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Model
120 Helpinstill Grand Piano Sensor
Our basic system
for any size Grand Piano. A streamlined, simplified piano pickup
that retains the essential features and purity of sound common
to all Helpinstills, but takes into account the needs of today's
user for a no-maintenance direct feed from the piano. Divides
the piano keyboard into three regions to insure uniform volume
from every note. Installs in minutes without tools, comes with
a 90-day money-back trial guarantee. $550.
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Model
180 Noise-Cancelling Design Grand Piano Sensor
Created for severe
environments and touring acts that require the ultimate in performance,
the Model 180 is identical to the Model 120 except that the sensor
strips are a new double-coil noise-cancelling design similar
in principle to humbucking guitar pickups. As effective as the
Model 120 has proven to be for almost every application, situations
arise where superior signal-to-noise ratios and high rejection
of EM field noise in the vicinity of the keyboard pickup are
required. This unit is highly recommended for pianos containing
built-in electronics of any kind, such as the Yamaha CD-Player
models, and MIDI-equipped instruments. Trials in the field with
major touring acts Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and
Norah Jones have produced praise not only for the noise-free
characteristics, but for the realistic sound as well. $850.
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Model 125 Helpinstill Upright Piano Sensor
This was actually
the first model that used our method of pickup construction that
we eventually applied to all our systems. The pickup strips (Sensors)
are thin, flexible magnetic strips, allowing them to be slipped
in behind the strings, where they automatically stick very strongly
to the cast-iron frame of the piano (the "plate") much
like refrigerator note-holding magnets. Since all upright pianos
have the keyboard range divided into three sections, three sensors
provide coverage of every note. We have selected the lengths
through years of experience to provide the best chance of complete
coverage on whatever piano you might have. Plugging these into
the control box then allows for fine-tuning the note volumes,
and provides the two types of output connections you might need.
The lack of necessity of any brackets or other equipment allows
the Model 125 for uprights to be cheaper than the Grand models,
but they all work on the same principle. Of course, grand pianos
sound different from uprights, and the Piano Sensor reflects
that difference, so it can't make an upright sound like a grand,
but it can give you a feedback-free connection to a sound system,
and with the additional low-end capability, it can come close.
A special model is also available for 64-note uprights. $395.
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Model
135 Grand & Upright Piano Sensor
Need to be able
to handle anything you might run into? This piano hookup is for
you! Combines both the Model 120 for Grands and the Model 125
for Uprights with no duplication of parts. Consists of everything
in a Model 125 as well as the Model 120 brackets used on Grands
and a 24" Sensor element necessary for Grand Piano installations.
$670.
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NEW! Model 185 Stereo
Grand Piano Sensor
Many of our customers
have requested the capability of a stereo output, since they
are used to a keyboard microphone array. We had to invent a radical
new concept in pickup design to accomplish this, and produce
TRUE Stereo imaging. As the chart below shows, this system
allows the performer to play up the keyboard while the stereo
image smoothly shifts from left to right. The secret lies in
the new Crossfade Sensor used in the middle region
of the piano, which uses dual coils and varying strength magnetic
pickup fields to gradually decrease the output to the Left Channel,
while increasing the output to the Right Channel as the notes
get higher. The result is a smooth, natural transition from left
to right in the pan image, and no discernable jump as the output
shifts from one region to the next. The background bleedthrough
between the sensors through the wood of the piano (which causes
low notes to eventually appear in the high sensor and vice-versa)
results in an amazingly realistic stereo image across the pan
field similar to results of using a microphone pair on the piano.
In addition, the dual-coil sensors used in the low and high regions
are wired for the same humbucking effect as the Model 180, for
the lowest background hum possible. The Stereo Control Box supplied
with the Model 185 looks identical to the Mono version, except
it has both XLR and phone jack outputs for both channels, Left
and Right. Available on special order for $1250.
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Downloadable
Manuals
Model
120 Manual
Model
125 Manual
Model
180 Manual
Model
185 Manual
The Manuals are Adobe Acrobat (.pdf)
Files
Windows users- Right-click on the
link, then select "Save Link As", and select your desktop.
Mac users- Click and hold or command-click,
select "Download Link to Disk."
Install Adobe Reader- It's a free download:
Get
Adobe Reader
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