EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

I voted for the JB. Actives are NOT pickups, they are preamps. You never get those asymmetrical "whacks" when you slide and you can't really enjoy this real coil sound. The tone that comes from an active is somewhat perfect concerning sound shape which makes the tone boring and forseeable. The output is higher thought but that's what Boosters are for

I'm obviously with Screamin Daisy on this, because he's right. Active pickups are indeed pickups, but with a built in preamp. As far as boosting a passive pickups's output, yeah, that's great if you're a fan of adding a sh*tload of noise. There's nothing perfect about EMG (or any other active's tone), it's just different than a passive.

[Mephis]

Re: EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

Maybe my batteries are losing power, but every day i start to like my EMG's more and more.

Cant wait till my marshall pedal gets here, my amp gets the EMG's screaming, but i cant pull enough distortion out of it, without losing playability.

The 81 IMO, now that ive downtuned it and played around a little more with it, sounds more harsh, like the difference from a screaming demon to a 59'. (the preverbial[i cant spell] screaming demon being the 81 and the 59' being the 85)

EMG's still have the highest clarity of anything I've played. Really wanting to try a 59b/vintage rails(neck) set in my squier tho.


And maybe im crazy, but I just like actives, they do indeed sound different, but its not for the worse. Having said that, I still think nothing compairs to a strat single coil in the neck on the clean channel.

And the 81 does not have a modern tone to my ears at all, has a kinda dry sounding older tone, like 80's.

[ex-250]

Re: EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

hahaha did somebody really resurrect this with just a vote? Wow.

[Metalman_666]

Re: EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

hahaha did somebody really resurrect this with just a vote? Wow.

The shame of a 5-year-old post comes back to haunt me.

[dvanburen]

Re: EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

Its not fair to compare these two. they are not really similar. It would be better to compare the 81 with the duncan distortion. Its very similar to the JB but has a beefier and bigger and tighter bottom end. This is something that the JB lacks. Very nice pickup and can do metal, but the distortion is much better at it.

As far as the 81...I don't like them at all. Ive had several guitars with them in it and while they are ok through some amps for metal. They are synthetic sounding. Very compressed and blahh

the DD is waaayy better. Hotter, more organic and open sounding, more dynamic, very aggressive and just plain sounds better.

I will take passive pickup any day over an active

BTW Ive got a pair of 81/60 pups for sale. PM me if anyone is interested

[blueman335]

Re: EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

The shame of a 5-year-old post comes back to haunt me.

Nothing necessarily wrong with reviving an old thread. There's plenty of recent ones that aren't bellringers.

[treyhaislip]

Re: EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

I've never been a fan of EMG's. Personally, the JB is just such a versaitle pickup...sounds great clean or distorted. Only pickup I've used that got better harmonics was a John Petrucci Crunch Lab (DiMarzio.) But that one did not sound as good clean as the JB (IMO.)

[alteredbeast]

Re: EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

pickup debate. rad.

[ESPJB59JAZZ]

Re: EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

The jb is my favorite pickup ever. It's got that classic alnico 5 feel in the most modern output way. Pure passive perfection. But emgs rule, especially the x series and the het set. I had a Jackson loaded with the jb 59 and swapped it with the het set and could hardly tell the difference until I really started digging in. I'm still all about the jb but the x series and het set is a revolution.


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[Kac]

Re: EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

I posted I this thread back in 2005 and now have even more experience with both. I would choose the JB over the 81 almost every time because t has more & better tone. There are certain guitar wood and amp combinations where the 81 would be better, especially talking about Metal music.


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[Mad-Max]

Re: EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

Definitely the JB. Not a big fan of the EMG 81, for the mere fact that it's got this fizzyness in between notes that make my notes indistinguishable, where as the JB doesn't have that at all, whatsoever. The EMG wouldn't be all that bad if it wasn't for the fizzyness, and I'm not a big fan of how much compression it has.

[Crazy_Guitar]

Re: EMG 81 vs. Seymour Duncan JB

I find the 81 very transparent. Almost sterile.
I'd go for the JB any day. It colors the tone in a very interesting way, IMHO.