Active Pickups?Yes or No

[reez_rock]

Hi Guys,
I need some opinions on this. I'm planning to install active pickups on my lp standard plus. The reason why I want to get some active is that I haven't try any of them before. I've been trying a few duncan and dimarzios. So far I like SD Full Shred the most. So, the question is:

1. What is the strength of active pups compare to those passive?
2. is it necessary to make an extra hole in the guitar body?
3. Any specific pups to recommend? Initially wanted to try those tesla active pups
4. Any down point of an active pups beside the hazzle of changing the battery?

Thanks a lot Guys,



w/ Luv,
Reez

 

[Midnight]

Actives sounds...very high gain to me. If i play actives i would go for EMGs (personal choice). You can go check out the sounds in EMG website, or SD site. They have the live wire hums which are active. If u hear a comparison, the passive SDs dont sound so 'thrashy' as the active SDs.

 

[xklusivly4u]

apple and orange, can't compare.

EMG in les paul is great idea, I myself can’t decide whether I should get LP Raw Power with EMG or standard LP. Let me know how it sounds if you decided to install EMG in your LP.

 

[daryl]

people say active pickups dont really manifest the wood tone of a guitar well. and a common complaint is they sound 'sterile'. which isnt true actually i loved my tone with emgs in an sg. very..powerful and just big hehe. with regards to question 2, there's only a need to make an extra hole in the guitar body if your guitar cavity doesnt have space to contain the 9v battery. get a tech to check.

 

[Midnight]

you can put it in the back cover of the guitar like most people and guitars. Some softies here agree that their EMGs do sound different in different bodies and woods, so its up to you man.

I suggest, if your not into the heavier stuff, dont get actives because they tend to be kinda high gain.

 

[Everdying]

yes, im one of those who know EMGs sound different in different types of wood.
now i have EMGs in a LP, previously was in a jackson PS-3.
both were completely different, the LP just has more balls.

 

[Midnight]

Totally agree with everdying. LP HAS BALLS. too bad its not really a shredderiffic type guitar.

 

[remy]

get emgs in a thick mahongany wood body maple neck n rosewood fingerboard
u shuld be able 2 get da " balls" out of it

 

[reez_rock]

thx for the tips guys. So it's more hi gain then passives rite?so do u guys think it able to cut through sound for soloing?

 

[subversion]

if you own more than 1 guitars, having EMGs is a good consideration. i'm not a big fan of the actives but i make it a point to own them for variety's sake. more importantly, they propel tone differently, the clarity manifestation is also different.

having good pickups to cut through the mix is just an option. pertaining to issues of clarity, having a good amp is a more potent consideration.

 

[edder]

look at Zakk Wylde.

 

[dric]

if you own more than 1 guitars, having EMGs is a good consideration. i'm not a big fan of the actives but i make it a point to own them for variety's sake.

i used to think that too. last time my friends would always "woa! you've got emgs!". but then i realised, the guitar with emg's, i totally don't use at all. so sold it off.

then that idea came back to me again. so once again i bought emg's. cos its good to have by. but once again....i'm selling the guitar off this sunday. lolx.

active's and me.....just dont go together.

 

[embryo]

This is a very good topic.

The biggest important difference isn't so much about gain difference between active and passive pickups. Let me try and explain...hopefully simply ya Hehehe.

Ok so let's say for instance you can have the mildest passive pickup on your guitar and couple that output signal into the wide variety of gobs of gain from overdrives, distortion, fuzz and clean boost pedals. Gain wise in this sense you have all the choice to add and pull back at will by merely stomping on/off the different stages of gain stacking...rite? Hmmm...

Active pickups although tend to be markeed for seemingly gainier than most passives were not solely designd for gain superiority. Active pickups because it incorporates a built in pre amp and buffered output can drive longer cables with less loss in tone comapared to passives. It's almost lke having your passive pickup signal sent into a buffered pedal down the chain.
David Gilmour uses the EMG system when playing live. Just one look at his multiple parellel pedal chain for each song and one quickly undersatnds the choice for active pup system.

Another important tonal difference between actives and passives is also the way passive pickups' signals change in tone with rolling down the guitar's volume knob whereas with active pups the tone is retained as you roll down the guitar's volume knob. Good or bad really depends on the intended player's feel and musical application.

Most classic styled blues rock players would prefer the passive pickups for the unique manner that the guitar's volume knob is almost like a combined gain and tone control in one knob eg. Eddie Van Halen. Players like Kirk Hammet, Zakk Wylde and Steve Lukather among others may have a specific intended reason where they want to be able to affect gain control but not the tone with their guitar's vol. knob.

 

[Ratboy]

as much as i love EMG 85 and 89
( 89 is basically a 85 which you can 'split' to a single coil mode )

i must say that i have fond memories of SD livewire classic

prob the most "non active" sounding active pickup : )

go for the SD livewire if you can find it

 

[embryo]

Aha! 2 Thumbs up for the Live Wire Classic from me too! Do note that these active Seymour Duncan pups run on 2 x 9V batteries.