Talk me out of Active pickups...

  • Thread starter Thread starter nigelpkay
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Yoda says, what you don't like about the JB, you will like in the Dimarzio AT-1.... tighter on the lows, slightly beefier, smoother on the highs. Without the boutique price!

As for actives, they are for pu$$ies. There is your reason not to get them.

Ok ok, I don't really mean that. The 81's in the right guitar and with the right player sound great. Too many people use a hot active with an already hot preamp high gainer. That can become sterile and fizz. Wylde sounded pretty good with them on the No More Tears and Pride and Glory albums. Rowan Robertson ( Dio had on Lock up the Wolves) also sounded great with his EMG in the bridge of a superstrat.
 
Kidkramer71":3swa75s7 said:
Oh no the David Gilmour argument for active pickups .
Well he makes them work for him .
I would hardly call him a versatile guitarist with a versatile sound .
So I stand behind my statements !!
Active = sterile one dimensional

I had engaged back in the 80's and loved them !
I was playing metal and they worked .
Then I grew up and started really working on tone !!
If you like passive and changing batteries tear it up !!
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Standing by a blanket statement...brilliant. :jerkit:

You haven't grown up as much as you think you have. :poke:
 
You could try a BKP Miracle Man which is supposed to be his take on a 81. I have them in an Ibanez 7620 7 string and that guitar sounds fucking righteous!
 
Active IS equal to sterile and one dimensional, this is not subjective it is headroom and compression.

Whether or not that is your desire and goal is where the subjectivity lies.

End of story. Science not opinion.

Dynamics are necessary to highlight the nuances of a players techniques.

Clearly stated the more dynamics you have the more of the individual player is heard.

Better guitarists clamor for Passives because they sound even better playing through them.

In comparison actives reveal almost nothing of the subtle human nuances.


Emg active pickups by design are nothing like actual humbuckers.

The nature of the circuit design basically yields a high output, noise free, single coil sound. The resonant peaks are wholly single coil in nature.
 
moltenmetalburn":u76x3gf1 said:
Active IS equal to sterile and one dimensional, this is not subjective it is headroom and compression.

Whether or not that is your desire and goal is where the subjectivity lies.

End of story. Science not opinion.
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Can you point me to these scientific studies? I rarely even use actives but my ears tell me something different in some cases than what you're selling.
 
Thanks for all the replies guys, I didn't want it to turn into an Active vs Passive brawl, I just wanted some opinion on my situation (fighting with my tone between different guitar types and passives), and wondering whether getting a decent guitar with actives will shut me up so I can get recording instead of micromanaging my tone. Maybe it won't. I know a lot of metal bands and producers stick to actives for a good *consistent* tone for recording. But this of course means they all kind of sound the same. Right now I am looking for consistency. Maybe its all in my head and I need to "shut up and play" and get the best out of what I got.
 
I keep EMG's in all my gigging guitars just for the consistency that you mentioned. Got tired of switching guitars, which I have to do alot of in my band, and having tones and levels vary from guitar to guitar. It's a non issue now. I do things a little different in that I use 85's in my brigde and the 81 in the neck. Other folks do this as well. I dig it. The 85 in the bridge has a nice chunkiness and warmth to it and the edge of the 81 helps bring out some bite and cut in the neck position. Another great thing about EMG's is they are solderless. You can swap different models in and out with no hassle. I am curious about trying the Hetfield set.
 
I generally don't like most active pickups in most guitars, but they were used in many of best recorded and live metal tones I can think of, so the notion that they are only capable of producing one dimensional, sterile sounds is obviously BS. Just try out different things and use what works for you :thumbsup:
 
I feel like actives all sound very similar. They are good for that modern metal sound, but not much else. Rolling back the volume knob with actives doesn't clean up the sound. I feel like they strangle the tone of the guitar.
 
I bought an Explorer with EMG's when I was 17. I've wanted to take them out ever since I was 19, if that tells you anything.

I haven't though because it's not my main guitar, and I do like them for certain lead tones, or if I want to play some Metallica, ha, but in general, not my thing. It's all been said already but I find them without character. They may be loud and punchy but they're also lifeless. I much prefer a passive pickup followed by a parametric EQ in front of the amp.
 
I dig EMG actives, always have. I have one guitar with EMG-81 + EMG-85.

I also dig my Stealth with one DiMarzio X2N.
 
oh man, once you get in to that pickup swapping mode looking for the right pickups, you are risking your sanity. I did that a while back, and after the first 5 or 6 sets, there were 2 sets I really liked but continued to forge ahead. I told myself I could find something even closer to what I wanted. I never did. I kept thinking to myself, "I should have kept one of those first sets I liked so much!" Then I was bummed out. Anyhow, I personally think active pickups are horrible. try out a Suhr SSH+. I find them to be amazing, especially with the SSV in the neck. I got a Suhr Modern and figured I would have to switch the pups, but I loved the stock pups, so much so that I will put them in my next super strat.
 
Have you tried 18v mods on your EMG's, or maybe the x versions. I have a 24v mod on my Eclipse and they are sound pretty good. But the end of my pick up search was when I pony'd up the money and got me ceramic nailbombs.
 
Eclipse":6up3qfls said:
Have you tried 18v mods on your EMG's, or maybe the x versions. I have a 24v mod on my Eclipse and they are sound pretty good. But the end of my pick up search was when I pony'd up the money and got me ceramic nailbombs.
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Haven't tried the 18v mod but the X series make so little difference it's not even worth the $5 difference, unless you like the little "x" on the cover. I have clips posted comparing them if you search it. I actually prefer the nonX model, but you'd never hear a difference unless you really tried.
 
Man, if it sounds good to your ear, it's probably ok. I love actives, and passives, but actives have some other reasons to like them. Less chance of getting shocked is one, but not that big of a reason, but others too like long cable runs. As long as you want. No lose of signal, pushes the amp into distortion easier and you get all the harmonics, etc, of the guitar in my humble opinion. I think Pickups are the big thing in tone on an electric guitar.. maybe as much as 80^% or more.. so find the pickup and rock on. I love high output pickups, but that's me. Some are just the opposite. I like them because they really push the preamp. If you've not tried the Dimarzio Super 3 give it a yell, if you want to try something besides actives. There are so many though that it's hard to find just one that will work for everyone. I love the Duncan Actives and the EMG's . Both are good.. I think the Duncans seem to be a little quieter and maybe a tad more output with the AHB2 I think it's called that I have. I put one in the bridge only position of a strat that just screamed man! Great pups..
 
If you want a JB type sound but active, try the Dave Mustaine Livewire set.


Also the Duncan Blackouts sound nothing like EMG. I don't care for EMG personally, the Blackouts are pretty cool though. They clean up with the volume control and are not all compressed sounding.

I also think the JB is an awesome sounding pickup in the right guitar.
 
I love the sound of the EMG single coils myself. The EMG 89 is a splittable humbucker which IMO is a piece of technological perfection. If you must have passives, I recommend going with either a set of Dimarzio 36th Anniversary, Duncan JB, or a set of (if you can find them) EBMM EVH pickups. The original Duncan Distortion is fine pickup also.
 
nigelpkay":22hzglb1 said:
Thanks for all the replies guys, I didn't want it to turn into an Active vs Passive brawl, I just wanted some opinion on my situation (fighting with my tone between different guitar types and passives), and wondering whether getting a decent guitar with actives will shut me up so I can get recording instead of micromanaging my tone. Maybe it won't. I know a lot of metal bands and producers stick to actives for a good *consistent* tone for recording. But this of course means they all kind of sound the same. Right now I am looking for consistency. Maybe its all in my head and I need to "shut up and play" and get the best out of what I got.
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Well, you know, this is the forum for that kind of thing.
Lots of people here with experience and everyone has their likes and dislikes.

You should try out a couple of guitars with active pups, and find a similar guitar with passives and decide for yourself.
A couple months ago I wanted an ESP.
I went to Sweetwater to try some out. I tried 2 ESP Eclipse Standards with EMG's, these have quilted tops.
Pretty good for all out metal where chugging is de rigueur, and they do offer a tight response.

I compared those EMG's with the ESP E-II with passive JB pup's, these have flame tops.
Ah, that's what I like. The JB's don't have as much punch, but then they aren't active. What they have is a warmer tone, and a wider frequency reponse, not as compressed as the EMG's.
Since I wanted this guitar to cover everything from clean, to gritty blues, to metal I chose the passives.
Other than the different maple caps grain, these guitars are very similar except for the pups.

I run it through my Egnater Vengeance and it growls nicely. To tighten it up I the guitar into a Fulltone FD2 and it's pretty sweet.
If I use the Boss Metal Core pedal that tightens it up a good bit, and the pedal adds scooped saturated overdrive/distortion.
For me the passives cover a wider range of tones and sounds and can be altered to sound anyway you like it.
EMG's do what they do very nicely but they are more limited in range.
I've heard that the EMG 60 and 81 are a bit more mellow to cover a wider range while still be active.
Never tried those though.

Check it out for yourself and let us know what you like.
 
Active vs Passive is the dumbest argument for anyone that plays heavier than natural overdrive. Most players need a truckload of gain to get their plane off the ground. That said, they have the latest shit box in front of their trendy metal amp.

So there goes your pure organic douchey tone in a pile of solid state shit box pedals that compress and blur the guitars tone far more than an EMG ever would. Not to mention your high impedance pups makes the problem that much more worse because they cant drive a flea wagon off a cliff.

Justied shit talking aside, EMG-X series are more open sounding and a little looser in feel, but are still butt quiet.
 
Anyway...... Actives can sound awesome but when you find a passive you love its way better than any active IMO...If you like the JB type of sound but want tighter , more low mids etc.. I dont think Actives are they way. JB has character actives dont really have.

Im partial to Bare Knukles. You might like a different model from them more than the Holy Diver.My personal fav is the ceramic nailbomb . I would also suggest trying a Duncan Distortion if you havent... Def tighter, with more low mid than the JB.

Oh and if you decide to go active just go for EMG 81 bridge with 18v mod. Ive tried blackouts and Ive tried a bunch of the other Emg models. Nothing beats the 81 in the active camp IMO.....Only downfall is it can sound thin in the wrong guitar, you need a guitar with some natural girth. Otherwise the 85 in the bridge works for some.
 
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