Active pickups for baritone guitar

[DeadandBuried]

I eventually bought the guitar they're going in lol. An Ibanez RGD61ala, 26.5" scale. It comes stock with Fishman's, The Fluence Modern's I believe. Not had much time to play it properly but the tone is quite good, tight and chunky in active mode. Again, not had the guitar long but will give it a month or so. Playing in drop a# and a tuning. Using my Kemper Profiler, with the 5150 with an OD808 profile.

I think I need to put a new nut on there too as its the plastic one so if I do that I may throw the AHB-3's in or something. Its my first time using actives so just getting the basic feel of the pickup.

 

[Inflames626]

I eventually bought the guitar they're going in lol. An Ibanez RGD61ala, 26.5" scale. It comes stock with Fishman's."

Epiphone has some cool looking Explorers (Futura? Extura?) coming stock with Fishmans right now.

They're super clean and sterile and make an EMG 81 sound almost like a passive pickup. The closest thing I can think of to Fishmans might be Lace Alumitones. They're known for being clean and flat sounding too.

But before you think I'm just saying get the Fishmans, check out this clip. I think the Duncan Custom wins, but they all sound good.

Ultimately you can't go wrong with any of them. You'll get a better deal if you get a guitar with whatever you want pre-installed.

https://youtu.be/2a05N1ZomAA

 

[Inflames626]

Sorry I think I meant this one. The Custom is at the time stamp:

https://youtu.be/1uvB2x1VJnk?t=180

Here the Custom is a lot like what I said the Gibson 498t was in the Gibson Dirty Fingers thread--just very balanced. You might want to try the Custom.

 

[DeadandBuried]

Yeah the Ibanez comes with the Fishman's already installed so I save myself a few hundred quid buying a set and installing them! But had a quick go yesterday and they're good, I like them.

I feel I will need a brighter higher end pickup though as the guitar is pretty dark and I'll want to bring out the low notes. I will stay with actives as I said before, I want one guitar with them in and this guitar is all wired for them to easy to swap for EMG's or Blackouts if I wanted.

 

[Inflames626]

DeadandBuried , I think for metal pickups it doesn't get brighter, tighter, or more clinical than the Fishman Fluences on the modern setting right now. And you get the option of the vintage mode to soften it a bit if needed.

Certainly you can try them out in your Ibby. If you don't like them you can sell the Fishmans and probably make enough to buy EMGs or Blackouts used with a small bit left over.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Yeah, I think the Fluence Modern Ceramic does the 81 thing better than the 81 itself. It's pretty close, just a little bit tighter, and with better string separation.

Their passive mode is pretty cool too. Kinda like a lower-powered X2N. Somewhat.

Blackouts are looser and just overall more over-the-top. I honestly think they're their own thing, and not really all that close to EMG's. At least the original AHB-1's, which are the only I've tried.

 

[ToneFiddler]

(too) late to the game.
the AHB-1 already very big on bass and low mids in standard tubing.
wouldn’t use them for lower than dropped D.
the AHB-3s are much tighter!

more explorer pron:

 

[Mincer]

Wow! That Explorer looks mean AF with those pickups!

 

[DeadandBuried]

DeadandBuried , I think for metal pickups it doesn't get brighter, tighter, or more clinical than the Fishman Fluences on the modern setting right now. And you get the option of the vintage mode to soften it a bit if needed.

Certainly you can try them out in your Ibby. If you don't like them you can sell the Fishmans and probably make enough to buy EMGs or Blackouts used with a small bit left over.

I've been told that the Fishman's are like the mix of EMG's and Blackouts lol. Like I said I will give them a good go for a month and see what I think before changing anything. And yes I can certainly sell them and get a good price if I decide to get the Blackouts.

 

[DeadandBuried]

(too) late to the game.
the AHB-1 already very big on bass and low mids in standard tubing.
wouldn’t use them for lower than dropped D.
the AHB-3s are much tighter!

more explorer pron:

Yeah I don't want too much boomy bass, esp when tuning that low. It needs to be tight on the chugs and cut.

Nice guitar by the way, are those the AHB-3's? What tuning is it in?

 

[Inflames626]

I would think a mix of EMGs and Blackouts might be an EMG 85--maybe with an 18/24 volt mod. Just more bottom end. Warmer, rounder.

I would say the Fluence is like the AHB-3 but more of it--cut and precision--especially on the modern setting.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

No. I think the Fluences are MUCH closer to EMG's than Blackouts are. Like I said, they're pretty close, just a tad tighter, and with better string separation.

 

[Masta' C]

I love the Mick Thompson emty Blackouts! the most of all the actives I have used. They are my favorite actives ever.

They are tonally better in my opinion than the ahb1 set, which seemed a tad dark and muddy.

This exactly.

For a down-tuned Baritone? No question the AHB-3 (EMTY) set is where it's at!

 

[DeadandBuried]

Saw a demo of that guy from Guitar World playing the AHB-3's and he made them sound terrible! The cleans distort too much (not that I'll be playing many) but I would like some kinda clean (roll the volume back perhaps? Do they drive a clean channel hard?

And are there 24v mods you can do to a Blackout? Are they needed?

 

[80's_Thrash_Metal]

Saw a demo of that guy from Guitar World playing the AHB-3's and he made them sound terrible! The cleans distort too much (not that I'll be playing many) but I would like some kinda clean (roll the volume back perhaps? Do they drive a clean channel hard?

And are there 24v mods you can do to a Blackout? Are they needed?

IMHO, if he made those pups sound bad, he is probably sponsored by emg or something ha ha ha
they can clean up just fine. (Not that I ever use them that way very often)

The Mick Thompson set does not need 18v mod, they are nearly perfect in every way. They are loud AF!

They hard part for me with active pickups is to get rid of the sterility in their tone, actives tend to lose breath and dynamics at times, sometimes they can be harmonically boring....
The ahb3 pickups have tons of dynamics and harmonics and can feel very lively. Besides they fact that they push the aggressive envelope and get very brutal!
Once I got them installed into a few guitars, I learned that the volume knob on the amp can also go "counter-clockwise" too!
That was a first for me, if I sound like an advertisement, it's because in my eyes and ears, they really are that good.

 

[DeadandBuried]

IMHO, if he made those pups sound bad, he is probably sponsored by emg or something ha ha ha
they can clean up just fine. (Not that I ever use them that way very often)

The Mick Thompson set does not need 18v mod, they are nearly perfect in every way. They are loud AF!

They hard part for me with active pickups is to get rid of the sterility in their tone, actives tend to lose breath and dynamics at times, sometimes they can be harmonically boring....
The ahb3 pickups have tons of dynamics and harmonics and can feel very lively. Besides they fact that they push the aggressive envelope and get very brutal!
Once I got them installed into a few guitars, I learned that the volume knob on the amp can also go "counter-clockwise" too!
That was a first for me, if I sound like an advertisement, it's because in my eyes and ears, they really are that good.

Yeah probably haha. He always makes new pickup demos sound bad though.

I'd most likely use the neck or middle positions to do cleans on, very rarely if ever, on the bridge.

95% of the playing will be overdrive on the bridge so its straight out chugs lol. Something thick, tight and a lot of low end!

 

[Masta' C]

The signal coming from the Blackouts is quite "hot", so it was likely that the tester didn't have his rig set to maximize the clean tones. Rolling back the volume on the guitar can help tame the output a bit.

There's really no benefit to running any of the Blackouts at a higher voltage. They have a very different preamp design than the old-school EMGs and don't respond nearly as well to increased voltage.

 

[ToneFiddler]

Wow! That Explorer looks mean AF with those pickups!

thanks, i actually build that one myself

 

[ToneFiddler]

Yeah I don't want too much boomy bass, esp when tuning that low. It needs to be tight on the chugs and cut.

Nice guitar by the way, are those the AHB-3's? What tuning is it in?

yeah, as many have mentioned, you should consider the AHB3s not the the AHB1s. (or keep the FMs)

thanks, yes there are AHB-3s in there. Tuned to C. it‘s only a 24.75“ scale. so string are already very thick.
at one point i think i‘ll try a 25,5“ scale explorer, might get trouble with a diving headstock though…

 

[DeadandBuried]

yeah, as many have mentioned, you should consider the AHB3s not the the AHB1s. (or keep the FMs)

thanks, yes there are AHB-3s in there. Tuned to C. it‘s only a 24.75“ scale. so string are already very thick.
at one point i think i‘ll try a 25,5“ scale explorer, might get trouble with a diving headstock though…

Yeah AHB-3's over AHB-1's. Tighter and more output I'm told.
I may end up keeping the Fishman's in anyway just for the fact they'll give me nicer cleans whenever I do them.