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My new ESP LTD M-1000 came with the 66/57 TW ("two way") set. This is a neck through maple/alder guitar.
After setting up the guitar I've had a chance to run it through my rig. I have a Laney Ironheart 60h running 4cm with a GT-100. The MFX gives me precise control of input gain staging and EQ. So its not "just" an Ironheart through a 4x12, I have control of pre gain boost/EQ as well as post EQ. With these tools I can pretty much make any pickup work.
At first blush, these are great pickups! In some ways might be considered "better". (But I'm not ready to throw away any of my passives either!) Still TBD if I will be keeping them in the guitar. They absolutely do everything I need, but there are some performance and tonal differences I've noticed from passive pickups that I'm not sure if I will gel with over time.
I play shred, rock, and metal, so these pickups are right up my alley. They are hot and aggressive. They aren't as hot as EMG 81/85s, so I didn't have to change my gain staging to accomodate them. I would say that the 57 bridge has output along the lines of an Evolution, but not as hot as (say) and X2N. (Or maybe it is as hot, just doesnt sound it!) The 66 neck pickup is also hot, and even with it farther away from the strings, its focused and drives like a hot neck pickup. Maybe similar output to the 57 that is balanced by having it alot farther away?
Overall they are hot pickups with a broad EQ. They drive hard but at the same time sound "open". There is lots of string definition. They are very modern and don't have any degree of "honk". The mids aren't particularly strong, and there aren't any "outspoken" frequencies. This makes them versatile as you could use a PEQ to enhance whatever frequencies you want to be the voice of the guitar.
The coil split makes them versatile too, and I wouldn't consider a hot active set unless it could switch to a lower output single coil sound. That said, the single coil sound is not "inspirational" although I'm not the person to ask about this. Clean but not alot of character.
They have alot of great characteristics, but what are they lacking? There are a few things that stand out to me that are different from passive pickups.
First, I would say that in the upper registers for soloing, the bridge pickup has a very open "alnico 5" top end. The top end of the pickup is what I would call "buttery" and this isn't something I would ever have used to describe a high output bridge pickup. The top end is smooth and open. Not that it can't be aggressive in its own way, but it doesn't have any of that driving upper mid character ("honk") that you get from ceramic pickups. And its not quite as cutting and aggressive on the top as a hot bridge A5 pickup like the Full Shred, even though the 57 is probably hotter than a Full Shred. Its hot, open, and smooth. This is a unique and modern interpretation of the hot bridge pickup. If there is a passive pickup that can do this, I haven't played it.
OTH, one of the major differences (drawbacks?) to me is that the pick attack (sound/dynamics) is noticeably different than a hot passive. The pick attack itself is more "clear" than what you get from a hot passive pickup. When you pick high gain notes with a passive, there is this familiar "swish/click" or "sizzle" that you hear in the attack of the note. The attack you get from the 57 is more like from a lower output pickup or single coil.. that is then amplified by the active PU circuitry to be hot. Some people might not hear this, but to me its noticeably different.
Likewise, while harmonics are easy to get anywhere on the neck, they aren't backed by a strong mid character so they sound thinner. (They are big, but thinner if that makes any sense????)
And finally, one thing I don't like is how the volume roll-off works. Apparently, the active pickups can retain all the highs when you roll off the volume. At least in my rig, this has the effect of making them sound "nasally" when the volume is less than half. When you roll off the volume, usually its for rythym parts and usually you want a more laid back sound. This might just be an expectation thing....some players may love it. I play humbuckers 95% of the time so maybe this feature would be coveted by strat players.
(The tone control also has some differences to a passive tone, it seems to be a more subtle affect,,, not sure if you can wire different capacitors to change how the tone control works.)
Negatives aside, they have alot going for them. They sound huge and modern, with an open character and a smoother top than I've ever heard from pickups with this much heat. And they can switch to a "single coil" mode to lighten up the tone and output.
Background noise is not any noticeably different than my passive guitars, although for long cable runs or in certain environments they may perform better/worse.
For someone who is used to swapping pickups, the EMG ecosystem is kinda limiting. For instance, I don't think you can wire them in parallel. Its not clear if you could somehow wire them to get an out of phase sound. You can't swap magnets. And afaik, there aren't a ton of different pickups in their catalog. For instance, if you like the 57's performance, but would like it with a ceramic character, is there a pickup that does this?
I think the target audience for these pickups are rock/metal/progressive. They probably record very well.
After setting up the guitar I've had a chance to run it through my rig. I have a Laney Ironheart 60h running 4cm with a GT-100. The MFX gives me precise control of input gain staging and EQ. So its not "just" an Ironheart through a 4x12, I have control of pre gain boost/EQ as well as post EQ. With these tools I can pretty much make any pickup work.
At first blush, these are great pickups! In some ways might be considered "better". (But I'm not ready to throw away any of my passives either!) Still TBD if I will be keeping them in the guitar. They absolutely do everything I need, but there are some performance and tonal differences I've noticed from passive pickups that I'm not sure if I will gel with over time.
I play shred, rock, and metal, so these pickups are right up my alley. They are hot and aggressive. They aren't as hot as EMG 81/85s, so I didn't have to change my gain staging to accomodate them. I would say that the 57 bridge has output along the lines of an Evolution, but not as hot as (say) and X2N. (Or maybe it is as hot, just doesnt sound it!) The 66 neck pickup is also hot, and even with it farther away from the strings, its focused and drives like a hot neck pickup. Maybe similar output to the 57 that is balanced by having it alot farther away?
Overall they are hot pickups with a broad EQ. They drive hard but at the same time sound "open". There is lots of string definition. They are very modern and don't have any degree of "honk". The mids aren't particularly strong, and there aren't any "outspoken" frequencies. This makes them versatile as you could use a PEQ to enhance whatever frequencies you want to be the voice of the guitar.
The coil split makes them versatile too, and I wouldn't consider a hot active set unless it could switch to a lower output single coil sound. That said, the single coil sound is not "inspirational" although I'm not the person to ask about this. Clean but not alot of character.
They have alot of great characteristics, but what are they lacking? There are a few things that stand out to me that are different from passive pickups.
First, I would say that in the upper registers for soloing, the bridge pickup has a very open "alnico 5" top end. The top end of the pickup is what I would call "buttery" and this isn't something I would ever have used to describe a high output bridge pickup. The top end is smooth and open. Not that it can't be aggressive in its own way, but it doesn't have any of that driving upper mid character ("honk") that you get from ceramic pickups. And its not quite as cutting and aggressive on the top as a hot bridge A5 pickup like the Full Shred, even though the 57 is probably hotter than a Full Shred. Its hot, open, and smooth. This is a unique and modern interpretation of the hot bridge pickup. If there is a passive pickup that can do this, I haven't played it.
OTH, one of the major differences (drawbacks?) to me is that the pick attack (sound/dynamics) is noticeably different than a hot passive. The pick attack itself is more "clear" than what you get from a hot passive pickup. When you pick high gain notes with a passive, there is this familiar "swish/click" or "sizzle" that you hear in the attack of the note. The attack you get from the 57 is more like from a lower output pickup or single coil.. that is then amplified by the active PU circuitry to be hot. Some people might not hear this, but to me its noticeably different.
Likewise, while harmonics are easy to get anywhere on the neck, they aren't backed by a strong mid character so they sound thinner. (They are big, but thinner if that makes any sense????)
And finally, one thing I don't like is how the volume roll-off works. Apparently, the active pickups can retain all the highs when you roll off the volume. At least in my rig, this has the effect of making them sound "nasally" when the volume is less than half. When you roll off the volume, usually its for rythym parts and usually you want a more laid back sound. This might just be an expectation thing....some players may love it. I play humbuckers 95% of the time so maybe this feature would be coveted by strat players.
(The tone control also has some differences to a passive tone, it seems to be a more subtle affect,,, not sure if you can wire different capacitors to change how the tone control works.)
Negatives aside, they have alot going for them. They sound huge and modern, with an open character and a smoother top than I've ever heard from pickups with this much heat. And they can switch to a "single coil" mode to lighten up the tone and output.
Background noise is not any noticeably different than my passive guitars, although for long cable runs or in certain environments they may perform better/worse.
For someone who is used to swapping pickups, the EMG ecosystem is kinda limiting. For instance, I don't think you can wire them in parallel. Its not clear if you could somehow wire them to get an out of phase sound. You can't swap magnets. And afaik, there aren't a ton of different pickups in their catalog. For instance, if you like the 57's performance, but would like it with a ceramic character, is there a pickup that does this?
I think the target audience for these pickups are rock/metal/progressive. They probably record very well.
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