Has anyone got Fishman fluence pickups and a Quad Cortex? I have noise issues when using headphones and guitar without grounding QC to another device using the output. I was wondering if I bought Fishman fluence pickups, as they are totally noiseless I would have no noise issues? I don’t want to spend the money and find it does nothing. Can anyone let me know if they have noise issues with headphones only and they have tried Fishman fluence pickups and it solved the issue?
Focus on grounding your unit next before dropping the money on new pickups.
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I doubt different pickups will make a big, if any difference. I would 1st start by looking at possibly ensuring your guitar(s) are properly shielded and you ensure you are using quality shielded cables etc.
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It works fine when plugged in to my practice amp but I honestly don’t want to have to get out my amp and cables every night. I just want to use the QC for quiet practice and just with headphones. I wanted it to be portable and standalone so not wanting to have another device to plug into. Just wondering if noiseless pickups would do the same as grounding the QC. In theory it should?
Comparing apples to oranges here. Grounding–or rather not grounding–the QC affects everything: all of the inputs, the outputs, the internal signal routing, and the noise floor.
Last year I was renting an old house without proper grounding and my QC buzzed with noise a lot no matter what I did. [Thankfully I bought a new condo this year and no longer have the same issues.]
Fishman Fluence pickups are awesome, but the “noiseless” feature about them is called that because of marketing. They’re never going to be completely noiseless, and they won’t compensate for a lack of grounding.
I’ve had no buzz/hum issues with my QC, including with my Fluence-equipped Godin Passion (3 singles). Doubt that it’s a pickup issue.
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I have Fishman Fluence Abasi. I have a huge noise if I take my hands off the strings, but I have absolutely no noise if I am holding any metallic part of the guitar.
This happens when I use my QC with non grounded equipment (e.g. practicing with headphone).
The noise is gone when I am in rehearsal and the QC is connected to my grounded FRFR amp.
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I use Fluence on 4 of my guitars and EMGs on 1, always using headphones, never connected to any other equipment besides my laptop. To get rid of the last bit of hum when my hands are off the strings, I had to make a cable that goes from the sleeve/ground of a normal TS 1/4" plug at the QC input 2 , to some type of connection (ring terminal, banana plug, alligator clamp, etc… depending on what’s available where I’m at) attached to a ground (outlet ground/screw, metal hull of ship, etc…).
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Thanks @gnumarco this is the details I was after. You saved me splashing out on new pickups only to be disappointed. I am still interested in trying Fishman Fluence at some point but just not get if it doesn’t add any benefits to the QC issues. Cheers
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Thanks @JLantz sounds like a good idea, I did think about trying to create a trs cable to wall socket earth but chickened out invade I fried myself. Never thought of just attaching to a metal object but there are not many ships in my living room 
. Cheers
In most cases connecting ground to a heating radiator should work (more likely to have one in your room than a ship :D)
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Same pickups, same problem.
It’s not the pickups, the QC is very noisy and you have to find out how to make it less noisy (the main QC problem imo).
I didn’t manage to solve this but i didn’t do a lot of things, mine is used as a sound card with output 1/2 linked to a krk sub (wich is liked to krk vxt6) and output 3/4 to Headrush 112 with tsr cables.
I can compare the QC with the Kemper which is totally silent, also the noise gate is way better but i’m sure the QC one will be better at some point with updates.
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