stratguy23
New member
I know there's a decent amount of discussion here on this pickup, but I figured people might be interested in the perspective of someone who's not its target audience.
I put this pickup in the bridge position of an SG, which I'm sad to say is *not* a tone machine. It is a stereotypical sounding SG, thin and aggressive, very mid-focused. I paired it with a Jazz neck.
Amps used to test were a Blackstar HT5, Mesa Express Plus 5:25, and Orange Crush Pro 35RT, all combos. My playing style is basically 70s rock (Ted Nugent, ZZ Top) with some modern influences (Eric Johnson, Robben Ford). While I am a fan of Jason Becker, I do not "shred" and don't have aspirations of playing like him.
Clean, the Perpetual Burn felt a bit stiff to me, but A5 bridge humbuckers always feel stiff clean to me. In terms of cleans, I would only use this in 80s sounding applications, i.e., with chorus, power ballad stuff, etc.
Of course, with gain is where the Perpetual Burn is meant to be. This may be the most focused and articulate pickup I've ever played. In comparison, the EMG 81 is a fat slob. The only thing I can think of that comes close is the Full Shred set. I much prefer the Perpetual Burn, as it feels more organic and less stiff than the Full Shred. I had trouble getting the Perpetual Burn to mush up. At gain levels where the Jazz - an articulate pickup in its own right - had given up the goods and crossed over into liquid territory, the Perpetual Burn wasn't even breaking a sweat, still showing every picking nuance (or lack thereof). This was a new experience for me, a pickup that felt crisp and precise even with death metal amounts of gain. This is *the* pickup for soloing out of the bridge position.
I haven't spent much time with the Screamin' Demon, which seems to occupy a similar space in terms of output and intent, so I'm curious if anyone could compare that with the Perpetual Burn.
The description of "JB but more even EQ" is sort of accurate. Output is not as high as the JB, but it serves a similar purpose. If your guitar is tonally balanced, or at least has strong bottom end, then the Perpetual Burn may work in a "one pickup superstrat" application. It did not work so well in my SG, which lacks bottom end; the result was a laser beam of mids - super fun for soloing, but not much else. I could see the Perpetual Burn working well in alder or basswood. Carvin pairs it with the Jazz in the Jason Becker JB24 sig guitar, which is swamp ash - that makes sense also, given the natural scoop tone of that wood. The high end response of the Perpetual Burn is very sweet - even in my thin-sounding SG, it wasn't shrill.
Jazz neck was a really good complement to the Perpetual Burn. Other good pairings I can think of would be the Sentient and Full Shred neck.
Perpetual Burn wasn't a good match for my style - I want a tone with more dirt/grease/hair/low end - but it is a fantastic sounding pickup. Very responsive; the experience is like (I imagine) driving a modern high end sports car. You kind of want to solo forever on this pickup.
I put this pickup in the bridge position of an SG, which I'm sad to say is *not* a tone machine. It is a stereotypical sounding SG, thin and aggressive, very mid-focused. I paired it with a Jazz neck.
Amps used to test were a Blackstar HT5, Mesa Express Plus 5:25, and Orange Crush Pro 35RT, all combos. My playing style is basically 70s rock (Ted Nugent, ZZ Top) with some modern influences (Eric Johnson, Robben Ford). While I am a fan of Jason Becker, I do not "shred" and don't have aspirations of playing like him.
Clean, the Perpetual Burn felt a bit stiff to me, but A5 bridge humbuckers always feel stiff clean to me. In terms of cleans, I would only use this in 80s sounding applications, i.e., with chorus, power ballad stuff, etc.
Of course, with gain is where the Perpetual Burn is meant to be. This may be the most focused and articulate pickup I've ever played. In comparison, the EMG 81 is a fat slob. The only thing I can think of that comes close is the Full Shred set. I much prefer the Perpetual Burn, as it feels more organic and less stiff than the Full Shred. I had trouble getting the Perpetual Burn to mush up. At gain levels where the Jazz - an articulate pickup in its own right - had given up the goods and crossed over into liquid territory, the Perpetual Burn wasn't even breaking a sweat, still showing every picking nuance (or lack thereof). This was a new experience for me, a pickup that felt crisp and precise even with death metal amounts of gain. This is *the* pickup for soloing out of the bridge position.
I haven't spent much time with the Screamin' Demon, which seems to occupy a similar space in terms of output and intent, so I'm curious if anyone could compare that with the Perpetual Burn.
The description of "JB but more even EQ" is sort of accurate. Output is not as high as the JB, but it serves a similar purpose. If your guitar is tonally balanced, or at least has strong bottom end, then the Perpetual Burn may work in a "one pickup superstrat" application. It did not work so well in my SG, which lacks bottom end; the result was a laser beam of mids - super fun for soloing, but not much else. I could see the Perpetual Burn working well in alder or basswood. Carvin pairs it with the Jazz in the Jason Becker JB24 sig guitar, which is swamp ash - that makes sense also, given the natural scoop tone of that wood. The high end response of the Perpetual Burn is very sweet - even in my thin-sounding SG, it wasn't shrill.
Jazz neck was a really good complement to the Perpetual Burn. Other good pairings I can think of would be the Sentient and Full Shred neck.
Perpetual Burn wasn't a good match for my style - I want a tone with more dirt/grease/hair/low end - but it is a fantastic sounding pickup. Very responsive; the experience is like (I imagine) driving a modern high end sports car. You kind of want to solo forever on this pickup.
