I officially don't get it.

Re: I officially don't get it.

Both are great & have their own uses. I use the mick Thomsons for rhythm but I also use black winters. Together it's a huge sound for recording. For anything else i like anything else that isn't those two mostly singles. I learned a long time ago just to try stuff and it sounds good, keep it.


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Re: I officially don't get it.

I'm glad to hear these are so good. I just picked up a used AHB-1 set that I'm hoping will brighten my Wasburn Stealth a little bit.
 
Re: I officially don't get it.

Gary Moore used active pickups in his Heritage 150 Signature models. I wouldn't call him a metal head, but his style was fast and furious.
 
Re: I officially don't get it.

Here's the thing. I used an EMG 81 a long time ago and loved it. The only reason I went back to passive is that it was a pain having to swap batteries between gigs (really laziness on my part), and having a crappy battery die mid set. I loved the tone I got from it. I currently am into lower to medium output pickups, but who's to say, I might switch at some point.

Bottom line: If they work for you and you are digging them, then use them regardless of the comments from the peanut gallery (myself included). If you like your tone then you like it. It doesn't matter what any of the rest of us think. This is about YOUR self expression and taste. So enjoy!
 
Re: I officially don't get it.

I don't know that the "cold & sterile" tag associated with EMGs get is necessarily a bad thing, especially when used in the type of settings you commonly find them in.

My opinion of them (especially the bridge 81) is that they're great heavy pickups in the lower register for higher gain sounds and rhythms. Very good for rolling back the vol a bit for a gritty not-really-clean sound too. For leads up high there's something about them that doesn't work for me, some people call it sterile but whatever word you use they definitely have a strong character there that won't suit everybody. I've had them in several guitars, still do now, tried the 18v mods, tried 85 in the bridge too. The other thing I notice is that they take even better to the lower registers with thicker strings like I use.

If recording something heavy and double-tracking guitars I definitely like one of them to have an EMG setup. There's just a sound with that through a good amp that never gets old. I don't like TOO much gain.

Now as to the Blackouts, I honestly didn't think they were really that far apart at least as far as the bridge. I didn't hardcore A/B them properly but nobody else in the room thought they heard a real difference after a swap. And I'm not someone who pumps tons of gain and tunes way down to Q-flat. A little different to me but nothing too dramatic as far as the general character in terms of how they reacted. In a band mix I'm not sure how good I'd be telling them apart.
 
Re: I officially don't get it.

I don't get how people say actives, or EMGs sound the same in every guitar. Sure, the different guitars can respond similar when playing due to the compression, but I wouldn't say they sound exactly the same. My experience was that the 81 was way too boomy and dark in my main guitar (I thought the 81 was going to be very sharp and cutting), and I double checked everything. It wasn't a wiring or part value issue. It was just the way the 81 sounded in that guitar. In the next guitar I put it in, it sounded much closer to the usual description, a pretty sharp and aggressive high end/midrange.
 
Re: I officially don't get it.

Myaccount876 said:
I don't get how people say actives, or EMGs sound the same in every guitar.
Click to expand...

Its more net hate that really is just spewed by people who dont really know. The only thing I will say is that ive had luck on guitars that acoustically were blah or bland sounding using EMG's to give them some character, where passives were seemingly only amplifying the blah.

My acrylic mocking bird is one of these.
 
Re: I officially don't get it.

misterwhizzy said:
As long as I've been a member here, all I've ever read from anyone who's not a through-and-through metalhead is that actives are sterile, cold, boring, etc. Pick your word for uninspired.

Then I got a call from my good friend John Jolly, as I'd believe a lot of you also have. He said, "Hey, man, have you tried these f***in' d**n Blackouts, man?" Or something like that. He told me, "I don't want to go sayin' they're the cat's meow, or anything, but..." So I started looking around. I browsed eBay and Craigslist, and I talked to Jolly again, and I told him I'd find a set to put in my Les Paul.
Click to expand...

I hope that big poodle-headed redneck b!tch told you I was the one who convinced him to get them.
 
Re: I officially don't get it.

treyhaislip said:
I play multiple styles of music...you can't classify what all I play with a specific genre. I don't like how Actives sound and react when I play them just like I don't like how Alnico II's sound and react when I play them. All of the pickups I currently use have either an Alnico V or a Ceramic magnet in it. There are many guitar players who get awesome tone with Actives and Alnico IIs but they just don't work for me.

As far as style is concerned I really don't think you can equate one type of pickup for one genre of music. My dad's electric style is very similar to mine (he taught me) but the guitars with Alnico V's that I've given him he has replaced with Active EMGs. Also, I would argue that a high out put pickup such as the Dimebucker would be perfect for Jazz because of how pristine and articulate it is (IMO) but most people associate it with Metal.
Click to expand...

The Dimebucker is one of the world's greatest country pickups and nobody seems to know.
 
Re: I officially don't get it.

Edgecrusher said:
Its more net hate that really is just spewed by people who dont really know. The only thing I will say is that ive had luck on guitars that acoustically were blah or bland sounding using EMG's to give them some character, where passives were seemingly only amplifying the blah.

My acrylic mocking bird is one of these.
Click to expand...

I could definitely see EMGs being a lifesaver when a bunch of passives just don't seem to work, and the guitar just needs w bit of the preamp coloration.

To me, saying EMGs, or actives as a whole, make all guitars sound the same is just like saying a boost pedal makes all guitars sound the same. The biggest thing about actives are the built in preamp, so it's just like having a pedal always on. Like how a treble booster will sound different between a Strat and a Les Paul, EMGs will sound different between a Strat and a Les Paul. If someone can't hear it, maybe they just aren't looking for any differences?
 
Re: I officially don't get it.

I love my EMG 57/66 set. Just as dynamic as any passive I've used and still blasts the active thing. YMMV
 
I officially don't get it.

Actives are definitely sterile. But that is a good thing, if you know what to do with that. A "sterile" pickup is the most versatile pickup of all. It gives you a relatively plain and flat tone, and shaping it is up to you. Those who think actives suck are probably just not used to having to do so much work to get the sound they want. Actives are a blank sheet of canvas, and you have to create the metaphorical painting from scratch...but that means you can paint whatever you want. Passives are more like paint by numbers. They quickly get you something predetermined, without a ton of hassle or effort. If you really are after true versatility, nothing beats actives...but they put 100% of the tonal responsibility on you. Your results will be based solely on how well you really understand e.q. and gain, and they will quickly expose the ignorance of someone who doesn't.
 
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Re: I officially don't get it.

I've found EMG 81 pickups vary as any other would. I had a set in a LTD guitar (alderb body, maple neck) that sounded very thin and bright, but in a Charvel Desolation (mahogany body and neck w rosewood fingerboard) they sound incredible. There is compression not present in passive but not enough to be a problem.
 
Re: I officially don't get it.

I wouldn't go as far to say actives are cold and sterile. Personally I prefer EMG to the Blackouts, but horses for courses.

That being said, a lower output pickup with a high gain amp really seems to be doing the trick for me.
 
Re: I officially don't get it.

I'm with you on lower output 'bucker w/ high gain amp. Especially in a live setting where you go from clean to full throttle to in between. That's why I went that route.
 
Re: I officially don't get it.

guitar74 said:
I'm with you on lower output 'bucker w/ high gain amp. Especially in a live setting where you go from clean to full throttle to in between. That's why I went that route.
Click to expand...

The thing that got me with EMGs were the loss of dynamics. Such as picking harder or softer didn't really make a difference. I found this with a few very high gain pickups. Great for riffing but I found soloing a pain in the butt.

I switched to lower output pickups, or perceptively lower power, and enjoying life much more. So far I'm still hunting for "the one" in terms of bridge position. But my definite favorite neck bucker is the Gravity Storm.

That and the clean channel is now clean and not just "kinda" clean.
 
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.
 
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