Gus G Fire Blackouts

[Inflames626]

So I know they're not made anymore because Gus went on to make his own pickups, but does anyone have any general impressions of the Fire Blackouts system?

I still see a lot of them in stock at online retailers. I've thought about trying them.

 

[JOLLY]

I've got a set of the pickups, but I've never installed them.

 

[Inflames626]

I've got a set of the pickups, but I've never installed them.

Would love to hear your thoughts and sound clips if you get a chance to try them out, JOLLY.

I usually don't like preamp boosted pickups like the Alexi Laihos from EMG because they're a fuzzy mess when fully engaged but usually lacking when the preamp isn't on. I prefer dialing in a pedal to boost an amp. Seems much more precise and on/off, unlike a pickup gain knob.

 

[big kurka]

I had a set in a very dark sounding mahogany guitar and they sounded great but they had this kinda weird pronounced mid hump tone going on. I really think the guitar itself brought out the mid hump tone. I was able to dial most of it out by sinking the d and g pole screws all the way into the pickup. Oh I also put covers on the pickups to hide the logo, so that may have had a affect with the mid hump tone

 

[Masta' C]

They are great pickups, probably my favorites of the "Blackouts" family, aside from the stupid logos (covers are a solid idea).

However, they really aren't meant to be run passively. While they're technically just "coil packs" (i.e. regular pickups) at their core, they were voiced to work best with the preamp activated at all times. I'm guessing they'd be fairly weak in passive mode, so I wouldn't plan on using them that way.