GK3 combo (GK3 had been installed on 3 different guitars), I own the GM800/GK5 combo (GK5 had been installed on 3 different guitars and now it's installed on another one) so I can only compare the TP with these. In terms of single note tracking beats every other guitar synth I've owned hands down. You can do really fast passages that simply cannot be done with the rest of the bunch, not without false note triggering etc. It has less system/hardware settings to adjust than the rest, but it does the job. Now, In terms of playing big chords, especially if muting adjacent strings is required, out of the box it's a little worse than the rest, BUT fooling around with the hardware settings and adjusting the playing, gets the job done. Personally, I am keeping the TP, this is what I use nowadays so I recommend it for anyone that is looking for a guitar synth to use it with VSTs. For live use obviously the GM800/GK5 seems a better option unless you want to depend on a computer. The software is OK, a bit steep learning curve if you are not familiar but learning how to adjust the hardware settings is more than enough (you don't have to load your VSTs through the TP software). The installation is easy BUT, having to permanently "glue" one of the mounts on a specific guitar is a big minus to me. They should give the users the capability to also screw the hex pickup and be able to adjust the height whenever is needed. I had to add a shim to one of my guitars in order to get the needed string clearance. And since there is no way to adjust the height after the installation, I recommend you do your homework first, decide which string gauge you are going to use first. Because, if for instance, you start with 9-42 and you want to change to 10-46, there is a chance the signal will be so hot even with the sensitivity at minimum settings, you won;t be able to set it properly unless you increase the string action (or add a shim if your guitat is bolt-on) which, well, it will change your instruments playability. Also, I trully believe the instructions on setting up the strings clearance is plain wrong. Fishman say just leave 1mm gap between the pickup and the strings. If you do that and start playing, say, in the middle of the freatboard or at the last frets, the signal will be getting overloaded which increases the chance to start getting artifacts (dying mice sounds etc.), that's easy to see if you have the TP software open, monitoring the sensitivity bars and playing across the freatboard. My advice, do it like you would it if you had the Boss/Roland guitar synths; Adjust the sensitivity with the last frets pressed. So. 1mm gap between the pickup and the strings with the last frets pressed. The battery life is great, but in real life I don't think it's 20 hours, probably 20-25% less which is still great. They should have already come out with a revision and change the USB port to USB-C instead, if you ask me, because it's a PITA to have to deal with cable orientation on such small plugs (and if you make a mistake, it's easier to destroy the USB port of the transmitter). Can't really comment on the range as I have a USB extention cable so the transmitter is 2m tops away from the receiver with no obstacles in the middle. The latency is minimal which is great since it's wireless (warning, I am talking about the clean signal of the hex pup compared with the dry signal of the guitats pickups, I am NOT talking about VSTs, that's a totally different story, and it depends on the VST itself, PC and audio card, buffer sample settings etc.) All in all, for people that need a hec pickup to use VSTs I recommend it,

Very hard to setup

I installed everything in the right order, i set the levels like i should, the tripleplay software is very poorly designed, the pickup aren't working very well, there is a lot of latency (and i have a very good PC). I will persist and try to tweak settings for it to be better but after a month, i'm not very satisfy

Not For Anyone who Does Not Already Have A Midi Set Up

Recently bought the Fishman Triple play

I can honestly say, I have never been so disappointed in a product than this.

My issue is all about the marketing and promotion of the Fishman Triple play pickup.

The bottom line is I get huge latency, on all 4 PCS I have tried it on. It is like having a delay pedal, I click the string I then hear it half or one second later.

There is no troubleshooting guide on the Fishman site, just videos of how to set everything up.

I have used the correct spacer, adjusted the pick with the little guitar tool and altered all the sensitivities of each string as per instruction and still have latency.

The only piece of advice there is from Fishman is when you are installing the software (bit late now I have bought it), where it states I may need a low latency driver for my computer.

This is where it gets annoying for me. I did not expect to have to buy a stand-alone computer for this or change anything within my own computers at home.

Let me quote Fishman’s own words.

“Triple Play controllers, iOS app or plugin give players access to virtual instruments, loopers, sequencers, effects processing, and more on any DAW, PC, Mac, or iPad.”

---------Any DAW, PC Mac or iPAd------

It does not say, you need a dedicated setup with low latency drivers, where you need to switch off all other sounds and remove unused software, switch to high power mode etc etc.

When I go on to the forums, they pretty much state that a dedicated computer is needed and ideally it should be a MAC.

I bought this assuming there was no latency and could just play and play on my 8GB 2,7GHZ, windows laptop. That is pretty much what all the marketing says.

I now know why there are very few 5 stars against this product.

I attempted to install the ASio4all low latency driver on my laptop, but triple play software just crashes when I attempt to open it. Not to mention, the times when I lose sound completely, unstable software as some put.

I received this Thursday Morn and now on Saturday night nearly 3 whole days, I have realized this just is not fit for purpose (from a marketing point of view).

This is for those who already have a fast computer set up in the studio. Or prepare to invest in a dedicated set up, leaning how to do it and extra cost.

Had I known this, would never have bought it, the overall cost is not worth the investment in my opinion.

After 3 days I just got sick of it, just sick.

I know that those who have delved with midi guitars would say this is normal. But I trusted the marketing of Triple Play, I am not someone with a midi set up. I just wanted to get new sounds from my guitar.

After lots of forum busting, I now know that Fishman cannot state “almost no latency” as Latency is depended on everything in the chain from the pickup to the speaker. Not just the pickup.

You cannot use any laptop, and certainly not the min 4gb required mentioned on the box.

It also stuns me that after all these years there is no troubleshooting video or documentation on their website, everything is based on it working first time, plug and play. I learned everything from third party forums.

I now know I will never get those 3 days back.

So if you are like me and have seen the great videos and believe this could be you, by just purchasing this product, think again.

The Triple Play system pick up is nothing more than a wireless pickup with a dongle.

The sounds and everything else is created through a computer system. If you do not have a computer system, powerful enough and set up for midi, then you cannot recreate what is on the Fishman Videos.

This is not mentioned within Fishman's Marketing.

It states

---------Any DAW, PC Mac or iPAd------

very poor tracking

I bought this product while looking for ways to get different instrument sounds from my guitar. unfortunately I could never get the product to work consistently and because it needs to be connected to the computer to work, it was never as satisfying as playing through a guitar amp.

don't waste your time

Installing the pickup is very easy. But then if you expect you'll just download TriplePlay and open your DAW and start jamming with some awesome MIDI tones you'd be so wrong...

After a few hours of installing software, apps, syncs, creating accounts, downloading packs, you get to pick from randomly named presets, some very quiet, some very loud, but all sound fake and unmusical. Tracking isn't good.

After a few hours of clicking through presets hoping you'd find something you like you give up and go to bed. Thumbs down for Fishman on this one.

Great idea but not so easy to set up

I’ve fitted this to my original mid 70s fender strat and although the publicity material shows it fitted to a strat the curve of the pickup does not match the curve across the strings of the guitar resulting in the top ab bottom Es too close to the pickup and the remainder too far with the only way of rectifying this being to adjust the height of each string at the bridge which I’m not going to do when the guitar is properly set up. The result is missed or falsely triggered notes. You are able to adjust the height of the pickup but not the profile so will not suit all guitars. Promised to be a great product but I’m not sure.

So far, so good

I am using the Triple Play for recording MIDI notes (these could be used with software instruments or for creating sheet music).

Pros

- Basic note detection is working fine

- Since I don't want to fix the device permanently to my guitar, I am glad that also some easily removable adhesive tape does the job, at least on my guitar.

- Can be used on a multitude of different guitars (there's some basic hardware included to adjust the height of the pickup).

Cons

- Tiny artefacts are recorded on a regular basis (very short MIDI notes), especially at the beginning of a note. You might not notice when just playing, but if you need clean MIDI data some cleaning is required first.

- Don't expect fast lines, like some shred solo, to be captured reliably.

Overall it does a good job, if you can live with the cons.

Guitarist in studio

A very good device for recording MIDI information using a guitar. There are several drawbacks affecting its functionality, but overall it does the job well.

it's not worth it

the process of mounting on the guitar is torturous. After mounting it, I realized that it has a delayed effect. If it is not mounted well, it does not catch all the strings.

My first MIDI pickup..

I was curious to try a MIDI pickup and I decided for this Fishman!

Happy with the product even if the mounting system is not for every guitar model.. better if you have a Telecaster or a Strato... not so indicated to mount on a guitar without the pickguard..

Great for making synth melodies with a guitar

I'm primarily making electronic music with Synths and drum machines, but since I learnt guitar at younger age, this is more musical for me to write and compose music with than say piano. Hence the reason I wanted a midi pick up for my guitar.

I use the midi pick up with my DAW (Ableton Live) and directly into hardware synths, mainly Elektron.

Pros

- Has enough control via the software to configure for your desired setup.

- Tracks playing very well.

- Extremely creative and fun way to use with synths.

- Wireless works perfectly.

Cons

- Installation can be tricky.

- Only comes with one mounting adhesive and bracket, for this price it should have two at least.

- Can be hard to get the correct height in relation to the strings.

Works great when installed properly

This is a great product for recording midi sounds. Lag, missed or unexpected notes are perceived only when trying to play lines with a lot of notes. When used for simple harmony to comp it can be used in a live setting, otherwise I would only recommend it for studio use. The tracking is great once calibrated! There is a learning curve to achieve a proper use, clean and precise playing is essential.

Pros:

- No major work is needed on the guitar to install the product.

- Tracking is great for common use.

- Can be configured in many different setups.

- Plug and Play.

- Best solution for studio use of guitar to midi.

Cons:

- Lag and unintended notes can occur if one tries to play a complex line with a lot of notes.

- Throughout calibration and adjustment is needed to achieve optimal tracking.

- Would only recommend for a live setting if intended as a comping and/or ambiance setup, not for complex and dense soloing.

Fantastic Bit Of Gear

What a fantastic bit of gear! I purchased this over 6 months ago, and I finally feel qualified enough, to make a decent short review on it!

I originally purchased this to use live. My band has a heavy use of synths, so I thought it would be cool to take some of the synth lead lines from our music, and play them on guitar! It works brilliantly for that. From my experience, it works with almost any synth plugin, but does track better on some than others! I run VST plugins through Abelton Live 10, and the USB Stick provided shows up as a midi usb device.

The use case that I hadn’t even thought about was in song writing! It’s amazing for this. There’s plenty of demos showing how it works for drums, and although cool, I haven’t used it for that. I use it mostly on violin and keyboard parts. It’s perfect for creating chords or tracking lead line melody’s. The latency is very low, but sometimes needs tweaking a little. So I just quantise the midi once I’ve tracked, and it’s perfect!

This is an amazing tool for anyone looking for a way of playing synths live on guitar or for writing! Highly recommended.

The reason I’ve put 4 stars on a couple of fields, is because the software is a little complex to understand off the bat, and the latency of some synths makes it not useable for live playing where you need it to be perfect!

Overall I highly recommend!

Initially I was suspicious of the bluetooth because the delay factor has always been a major problem with all the guitar to midi devices I have tried. Surprisingly the response time was a very good.

Having said that, the setup of the pickup was a very fiddly. I ended up putting it on an old strat copy I have because, although a number of different mounting options are provided, I could not find one that would fit on the guitar I wanted to use.

Once everything was optimised, I discovered that playing it as cleanly as the guy in the promo vids is no easy thing. The right hand technique has to be spot on or there are stray notes all over the place.

The software and the sound banks that it comes with are great and the Tripleplay app offers a some unexpected and exciting possibilities.

Is it worth nearly £300? If you are a guitar player who wants the occasional synth sound under you fingers - probably not. If you are prepared to approach it like a new instrument, then yes it could be.

Great hardware, unreliable and impenetrable software

Fits very easily and well to a guitar with a Tunomatic bridge (I used a Jackson Rhoads). Floyd bridge guitars will require sufficient space between the bridge and the pickup and necessitate using the 'mild' adhesive to attach the pickup to the guitar itself. The wireless functionality is great - no noticeable latency and battery life is excellent. The stock / default sounds are wonderful and I could made very good use of the strings, wind, sax, flute type instruments but I found that piano/keys and and other 'high attack' type instruments such as nylon stringed guitar suffered terribly from ghost / artifact notes and were practically unusable even where playing extremely cleanly. Perhaps a factory fitted Tripleplay might improve on this (such as the Godin or Fender Tripleplay equipped guitars that are available).

Unfortunately, the real problem that I found was with the software. Even forgetting the time consuming and impenetrable 3rd party software components provided on a 'trial' basis (but still require registration and authorisation), the base FTP installation was incredibly unstable, at least in Windows 7, and would crash completely seemingly at random. The software interfaces are also quite terrible. Native instruments and Fishman should be ashamed of themselves for producing such user unfriendly interfaces.

I could have lived these shortcomings with that had the software been more stable. Unfortunately the instability of the base FTP software made the whole package utterly useless for live performances and there was no way I could rely on it for fleshing out the sound of a covers band.

Hmmm

I was hoping this would be as good as the hype suggests, unfortunately it isn't. I don't think midi guitar pickups will ever get to the point where they are extremely usable. Note glitches happen far too often to be a reliable add-on to the guitar. Better to learn keyboard for any string/piano sounds.

Not for all guitars

Impossible to use with a P90 and G style guitar. Would need some serious adaptation that I'm not willing to do. Tracking is not as good as expected and advertised. MIDI for guitars is still something to happen, not there yet!

Awesome!

Been using this live and in the studio and it's fantastic. Signal distance is flawless! Only issues are the fishman software is a bit buggy and cumbersome. And the attachment to the guitar could be better. It is nice but a stronger attachment would be nicer. I move around a lot live.

Great tracking!

Easy to attach to my Gibson SG, tracked straight away with no adjustments and talked to my Cubase without any coaxing! Very pleased so far.

I haven't installed any of the software yet, so looking forward to seeing how this goes.

Now I'm keyboard player!

Amazing thing for all guitarists who wants to play keys. Period! One of problem in our cover band was we didn't play few songs with pianos, organs involved but now problem is solved. Installation is easy if you know to use pc or mac regulary. In just 20 minutes you can play your favorite songs on keyboard, I mean on guitar but with keyboard sounds. You just need to be patient when install midi pickup on guitar and folow the instructions so you can get best signal response. In box is all you need to start playing, all hardware, acces and codes for downloading all you need and you ready to start. All positive rates from me!