LIST YOUR FAVORITE AMPS THAT LOVE ACTIVE PICKUPS

[Steinmetzify]

My modded SR sounds just sick with EMGs.....thick and gainy, surgically tight palm mutes and it just crushes...Mailman's mode Dual Rec sounds the same or better. Reading a thread tonight and someone said that they didn't like a VH4 with EMGs.

You guys on this board have had EVERYTHING and played everything with em...in your opinions, which amps play well with actives and which don't?

Thanks,

S

 

[Inca Roads]

 

[cardinal]

Lots of great records made with EMGs into 2203 and 2204 Marshalls.

 

[dsquared]

Mesa Marks, all revisions.

 

[K-mark5]

Mesa Marks, all revisions.

with all respect, no they don't.. I had the IV, now the V.. and not only do those things hate actives, they hate high output ceramic passives too.. the best tones I could get out of these beasts were with alnicoII and alnico IV pickups.. and that all on sevenstring guitars playing modern rock/metal..

If you go with actives you end up driving the preamp section too hard..it's just pure shrill/compression and sounds like utter shit IMHO. like a squishy tiny shrilly trebly kirk hammet kinda tone..

 

[Orionsbelt456]

I have a modded peavey 5150 that sounds incredible with emgs. Tight, full and in your face!

 

[some dude]

Mesa Marks, all revisions.

with all respect, no they don't.. I had the IV, now the V.. and not only do those things hate actives, they hate high output ceramic passives too.. the best tones I could get out of these beasts were with alnicoII and alnico IV pickups.. and that all on sevenstring guitars playing modern rock/metal..

If you go with actives you end up driving the preamp section too hard..it's just pure shrill/compression and sounds like utter shit IMHO. like a squishy tiny shrilly trebly kirk hammet kinda tone..

Sounds like user error.

I have a Mark V and it loves EMGs. So did my Mark III and Recto.

My main guitars are all loaded with alnico II pickups, so I get you on that front, but in no way does it default to shrill compression with EMGs. It doesn't even make sense... it's just a fucking pickup.

 

[PBGas]

At first when I ran my Ibanez 2627ZE with the stock EMGs on my Marshall Satch, it sound ok at best. I recently switched them out with some new white EMG707X pickups and it made a very dramatic change to the how the guitar sounds through my amp. Really happy with how they worked out.

 

[dsquared]

Mesa Marks, all revisions.

with all respect, no they don't.. I had the IV, now the V.. and not only do those things hate actives, they hate high output ceramic passives too.. the best tones I could get out of these beasts were with alnicoII and alnico IV pickups.. and that all on sevenstring guitars playing modern rock/metal..

If you go with actives you end up driving the preamp section too hard..it's just pure shrill/compression and sounds like utter shit IMHO. like a squishy tiny shrilly trebly kirk hammet kinda tone..

Sounds like user error.

I have a Mark V and it loves EMGs. So did my Mark III and Recto.

My main guitars are all loaded with alnico II pickups, so I get you on that front, but in no way does it default to shrill compression with EMGs. It doesn't even make sense... it's just a fucking pickup.

Yup, user error. And that's ok, Marks aren't for everyone. Some might say Marks aren't user friendly, but really, they're just picky about their friends.

 

[shgshg]

My Dual Recto loves the 85 and 89. The 81 not so much.

 

[rocknrolla]

My Mesa Roadster came alive when I swapped in an EMG Het Set. Boosted PAF tone without the boost.

 

[Death by Uberschall]

You guys complaining about EMGs hitting the preamp too hard, that's what the gain knob is for,....

 

[steve_k]

Anything beginning with Diezel.

 

[Mailman1971]

When I had my VH4.....I was using EMG's.....sounded great!
buddy brang over his Suhr with Aldrich pickups....and it really came alive.
Been in the passive game for the last few years.
I want to get back into actives.....but so far the JB has just been Bringing it. Not broke dont fix it.
But was a EMG user for almost 20 years.

 

[Tone Monster]

VH4

 

[Steinmetzify]

Good to know on the Herbert; from what I've heard said its got a looser feel than the VH4, so that would make some sense...interesting, we have some guys that say the VH4 sounds good with em and some not. Keep it going, I'm digging this. Could add that I think a 6505 slays with actives as well.

Reason I brought it up is there's a guy on here who's always got great tone and is a really original player in my mind, and he's the one who said he didn't like actives with the VH4....got me wondering what you guys thought. There are some monster players on this board.

 

[some dude]

Good to know on the Herbert; from what I've heard said its got a looser feel than the VH4, so that would make some sense...interesting, we have some guys that say the VH4 sounds good with em and some not. Keep it going, I'm digging this. Could add that I think a 6505 slays with actives as well.

Reason I brought it up is there's a guy on here who's always got great tone and is a really original player in my mind, and he's the one who said he didn't like actives with the VH4....got me wondering what you guys thought. There are some monster players on this board.

I think it all comes down to individual tastes and a willingness to experiment.

On my amps EQ settings that work well for passives sound extremely dry, brittle and sterile with EMGs. I think a lot of guys leave it at that and never make the effort to try to dial in for the new pickups.

 

[Tone Monster]

Good to know on the Herbert; from what I've heard said its got a looser feel than the VH4, so that would make some sense...interesting, we have some guys that say the VH4 sounds good with em and some not. Keep it going, I'm digging this. Could add that I think a 6505 slays with actives as well.

Reason I brought it up is there's a guy on here who's always got great tone and is a really original player in my mind, and he's the one who said he didn't like actives with the VH4....got me wondering what you guys thought. There are some monster players on this board.

I think it all comes down to individual tastes and a willingness to experiment.

On my amps EQ settings that work well for passives sound extremely dry, brittle and sterile with EMGs. I think a lot of guys leave it at that and never make the effort to try to dial in for the new pickups.

+eleventybillion

 

[Steinmetzify]

I think it all comes down to individual tastes and a willingness to experiment.

On my amps EQ settings that work well for passives sound extremely dry, brittle and sterile with EMGs. I think a lot of guys leave it at that and never make the effort to try to dial in for the new pickups.

I hear you on the personal preference thing.....what's gonna sound good to me is for sure gonna sound like mushed gainy crap to someone else.

Gotcha on the EQ thing too....6505 was pretty sensitive to actives/passives changing the tone and having to re-EQ and so were the last few amps before that; only amp I've ever played that I didn't have to completely change settings between them was this Single Rec. Weird.

 

[Romans 1:16]

My Fender Flathead sounds terrible with my bogner although not too bad with my tiny terror. Will all Diezel models work (mainly D-moll) work or just VH-4?