Let's discuss actives vs passives

R

roadstar II

New member
Now with the arrival of what MAY BE the final solution for keeping a seymour "organic" tone and having all the benefits of the actives(lower resistance,lower magnet pull,dead quiet,completely sealed and protected,no high freqency loss with cables)
the dave mustaine set is here!
I already love the JB and jazz combo but to think that i may be able to have that tone and it be active too!
well for you other JB and jazz users is there any reason you will stay with the passive JB and jazz if the DM live wire set is all that?
if so why
 
Re: Let's discuss actives vs passives

my problem with actives is that they tend to sound sterile at mild gain settings with a dry tone (no fx). i think they excell at high gain for many of those reasons you mentioned above but i think they can sound life less. a freind of mine has a very sweet sounding gibson lp dc that sounded great with the duncan/gibson combo he had in there since he bought it. i went to see him at a recent gig and he put emgs in it. after the show he asked me "so bout them emgs huh?" with a big smile on his face. i didnt want to crush his spirit but i had to tell him they didnt sound half as good as the old stuff he took out.

i love the way actives (good ones anyway) feel and how quiet they are, but i hate the way they sound.
i would love it if duncan broke the mold and made an active pup that i liked
 
Re: Let's discuss actives vs passives

jeremy said:
my problem with actives is that they tend to sound sterile at mild gain settings with a dry tone (no fx). i think they excell at high gain for many of those reasons you mentioned above but i think they can sound life less. a freind of mine has a very sweet sounding gibson lp dc that sounded great with the duncan/gibson combo he had in there since he bought it. i went to see him at a recent gig and he put emgs in it. after the show he asked me "so bout them emgs huh?" with a big smile on his face. i didnt want to crush his spirit but i had to tell him they didnt sound half as good as the old stuff he took out.

i love the way actives (good ones anyway) feel and how quiet they are, but i hate the way they sound.
i would love it if duncan broke the mold and made an active pup that i liked
Click to expand...
jeremy that is what i am banking on with the new DM live wire set
IF duncan really has made a active have the organic(or orgasmic depending on if you love the JB like i do! :laugh2: ) tone then i wont be looking back!
i just hope the advanced hype is true:smokin:
 
Re: Let's discuss actives vs passives

im really looking forward to hearing the new mustaine livewires

i agree with you guys alot on the sterileness of an emg, but i like both......i have 2 guitars with emgs and then the rest passives (duncan/dimarzio/gibson/etc.) and if i were to only choose one pickup for the rest of my life it would definately be the JB but i tihnk to get a broad range of tones you have to experiment

i really like emgs for live use with a wireless setup and everything because there isnt as much signal loss but in the studio i always grab my duncan equipped guitars cuz they seem to shine better :D (if that makes any sence)
 
Re: Let's discuss actives vs passives

I had the JB/59 in my Jackson. I swapped it out for Livewires back in December. Couldn't be happier.


Of course, that's not quite the same.
 
Re: Let's discuss actives vs passives

jeremy said:
my problem with actives is that they tend to sound sterile at mild gain settings with a dry tone (no fx). i think they excell at high gain for many of those reasons you mentioned above but i think they can sound life less. a freind of mine has a very sweet sounding gibson lp dc that sounded great with the duncan/gibson combo he had in there since he bought it. i went to see him at a recent gig and he put emgs in it. after the show he asked me "so bout them emgs huh?" with a big smile on his face. i didnt want to crush his spirit but i had to tell him they didnt sound half as good as the old stuff he took out.

i love the way actives (good ones anyway) feel and how quiet they are, but i hate the way they sound.
i would love it if duncan broke the mold and made an active pup that i liked
Click to expand...

Gutsy post Jeremy!:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

Now I'm expecting to see a post from Seymour saying how much he likes Barden Tele pickups! :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

Seriously though, I agree with you up to a point. I think when it comes to guitar pickups (not bass pickups...) that active guitar pickups do overdriven tones "better" than they do "vintage clean" tone...at least when it comes to Strat single coil size pickups.

I have no experience with active paf size humbuckers.

I think the Duncan Hot Livewires in my Strat are fabulous for onstage use. If a guy is looking to own the most versatile Strat on the planet (one that can go from clean Strat to fat "humbucker-esque tones :laugh2: and beyond) then an active set like the Duncan Hot Livewires might be just the ticket.

What I love about the Duncan Hot Livewires in my Strat is that turned down to 5 or 6 on the guitar, they can do a very usable clean Strat tone with all the classic 5 way switch combos. It's not as clear and open and chimey as my Antiquitys, but it's hum free and totally usable and a very good Strat rock/clean tone.

Then I can turn the volume up to 7 or 8 and start to overdrive my amp for bluesy solos with great tone and sustain.

Then I can turn the guitar to 10 and hit my amp with the output of a paf humbucker. That's where they really sound great: those overdriven rock tones.

But bottem line is that the Duncan Hot Livewires in a Strat makes for a Strat that can do darn near any tone from "clean to soaring overdrive" onstage without any pedals.

But you're right: for classic '57 or '62 Strat tones, a real Strat single coil like the Antiquity sounds even more accurate.

Lew
 
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Re: Let's discuss actives vs passives

There's a fundamental difference between and EMG style active and traditional passives. The EMG design model (as I understand it) is more of an underwound, thicker wire gauge coil, that would sound extremely anemic and weak without the preamp. So the end result is like the difference between a Big Block engine, or a tiny Porsche engine. Both will be fast, but in entirely different ways. They will feel completely different, and yes the Porsche will exhibit a higher level of performance, if that's what you're into.

This is where I keep coming back to Bartolini. His pups begin life mostly as completely valid passives. Even the "active" ones have seperate coil outs for passive wiring, or for using the internal preamp to power the rest of the pups in the guitar. The preamp is more for subtle tone shaping, and a little gain modification, rather than a crutch.
 
Re: Let's discuss actives vs passives

frankfalbo said:
There's a fundamental difference between and EMG style active and traditional passives. The EMG design model (as I understand it) is more of an underwound, thicker wire gauge coil, that would sound extremely anemic and weak without the preamp. So the end result is like the difference between a Big Block engine, or a tiny Porsche engine. Both will be fast, but in entirely different ways. They will feel completely different, and yes the Porsche will exhibit a higher level of performance, if that's what you're into.

This is where I keep coming back to Bartolini. His pups begin life mostly as completely valid passives. Even the "active" ones have seperate coil outs for passive wiring, or for using the internal preamp to power the rest of the pups in the guitar. The preamp is more for subtle tone shaping, and a little gain modification, rather than a crutch.
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i have an old bartolini humbucker lying around somewhere, its passive and measured a large amount of dc resistance when i checked it to see what it was......i wonder if that pickup sounds like, ive never used it in anything
 
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