Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

basswod body maple neck and rosewood fretboard what would sound better emgs or blackouts

It really depends on the tone that you're after because, believe me, they are 2 different animals completely even though they're both active. The Blackouts will give you more of a vintage type sound (typical of Duncan's), while the EMGs will give you a more compressed and "edgy" type of sound. It depends on if you're into metal or hard rock more. For full on metal, I'd go with the EMGs. For hard rock or more chord oriented (strum type) metal, I'd go with the Blackouts.

So...Blackouts = thicker, less compressed sound.

EMGs = sharper attack, more compressed sound.

Hope this helps...

don't take this the right way but you can put emg's in a 2x4 and they will sound like emgs... to me anyway.

if you are going for all out high gain metal emg's are great... but they are a one trick pony... IMO they don't sound good for clean tone and they don't let the tone of your guitar shine through...

In my honest opinion if I was going to set up a guitar with emg's I'd put an 81 in the bridge and a nice paf or other high quality passive pickup in the neck... there's going to be a big vol dif in the bridge and neck but if that bothers you you can manage it by wiring in an active eq or volume boost for the neck pickup with a trim so it can even out the overall loudness of the two...

just one mans opinion...

As usual...I'm with Mike on this one. I only use passive Duncan's. My Ibanez Prestige has only one pickup and it's a Duncan Full Shred. Not a very hot pickup at all, but it's so damn tight that it demands attention. As opposed to the hotter and more "open" Duncan Distortion.

Although I've heard Mike talk about Dimarzios and I'm interested in trying those out. Passive Duncans deliver a more vintage sound while the passive Dimarzios do a little better with modern distortion tones. The "crunch lab" in the bridge and the "air norton" in the neck would probably be a freakin' KILLER setup...

right on metal...
I like the dimarzio paf pro a lot. I've got two in my jem and one in my hamer steve stevens. very low output p/u by most standards and that is precisely what makes it work well while split and against a single coil.

I don't play too much metal these days... but when I 'goof around' playing old covers I like the sound I get from my hamer with the paf and an active preamp I built. It really pushes you into emg like sustain and drive. It's a very nice compromise and the active circuit was easy to build... only a handful of parts.

wow, I just sounded like that commercial: "I don't drink beer too often, but when I do... I prefer dos equis".

anywho, a while back I built a layout file and you can find it here:
http://www.buildyourownclone.com/board/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=21418&p=164724&hilit=clarifier#p164724
you can find all the stuff you'd need to build it at radio shack or fry's elec and the only thing tricky is the three grounds... gnd and g need to connect direct to ground while neg needs to be hooked up to a switch and connect to the neg from the battery terminal...

enjoy!

so what about some passives im thinking dimarzios either the x2n in the bridge or d activators or d activator x which would you prefer for heavy metal riffing and solid tight rhythm and blistering solos!!! i want a pickup that has lots of tone and is high gain but i want to able to all kinds of music primarily metal and rock!!! please help!

don't take this the right way but you can put emg's in a 2x4 and they will sound like emgs... to me anyway.

if you are going for all out high gain metal emg's are great... but they are a one trick pony... IMO they don't sound good for clean tone and they don't let the tone of your guitar shine through...

In my honest opinion if I was going to set up a guitar with emg's I'd put an 81 in the bridge and a nice paf or other high quality passive pickup in the neck... there's going to be a big vol dif in the bridge and neck but if that bothers you you can manage it by wiring in an active eq or volume boost for the neck pickup with a trim so it can even out the overall loudness of the two...

just one mans opinion...

honestly I haven't tried the pickups you are asking about other than a dif version of the x2n... so I can't comment specifically on the them but...

I liked the version of the x2n that dim put out back in the late 80's... it's a very high output pickup but also I thought the rail style magnets were key to a great tone... not sure why other than the obvious fact that they have a very even field... so I don't see how you could go wrong with one in the bridge.

afa I can tell the d activators are TRYING to sound like actives? that just doesn't seem like something I'd shoot for. The single attribute of actives that I like is the super high output and low noise... not nec the tone (not to say the tone is bad I just think passives have better tone... but this is all a subtle difference).

afa neck pickup... I would go for something a lot lower in output so you can get a nice clean tone as well as a nice 'in between' sound when you mix the two pickups...

tone zone and paf pro are both something I'd want... just my opinion but high output isn't always desirable.

btw these are all four conductor pickups so afa wiring - does your guitar have a les paul style toggle or a lever switch? If leverswitch - get a megaswitch. You can get the same combinations of coils you get from a paul reed smith rotary if you use the megaswitch - bridge, inside coils, outside coils, bridge and neck, neck.
cheers

You lost me at 'basswood body.'

don't take this the right way but you can put emg's in a 2x4 and they will sound like emgs... to me anyway.

Hahaha! I agree with this as well after having EMGs in different guitars over the years. A $300 guitar sounds the same as a $2,000 guitar with EMGs in them. Never made any sense to me why manufacturers would build a handmade axe, then put EMGs in it. Why spend the time to make an incredible sounding guitar if you're just going to make it sound like every other EMG equipped guitar on the market. The body woods do make a subtle difference, but not enough to make them stand apart.


As far as the X2N goes...I don't like pickups that are that hot, just as I don't like the Duncan distortion because it's too hot. If it were me...I'd go with the crunch lab in the bridge for playing stupidly fast, every note picked type passages or a Duncan full-shred. Another area where EMGs seem to fall behind.

yo what about the duncan sh-5 custom they say its a p.a.f on steroids and is just a little less hot than the duncan distortion sh-6

honestly I haven't tried the pickups you are asking about other than a dif version of the x2n... so I can't comment specifically on the them but...

I liked the version of the x2n that dim put out back in the late 80's... it's a very high output pickup but also I thought the rail style magnets were key to a great tone... not sure why other than the obvious fact that they have a very even field... so I don't see how you could go wrong with one in the bridge.

afa I can tell the d activators are TRYING to sound like actives? that just doesn't seem like something I'd shoot for. The single attribute of actives that I like is the super high output and low noise... not nec the tone (not to say the tone is bad I just think passives have better tone... but this is all a subtle difference).

afa neck pickup... I would go for something a lot lower in output so you can get a nice clean tone as well as a nice 'in between' sound when you mix the two pickups...

tone zone and paf pro are both something I'd want... just my opinion but high output isn't always desirable.

btw these are all four conductor pickups so afa wiring - does your guitar have a les paul style toggle or a lever switch? If leverswitch - get a megaswitch. You can get the same combinations of coils you get from a paul reed smith rotary if you use the megaswitch - bridge, inside coils, outside coils, bridge and neck, neck.
cheers

yo so wat do u think about the duncan sh-5 custom they say its a p.a.f on steroids and its a little less hot than the duncan distortion sh-6

don't take this the right way but you can put emg's in a 2x4 and they will sound like emgs... to me anyway.

Hahaha! I agree with this as well after having EMGs in different guitars over the years. A $300 guitar sounds the same as a $2,000 guitar with EMGs in them. Never made any sense to me why manufacturers would build a handmade axe, then put EMGs in it. Why spend the time to make an incredible sounding guitar if you're just going to make it sound like every other EMG equipped guitar on the market. The body woods do make a subtle difference, but not enough to make them stand apart.


As far as the X2N goes...I don't like pickups that are that hot, just as I don't like the Duncan distortion because it's too hot. If it were me...I'd go with the crunch lab in the bridge for playing stupidly fast, every note picked type passages or a Duncan full-shred. Another area where EMGs seem to fall behind.

funny, it's like metald is reading my mind.

among the 8 guitars that I have that are electric and gtr (not bass) I don't have one that has anything I would call 'high output'. In fact all my favs are low output.

I have p90s in an es295, alnico pro and super-dist(maybe high... 10.?) in my carvin, paf pro and amer std/seymour antiquity in my hamer, lipsticks in my dano, mini buckers + lace sensor + hotrail in my frankenstrat, dimarzio blue velvet + fat 50s in my strat, paf pro in my jem and texas specials in my tele...

then again I don't actively play metal anymore...

in answer to your question rocker a higher output paf pro sounds nice...

but if shredd really is your thing I really think anything less than at least one emg is going to be a compromise for you.

so i think i've made up my mind im thinking seymour duncan sh-5 in the bridge and an 59 in the neck so i can have good p.a.f cleans then i can also play rock on distortion and when im gonna play metal i'll just do what i've been doing turn on the metal distortion pedal and booster pedal!!

funny, it's like metald is reading my mind.

among the 8 guitars that I have that are electric and gtr (not bass) I don't have one that has anything I would call 'high output'. In fact all my favs are low output.

I have p90s in an es295, alnico pro and super-dist(maybe high... 10.?) in my carvin, paf pro and amer std/seymour antiquity in my hamer, lipsticks in my dano, mini buckers + lace sensor + hotrail in my frankenstrat, dimarzio blue velvet + fat 50s in my strat, paf pro in my jem and texas specials in my tele...

then again I don't actively play metal anymore...

in answer to your question rocker a higher output paf pro sounds nice...

but if shredd really is your thing I really think anything less than at least one emg is going to be a compromise for you.

so mrmikev for my ltd ec-50 im gonna get seymour duncans but what do i get sh or tb i dont wanna buy the wrong size so with ur help i could get my rock on

funny, it's like metald is reading my mind.

among the 8 guitars that I have that are electric and gtr (not bass) I don't have one that has anything I would call 'high output'. In fact all my favs are low output.

I have p90s in an es295, alnico pro and super-dist(maybe high... 10.?) in my carvin, paf pro and amer std/seymour antiquity in my hamer, lipsticks in my dano, mini buckers + lace sensor + hotrail in my frankenstrat, dimarzio blue velvet + fat 50s in my strat, paf pro in my jem and texas specials in my tele...

then again I don't actively play metal anymore...

in answer to your question rocker a higher output paf pro sounds nice...

but if shredd really is your thing I really think anything less than at least one emg is going to be a compromise for you.

I'm guessing sh and tb refer to the spacing of the poles. (yup, just looked on their site)
do you have a floyd rose bridge or some other type?
you may want to get an accurate ruler and measure pickup width... you can see the dif widths on the seymour site... the tb is wider than the sh and I believe that is the one for a floyd rose type trem... the sh is spaced more for a standard bridge.