I officially don't get it.

[Myaccount876]

Re: I officially don't get it.

That's odd. I've always found actives to be extremely responsive to dynamics...so much so that they glaringly expose any inconsistencies on the player's part.

I think that, in the case of the EMG 81, the designed compression brings out quieter nuances, thus making the pickup less forgiving of mistakes.

But that is just one pickup. I'm sure there are plenty of active pickups with very little compression/much more dynamics. I've just only had experience with the EMG 81 and 85. I believe that active pickups have much more variety than the 81/85.

 

[King IzzO)))]

Re: I officially don't get it.

That's true, but it's not only true of actives. Seeing people call the 81 sterile and then talk up something like a D-Activator or a DD. ooh, or a Aftermath = LOLZ, but you'll see it on every guitar gear related forum.

 

[SirJackdeFuzz]

Re: I officially don't get it.

That's true, but it's not only true of actives. Seeing people call the 81 sterile and then talk up something like a D-Activator or a DD. ooh, or a Aftermath = LOLZ, but you'll see it on every guitar gear related forum.

Talking about HOT pick ups.

I still want to try an Invader in an SG-style guitar.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: I officially don't get it.

I never thought of David Gilmour as sterile sounding.

Aren't there a bunch of country guys using EMGs, too, like Vince Gill with his signature set?

It's funny that they still have the Steve Lukather set up on the site even though he's using DiMarzios now.

 

[Lampy H]

Re: I officially don't get it.

The thing I wasn't crazy about in the actives I've tried (81), and this goes for passives too, was that they sounded thin to my ears until enough gain was layered on that I didn't care for the sound at that point. The 81 is also much cleaner sounding than other humbuckers I've played, which leads to the "sterile" and "weak" comments. If I found one that had a fuller midrange under crunchy settings, I'd probably dig it. I do hear the "disconnect" from the player and amp that some people describe also.

 

[Johtosotku]

Re: I officially don't get it.

Since so many are making generalizations, I want to make one too: About 1% of the people who thrash talk actives have actually extensively tried them out.

 

[misterwhizzy]

Re: I officially don't get it.

Talking about HOT pick ups.

I still want to try an Invader in an SG-style guitar.

 

[jeremy]

Re: I officially don't get it.

gilmour uses such a crazy rig his pups are a pretty small contributor to his tone. on his recorded stuff that may not be the case but live, theres a lot of stuff. i think its as much of a feel thing as a tone thing much of the time with emgs

 

[Myaccount876]

Re: I officially don't get it.

The thing I wasn't crazy about in the actives I've tried (81), and this goes for passives too, was that they sounded thin to my ears until enough gain was layered on that I didn't care for the sound at that point. The 81 is also much cleaner sounding than other humbuckers I've played, which leads to the "sterile" an "weak" comments. If I found one that had a fuller midrange under crunchy settings, I'd probably dig it. I do hear the "disconnect" from the player and amp that some people describe also.

It sounds like you might enjoy the 85 in the bridge then. The 18v mod is also worth trying.

 

[GilmourD]

Re: I officially don't get it.

gilmour uses such a crazy rig his pups are a pretty small contributor to his tone. on his recorded stuff that may not be the case but live, theres a lot of stuff. i think its as much of a feel thing as a tone thing much of the time with emgs

Funny thing is that Gilmour's rig actually isn't that complicated. A lot of pedals are in loops on his board, so if he were to turn everything off it would basically be guitar into amp. It just always seems complicated because he uses so many different effects as a whole, but he only uses a couple at a time.

Gilmourish.com has a lot of info about his gear that's really enlightening.

Sent from my VK810 4G using Tapatalk

 

[Lampy H]

Re: I officially don't get it.

It sounds like you might enjoy the 85 in the bridge then. The 18v mod is also worth trying.

There's quite a few more actives I'd like to try sometime. 85/60, 57/66, Blackouts, BMP, Livewires, the only ones I genuinely have experience with are the 81 and SA singles. I dug the singles though.

 

[uOpt]

Re: I officially don't get it.

EMG's don't react to hard vs soft picking/strumming the same way passives do, that much is true. Thus the "lacking dynamics" thing. With an EMG (or other active) the attack doesn't really soften much no matter how lightly you pick. As for cleaning up by picking lighter, it can be done, it's just an adjustment, and some knuckleheads would rather talk **** on the internet than actually adjust to something.

EMG's have a lot going for them, even the ones everyone hates, especially for drop tunings and 7-strings. Few passives hold it together for a range from chugging a low A or B to lead playing on a high E like an 81 can.

As for Blackouts, I've only had the originals, but I prefer regular old EMG's personally. They did seem to have more picking range and react in a more traditional way, and they really did sound pretty good, but they were so hot, or something, they just didn't agree with me. As an example the finger noise was too much, I felt like I was trying to be Tom Morello. And I say that being used to really hot and unforgiving pickups that other people can't stand (Evo, DD, Aftermath, Painkiller). I'm sure I could have adjusted, but I'd rather talk **** on the internet.

I associate much but not all of the to ceramic type magnets. They compress. I wouldn't say they don't react to lighter playing. What I would say is that Alnicos have a stronger reaction to stronger playing. There is compression in ceramic going on.

Some things are also blade type things. PAF style polepieces smooth things out.