Active Pickups?

DirtySteve said:
I'm thinking about maybe trying some in my LP tribute. Maybe only a bridge pickup with a dummy neck pickup, but who knows. I know less than nothing about active pickups so I'm all ears.

Which ones? Can I put them in a LP without modifications to the guitar? ...that sort of thing.

Cheers! :cheers:
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I have some EMG's in a HH Squire Strat.
Basically, instead of passive magnets, the pups have electromagnets powered by the 9v battery.
In a nutshell, active pickups are bright and crisp - like ferrite magnets on steroids.
Not exactly warm and mellow like alnico pup tones.

They have different value pots, so you'll need all new controls, but if you buy a set from EMG it comes with everything.
Their wiring kits are all quick-connect plug and play.

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I’ve used EMGs in my number one Strat for 30 years. They are hi-fi pickups, very sensitive to touch, capable of a huge variety of tones. Personally, as an ex-adman, I think EMG got themselves stuck in a corner by courting so many heavy metal players, convincing buyers that’s all they’re good for. They should have brought more guys like Vince Gill into the fold, because my experience is they’re good for everything.
 
Seamus OReally said:
I’ve used EMGs in my number one Strat for 30 years. They are hi-fi pickups, very sensitive to touch, capable of a huge variety of tones. Personally, as an ex-adman, I think EMG got themselves stuck in a corner by courting so many heavy metal players, convincing buyers that’s all they’re good for. They should have brought more guys like Vince Gill into the fold, because my experience is they’re good for everything.
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What ever works for you, I sold the SG Standard with the EMG set the new owner liked them.
I get the hi fi part no hum or hiss why I posted the video I had the Gibson Custom Shop make a copy of my #00 serial number 1960
Les Paul standard when I got the Custom Shop guitar I hated the burst bucker #1 pickups sounded like mud
I called my friend Jim Rolph told him what the issue was Jim don't except me to fix a tone turd guitar
I just wanted it to sound like my 1960 Burst clean and clear I ordered 4 sets gave a set to Brian our other guitar player at that time
Brian was blown away so was I My other Custom Shop Les Paul got a set also 17 years later My 1960 Gibson copy
sustained out of control I thought it was my amp no it was the guitar
Next I scored a used never played 2010 PRS Custom 24 the neck pickup amazing the bridge pickup not good they call it a Hot Fat and Screams 15.5 ohm I ordered a neck pickup called vintage bass fixed 8.5 ohms
 
67plexi said:
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I like the premise of the video, and it also okay to be the “I just want to try something new “ guy too. I’ve swapped a sh$& load of pickups and ended up back where I started, sorta like speakers too. Oh well.
EMG’s have tempted me a time or two but never bought any. Almost put a set in a Charvel in the early 90’s but went for Dimarzio instead. I’d probably try a Strat set if I caught a used set on CL.
 
C-Grin said:
I like the premise of the video, and it also okay to be the “I just want to try something new “ guy too. I’ve swapped a sh$& load of pickups and ended up back where I started, sorta like speakers too. Oh well.
EMG’s have tempted me a time or two but never bought any. Almost put a set in a Charvel in the early 90’s but went for Dimarzio instead. I’d probably try a Strat set if I caught a used set on CL.
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The “I just wanna try something new” thing is why I was buying “husks” before they got out of control. I had a blank slate to start with…I could go from there.
Later…I kinda thought I knew what I wanted. Now…I know I was poking in the right direction “for me”…and now that the olden days of gigging half stacks, cranked to the sweet spot, are over…I know what I want for the new-age-noodle-fest…at least I “think” I know.

Then I wind up the Peavey T-60, and think again…
 
DirtySteve said:
I'm thinking about maybe trying some in my LP tribute. Maybe only a bridge pickup with a dummy neck pickup, but who knows. I know less than nothing about active pickups so I'm all ears.

Which ones? Can I put them in a LP without modifications to the guitar? ...that sort of thing.

Cheers! :cheers:
Click to expand...
They are sort of versatile, my experience is also limited. My son had a Epiphone LP Prophecy that came equipped with I believe EMG’s. It was good for keeping the low end from getting loose like some passive pickups do. They also worked pretty good clean. But , I would try to find a guitar to play just so you know before buying them. imho
Also , if you were going to do just a bridge I wonder if you could hide the battery where bridge pickup would go to not have to carve a hole in the body ?
 
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fitz said:
I have some EMG's in a HH Squire Strat.
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Welp, something to do on a Saturday...

The Squire is mostly a wall hanger in my workshop, so I'm going to put the EMG's in something I use a bit more often.
I figured my V would be the best candidate for a pup swap because I'd need a whole new wiring kit for long shafts.
Did a little side-by-side comparison through the O20's.

EMG 81/85 set that I got a while back off CL for a Franklin.
The pots and parts were kinda a bag of leftovers from the PO.
One Tone pot and 2 volumes (one with a solid shaft).
Shy on a few connector cables, but I had enough for the 1V/1T configuration in the Squire.

Ordered another short split shaft volume and a solderless 3-way toggle to do the V correctly.
The new stuff comes with more connectors than I'll need, so it should be completely plug and play when they get here.

Disassembly has begun. :yesway:

V-EMG.jpg
 
Here's my humble 2 cents worth for you:
I have played many EMG, 81's, 85's, and the x versions of those, also the Het Set.
I have played the Duncan livewires hmet in 9 and 18v versions.
I have played a few guitars with the fishman fluence set.
I have played a lot of guitars with the Seymour Duncan blackouts in ahb1 and the ahb3 (EMTY) models.

EMG 81-85, very compressed and sterile. Quiet. Low noise and feedback. Somewhat flat in character and pretty good for chug chug Metal. They solo very well and cut thru a mix.

The Het Set is phenomenal if all you do is metal. They really sound great. Very high output.

The ahb1 blackouts were dark and gloomy..lacked a lot of character and harmonics. Perfect for doom metal, weak for leads.

The ahb-3 EMTY models are absolutely amazing. All the dynamics of a good high gain passive with all the balls and raw output of actives. They have harmonics galore! They sing for leads !
They stopped making them due to signature series contractual obligations etc. with Seven from Slipknot. (He switched to fishman)
I hear (and think) they have rebranded them as the new alt model. But I don't know that for certain.... I've been bugging the insider guys at Seymour Duncan about it since it happened and they won't budge on specifics....which also makes me think that my suspicions are true.

If you are playing clean or just rock and roll I would suggest the fishman over the ones I listed. They clean up nicely.

The downside to passives are battery issues, and the entire wiring system has to be replaced, including the output jack. (Needs to be stereo for actives)

The upside is F@cking Balls Out signal and aggression!

To do everything over after all I've learned with active tones..... I would have 1 guitar with actives and leave passives in everything else .
 
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Also, actives don't care what guitar they are going into.... They provide balls out volume and signal. I had a V that I could not get to brighten up no matter what pickups and potentiometers I swapped into it..... I stuck some actives into it and it was instantly fixed!
 
Sorry guys, I completely forgot about this thread. :hide: Thanks for all the replies, I think I'm just going to not go down this rabbit hole right now. There are way more choices out there than I realized when I started looking at Active pickups. It's overwhelming really.
 
Headache said:
Here's my humble 2 cents worth for you:
I have played many EMG, 81's, 85's, and the x versions of those, also the Het Set.
I have played the Duncan livewires hmet in 9 and 18v versions.
I have played a few guitars with the fishman fluence set.
I have played a lot of guitars with the Seymour Duncan blackouts in ahb1 and the ahb3 (EMTY) models.

EMG 81-85, very compressed and sterile. Quiet. Low noise and feedback. Somewhat flat in character and pretty good for chug chug Metal. They solo very well and cut thru a mix.

The Het Set is phenomenal if all you do is metal. They really sound great. Very high output.

The ahb1 blackouts were dark and gloomy..lacked a lot of character and harmonics. Perfect for doom metal, weak for leads.

The ahb-3 EMTY models are absolutely amazing. All the dynamics of a good high gain passive with all the balls and raw output of actives. They have harmonics galore! They sing for leads !
They stopped making them due to signature series contractual obligations etc. with Seven from Slipknot. (He switched to fishman)
I hear (and think) they have rebranded them as the new alt model. But I don't know that for certain.... I've been bugging the insider guys at Seymour Duncan about it since it happened and they won't budge on specifics....which also makes me think that my suspicions are true.

If you are playing clean or just rock and roll I would suggest the fishman over the ones I listed. They clean up nicely.

The downside to passives are battery issues, and the entire wiring system has to be replaced, including the output jack. (Needs to be stereo for actives)

The upside is F@cking Balls Out signal and aggression!

To do everything over after all I've learned with active tones..... I would have 1 guitar with actives and leave passives in everything else .
Click to expand...

Good post, thanks Headache! I think if I'm ever going to do actives I'll probably just buy a guitar that comes with them rather than convert a guitar.

I'm still thinking about one of these someday, but I also like the looks of the black one that comes with a passive pickup so who knows.

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