"...If you want to equip your acoustic or classical guitar with a pickup system and don’t want to drill any holes in the instrument’s frame, you should test the Sonic systems..."

"Shadow is one of the leading manufacturers of pickup systems for acoustic instruments. Joe Marinic’s team is always on the run to develop new and innovative products, like the up-to-date soundhole fitted preamps with Nanoflex and NanoMAG pickup. We tested all four products of the series.

PICKUPS

Nanoflex is a newly developed pickup which senses not only the vibrations of the strings but also of the wood. This guarantees a natural sound – similar to a microphone sound is accomplished. Another characteristic is the pre-amplification directly at the pickup. This minimizes the hum and protects the system against electromagnetic interspersion.

The second pickup - the NanoMAG - is a magnetic pickup which can be installed at the end of the fingerboard (similar to a floating pickup). Again, Shadow conjures and combines samarium-cobalt magnets with an air coil and active electronics on a very small space. The NanoMAG supplies a low-impedance and remarkable hum-free signal.

PREAMPS

The Sonic preamps will be glued in the

 a.. Sonic Basic Preamp + Nanoflex 
 b.. Sonic Nanoflex + Nanoflex 
 c.. Sonic Nanomag + NanoMAG 
 d.. Sonic Doubleplay + Nanoflex + NanoMAG

Sonic Basic has a volume and a tone control.

Sonic Nanoflex has a 2-band control with bass and treble, phase invert switch to cancel the feedback and a battery LED.

Sonic Nanomag looks like Sonic Nanoflex and has the same features, only comes with a NanoMAG pickup.

The most professional system is Sonic Doubleplay which combines both pickups. With the blend control you can play either pickup by itself or mix them. Again, there is a volume control, phase invert switch and battery LED. The active tone control adds trebles and decreases the bass in the same time and vice versa.

CONCLUSION

The Nanoflex and NanoMAG pickups in combination with the  4 Sonic preamps offer a good sound with excellent technical data regarding hum and other disturbing noises. If you want to equip your acoustic or classical guitar with a pickup system and don’t want to drill any holes in the instrument’s frame, you should test Shadow’s Sonic systems. They sound clear and diaphanous especially the Nanoflex shines with Piezo-untypical characteristics. The NanoMAG with its mid-range sound is the ideal complement. You can choose out of the preamp series depending on your price range and sound imaginations."