EMG vs. Seymour Duncan

[Frolid]

Some prefer Seymour Duncan; others prefer active EMGs.

I have Seymour Duncan blackouts in my esp M255. However, I am interested to know your opinions on what is better. I have never tested EMGs out in a guitar before, but i hear good things. So lets hear it people.

EMGs or Seymour Duncan

 

[wkl]

Are we talking about active pickups or active and passive?

Active I guess emgs... but I think the cleans could be better, it's just to much output for me. I rather have a par of seymour duncans. Like the sh-6 it can cover anything I would expect out of a humbucker.

 

[Frolid]

Are we talking about active pickups or active and passive?

Active I guess emgs... but I think the cleans could be better, it's just to much output for me. I rather have a par of seymour duncans. Like the sh-6 it can cover anything I would expect out of a humbucker.

we're talking active emgs vs passive Seymour duncan

 

[chunktone]

There are countless examples of great tones recorded with EMG's, but when I A B them with Seymour Duncans, I tend to prefer the Duncans.

 

[Frolid]

There are countless examples of great tones recorded with EMG's, but when I A B them with Seymour Duncans, I tend to prefer the Duncans.

what duncans do you prefer?

 

[wkl]

we're talking active emgs vs passive Seymour duncan

Seymour duncan all the way

 

[Frolid]

we're talking active emgs vs passive Seymour duncan

Seymour duncan all the way

what do you like in seymour duncan?

 

[wkl]

what do you like in seymour duncan?

They are good quality non expensive pickups that have been used by all my favorite guitarrist since forever.
They're also more balanced than active pickups, think about it:

(on emgs)
-You have a really hot output, wich is great for huge amounts of distortion, but what about the cleans?

-If the baterries run out right before a gig, you can't play!

-They are more expensive then passive pickups

Let me just finish with this
the following artists use Seymour Duncan:

-Slash
-yngwie malmsteen
-Paul Gilbert
-Gus G.
-Max Cavalera
...

 

[BURNTHISCORPSE]

either one. depends on style of music, amps used and tunings for me. Try WCR pickups too. very expensive but amazing.

 

[EvilBatman]

EMGs vs. Blackouts?

I favor EMGs. I like the 81 because I know the pickup very well and I find that I can work with its base tone better than many pickups. In all honesty though, I may prefer the 60 over the 81 in general. Great cleans and more of a minihumbucker vibe with it.

The Blackout bridge to my ears sounded more like an 85 but clearer. I don't like the 85 but the Blackout was ok.

As far as EMGs vs. passive Duncans, I still tend to come down on the EMG side but that's because of the way I run my setup. I use an EQ pedal before my amps/distortion pedals to mess with the frequencies in order to have some control over the character of the distortion breakup.

Removing the EQ pedal, the Duncans in my opinion begin to pull even with the EMGs. I like several of the Duncan models but the Custom, Distortion, and Custom Custom are the ones that I'd use and in fact, I've owned one of each in the past.

Now, just to throw a wrench in to the works, if I were plugging directly in to an amp/distortion pedal and playing predominantly metal/hard rock with it, neither EMG nor Duncan would be my first choice. I'd have an Anderson H2+, HN2+, H3, H3+, HN3, or HN3+ in my guitars.

 

[itsme]

All my guitars have Duncans. I only put batteries in toy guitars.

 

[fearhk213]

Comparing passive Seymour Duncans to EMG's is a pretty apples to oranges comparison if you ask me. EMG's have a very distinct sound and there isn't a passive Seymour Duncan to fairly compare with it. Personally, 9 times out of 10 I prefer a passive SD, but it all depends on the guitar, amp, and what type of tone I'm going for. What typically steers me away from EMG's isn't so much the tone as it is they can feel a bit compressed and strident/sterile, which can be said about many hot pickups. EMG's can do clean tones too. With an 89 in the neck split you can get some really good clean tones. It would be worth picking up a used EMG and passive SD to see what you think.

 

[gravfed]

Active EMGs are great for pure metal and the 60 sounds really good for cleans in the neck IMO. If I'm playing something in between, I much prefer passives.

 

[Frolid]

but it all depends on the guitar, amp, and what type of tone I'm going for.

Say you were going for a really deep metal tone. Like in the riff range of.. let's say.. as i lay dying?

Amps. Well i have a tiny marshall combo right now that is really terrible. But say a mesa boogie, krank, or peavey.

and guitar, I have an esp ltd m255

 

[wkl]

but it all depends on the guitar, amp, and what type of tone I'm going for.

Say you were going for a really deep metal tone. Like in the riff range of.. let's say.. as i lay dying?

Amps. Well i have a tiny marshall combo right now that is really terrible. But say a mesa boogie, krank, or peavey.

and guitar, I have an esp ltd m255

Both as i lay dying's guitarrists use emgs.
But the biggest part of their tone is the rectifiers...

 

[chunktone]

but it all depends on the guitar, amp, and what type of tone I'm going for.

Say you were going for a really deep metal tone. Like in the riff range of.. let's say.. as i lay dying?

Amps. Well i have a tiny marshall combo right now that is really terrible. But say a mesa boogie, krank, or peavey.

and guitar, I have an esp ltd m255

IMHO, I would focus on getting a better amp. This will have the greatest effect on your tone. You can take a crappy guitar and plug it into a Diezel Herbert, and it will sound great. But you take a Gibson Les Paul, PRS or any other high end guitar and plug it into a PigNose....pure crap imo.

 

[vultures]

EMGs are great pickups, but I find them to be a little too "dry" and sterile compared to Seymour Duncan passives. I would choose EMGs if I had nothing other to play then metal, but I mix around what I do and Duncan's add a little more colour into it, same as any other passives. I'm comparing the EMG 81/85 to Seymour Duncan SH5/59 and I also prefer Dimarzio X2N/PAF pro over the 81/85. But that's just me, I feel EMGs are too compressed for anything else..

 

[Frolid]

EMGs are great pickups, but I find them to be a little too "dry" and sterile compared to Seymour Duncan passives. I would choose EMGs if I had nothing other to play then metal, but I mix around what I do and Duncan's add a little more colour into it, same as any other passives. I'm comparing the EMG 81/85 to Seymour Duncan SH5/59 and I also prefer Dimarzio X2N/PAF pro over the 81/85. But that's just me, I feel EMGs are too compressed for anything else..

i do hear good feedback on the x2n. What is your take on it?

 

[vultures]

i do hear good feedback on the x2n. What is your take on it?

I use it in a basswood Ibanez, it's articulate yet thick at the same time. On the site it's supposed to be the highest power pickup or some bullshit, but it's on the same par with Super Distortion, just more mean. This isn't really a GREAT clip, but I recorded this with X2N through a PODxt;

 

[yngzaklynch]

Let me just finish with this
the following artists use Seymour Duncan:

-Slash
-yngwie malmsteen
-Sugizo
-Paul Gilbert
-Gus G.
-Max Cavalera
-Synyster Gates
-Zacky vengeance
...

Might want to take Yngwie and PG of of that list as they're both long time Dimarzio users.