I purchased the Fishman Bluegrass Series Rare Earth Banjo Pickup for my Epiphone Banjo. The installation, though involved, was pretty straight forward. The little metal shim that attaches to the head was very corroded in the unit that I received, but Fishman sent me out a couple that arrived a couple days later. The tecch at Fishman was great and offered lots of good techinical info about the product in his reply email. Take a close look at the solder tabs on the jack before making any connections as the two shorter tabs are close in size and location. Not a hard install, just take your time. Sounds great plugged into a mixing board with a DI box and through a guitar amp.

I bought the Fishman Bluegrass Series Rare Earth Banjo Pickup because I switch between several instruments during a set. I'm the texture guy in the band, so I'm constantly switching between guitar, mandolin, and banjo. The problem was, I had 1/4" jacks in my guitars and mando, but not in my banjo. Several times, the sound guy would miss my first few notes because he forgot to turn on the mic. After I installed it (fairly easy, but some soldering is required) I plugged it in, and with a few adjustments was very pleased with the sound. I wanted the bright sound of the banjo to come through, and I was not disappointed. The only issue I have is that there is no volume control and the sound man sometimes has trouble getting enough signal compared to my other instruments. That's why I put 4 stars on 'features.' If the banjo is all you play, this won't be a problem. I will probably be installing a volume control next.