80's_Thrash_Metal
Slightly_Glazed_Believer
No longer available on the website?
Anyone know? The AHB-1 and AHB-2 are still there to order but not the 3's.
Anyone know? The AHB-1 and AHB-2 are still there to order but not the 3's.
Where are the EMTY Blackouts?
- Thread starter 80's_Thrash_Metal
- Start date
misterwhizzy
Well-known member
I think Mick Thomson switched to Fluence.
80's_Thrash_Metal
Slightly_Glazed_Believer
You'd think maybe they could rebrand them and still sell them?? They are great pickups!
Kind of like the PV 6505 after the 5150 endorsement dropped off.
Kind of like the PV 6505 after the 5150 endorsement dropped off.
Depends on what the agreement was, really.
Inflames626
New member
There should be plenty still circulating among online retailers.
They are my go to C standard melodic death metal set, although I believe they were designed for lower tunings than that by rolling off the bass of the original Blackouts and shifting the highs.
Any consensus on the AHB2s? They seem to be in the black metal camp and people seem to either love them or hate them. Not sure how convenient changing a jumper is either.
They are my go to C standard melodic death metal set, although I believe they were designed for lower tunings than that by rolling off the bass of the original Blackouts and shifting the highs.
Any consensus on the AHB2s? They seem to be in the black metal camp and people seem to either love them or hate them. Not sure how convenient changing a jumper is either.
ToneFiddler
New member
AHB-3s are great! fixed everything about the AHB-1s. sold mine off though.
AHB-2 is the crazy mid hump sound from the live wire metals. The jumper just reduces the output from totally unmanageable to unmanageable
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
I've personally never tried them because I don't like Slipknot. But I've been interested in them for a while. I would buy them if I found a good deal on them, but I wouldn't pay full price for them because I suspect they'd still have the OG Blackout vibe which I didn't like.
Then again, I once found a good deal on the Jim Roots, and they turned out to be killer.
You can wire the jumper to a switch or push pull too! I guess you can wire it in a way that you can use it as a boost.
Then again, I once found a good deal on the Jim Roots, and they turned out to be killer.
You can wire the jumper to a switch or push pull too! I guess you can wire it in a way that you can use it as a boost.
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Inflames626
New member
Can you wire it to a push/pull perhaps?
I see there's no set. Perhaps I'll go out on a limb and put two AHB2s in one axe.
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
Yes. Yes you could. It works the same as the voicing switch on the Fishmans. You can choose to be stuck on one voicing on them with the jumper, or you can run a wire to a push pull to toggle. You can also reverse the push pull to have it either way you want, pull on or pull off.
Inflames626
New member
Perhaps a non boosted AHB2 on the neck and a boosted AHB2 on the bridge.
I dunno though. That insane level of output on the neck sounds tempting as well but is probably super dark. And I'd lose killswitch functionality if I wanted the bridge jumpered/non jumpered with a push pull.
Is the AHB2 pretty much an AHB1 with boosted mids in non-boosted mode?
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
No. The AHB-2 actually predates the AHB-1. They just rebranded it after the Blackouts came out, and they might have tweaked the preamp. But it was Duncan's original active offering which wasn't meant to directly compete with EMG's.
It used to be called the "Livewire Metal" before it became the "Blackout Metal".
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Inflames626
New member
Oh, that's right. The original pre-Mustaine Livewires that you can't get anymore.
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
I think they also had some other "Livewire Classics" which I suspect might have evolved into the Dualities (Alnico 2).
Another thing that makes the AHB2 different from the AHB1 is the AHB2 is Alnico 5.
Inflames626
New member
With the boosted mids I'm hearing it as a hotter EMG 81. I have seen a few videos on YouTube but not many.
Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
I've never tried one, TBH. I wouldn't know for sure. But I think the Duncan approach to actives is very different from EMG's.
If I understand the OG approach of the AHB-1B was to "fix" the shortcomings of the 81 according to whoever designed them, which I'm sure wasn't MJ or SD. But in the end, the final product was kind of the antithesis of the 81 to an extent. At least in terms of it having a fat and loose-ish low-end, even by passive standards.
Then again, that's knowing they designed the AHB-1's to be direct competitors to the 81/85 set. I'm not sure, but I don't think they had directly competing with the 81 in mind when they made the original Livewire Metal, TBH, and what makes me think that is just the magnet choice at a first glance.
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ToneFiddler
New member
i had the AHB-2 installed for 1 or 2 days or so. Didn't remind me of the EMG 81 at all.
It's the most crushing mids you could imagine. Tons of mids with a nice thump downward. It's was fun for about half an hour, but not my thing.
in the old duncan clips (live wire metal) you could hear it's characteristics perfectly.
It's the most crushing mids you could imagine. Tons of mids with a nice thump downward. It's was fun for about half an hour, but not my thing.
in the old duncan clips (live wire metal) you could hear it's characteristics perfectly.
Inflames626
New member
I've never found the AHB1s to be loose like an EMG 85 is loose. That said, I think the AHB1 is somewhere between an 81 and 85. I actually prefer Blackouts to EMGs for lower tunings (below D standard).
That said, compared to the AHB3, the AHB1 is loose. I hear the difference between the AHB1 and AHB3 as being like an 85 vs. an 81. For some reason the increased low end in the AHB1s doesn't bother me as much as it does in EMG 85s.
If you want the 81 to eat more to gain weight, you want the 85 to go on a diet.
Ironically one of the most crushing tones I've ever had is a DGCFAD guitar with SA/S/81 and an EXG midrange scooper control. I built that guitar maybe in 2000 and have never changed it.
Fairly sure Kevin Beller designed all the Blackout line in response to criticisms in the 00s that EMGs sounded thin. This was before increasing voltage to them became very common. Blackouts are definitely some of the best sounding pickups I have ever heard for the style. Not sure how often Mr. Duncan designs pickups himself these days since he has to manage other things.
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Rex_Rocker
Well-known member
I have not tried the AHB-2 or 3, so I cannot argue with you there.
Personally, I don't find the 85 too loose. Rather than loose, I call it blunt. But not because it has a big low-end. It doesn't. It still has the low-end rolloff. It does have a big and stuffy JB-ish low-mid and a very laid-back attack. Again, to me, it's not loose. It's just blunt and stuffy.
But that's comparing it to the 81. Compared to even the thinnest passives, it still has less low-end. It might not come out as "thinner" because it's basically all mids. But it doesn't have much low-end at all, much like any of the "classic" EMG's.
The AHB-1 actually does have passive levels of low-end. It's been a while since I had it, but I remember it being fatter than most other high-output Duncans like the Distortion, which I know you don't like, but I love. At the time, I kept comparing it to my other two guitars which I distinctly remember had Duncan Distortions and EMG Hets. I thought the AHB-1 was neither here nor there. Like it's not tight like an EMG nor raw like a passive. And I think from those three, it was by far the loosest. I honestly never liked it because of that.
I remember there was a shootout going around by the time the Hets and the EMTYs came out where even the EMTYs sounded so slow and sluggish compared to the Hets. Which isn't a bad thing. I mean, after all, I'm liking my passives as well right now, and sometimes, you want a bit of a dirtier low-end as well. But if the EMTY is looser than the Hets, and the Hets are looser than 81's, then for sure the AHB-1's are even looser.
As objectically as I can put it: More low-end before the gain stages automatically means looser. Not that it's bad. Like I said, sometimes you want a dirty low-end to add some character. But that's exactly why some ENGL's are so tight and the 5150III doesn't always need a boost. It shelves off a bunch of bottom-end before the preamp starts distorting.
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