Shadow SH 4020- A

J'ai acheté ce micro pour reprendre efficacement mon jeu de finger picking,

On choisit le gain de chacune des cordes ! Nickel pour traiter le son des basses en le séparant de celui des aigus et le rebalancer dans 2 entées séparées, une pour les aigus et une pour les basses et hop : il n'y plus qu'à mixer le tout et j'ai le son canon qu'on souhaite. C'est ce qu'il me fallait pour élargir le son de ma guitare et apporter l'effet naturel d'une géométrie sonore panoramique qui donne l'impression qu'on écoute une guitare géante. Bref, voici un système novateur qui apporte une réelle ampleur à la musique.

Le piezzo et le préamp sont très efficaces, y compris en utilisation standard.
Je ne mets que 4 étoiles pour la qualité de fabrication, car le boîtier n'est pas moche, mais il n'est pas spécialement beau non plus (enfin c'est une affaire de goûts). Quant au système d'immobilisation des fils à l'intérieur de la guitare, il est un peu cheap... Prévoir l'intervention d'un luthier pour refaire un sillet adapté au piezzo très étudié et spécifique.

I am a gigging musician and this system was preinstalled in my main gigging guitar which I purchased 6 years ago. I recently had some noise problems and reduced signal level from my guitar. Usually this is caused by ware on the Jack socket, but with it being a sealed unit and with the special PCB connector for the preamp on the other end of the cable, I was unable investigate or replace with a standard part. Not being 100% sure this was the cause, and not wanting to replace the entire guitar, I decided to replace the whole shadow system for the same one. Features and sound-wise I couldn't be happier with the Shadow system currently in the guitar, it sounds really great and the built in tuner is invaluable.

Upon receiving the new system from Thomas, I immediately noticed some small differences with the preamp unit. The plastic felt cheaper, it seemed lighter and the feel / movement of the rotary knobs aren't as nice / positive as the old unit. After installing the new system, I noticed my top E was a much lower volume. Note that this system has 6 separate channels - 1 for each string. I first thought this most likely the under-saddle pickup with a dead segment. I stripped the guitar down a couple of times again and swapped out the components one at a time with the old ones as a process of elimination. It turns out the fault is with the new preamp unit. My old jack socket was indeed the original problem. I have now salvaged my beloved guitar with a combination of old shadow parts and new ones, therefore I haven't returned the product to Thomann. However, I would have been really upset if I bought this unit for a new install in a guitar.. especially since you need to cut a hole in the top for the preamp. I suspect that Shadow have economised on Production over the years to maximise profit, cheaper materials, PCB etc and clearly the Quality Control isn't protecting the consumer. A real shame to loose the edge by skimping on quality, because the design and sound of the system is really good.