SHADOW SH 145 PRESTIGE & SH NFX-AC

Shadow Play: Two new and interesting pickups from one of the most successful and enduring brands in the business, Germany's Shadow.

Germany's Shadow was one of the pioneers of acoustic instrument pickup technology back in the early 1970s, and remains a major brand to this day. However, it seems that Fishman, L.R. Baggs and B-Band have been hogging the limelight in recent years, especially in the professional end of the steel-string acoustic pickup market. Still, Shadow continues to produce innovative products; and while a pro-standard magnetic soundhole pickup is nothing new, its new Nanoflex under-saddle pickups are an intriguing development.

SH 145 Prestige

Internally, this active pickup uses a stacked-coil hum-canceling setup, with two samarium cobalt bar magnets, and is totally shielded from extraneous electrical interference. The Phillips head pole-pieces are adjustable for fine-tuning string-to-string balance. The onboard preamp means you'll have no problem driving long leads and plugging into just about anything, and power consumption is refreshingly low.

SOUNDS:

More like the Baggs M1 than the Rare Earth, this pickup delivers a broad open crisp response. We hear deep well-rounded bass, an effectively pruned mid-range and smooth treble that captures all the acoustic sparkle with the soft-edged attack that only magnetic pickups can achieve. The wound strings retain their acoustic 'zing', and all in all there's excellent clarity. The 'magnetic sound' is most evident if you play percussively, but string balance is great and all the intricacies of your playing are captured. Really nice for fingerpicking.

SH NFX-AC

This nifty little under-saddle pickup system is designed to offer quick, easy and almost entirely non-destructive installation. However, on a steel-string acoustic bridge, you do need to file a bit off the treble end of the saddle to leave an exit gap for the pickup. The preamp mounts on the treble-side 'wing' of the bridge, using sticky pads and Velcro. It's so light it won't affect tone, and it won't devalue your instrument unless its stick-on pads affect vintage finishes. Despite its size, it's still a bit unsightly, and its placement will occasionally cramp your playing style.

Based on Shadow's patented Nanoflex technology, this system's pickup is only a millimeter thick. Its multi-layered structure incorporates an extremely thin PVDF piezoelectric foil sensor that responds to both pressure (strings) and vibration (soundboard), and is particularly flexible. The miniature preamp incorporates so-called 'Nanoelectronics' and is attached directly to one end of the pickup, ensuring a healthy, low impedance output that you can plug straight in with. The volume knob's a bit fiddly, but then at least you've got one.

SOUNDS:

Despite the quirks of our Vintage V1100 test guitar, the SH NFX-AC's basic non-EQ'd performance is as good as any quality under-saddle system. It 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. On this review set-up the bottom end actually sounds a bit light, which is most likely an installation issue not a pickup issue.

However, accidentally whack the preamp, jack plug or the section of pickup sticking out from the saddle, and you realize you've got a lot of vibration/touch sensitive gubbins to avoid.

Verdict:

The SH 145 Prestige's obvious 'rival' in the UK market is Takamine's Tri-Ax pickup, and we'd have no hesitation recommending the Shadow as a worthy alternative. If not quite as satisfyingly designed, it still delivers excellent value for money and sounds equally impressive.

If you specifically want an under-saddle system on your acoustic guitar, but really don't want to drill any holes in it, then the SH NFX-AC is an affordable solution that really works. However, if you love the look of your instrument, you probably won't want even a little box stuck to your bridge.