Active pups

[b0nkersx]

Anybody got suggestions on actives? I know a lot of people here are EMG users. Do you like an 85 in your bridge, or an 81? Has anybody tried the Duncan Blackouts/Metal Blackouts? I play a recto and am into a lot of heavier punk/rock/metal. I have a nice Les Paul that I use for my old school music, but I'm looking for a guitar that I can abuse a little bit more, and I'm trying to decide what kinds of pickups to shoot for. As far as the type of guitar these pickups will be in, I'll probably end up with something from Ibanez (the Wizard II necks rule) or a Schecter/ESP. I play through a Recto Road King II.

 

[moodyedge]

i had a trans black flame jackson dkmgt dinky with an emg 81 in the bridge and 85 in the neck but I thought the 81 was too cold and harsh so i swapped them out and had the 85 in the bridge, was much better. The 81 in the neck also worked well.

i went through a very short phase of wanting that kind of guitar which lasted a few weeks. I sold the jackson after 2 week. Now im in the same position with my new duel rec 3ch and 4x12 cab...I cant get the tones I want from it...so I might have to sell that after 3 week.


I rec the emg 85 in the bridge and 81 in the neck..

Joel Stroetzel has the 85 in his caparison which is mahagany bodied also

maybe a 60 in the neck and you can split the coils up to get a diff tone...just an idea

 

[derekjason]

never messed with the blackout ahb-2 (metal), but the ahb-1 set is straight bonkers dude (no pun). without starting a debate, if you like the precision of emg's, but also the balls of passive, id say go for blackouts. its like an 85 and a Jb had a kid. on the other hand you could give emg x series a shot, ive never played them, but they are emg's answer to the blackouts. ill never buy another regular emg tho unless they come stock in an axe, then i can just unplug the emgs and plug in some blackouts which use the same quick connect.

 

[ibanez4life SZ!]

EMGs at 18V....both the 81 and the 85 sounds great in the bridge position after the mod...you just have to decide which you like better...both are tight...the 81 is CRAZY clear, and the 85 is bigger sounding and a little smeared in the attack.

I have EMGs in just about all my guitars right now. At 18V, they beat out the blackouts too IMO.

I think I have an extra set with the 18V mod lying around...PM me if you're interested.

Eric

 

[kekam35]

I bought this one at guitar center new for less than $500. 81 in the bridge and 85 in the neck, it plays really nice and has great sustain for bolt on neck.
I was really surprised at the quality for such an inexpensive guitar. Sounds great for metal and the cleans are pretty good too
for an active pickup guitar.

 

[Nitrobattery]

I run 85's in the bridge of my EMG loaded guitars. They're still super tight, but have some warmth and low end that the 81 is really lacking. I've tried the 18v mod and it's very cool, but for the style of music I play on those guitars I prefer the compressed tone of running them at 9v.

 

[b0nkersx]

I run 85's in the bridge of my EMG loaded guitars. They're still super tight, but have some warmth and low end that the 81 is really lacking. I've tried the 18v mod and it's very cool, but for the style of music I play on those guitars I prefer the compressed tone of running them at 9v.

What kind of style is that? It's probably also worth mentioning that I like a cutting sound (Parkway Drive-ish) with a lot of mids for what I do.

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions!

 

[Nitrobattery]

I run 85's in the bridge of my EMG loaded guitars. They're still super tight, but have some warmth and low end that the 81 is really lacking. I've tried the 18v mod and it's very cool, but for the style of music I play on those guitars I prefer the compressed tone of running them at 9v.

What kind of style is that? It's probably also worth mentioning that I like a cutting sound (Parkway Drive-ish) with a lot of mids for what I do.

Thanks everyone for the great suggestions!

You can check out some of my stuff in the myspace link in my sig. Fairly technical metal, but I like a super clear, tight, punchy tone. The stuff on my myspace page was my Caparison Angelus into a Maxon OD808 into my Mesa Roadster that was feeding my Recto 4x12. A single SM57 was on the cab and very little post EQ was going on. Those clips were an 81 at 18v...but I was never really happy with the tone. The Angelus is a beefy guitar so I figured an 85 in the bridge would be too muddy, but I later popped in an 85 and brought it back down to 9v and have been pretty happy since.

 

[fluff191]

I will throw my 2 cents in as well.

The AHB-1 Blackouts own all other active pickups. The EMG-85 with the 18 volt mod in the bridge comes close though.

But for my money, the Blackouts have more pick sensitivity. What I want to try is the new Mick Thompson sig model Blackouts. Too cool!

 

[derekjason]

I will throw my 2 cents in as well.

The AHB-1 Blackouts own all other active pickups. The EMG-85 with the 18 volt mod in the bridge comes close though.

But for my money, the Blackouts have more pick sensitivity. What I want to try is the new Mick Thompson sig model Blackouts. Too cool!

i had no idea MT had his own sh!t, now im intrigued. +1 for blackouts>emg18vmod. not knockin it if thats your jam, i just dont want to house another battery ha.

 

[b0nkersx]

I will throw my 2 cents in as well.

The AHB-1 Blackouts own all other active pickups. The EMG-85 with the 18 volt mod in the bridge comes close though.

But for my money, the Blackouts have more pick sensitivity. What I want to try is the new Mick Thompson sig model Blackouts. Too cool!

Yeah, I saw those too. I also saw the "metal blackouts". I don't know if those would be way over the top or what, and now EMG has these X-series pickups. Decisions decisions!

 

[Jak0lantern01]

I dunno. I'm going back to passives and dumping my EMG 81/85 combo. I just don't see the benefit of these pup's, especially when you have to worry about replacing batteries and stuff. The sound just isn't there for me, personally. If you need to go active, I might suggest the Duncan's, I've heard decent things about them. Still, though, I would just find a good set of passives and be happy.

 

[b0nkersx]

I dunno. I'm going back to passives and dumping my EMG 81/85 combo. I just don't see the benefit of these pup's, especially when you have to worry about replacing batteries and stuff. The sound just isn't there for me, personally. If you need to go active, I might suggest the Duncan's, I've heard decent things about them. Still, though, I would just find a good set of passives and be happy.

I already have a good set of passives in my LP. I'm just looking for something with more kick/something different. The pups in my Paul (I'm not sure what they are, it's an older used guitar, but I'm guessing stock) handle most styles of metal very well, but I'm getting a new guitar anyway that I can set up for a lower tuning to play metal (I leave my Paul in standard) so I figure I might as well try something new/heavier.

 

[Jak0lantern01]

Actually, for drop tuning, I find lower ouput pups to be more suitable, significantly less mud. Drop tuning makes everything sound inherently heavier, so a more aggressive pup isn't really necessary. Trust me, been there, done that. I'm sure that there are others that will disagree. I know Syn Gates of A7X plays really high output Duncans and his sound is great live. Also, keep in mind, you should switch to a heavier gauge string for drop tuning. You want to keep those strings tight and the intonation good.

 

[dwsabianguy]

I've played a good few guitars with EMGs and they're good at best. I definitely prefer a good ol'-fashioned (well, kinda) set of passive DiMarzios - passive pickups have more tone overall, and clean up much better when you roll back the guitar volume. If you need a crazy amount of output (I mean, does the Road King not have enough gain for ya?), I'd go for the DiMarzio D Activators - they're passives with as much output as an active pickup and they sound pretty darn good.

But if I had to go with active pickups, I'd probably go with the Blackouts. They seem more musical.

 

[fluff191]

For passive, I love the Dimarzio X2N. Great sounding pickup.

 

[b0nkersx]

Actually, for drop tuning, I find lower ouput pups to be more suitable, significantly less mud. Drop tuning makes everything sound inherently heavier, so a more aggressive pup isn't really necessary. Trust me, been there, done that. I'm sure that there are others that will disagree. I know Syn Gates of A7X plays really high output Duncans and his sound is great live. Also, keep in mind, you should switch to a heavier gauge string for drop tuning. You want to keep those strings tight and the intonation good.

Yeah, I already use a mix of .11s and .12s on my Paul in standard. I love heavy strings. As far as pickups, though, I haven't had a lot of success with low output pups and high gain sounds. I might noodle around some more, but since I'm getting a new guitar, I thought it would be a good idea to try some actives for teh brootalz.

I've played a good few guitars with EMGs and they're good at best. I definitely prefer a good ol'-fashioned (well, kinda) set of passive DiMarzios - passive pickups have more tone overall, and clean up much better when you roll back the guitar volume. If you need a crazy amount of output (I mean, does the Road King not have enough gain for ya?), I'd go for the DiMarzio D Activators - they're passives with as much output as an active pickup and they sound pretty darn good.

But if I had to go with active pickups, I'd probably go with the Blackouts. They seem more musical.

It's got plenty of gain. I'm just looking for a different sound, and actives are the obvious go-to for metal these days. I really like DiMarzios, though. I might give that D Activator a shot. Nice to see another NC native also.

 

[dwsabianguy]

Yeah, if you're going for a characteristic metal sound, you shouldn't have any problems with the D-Activators or D-Activator X. In fact, a friend of mine (who plays in a Raleigh-based metal band) just bought a Xiphos with the D Activators in it, and it sounds great - plenty of balls, and loads of output.

Another thing you might want to try is just sticking a Tubescreamer in front of the amp and keep it on. I know it sounds backwards, with a Tubescreamer being just about the smoothest and middiest distortion pedal I can think of, but the band that played after Six Foot Orchard (my friend's band) last Saturday, a band called Seventh Denial, have some of the gnarliest tone I've ever heard, and though he normally uses a 5150II, one of the guitarists was using a ValveKing with a TS7 in front and it was awesome.