What's the deal with active pickups?

I've allways been playing with passives...but the other day I put an EMG81-7 into my Ibanez universe and i'll never use anyting else then EMG again...I love that pickup...tighter and clearer....better "djent" too.

Putting that pickup into my universe was a pain in the ass, though..pickup did not fit into the guitar all first...so I had to cusomize the whole shit....came out really nice in the end!
 
I'm a fan of Seymour Duncan JB's (SH-4/TB-4) in the bridge position. They sound good for 80's Metal & Rock IMO.

Question about EMG's actually guys, do they provide a similar gain boost to that of an eq pedal? (MXR eq or Boss GE-7 eq for instance?)
 
viggen666 said:
I like passives way better. depends alot on the amp I guess.
Don't really find them to be any hotter either, just about the same as a high-output passive.

they are clear and tight though, but my amp already has that with passives, i could see the use them when you got a muddy sounding amp.
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not trying to offend, but your words are subjective opinion and not necessarily accurate. been playing for 23 years and played every type of pick up and amp combo you can imagine... and owned most of them.. toured the world with half of 'em, and recorded all of them. i respect your words as your own personal subjective opinion....but to anyone esle that is trying to learn the difference, hear it for yourself, first hand... don't go by Viggen's post. but make sure the battery is good the the active is properly installed.

2012 said:
i'm back to my EMG 60/85bridge guitar and it's great too.

lots of grind.
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love an 85 in the bridge... yay-uh
 
Of course it's all subjective, and I happen to be one who personally prefers passive pickups. I just prefer the character of their sound. It's not that they're better, they just sound different and seem to react in a different way to your playing and it's what I prefer.

Actives are clean, tight and clear as was mentioned several times. Are they better? Sure, if you like what they do to your sound.
You need to try them out to decide.
 
JBroll said:
They're pretty hot but I've never gotten the impression that they can stand up to a JB with a 15db boost across the board...

Jeff
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Yeah man I understand that they wouldn't be able to give the same shaping and boost qualities of an EQ pedal! :erk:

I should have been a bit clearer with my question. Doh!

Say for instance, you have a guitar with EMGs plugged into an amp set on the clean channel. How would the sound differ to that of passive pick-ups? (Also plugged into and amp on the clean channel).

Is it purely a db boost that EMG's give for increased volume (a louder, yet still very clear/clean sound) or do they add an element of overdrive/distortion? (i mean, kinda like hearing a guitar on the plugged into a booster pedal - SD1 or TS etc etc in the clean channel of an amp. If you see what I mean?)

Or neither?

:err:

Something else perhaps?
 
Ive got the 7 string versions of the JB/59 and im always dissapointed with the neck pickup having a struggle with picking, lack of gain perhaps but im at home with a EMG 85. Im yet to try Dimarzio' passives but im all for actives ever since I got my first set. I cant wait to try some EMG 707's!
 
James Murphy said:
not trying to offend, but your words are subjective opinion and not necessarily accurate. been playing for 23 years and played every type of pick up and amp combo you can imagine... and owned most of them.. toured the world with half of 'em, and recorded all of them. i respect your words as your own personal subjective opinion....but to anyone esle that is trying to learn the difference, hear it for yourself, first hand... don't go by Viggen's post. but make sure the battery is good the the active is properly installed.

love an 85 in the bridge... yay-uh
Click to expand...

absolutely, all just my opinion, I didn't say actives are bad or anything, and it all depends on the combination of the pickup/guitar//amp etc...
 
The_Shred said:
Ive got the 7 string versions of the JB/59 and im always dissapointed with the neck pickup having a struggle with picking, lack of gain perhaps but im at home with a EMG 85. Im yet to try Dimarzio' passives but im all for actives ever since I got my first set. I cant wait to try some EMG 707's!
Click to expand...


I use a JB SH-4 (7 String version), sounds beautiful in my BC Rich N7. I'd love to have a bash with a 7 string EMG pickup though to compare.

I can only compare to my other 7 string :cry: (epiphone v) that has a Dimarzio Evolution 7 in it.

The JB sounds slightly better IMO. A little less 'harsh' and doesn't squeal/feedback as much when gigging at high volumes either.
 
emg's have a nice level presence and can handle a ton of gain pumping through them a bit better than passives...probobly the best for tight metal chuggery!

for something like high gain lead playing/shredding I would rather take a Dimarzio passive

and for more classic metal sounding ballsy rhythtm work a Duncan Custom or JB is great...

for hard rock tones I actually dig a lower output paf type humbucker..
 
it's a matter of personal preference

i like emg's for certain reasons...the 81 because it sounds very clear and even...the 85 because it sounds really thick without being muddy...the 60 because it's got a nice soft clean that still comes thru strongly; i own two guitars that use all 3 of those pickups in them

at the end of the day tho, the duncan jb/59 set is my preferred pair of pickups...they're more responsive and organic sounding, which i just don't get with emg's

there's absolutely nothing wrong with either tho, and i'm happy to say i own both
 
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