If you could have only one tupe of humbucker, would you take active or passive?

[milkbone]

Re: If you could have only one tupe of humbucker, would you take active or passive?

If I could find (and I've looked!) a passive that sounded and had the power and "feel" that an 85 has, I would probably go that way but nothing has come up.. I just dig EMGs.. I also have active electronics in my Carvin DC127 with H22s and I like that setup alot. My Strat has SAs w/ SPC. It's a very, VERY versatile beast...
Side Note: I just put some chrome covered 85x's in my CT3. I'll try them out this weekend and give a report back....

Don't hate me because I'm an Actvist and not a "Passivist" (like my spelling?)......

85 Bridge/81 Neck

85/85

Don't have this one anymore..

My CT3

 

[Varg]

Re: If you could have only one tupe of humbucker, would you take active or passive?

Wow, some really nice guitars there milkbone! :beerchug:

 

[Deathmonkey]

Re: If you could have only one tupe of humbucker, would you take active or passive?

kinda funny how much more actives are accepted amongst bass players than they are amongst guitar players.

This is my thought, too. Most of the players who first embraced actives were Jazzers playing those gorgeous sounding Bartolinis. Players like David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, and Jerry Garcia were looking to tame noise, or buffer their signal to make through complex rigs, not throw huge output at anything. Nowadays, improvements in amp construction, electrical systems, shielding, buffering, and noise gating make it far more possible to play single coils through long signal chains without sacrificing tone, which has altered the end user for a lot of actives. But there are still a lot of players that play active single coils or lower output active humbuckers for those reasons.

While I voted passive, and even tho I'll be the first to scream about that horrible EMG into a Recto, 6505, or Engl tone that seems to dominate heavy music, I've also heard great sounding records made with EMGs and Blackouts. I have a Blackout loaded Schecter 8 string (yeah, I know...), and I really like the way it sounds.

I tend to like higher output passives into a medium gain amp setup, but some people want that very even attack that comes from actives into a pretty hot amp. And I think actives are popular with a lot of people that use modelers, not for their larger output, but for the low noise floor and smooth, even output. That seems totally valid to me.

 

[Empty Pockets]

Re: If you could have only one tupe of humbucker, would you take active or passive?

I choose broken Jazzmaster single coils that read about 4k if they read at all into a ring worm, a blue box, and a big muff and a whammy straight to the FOH with all levels maxed because i ****ing hate the **** out of everybody everywhere.

 

[rumblebox]

Re: If you could have only one tupe of humbucker, would you take active or passive?

:jester:this is the most difficult decision i've had to make since schlitz malt liquor vs blue moon.

 

[CTN]

Re: If you could have only one tupe of humbucker, would you take active or passive?

passives, no contest.

 

[zontar]

Re: If you could have only one tupe of humbucker, would you take active or passive?

I only use passives now--so I would have to say passive.
I like the way they sound.
I like that I don't need any power for them.

They suit me.

 

[TSE]

Re: If you could have only one tupe of humbucker, would you take active or passive?

Actives only if it's the blackouts. The perfect pickup IMO. I can get amazing metal tones, love the feel, sustain, consistency, low noise, and feel of the pickups. I can also cop some mellow tones as well by dialing back the volume and adjusting the tone on my guitar. I love Duncan's passives, but their actives are marvelous and speak to their ingenuity.

 

[Jackson Distortion]

Re: If you could have only one tupe of humbucker, would you take active or passive?

Passives - just to avoid the battery situation.