Until now, they only way you could get your hands on a Fishman Aura or Aura Pro acoustic preamp was by buying a guitar that came preloaded with one -- or by jacking one from a display acoustic. Heeding the call from consumers and retailers who wanted to keep their floor models intact, Fishman is now offering the Aura and Aura Pro directly to consumers as an upgrade or after-market mod, precluding the inevitable consumer-retailer warfare that would have otherwise occurred. Nobel Peace Prize!

The Fishman Aura and Aura pro are part of Fishman's Aura Imaging system, and ship with the Aura Imaging Gallery software, which is basically Google image search for acoustic guitar tone. Hundreds of profiles can be selected from and downloaded to the Aura preamps. The Aura can hold six images at a time, and the Pro four. Why does the "Pro" hold less? Perhaps it's so "Pro" that it can do more with less. Yeah, efficiency, that's it. . .

As for the preamps themselves, both feature Pickup/Image blend control, Volume control, three-band, semi-parametric EQ (which is both Digital and fully programmable), Feedback-fighting phase control, a built-in tuner with LED display, Automatic anti-feedback, Low battery indicator and an innovative pivot design for easy 9V battery access.

Both the Aura and Aura pro ship with the shoulder-mounted preamp (the Pro being 1/3rd smaller that the standard), Acoustic Matrix Undersaddle transducer and Switchjack Stereo Endpin Jack. Both preamps will have a street price of $449.95 US.