I've experienced a "Blackout"!

[Darth Nihilus]

I went over to my friend Alex's shop at Uva Instruments and since he knows I've been a loyal EMG user for years, asked me if I wanted to try a new Duncan prototype pickup. I said sure and he handed me one of his fine hand-made 7-string guitars that belongs to a "High Profile" customer of his with something called a Duncan "Blackout" and my reaction was to be expected.... HOLY FREAKIN' LORD!!!

Basically, I want to replace my EMG-707's with a pair of these Blackouts.
My only hope is that they come in white, so as to match the 707's I have in my Carvin DC727 guitar. I also need to try the 6-string versions of the Blackouts to see if they stand up to the 7-string versions. I'm sure they will.

I can't believe these Duncans are less compressed, higher in gain and crunchier than the EMG-707. The 707's sounded thinner and the distortion character was fuzzy whereas the Duncan Blackout was thicker, had more gain
and the distortion character is crunchy, not fuzzy. I'm sold!!!

Now, where do I get my hands on these and how do they differ in Gain and tone from the Metal Livewires since I'm not familiar with the LiveWires?

[Ang3lus]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

they are supposed to be out in april Evan is telling us.
but i seen some stores online that sell them already

[D-EJ915]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

sounds sick, man \m/

[daemon barbeque]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

Great review!
Can you compare them more ?Like how the attack is ,how the voicings are ,and how it reacts?

[Sludgenutz]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

One more question...are these pickup "noisy" under the fingers between chords? What I mean is...is there a lot of extraneous noise/squeek from the "muted" strings, as the intended chord is acquired?

[Darth Nihilus]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

Well. I didn't have a whole lot of time doing the a/b thing with them and the increase in gain is noticeable but the pickup itself is actually a little quieter than the EMG-707. The "Blackout" has that EMG tone but it's a refined version.
I always felt that EMG's tended to sound a little on the thin side but the tone overall, was awesome but the "Blackout" has a more defined attack, more lows and highs with more gain and it's actually clearer. It's almost as if it has pole pieces instead of bar magnets. I'm not sure what the specs are exactly but all I know is that this Duncan pup is the BEST METAL PICKUP I've ever played. Ironically, I got to try a 7-string version and not the 6-string version. I hope the 6-string versions are as great as the 7-string pup I played.

I also hope they make a neck pup that's similar to the EMG-60 as this is my favorite active neck pup.

Overall, this is what I think of the Duncan "Blackout": It's like a super EMG-81. It's like Duncan took a EMG-81 and increased the lows, highs, gain, made it less compressed with more definition and made the distortion character crunchy instead of fuzzy. This is the best way I can describe this killer flamethrower of a pickup. Oh, the cleans still sound clean and don't distort like I've heard the Metal LiveWire does.
Anybody here know if Duncan is making a few different versions of the "Blackout"? Like EMG did with the 81, 85, 60 etc.? This is what I really want to know right now!!!

[Ang3lus]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

from what evan told us, the bridge is "81" and the neck is an "85"

[Darth Nihilus]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

Well, I guess I'll be ordering two 81-type Blackouts, then!

BTW, how different are the Metal LiveWires to these Blackout pickups?

[Ang3lus]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

never tried them, so can't say

[Zerberus]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

One more question...are these pickup "noisy" under the fingers between chords? What I mean is...is there a lot of extraneous noise/squeek from the "muted" strings, as the intended chord is acquired?

IME thatīs more of a technique issue than anything else

[D-EJ915]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

IME thatīs more of a technique issue than anything else

that is true, but some pickups pick it up better than others do

[fullfistrock21]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

these are probably more clean than the metal livewires....livewires have one basic tone...DIRTY! but its the best dirty around, clear, crunchy, with bass,mids and just enough treble and raging harmonics. not too mention insane out put. the livewire metal is like a mini distortion box in a pickup. from what i hear and it sounds like...the blackout are basically the 81/85 with upgraded sound. so basically someone put a soul into the tried and true zakk wylde set taking away the sterileness and added tone and better dynamics....so i guess its a more organic emg 81/85 zakk wylde set? the metal is simpler but more extreme.

[Evan Skopp]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

Thanks for that review. We're still trying to get them out there in April. But April is looming....

You may have seen them in stores and catalogs, but that's just for pre-orders. They're not out yet.

Unfortunately, they'll be available in any color you want, as long as it's black.

At this point, we're only planning on making these Blackouts models. But if Blackouts turn out to be a success, it might be like the Parallel Axis series where we start with an "Original" and then add more "flavors."

BTW, the 7-string version you played is the only one in existence at the moment. We haven't even decided for sure if we're going to make a 7-string version.

Thanks again for the cool review.

[suislidE03]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

but.. but.. i just got a seven string! I want a 7 string version!

[Ang3lus]

Re: I've experienced a "Blackout"!

wow, parallel axis actives
those would be in one of my axes for sure