Mizati20
Well-known member
So I did some extensive research on the Blackout Pickup, and I honestly couldn't find a decent thread that compared EMG's to Blackouts. It was either someone who walked into Guitar Center and tried an out of tune guitar with Blackouts plugged into a half blown amp and then writing a review about how awesome they were. Or someone that have Blackouts as their first pickup, and write a review on how much better they are than EMGs...even though they haven't even played them. I have been a die hard EMG user and wanted a decent comparison to my favorite pickup, and since I recently installed a set of Blackouts into my main guitar which previously had EMG's, I figured i would go ahead and make a little review myself, hopefully someone will get some use out of it. Let me start out by saying I've never really written an extensive review, but I will do my best, and much more importantly, *****THESE ARE JUST MY OPINIONS, this is not a biased review towards either pickup, just an honest comparison, that being said.... here goes.
Let me start out by saying that after my first impressions of these pickups, I was very surprised to find out that these were $30.00 cheaper than my EMG set.
Packaging:
The pickups arrived via. UPS early in the morning, they were ordered from a Guitar Center here locally, and showed up a couple days later. I have never liked Seymour Duncan's method of packaging pickups, they have the back of the pickup resting on some foam, and then the front of the pickup smashed against the plastic casing, which is why most SD pickups you see in the store are slightly scratched even though they are new in the box. The box is twice as large as the type of box that say a JB Humbucker would come in, has a swing top instead of just popping off, and again has the foam on one side of the pickups. Also included is a plethora of washers, spacers, rings and a few other random metal objects. Wiring for the 3-prong quick connect, and wiring for a battery clip. They include a pair of short pots only, if you need long ones it says in the included manual they will ship them to you for free. This is the first drawback, although not major, my Zakk Wylde EMG set came with short AND long pots, which was nice since I actually ended up needing the longer ones. Another drawback is that only 1 adjustment spring was in the parts bag, again not a deal breaker seeing as how I just used the ones already in my guitar, but say I was building a guitar from scratch or something, that would have been a small annoyance.
Installation:
As for the install, it was a simple and painless as it gets. Granted I was coming from EMG's so I just used the 3-prong quick connect that Seymour Duncan has on these pickups. But the fact that they are compatible is a really really nice feature. Changing the strings on my '99 PRS Custom 22 with those stupid tuner heads is more of a hassle than swapping out these pickups. There is a very very small amount of more space between the pickup and the square plastic casing than there was with my EMG's but again if you were coming from say an uncovered passive pickup, you wouldn't notice the difference, still in all a very nice fit. The pickups are labeled on the back with the model of the pickup. And a seperate sticker with a simple "B" or "N". Since otherwise there is no way to tell the two apart.
I am not going to go into the actual specs of these pickups, that is common information that can be found almost anywhere, I am simply trying to cover what I could NOT find elsewhere.
First Impression(s):
After getting the strings back on the guitar and getting everything plugged in and running, I had two immediate first impressions (does that make sense?), first was before I even strummed anything I could just "hear" how much more sensitive these pickups are, much more so than my EMGs. Now this brings up the issue that Seymour Duncan is proudly advertising that "these pickups are 14 dB quieter than other active blah blah..." that may be true, and I will touch on that in a second, but the fact that these pickups are so incredibly sensitive kind of makes that claim to fame obsolete. Granted they aren't making any unwanted excessive noise, but they definately pick up things that my EMG's did not, an example would be my oscillating fan that is next to my bed, when it turned and blew where I am sitting, if I took my hand off the fretboard and let the air hit the pickups, it would make a very quiet "wooshing" sound. All this aside I would say the Blackouts are just a BIT quieter than my EMGs, but nothing to brag about.
The second "first" impressiong I had was the bass response. While I love EMGs I still have always believed they are a bit thin and compressed sounding. The Blackouts have a very noticeable amount of extra low end than EMG's do, with that being said, they have a much more pronounced midrange. I haven't played with these in a live setting yet, but I would venture to say that if you did a swap from EMG's to Blackouts and kept all your same amplifier settings, that the Blackouts would probably stand out in the mix a bit better than EMG's.
Rhythm Playing:
These definately let the characteristics of the guitar and the wood through much more than EMGs. I find that these Blackouts actually are great for both rhythm and lead, something I can't say for EMG's again this is just my opinion, but for the palm muting chug-uh-chug-uh kinda stuff, EMGs can be slightly lacking in this department because of their slightly thing sound, unless you are playing in a very low dropped tuning, in which case the outcome would obviously be different. The Blackouts, mostly due to their added bass response, sound fantastic for rhythm playing. This is something I was very happy about.
Lead Playing:
The lead sound from the Blackouts impressed me from the first note, very full sounding and crisp, the pick response is excellent, you can actually tell someone is playing a guitar. I find the lead tones to be slightly better sounding than my EMG's again let me stress this is just my opinions, and just my ears. The Blackouts or just more round sounding, and when it comes to playing fast (as fast as I can play anyway) I find the notes to be almost creamy sounding...flowing into one another perfectly but still maintaining clarity and punch.
Artificial Harmonics:
I am a big harmonics guy. But I have actually always thought that it is easier to make artificial harmonics with passive pickups. Before I switched to EMGs I had 3 guitars with a set of SD Invaders, a JB '59 set, and a Dimebucker '59 set, and I can honestly say pinch harmonics were not only easier to produce, but sounded better. I find artificial harmonics are a bit trickier with EMGs, let me clarify that in no way do I mean EMGs make it DIFFICULT, but the node points for the A-Harmonics on EMG's are vastly different than they are on passives, sometimes making it a bit trickier. I can honestly say that the Blackouts blast out the A-Harmonics MUCH MUCH better than my EMG's, they literally just seem to jump off the string. I even find myself producing them when I am not trying, I hold my pick pretty close to the edge, and the Blackouts are so sensitive the harmonics will ring without me even trying, for someone who really digs the pinch harmonics, both for listening and playing, the Blackouts were the way to go.
Summary / Conclusion:
Let me finish by saying I have been an EMG lover for quite some time, but my first impressions of the Blackouts are fantastic. I have heard them described as a passive pickup with an active pickups output, and this truly is the best way to describe these. They definately seem to let more of the actual characteristics of the guitar shine through. They are incredibly full sounding, much like a passive pickup, but again with the output and reduced noise of active pickups. Seymour Duncan definately knocked it out of the park with these pickups. Again the only complaints I had at all was from the packaging etc...nothing at all to do with the pickups itself.
Please remember this is just to compare the SD Blackouts to EMG's I am in no way comparing these to any other pickup on the market.
Also please remember these are just my opinions, take them for what they are worth to you.
And lastly, I can honestly say that for the type of music I play, the Seymour Duncan Blackout outperforms EMGs in every aspect that is important to *ME*....EMG's definately have their place, but are a bit thin and compressed sounding, while the Blackouts of very full and rounded, with a great midrange and bass response.
I hope this review helps someone out there, I know I would have liked to of read something like this before taking the plunge. But seeing as how the Blackouts are cheaper than EMG's, I figured if I liked them I could just sell my old pickups, and my blind purchase would be justified, as it has been. Thanks for reading, sorry for the long post and if I rambled for too long in some spots, but I wanted to touch on as many points as possible, even if some seemed trivial, I would definately highly recommend the SD Blackouts if you are an EMG lover but looking for something different, or if you are thinking of making the switch from passive to active. Thanks again guys, keep on rockin!!!!
Let me start out by saying that after my first impressions of these pickups, I was very surprised to find out that these were $30.00 cheaper than my EMG set.
Packaging:
The pickups arrived via. UPS early in the morning, they were ordered from a Guitar Center here locally, and showed up a couple days later. I have never liked Seymour Duncan's method of packaging pickups, they have the back of the pickup resting on some foam, and then the front of the pickup smashed against the plastic casing, which is why most SD pickups you see in the store are slightly scratched even though they are new in the box. The box is twice as large as the type of box that say a JB Humbucker would come in, has a swing top instead of just popping off, and again has the foam on one side of the pickups. Also included is a plethora of washers, spacers, rings and a few other random metal objects. Wiring for the 3-prong quick connect, and wiring for a battery clip. They include a pair of short pots only, if you need long ones it says in the included manual they will ship them to you for free. This is the first drawback, although not major, my Zakk Wylde EMG set came with short AND long pots, which was nice since I actually ended up needing the longer ones. Another drawback is that only 1 adjustment spring was in the parts bag, again not a deal breaker seeing as how I just used the ones already in my guitar, but say I was building a guitar from scratch or something, that would have been a small annoyance.
Installation:
As for the install, it was a simple and painless as it gets. Granted I was coming from EMG's so I just used the 3-prong quick connect that Seymour Duncan has on these pickups. But the fact that they are compatible is a really really nice feature. Changing the strings on my '99 PRS Custom 22 with those stupid tuner heads is more of a hassle than swapping out these pickups. There is a very very small amount of more space between the pickup and the square plastic casing than there was with my EMG's but again if you were coming from say an uncovered passive pickup, you wouldn't notice the difference, still in all a very nice fit. The pickups are labeled on the back with the model of the pickup. And a seperate sticker with a simple "B" or "N". Since otherwise there is no way to tell the two apart.
I am not going to go into the actual specs of these pickups, that is common information that can be found almost anywhere, I am simply trying to cover what I could NOT find elsewhere.
First Impression(s):
After getting the strings back on the guitar and getting everything plugged in and running, I had two immediate first impressions (does that make sense?), first was before I even strummed anything I could just "hear" how much more sensitive these pickups are, much more so than my EMGs. Now this brings up the issue that Seymour Duncan is proudly advertising that "these pickups are 14 dB quieter than other active blah blah..." that may be true, and I will touch on that in a second, but the fact that these pickups are so incredibly sensitive kind of makes that claim to fame obsolete. Granted they aren't making any unwanted excessive noise, but they definately pick up things that my EMG's did not, an example would be my oscillating fan that is next to my bed, when it turned and blew where I am sitting, if I took my hand off the fretboard and let the air hit the pickups, it would make a very quiet "wooshing" sound. All this aside I would say the Blackouts are just a BIT quieter than my EMGs, but nothing to brag about.
The second "first" impressiong I had was the bass response. While I love EMGs I still have always believed they are a bit thin and compressed sounding. The Blackouts have a very noticeable amount of extra low end than EMG's do, with that being said, they have a much more pronounced midrange. I haven't played with these in a live setting yet, but I would venture to say that if you did a swap from EMG's to Blackouts and kept all your same amplifier settings, that the Blackouts would probably stand out in the mix a bit better than EMG's.
Rhythm Playing:
These definately let the characteristics of the guitar and the wood through much more than EMGs. I find that these Blackouts actually are great for both rhythm and lead, something I can't say for EMG's again this is just my opinion, but for the palm muting chug-uh-chug-uh kinda stuff, EMGs can be slightly lacking in this department because of their slightly thing sound, unless you are playing in a very low dropped tuning, in which case the outcome would obviously be different. The Blackouts, mostly due to their added bass response, sound fantastic for rhythm playing. This is something I was very happy about.
Lead Playing:
The lead sound from the Blackouts impressed me from the first note, very full sounding and crisp, the pick response is excellent, you can actually tell someone is playing a guitar. I find the lead tones to be slightly better sounding than my EMG's again let me stress this is just my opinions, and just my ears. The Blackouts or just more round sounding, and when it comes to playing fast (as fast as I can play anyway) I find the notes to be almost creamy sounding...flowing into one another perfectly but still maintaining clarity and punch.
Artificial Harmonics:
I am a big harmonics guy. But I have actually always thought that it is easier to make artificial harmonics with passive pickups. Before I switched to EMGs I had 3 guitars with a set of SD Invaders, a JB '59 set, and a Dimebucker '59 set, and I can honestly say pinch harmonics were not only easier to produce, but sounded better. I find artificial harmonics are a bit trickier with EMGs, let me clarify that in no way do I mean EMGs make it DIFFICULT, but the node points for the A-Harmonics on EMG's are vastly different than they are on passives, sometimes making it a bit trickier. I can honestly say that the Blackouts blast out the A-Harmonics MUCH MUCH better than my EMG's, they literally just seem to jump off the string. I even find myself producing them when I am not trying, I hold my pick pretty close to the edge, and the Blackouts are so sensitive the harmonics will ring without me even trying, for someone who really digs the pinch harmonics, both for listening and playing, the Blackouts were the way to go.
Summary / Conclusion:
Let me finish by saying I have been an EMG lover for quite some time, but my first impressions of the Blackouts are fantastic. I have heard them described as a passive pickup with an active pickups output, and this truly is the best way to describe these. They definately seem to let more of the actual characteristics of the guitar shine through. They are incredibly full sounding, much like a passive pickup, but again with the output and reduced noise of active pickups. Seymour Duncan definately knocked it out of the park with these pickups. Again the only complaints I had at all was from the packaging etc...nothing at all to do with the pickups itself.
Please remember this is just to compare the SD Blackouts to EMG's I am in no way comparing these to any other pickup on the market.
Also please remember these are just my opinions, take them for what they are worth to you.
And lastly, I can honestly say that for the type of music I play, the Seymour Duncan Blackout outperforms EMGs in every aspect that is important to *ME*....EMG's definately have their place, but are a bit thin and compressed sounding, while the Blackouts of very full and rounded, with a great midrange and bass response.
I hope this review helps someone out there, I know I would have liked to of read something like this before taking the plunge. But seeing as how the Blackouts are cheaper than EMG's, I figured if I liked them I could just sell my old pickups, and my blind purchase would be justified, as it has been. Thanks for reading, sorry for the long post and if I rambled for too long in some spots, but I wanted to touch on as many points as possible, even if some seemed trivial, I would definately highly recommend the SD Blackouts if you are an EMG lover but looking for something different, or if you are thinking of making the switch from passive to active. Thanks again guys, keep on rockin!!!!
