Why no 'quack' or twang from active pickups?

[stuntmedia]

Pickup gurus,

Is there something intrinsic to the construction of active pickups that prevents them from having good 'quack' and twang sounds, or is it simply that the market in actives just doesn't support these voicings?

Thanks,
PW

 

[LReese]

Re: Why no 'quack' or twang from active pickups?

Ive found that is the case with stacked pickups in general, but not a case of being active or not - I have not tried them all, obviously.

I do have a set of Bill Lawrence L-200s that do quack well, downfall being they were extremely bright in the guitar I tested them in. I would have kept them in if there was ample bottom end.

Actives generally are standard high impedance coils into a differential preamp, though there have been true low impedance pickups. There's reverse engineering info for EMG's out on the net.

 

[Franknfilms]

Re: Why no 'quack' or twang from active pickups?

Personally, I find the best twang in the middle position. I had a split emg 89 that nearly got me there but nothing close to what passives offer. You don't even need to split passives sometimes, my custom/jazz have some pretty awesome twang.

 

[frankfalbo]

Re: Why no 'quack' or twang from active pickups?

The preamp buffers and changes the way the pickups interact. They do not load one another. It's more like each pickup is feeding a mixer channel and you're raising and lowering the faders. The Livewire Classic II for Strat have the most quack I've ever heard in an active, and that's one of my hang-ups.

 

[MetalManiac]

Re: Why no 'quack' or twang from active pickups?

I guess its a trade off. They have some of the most beautiful bell tones I've ever heard.

 

[stuntmedia]

Re: Why no 'quack' or twang from active pickups?

Thanks for the input guys. I'm using a Livewire classic HB, and a Blackout bridge in one of my guitars, and I really love them. I have been looking for an active solution on my nashville-style Tele as well, but I just can't find what I'm looking for in the guitars I've played, so far. The livewire strat pups might be a solution to the neck and middle for me, but the bridge would have to be either an EMG or Peavey. I've played both, and I wasn't really thrilled. Too bad Duncan doesn't offer (at least, not on their site) an active Tele bridge. Right now, my tele has Lawrence Keystones (awesome) with a GFS lipstick tube between them. I'm close to the tones I want, and it sounds really good, but I love the harmonic response and nearly infinite sustain of my active HB setup I mentioned. I would love to get a traditional tele sound, with strat quack positions, that also has the active benefits. I'll keep watching for a livewire classic tele set. Fingers crossed.