Fishman TriplePlay Connect MIDI Guitar Controller, PRO-TRP-401

Why pay £800 for a dedicated midi guitar, that works half as well? This system is amazing, does what it says on the tin ( box ). And you get to still play the instrument you love. I did choose to 3D print my own thin pickup mount, rather than raise the action on my Ibanez electro- acoustic. But once fitted, the whole system worked flawlessly. It interfaces to my DAW ( Mixcraft 9 ) just like a midi keyboard, and with the supplied software, you get string bends played as well. Very seriously considering buying the wireless version, to fit permanently to my Strat.....

The software which ships with the controller is just awful. If the licencing system and authorisation wasn't complicated enough, when you do eventually coax it into working, it then stops functioning as expected between saved sessions and none of the patches load back up properly. The Fishmann controller software itself is similarly flaky and considering it was released many years ago now still feels like an unstable Beta. I assume some people have managed to split the fretboard between different sounds, but I basically gave up after at first managing to do it with no problem only to then have no idea how to coerce it into doing it again. The Manual is basically useless and having sent an email to Fishmann about four weeks ago now, with no reply, I'm guessing I'm not alone in assuming this is no longer in development, and no updates will be forthcoming.ON THE UP SIDE, the actual unit itself from a hardware point of view is genuinely spectacular. The tracking is amazing. When used purely as a MIDI input device it works with all existing Audio Units plugins for Logic Pro, and no-doubt other DAWs as well. The bundled software might be a useless and frustrating waste of time, but if you already have a few good quality software instruments this will not let you down. You can finger pick, strum, play lead... The tracking is genuinely incredible. Such a damn shame the rest of it is let down so badly.

Really disappointed, it just doesn't track. Random notes and totally unusable. Perhaps it was my guitar... But I doubt it. It's a standard strat and pickup sat perfect on it. Returned.

This is an incredible addition to guitar playing! If you're undecided, I'd say go for it and you're very unlikely to regret the decision! It tracks well, copes with chords and finger picking, and the software has undergone many changes and is reliable now, at least where I'm using it, on a Mac. It was easy enough to set up on my acoustic guitar (a Seagull Studio) and I was quickly recording myself with a MIDI track with a gorgeous Cello sound and an ethereal synth pad. It keeps up well, and didn't make many mistakes at all. I could certainly use the MIDI track it produced with minor changes, if any, which is really something! The bundled sound library from various contributors is very high quality, and I doubt I'll need to go elsewhere for new sounds for a while. Very impressed with this, and it will really open up the possibilities for my playing.

Latency is a serious problem . Workable but still room for improvement.

Definitely a game changer for me, this midi pickup has excellent tracking once you've set it up correctly. (1mm gap to string, use the supplied spacing gauge and adjust the height with a screwdriver for best results). The latency is negligible if your PC is also set up for music making properly. (Minimal background apps running. Using ASIO drivers also helps a great deal). I really can't fault the hardware.I found the pickup installation to be very straightforward and easy. You are given several options, and everything needed, for mounting the pickup on your guitar.I found that the pickup seems to perform best upon the ipad app, but (again..) if you set up everything correctly, and adjustments are made to the devices sensitivity and other parameters in the PC configuration software, using this device in a DAW on a PC, is a trip... It's the weirdest thing in the world being able to play a violin, piano or even a drum solo using a guitar... You'll definitely have a smile on your face when you hear it.Using a guitar to play softsynths and plugins via a DAW, is definitely a new experience, and you WILL have to adjust your playing style to get good results. But once you get used to this devices ideosyncracies, and with some sustained practice, it's extremely satisfying. (It should be remembered that to play ANY instrument well, much practice is needed).n.b. To install the PC configuration software, you will need to have both the software serial number (supplied on a card in the box) AND the devices serial number, which you'll find on a label on the bottom of the box, with a barcode above it.

Works but the lag using a superfast new computer is dreadful. Definitely have buyer regret as its not cheap

I’ve had many guitar/midi systems over the years and this is the best yet, once you get it set up properly the tracking is excellent, stand alone and iPad app are great or used as a plug in with Logic Pro.