Long story short: It sounds nothing like an active pickup, LOL.
Not that it's a bad thing, though! Hear me out!
Background: I replaced a Black Winter on my Fender Strat with the D Activator. I wanted more of a broader EQ, especially towards the high-end, without losing too much power. Also, the Strat's bridge pickup is almost a full cm further away from the bridge than it is on my Les Paul, so I wanted to offset that by having an asymmetrically wound pickup so that I could turn the hotter coil towards the bridge, and hopefully, get some more bridge-like characteristics. I did not quite get there, but I do like the pickup and found it promising.
It is not as hot as the Black Winter, as expected. The Black Winter, IME, is pretty much on par with the X2N in terms of output. The D Ac is not quite there. It is pretty hot, though. Probably around the levels of the Duncan Distortion, perhaps a bit lower, but I have not had a Duncan Distortion in a while to directly compare.
The EQ is broader than on the Black Winter. The Black Winter is super mega mid-focused. It has a very emphatic and unique raspy voicing to the attack that I have not gotten out of any other pickup. It has a pretty dramatic low-end rolloff. The D Activator is not quite like that. As the DCR would suggest, the D Activator has a pretty rich high-end. It can get harsh, so you gotta watch out for that. Then again, right now, I have the hotter coil towards the bridge. I'm going to try to experiment flipping it, but I doubt that's going to get me what I want.
It doesn't have as much of a dramatic low-end rolloff as the Black Winter, but it not a fat bassy pickup like the X2N. The midrange is there, but it's not nearly as in-your-face and up-front as most high output Ceramic pickups like the Duncan Distortion, Black Winter, or Gibson 500T. Even if the low-end is deeper, though, it is not loose. It's very immediate. The pickup itself has got a very dry feel to it. You gotta work harder for it to really pump some power out.
The D Activator is got more of a modern pickup feel. I will say, though, as objectically speaking as I can, it is looser than the Black Winter. Not that it's a bad thing. The Black Winter is pretty firmly an overwound supercharged hot pickup with a ton of Ceramic in it. The D Activator is almost got a mid-output pickup vibe, except with more power to push.
Honestly, though, if you're expecting a passive EMG 81, this it not it. The Duncan Black Winter or the DiMarzio X2N capture that vibe a whole lot more, but even those sound nothing like an EMG 81 either. It's just not possible. If you want an EMG 81, you gotta get an EMG 81, or maybe even a Fluence Modern. Not to say the Fluence is 1:1 an 81, but it's got the active pickup vibe because it is an active pickup. There is no way of replicating the active pickup EQ curve and feel without the preamp.
So... that's my two cents. I would like to hear your opinions on it if you have experience!
Not that it's a bad thing, though! Hear me out!
Background: I replaced a Black Winter on my Fender Strat with the D Activator. I wanted more of a broader EQ, especially towards the high-end, without losing too much power. Also, the Strat's bridge pickup is almost a full cm further away from the bridge than it is on my Les Paul, so I wanted to offset that by having an asymmetrically wound pickup so that I could turn the hotter coil towards the bridge, and hopefully, get some more bridge-like characteristics. I did not quite get there, but I do like the pickup and found it promising.
It is not as hot as the Black Winter, as expected. The Black Winter, IME, is pretty much on par with the X2N in terms of output. The D Ac is not quite there. It is pretty hot, though. Probably around the levels of the Duncan Distortion, perhaps a bit lower, but I have not had a Duncan Distortion in a while to directly compare.
The EQ is broader than on the Black Winter. The Black Winter is super mega mid-focused. It has a very emphatic and unique raspy voicing to the attack that I have not gotten out of any other pickup. It has a pretty dramatic low-end rolloff. The D Activator is not quite like that. As the DCR would suggest, the D Activator has a pretty rich high-end. It can get harsh, so you gotta watch out for that. Then again, right now, I have the hotter coil towards the bridge. I'm going to try to experiment flipping it, but I doubt that's going to get me what I want.
It doesn't have as much of a dramatic low-end rolloff as the Black Winter, but it not a fat bassy pickup like the X2N. The midrange is there, but it's not nearly as in-your-face and up-front as most high output Ceramic pickups like the Duncan Distortion, Black Winter, or Gibson 500T. Even if the low-end is deeper, though, it is not loose. It's very immediate. The pickup itself has got a very dry feel to it. You gotta work harder for it to really pump some power out.
The D Activator is got more of a modern pickup feel. I will say, though, as objectically speaking as I can, it is looser than the Black Winter. Not that it's a bad thing. The Black Winter is pretty firmly an overwound supercharged hot pickup with a ton of Ceramic in it. The D Activator is almost got a mid-output pickup vibe, except with more power to push.
Honestly, though, if you're expecting a passive EMG 81, this it not it. The Duncan Black Winter or the DiMarzio X2N capture that vibe a whole lot more, but even those sound nothing like an EMG 81 either. It's just not possible. If you want an EMG 81, you gotta get an EMG 81, or maybe even a Fluence Modern. Not to say the Fluence is 1:1 an 81, but it's got the active pickup vibe because it is an active pickup. There is no way of replicating the active pickup EQ curve and feel without the preamp.
So... that's my two cents. I would like to hear your opinions on it if you have experience!
Comment