Re: what do you think of this active combo?
It will be very difficult - I've been trying for months to figure out how to put a Livewire in the bridge and an emg in the neck of one of my guitars.
Phase isn't a terrible problem, because you can put an EMG-PI phase inverter in series with the EMG 81 (you can order these with the toggle switch removed, so that it is 'permanently' inverted).
The main stumbling block is impedence matching - they both use different pre-amp types, with the emg having a lower ouput impedence. The EMG will 'load down' the livewire when they're on together. You can use something like an EMG-PA2 (an active pre-boost) in series with the Livewire to match the impedence, but I'm informed by the guys at EMG that this won't sound very good. I think it was the Seymour Duncan custom shop who told me that you could probably put a resistor in series with the EMG, but this would probably affect the tone and add some noise. EMG told me that this would make their pickup quiter, since you are in effect adding a fixed volume control in series with the EMG.
Another minor point is the power supply. Livewires use an 18v supply, EMG (typically) a 9v supply. You can run an EMG from the same 18v supply as the Livewire (I believe), and you'll gain some headroom on the EMG (they are actually rated to 27v), so the tone will be affected slightly.
You can get round this by using a 2-way switch, but you'll sacrifice the 'both pickups on' position. Your other option is to ask the Seymour Duncan custom shop to build you an op-amp version of the livewire, which is the same type of pre-amp as the EMG, so you can match the impedence that way. However, the custom shop told me that the tone of an op-amp livewire metal would be a little less warm and a little more clean than the fets version.
This is basically a summary of my research over the last few months - I haven't actually tried to install any of this (I gave up on the idea in frustration), so I don't have any PRACTICAL experience of this problem. I suggest that if you want to pursue this further, think about a 2-way switch, or talk to the custom shop.
P.S. - incidentally, I thought the 81 was typically used in the bridge? Have you thought about an 85 or a 60 for the neck?
