ShadowElectronics SH-955 Nanoflex Pickup with Preamp for Cello

I got this thing a few years ago, after getting fed up with the fishman bridge piezo pickups that were too thin in sound, fed back easily, and broke after gigging use.For the price, I really expect better for this. At first, it worked well and I was pleased with the sound. The tone shape and volume knobs were nice and useful features for getting the sound as you'd like it. You'd still get some boomy low end or thin high end at either end of the tone knob, but could usually find a healthy medium in there. It wasn't a perfect reproduction of the tone, and had a decent amount of bow noise, but still was a nice step up from the fishman and I imagine about as good as you'll find in sound for the price.However, after a year or so of occasional use (not gigging out that often at all), it started popping and cracking when plugged in. After checking a bunch of things I realized the reason was that one of the pickups was no longer making full contact with the wood of the cello. When it would lose contact, it would pop or crack. This exemplifies how non functional and unflexible this design can be. You have to take off your bridge and place the pickups under each foot of the bridge for this to work. Any good cellist knows this can mean a lot to the sound and setup of your instrument, and placing a barrier between the bridge and the wood is a little suspect. However, I will say for me the change was negligible, and as at this point in my life I more gig with bands on my cello then play recitals, I was willing to buy this knowing how it would need to be installed. The problem, though is that if your cello is shaped in any way that doesn't lead to the pickup being able to make full contact with the wood, you'll have the issue I described above. I messed with it as I could; moving the bridge slightly to find a better spot on the cello, but couldn't get it to be reliable. The problem hadn't always been there, and as the installation is somewhat permanent, I hadn't adjusted it since first installing. So, at some point I think the pickup started to bend outwards a hair which caused the problem. Eventually I used a small amount of sticky tack and placed it under the pickup, which made it stick to the wood. Not ideal and would prefer to not put stuff like that on my cello (although I found a non-abrasive and easy to peal off kind) but needed a solution. This fixed the problem 95% of the time, and the other time I just had to readjust to make it stick again. So, it was ALMOST reliable, but did screw things up a couple of times at gigs.Then, after not being used for a bit and sitting in the case, I took out the cello, plugged it in, and now there is just a hum and I can't get anything to come out of it. Put in a new battery, took off the bridge and readjusted each pickup (which is a real fun thing to do), tried more sticky tack, cleaned off the connectors (again, was stored in case), nothing worked. So, now I can't use it for the gig I have coming up. You can't rely on this.

So far so good. I see that one of the sensors has a half milimeter gap from my cello. Based on someone else's review, I expect that gap to increase and a buzz to follow. I'll try to follow up in 2018 when I use it live again.

This may seem like an unconventional pick up, but it is the best I've heard and I have no reservations of speaking very highly of it. First of all it has lasted me for several years with no issue. Secondly, this design is extremely well thought out. The player and listener are getting both the high and low frequencies due to the dual transducer pads under both bridge feet. As well, one is able to adjust whether to project the vibrations of strings or the body for a perfect blend of mellow, natural sound and attack. Maybe something better has come on the market, but I haven't heard it yet.

I have used other pickups and have also seen (heard) different pickups with friends. This one is the ONLY one that keeps the 'cello-ish' sound and since it has an included pre amp you can regulate your volume. Yes, it is bulky and not specially good looking but it keeps your cello sound (at least mine) intact for acoustic and plugged sound. It does add about 2 or 3mm height to the bridge, keep it in mind.

This is a great pickup. It sounds great. My wife plays cello in our church band. She bought a cheep stick on pickup and it had no volume and broke in three weeks. I bought this pickup and she loves it. Don't waste your money on junk get this pickup and be done.