Fishman Fluence Acoustic Spotlight

An advanced soundhole pickup that uses Fishman’s revolutionary Fluence technology.

November 19, 2025

Fishman launched its Fluence technology with pickups for electric guitars in 2014, and the resounding success moved the company into a new era. It evolved from its role as an acoustic amplification specialist and started offering pickups favored by some of the loudest shredders in the business. By using a printed circuit board instead of a wire coil, Fluence pickups are built from the ground up as active designs. They offer remarkable precision, tonal consistency, and the option for more than one “voice” on a single pickup. Given the popularity of Fishman’s line of magnetic soundhole pickups, I thought that an acoustic Fluence pickup would surely follow. It took a decade, but I was excited to see the new line of Fluence Acoustic pickups at this year’s NAMM show, and happy to finally check them out for myself. Fluence Acoustics are available in three versions, Spotlight, Nashville Legend, and Rock Icon, each featuring a different pair of voices. In this video, I give an overview of the pickups’ design and demo the Spotlight. Watch for a follow-up where I compare all three Fluence Acoustic pickups in the near future.

The Fluence Acoustic reveals its difference at first glance. Rather than being a straight bar, the unit is curved to follow the inner radius of the soundhole. The unit mounts with a pair of clamps adjusted with a Phillips-head screwdriver, similar to the mechanism used in the Fishman Rare Earth and other soundhole pickups. Like all Fluence pickups, the Acoustics are active, drawing power from a nine-volt battery mounted inside the guitar. The Fluence Acoustics ship with a short cable that has a mini-plug for connecting to the pickup, and a standard endpin jack to install in the guitar’s endblock. It’s possible to install the pickup temporarily by letting the cable hang out of the soundhole, but fitting the endpin jack will yield a more secure setup.

A small switch at the pickup’s bass side toggles between the two voices, and a pair of volume controls—one at the bass side, the other at the treble side—function as master volume and boost for Voice 2. The pickups come with a set of shims to adjust either the overall distance from the guitar’s strings or to bring either the bass or treble side closer to strings, yielding a simple way to fine-tune the output and string response. No shims were needed for mounting it on my Taylor 712c.

The Spotlight is voiced to be the most natural and “acoustic” sounding of the three Fluence Acoustic pickups. My Taylor has been a test-bed for dozens of different pickups over the decades, and most recently, it was home to the impressive Fishman Jon Gomm Powertap Earth Pro. I know what different pickups sound like in this guitar. Plugged into a Fishman Loudbox Mini Charge amp, and with the pickup set to Voice 1, I was greeted by one of the fullest and most natural tones I’ve ever heard from a soundhole pickup. The Spotlight had the smooth attack that magnetic pickups are known for, with a rich bass and full, round trebles. This was especially noticeable as I moved up the fingerboard. Some soundhole pickups lose tonal consistency as the string-length gets shorter, but the Spotlight held its fundamental sound quality remarkably well. Switching to Voice 2 yielded a somewhat brighter sound with more pronounced trebles and a bit more punch. This could be useful if a little extra cut is needed.

Even cooler is the fact that the Voice 2 volume can be adjusted by toggling a switch that is easily reached with the picking-hand’s thumb, which makes two sounds and volume levels available—a useful feature when switching between fingerpicking and strumming or playing solo. I haven’t seen anything quite the same on any other acoustic pickup system, and it is akin to the onboard controls available on electric guitars. Players can also run each Voice into a separate channel via a TRS cable, making it possible to combine the sounds or to switch back and forth via an A/B foot switch.

The Fishman Fluence Acoustic Spotlight is a great addition to the field of magnetic soundhole pickups. With the exception of systems that add other sources such as a mic or a second pickup, I don’t think I’ve experienced a more natural-sounding soundhole pickup. It’s an ideal choice for players who want a simple aftermarket pickup with an extraordinarily warm tonal character.

Fishman Fluence Acoustic Spotlight Specs