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From: dmometalguitar
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  • I never would've believed this but i had the same experience with the Blue Steel strings on my maple superstrat with EMG 81X. The intonation was all over the place and i wasn't able to use harmonics for tuning. EB strings sound great with this guitar but i find the D'addarios to be noisy as my fingers are very dry when i play.

  • "Now i only use Ernie's Balls" hehe... ernie's balls :D

  • try out the elixir ones they are good

  • Watched the series and I'm a bit impressed with the passives, but I'm a bit skeptical (no offense however) on the amp selection. However, I do own a cheaper BC Rich Warlock and I put in a Seymour Duncan (SD) Distortion (originally bridge) p-up into the neck position, and a SD Invader into the bridge. I love the chuggy-ness of the invader and the smoothness of the distortion. Even dropped in a phase switch, that sucker brings out harmonics like none other, cheap guitar w/ SD pickups = amazing

  • to a jackson rhoads js35rr is better the emg actives or the seymour duncan passives?

  • I feel like I am at a job orientation watching a learning video lol Only this time I am actually learning.

  • thank you sir

    

  • ik alot of ppl including myself that did that to or floyd rose to stop the vibration hum.

  • Hi, thank you for this video, now i know what pick up and strings to buy. Rock on!

  • this video wouldve been perfect if you tested the active seymour duncans and the passive emgs. that way youre testing both active and passive pickups for both brands.

  • THE MUSIC LMAO IT SOUNDS FROM HOTSHOTS GOLF GAME

  • EMG 81?

  • Dimarzio X2n FTW!!!!

  • what the fuck is that video? sounds like BREAKING NEWS :O, and what the fuck are those guitars really? :( and what the fuck is that playing? couldn't u just play some good riffs dude? what are all those experiments are u a fucking scientist? bad video quality oh god!! :( you fucked my day

  • @LeStr3l0k man, what the fuck are you saying" if you don't know about what the vídeo is or what is he wanna prove, dont say anythin! just shut up an search some gaga video....

  • @LeStr3l0k Check out part one of the video, he does play riffs, they are cool, and he is a badass guitar player, better than I am, and probably better than than you are. God forbid someone makes a video to try to help someone to decide whether to get passive or active pickups, do you need to be a fucking scientist to do that? I think it was a cool video and if it fucked up your day you seriously need some fucking mental help my friend.

  • I have a warbeast WMD :D and it sounds great,very metal sound :D

  • whats better Amazing or Excellent ? xD

  • I actually like the background music :D kinda nostalgic.

  • @J8nig Kinda '80s. And I like it as a background music.

  • on a second note if u want a passive thats heavier than the emg81 get a dimarzio x2n

  • that tin foil thing i definetly gotta try i have a dimarzio x2n in my bridge and its loud as hell when u let go of the strings. im gonna put a jazz sh-2 in my neck on my goth epiphone explorer nice review i learned a lil bit from it ha

  • hey whats the name of the song ? lol

  • @D0ingYerMom CNN xD

  • @D0ingYerMom

    BUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHH

    

  • @D0ingYerMom

    BUUUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHH

  • About tremolo springs vibration, i think people do big mistake when open back side with springs. I've found a way, put a thin soft square of polyurethane between springs and cover. This way prevents spring vibration in tremolo system very well.

  • Ernie ball is the best.. super slinky ftw!

  • I will never know why EMG's are so popular. They are loud, quiet, smooth, and have no tone or bite! They do not pick up the tone of the woods that they are on. That is why Zakk Wylde's Les Paul does not sound like a Les Paul. You would never see Eddie Van Halen, George Lynch, Yngwie Malmsteen, Warren Demartini, using EMG's! Because these guys know good tone! EMG's sound fake. If you like very high output, then try a Seymour Duncan Distortion. You will have thick mids and bite for days.

  • @joe4316 micky t's to be exact :)

  • Emg's i had a OLD 85 in a Gibson set-6, with two SA's singles.Heavy sounding guitar. Also had a B.C. Rich Mocking bird with two81's that's good too.Duncan's are Great, but not as Clean.

  • ernie ball strings sound brighter?

  • fuck you

  • If you don't mind, can you help do a comparison between the EMGs passive pickups and the seymour duncans passive pickup or active..Thanx :D

  • I dont think that it is important how these pickups sound with same amp settings. we dont get the amps with fixed settings..it is important how will they sound on their sweet spot with the amp. emgs can be brighter but then you can increase the bass to a point where passives will sound muddy but the emgs will just sound more killer for example. I have a guitar with emgs and another with s.duncan jb and 59. I think the emg suits better to max gain and distortion players.

  • @cikicrocus  your right

  • "This vibration may be invisible to the human eye but not to the EMGs." This sounded so epic.

  • Awesome stuff man! Personally, I think the EMGs won this one on most fronts. But I think I would combine them. Maybe a active humbucker at the bridge and a passive single coil at the neck, would that make sense? Or maybe some other combination of that...

    Great video, really learned a lot. It's a damn shame the audio quality is shit. =/

  • @CarolGreenful hahaha, LAME!! are u shure that this comment fits this vid, dude?

  • I play with Blackouts out of my Jackson Dinky (Alder, Licensed Floyd, Dunlop strings). For Metal, I like the overall tone a lot better than EMG's, but they give off a LOT of feedback at louder volumes. But I still fucking love them

  • what is better rockefield or emg?

  • @BlackIbanezPower for me, rockfield fat ass in bridge and neck, but that's a matter of taste

  • nice videos man your expert but please remove that shity music i ll suicide please. its like rayman on playstation

  • For those who don't know what "active pickups" are, they are pickups that use 9V Batteries, though they should last over a year. Most guitars that come with active pickups usually have a spot in the back to hold the 9V batteries

  • hey pls tell me what is diffrent at active and passive

  • @TheSlipknotist watch the first parts of this comparison c:

  • hey I've got a question.. what's about DR strings tite fit 010-056 on Emg/SD? how it sounds?

  • @666Anesthesia666 i used to use them!!! but only with passive pickups and i ended swapping them for dr ddt 10-60 becouse they last for longer

  • How long does the battery last on active pickups? And when it runs out how much are the batteries? Can someone help me, I might buy a new guitar with active pickups

  • @gjmatamoros Depends on how much you play, but i played like 3-6 hours a day at summer, and switched the battery about 3 months later, though it wasn't even completely empty. The batteries cost bout 3-5 euros each(in Finland, they might be cheaper somewhere else).

  • @mikkozq ohhhh! ok. kool! i guess i shouldnt worry about having active pickups then. thanks man!

  • 7:15 Its because when you only use downstrokes, you're hitting the deeper string first (with power chords) and that's where all of your power is; much of the power from your stroke is lost upon hitting the first string. If you're only hitting one string, again, it comes down to power. You usually can't hit a string as hard with an upstroke because you travel a much shorter distance so you can't build as much momentum, and the angle of attack isn't the same as a downstroke.

  • @MrKookoodude i really like my 10s

    perfect balance of heavieness and playability

  • I don't care what anyone says, Ernie Ball strings are the most awful piece of shit strings to ever be on the market!

  • the camera's recordings always sound like shit. =S

  • Dude first you diss explorer's, then you diss EMG. therefore, you either have a grudge against good music, or you dont know what you are talkin about. dude i own a gibson explorer with active emg's, (76 reissue), and it sounds alot better than your shitty attempts.

  • @OlieGuitarFREAK

    Sound doesn't mean shit if the playability is bad and the features are lacking.

    There are enough mahogany bodied fixed bridge guitars on the market that have EMGs THAT ARE BETTER than the Gibson he played (Schecter Hellraiser) and SD Blackouts are very strong rivals to EMGs. Plus many seymour duncan passives are just as good as EMG's, like the SH-6.

    In addition he didn't actually diss EMG's at all, he pointed out an error just like he did with the Duncans.

  • @Madbutcher305 so you mean a guitar doesnt have to sound good if it has a nice bridge and 24 frets?

    Gibson have been lacking in quality in the past couple of years, but the one i own plays better than my BC rich ironbird. I have no problem with SD, but in the couple of videos this guy has posted he has seemed prejudiced against explorer-shaped guitars, and EMG. Maybe he has just recieved dud equipment, every company has a few in their stock that are just not made well.

  • @OlieGuitarFREAK

    Gibson is just unreliable in quality control, you can get a good one or a stinker; the sames true for most firms, so I'm guessing he got two stinkers in the 1984 reissue and the Shred X.

    I still don't get where you coming from with the EMG's, he states problems with both pickups, so I don't get the issue you've got in that respect, since I can't see any clear bias.

  • @Madbutcher305 watch a few other videos, he does have a sort of problem with guitars with EMG setups.

  • @OlieGuitarFREAK

    And yet his two favorite guitars (Wartribe and JH-600) use them.

    It's a problem you find on all active pickups, so it's probably not EMG's specifically.

  • @MrKookoodude heavier strings are always best. they give you instrument a better tone. i just moved up to .11 myself earlier this week. i was always using .09 ill never go back down.

  • @zimbalist Very funny comment. 

  • do not believe. sound is awful in the video, and it's consist of different sliced pieces, and who guarantied that your amp settings are identical? Or else, in your ESP can be a ow battery. Sound of two guitars if different, but if it was an identical settings, why your Seymours sounds louder? EMGs have a more output! are you working on Seymour Duncan company? is that anti-advertise of EMG? this video is not convincing. Sorry for my doubt and deny policy.

  • The reason why EMGs pickup oscillation from other parts of your guitar is because they're not grounded. Passive pickups require a string ground to reduce noise which in term grounds the bridge so the pickup won't "hear" the oscillation of your bridge parts since they're grounded as well. Active pickups don't use string grounds and therefore your strings and bridge are no longer shielded.

  • Comment removed

  • I was thinking of getting an Ibanez RGA32 that has actives, but I don't really like the whole idea of battery powered pickups.

    Would an RGA32 have some sort of passive setting so I wouldn't have to worry about batteries too much?

  • @MrMuseFan94 dont even worry about the batteries, good guitar and good pickups, batteries last forever

  • LOL..News music xD..

  • sloppy

  • @RainbowsNSmiles13

    then make a better video...

  • have you tried the elixir strings?

  • Are you sure the "oscillation" wasn't due to the Line 6?

    I get a lot of dirty sound from my amp as well.

  • what axeiston said...

  • blackouts, EMG 81/ 85 set, or seymour invaders? please help! influences are Laiho, lamb of god, trivium.

  • @axeiston dude check out Alexi Laiho's sig pickup EMG HZ there passive pickups but from what ive seen they look sick and theres a gain knob and switch for them if you wana give the sound an even bigger punch i dislike 81/85 becasue im not a fan of active pickups

  • @motorbreath94

    It's a decent metal pickup, but alexi doesn't use it all the time, he also uses his jackson pickup (Which no one knows about, except their forums) lol.

    Tbh, the only reason why he gets a good tone with that is because..

    1. Roope is playing too, so 2 guitar tracks recorded which sounds like 1, if u get it...

    2. The amp lol..

    The pickup, without the booster, and a decent amp (which are expensive). It's really really muddy, the tremble is way to high..

    Lol

  • @motorbreath94 lol don't ever recommend EMG passive pick-up. thosse are the worst sounding things known to man id rather have PAFs

  • @axeiston

    EMG, can achive a lot more tones, and...

    fuck it, go look up a review lol

  • what does he mean when he says the guitar is shielded?

  • where do you get your percentages from? like 40% oscillation improvement and 70% shielding improvement?

  • Some companies do really not shield at all. My beloved Dean isn't shielded at all and has a lot of hum. I'm gonna shield it one day, when I'm not feeling lazy.

  • I need help determining a new set of pickups for my Jackson.. I like to play metal and i like that high gain sound but i also really like the steve vai sort of sound too. Can someone suggest pickups for me please?

  • @sfh113 Seymour Duncan JB's are very diverse in playing metal, rock and other styles. I like them.

  • @sfh113 I'd suggest taking a look at DiMarzio pikups mate :)

  • @sfh113 Have a look at some Dimarzio's eg. D-activator, x2n

  • @sfh113 with most dimarzios you wont get both. seymour duncans get a beefy chuggin sound but also great for leads. dimarzio you pretty much just get that bright "vai" sound

  • which is better emg 81 85 or emg hz

  • solution to guitar humming.....have a noise gate canceller from a pedal -.-

  • @outbook noise gates are fuckin stupid they kill the dynamics of your guitar.

  • @rocafella142 ikr?! lmfao!

  • to stop the noise use a gate.

  • please someone answer! is the jb tb4 is the standarted jb? when a compeny writes jb it ment jb tb4?

  • @GuitaristEliKing jb tb4 is the standard trembucker. it has more treble response than the jb sh4 which is the standard jb series. there is a difference between tb4 and sh4.

  • @GuitaristEliKing yes, its the model number for the JB

  • mm Semen Dunking pickups

  • The difference between string sounds was astounding!

  • i like the b.c.

    sounds cleaner and cooler. youre a really good guitar player dude. keep on it. thumbs up

  • did you ever do a string test with dr ??

  • The notion of certain strings sounding better with certain pickups etc is nonsensical. The players style, the height of the pickup, the amp, the gain level etc all contribute.

    While I like many of dnometalguitar's videos this one is very weak and is asserting numbers (40% sustain  increase) and and other opinions as facts. The assertion that EMG pickups may not/don't work well with trems is crazy. If you are getting that m uch mechanical noise out of the moving parts of your..con't..

  • ..then you need to have that guitar looked at by a tech because someting is wrong. The guitar picking up harmonic leftovers when muting a note from the picking hand under mega gain is going to happen PERIOD.

    Another issue I have with these vids is the tone out of that Line6....that level of gain is not useful in a band setting. Many of the players people love use a lot less gain than you may think. I had the chance to try out Matthias Jabs amps last tour..his tone is surprisingly clean.

  • @Theyweredoingsome all those guys suck though and ive tried the abh-1 blackouts theyre still wicked muddy they have a dry sound and steve vai uses dizmarzio kl-4 pickups and whose switching to the blackouts i would like to know

  • @rthunderkiss65 "all those guys suck" lolwut

    "steve vai uses dizmarzio kl-4 pickups" You actually just made this up. That is not even remotely close to a Dimarzio pickup number. Vai uses the Evolution and Breed models.

  • @fetusjuice lamb of god sucks and whos that other person

  • @rthunderkiss65 "and whos that other person"

    Now I know you're just some 13-year-old.

  • emg duh who uses seymour duncan thats right nobody cause their muddy and sound like crap emg is more clarity,punch,definition,quick­er response,better harmonics,boosted signal for more highs and lows and they look better

  • @rthunderkiss65 I think Lamb of God uses Seymour Duncans and I'm pretty sure Chuck Schuldiner used them too.

  • @fetusjuice. Chuck used DiMarzio X2n.

  • @rthunderkiss65 William Adler, Mark Morton, Steve Vai, Dave Mustaine and Mick Thomson use Seymour Duncan,

    And people are starting to switch to Seymour Duncan Blackouts because of their balanced preamps and more organic tone. They're also cheaper,

    I prefer EMGs in my honest opinion, but I wouldn't knock SD.........

  • @rthunderkiss65 You're such a EMG Whore, unbelieveable.. do they pay you something for writing this? What you say makes no sense. Active EMGs (mainly 81) are good if your desired tone is more in the classic metallica / thrash field because these EMGs deliver that clearer, tighter thrash tone. With Seymor Duncan you have a wider range of tones, the SH-4 in this video is warmer, the SH-13 more brutal than the EMG (though passive!) also think of the wood. SH-13 with thick mahagony? maybe not..! ;-)

  • I haven't played passive EMG'S (I will)  But active Seymour sound sooo sick!!

  • i have a ESP Alexi Laiho Blacky with Active EMG-HZ??

  • Problem with amp/guitar: I bought a ESP LTD M-300 FM and a Peavey 6505+112 60 watt combo. Now, whenever i've played it for some time, it goes ahead and loses gain and gets this really bassy, unrealistic, ugly sort of tone. Can it have something to do with the EMG 81's? It kicks in some time after i start playing, before that it sounds fine, but after a bit of time it fucks up and sounds fine with my other guitar, a cheap model, with passive pick-ups. Can someone please help? Thanks in advance.

  • @varulv234 maybe its the battery for the EMGs?

  • @coldmon11 No, we checked them. A few days ago i went out to the store and got a new guitar, same model, but just another one. Thanks for answering me anyways :-)

  • Easy way to fix the vibration sound is to cut strips of foam a little less than 1/2" and use either a piece of wire or an old 'E' string bent into a loop and slide the foam through the tremolo strings. It's a cheap easy fix and I have done this to all of my tremolo equipped guitars, works great, try it!

  • It's the best review i've seen on youtube.

  • Hey man, Question. Im playing the rythm guitar for a thrash metal band, i curently own two guitars a Schecter C-1 Hellraiser w string thrue mahogany body with active Emg's 81b and 89n. and a ltd alexi 200 with a FL a duncan invader basswood body. I think the Ltd sounds way bettre then the Schecter(the emg's sound so stiff and dry) and im thinking about swaping the emg for somthing els, ether staying activ and going for the blackout's or trying out some passivs but im not really sure. Any advise?

  • Have Elixir strings ever been tried with the active pickups?

  • @socalsun7

    Elixir doesnt make strings...they coat them. The actual string is made by D'Addario

  • Hey, I have six-years old white super-strat form Kramer Striker FR-211 with native rail pickups, alder body and maple neck and fretboard.

    What the best choice of pickups I need to play music like a Metal/Rock like pop metal on the TV? For example Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Evanescence, Avril Lavigne etc.

    So I don't know what is the nearest analog to my Kramer. Is it Stratocaster of Gibson or something else? Kramer made by Gibson but seems it's really another guitar.

  • @AndreySuperstar try seymour duncan alnico pro 2's they sound great in my les paul custom. also try the dimarizio evolution humbuckers as well. or just look them up. the dimarizio's i think will serve you best

  • @CJsoccer4 Great, I'm too thinking about DiMarzio 'cause I don't need very heavy sound but tight. Thans for reply, man ;)

  • Seymour only!!!

  • Seymourrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Duncannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn­nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn

  • a seymour duncan humbucer on the neck could make a good sound on a fender stratocaster?

  • @davydyyz No. Dimarzios. They work better with the wood.

  • altough the seymours may be passive and not require batteries, EMG win cause of better overall sound in my ears

  • Are the seymour duncan's JB TB-4 (bridge) and JB SH-4 (neck) any good for a guitar with no locking nuts and no tremolo. Forgive me for not knowing alot about guitars, still trying to learn = )

  • @AlpineGuitars

    well the tb4 and the sh4 are the same thing

    the tb4 is just for guitars with floyds

  • would emg 81's work well with a baswood body? i have an esp ltd ex-50 and was wondering weither to upgrade

  • @GuitarmanIeuan

    don't remember which point it was, but you would be unhappy with upgrading your ex-50. it's just not worth it ;)

  • @GuitarmanIeuan EMG's and ESP guits work wonders together, and I don't know why. But to answer your question, yes. They will work, and they will please.

  • Im a rotosound person myself and they sound great on my epiphone LP custom w/ emg 81/85. Thinking of upgrading to a washburn wv40v though

  • im glad i bought ernie ball!

  • 1st. I'd like 2 say many thanx 4 the dood who posted these issues in youtube. I told my guitar tech to use foil just as seen in part 2 issue, indeed the noise frem my SH13 can b tolerate.

    The bottom line 4 me is : it depends on what kind of music u play. Both r great. I love passive p.u.. coz passive p.u could deliver the RAW that I need.

  • Comment removed

  • i wonder if anyone made a donation yet to this "helpful" material

  • It all depends on the genre. If you are playing down tuned as fuck, then actives are the way to go so its not just one tone frequency. haha. I love youtube arguments.

  • the reason y shred x plorer doesn't sound heavy is cuz it has 85 in bridge not 81, my freind has it

  • active pick ups are for pussies, Hendrix didn't need em, nor Yngwie, Slayer and Metallica didn't need active pick ups to become legends

  • @Zaidmolina afaik metallica use only EMG's

  • @asdfasdsfsa yeah BUT NOT ACTIVE .. at least in the eighties when they used to kick butt! now they're just lame crap nothing compared with their first works.

  • @Zaidmolina agreed ;)

  • @Zaidmolina You are fuckin stupid. James' pickups of choice are the 81 and 60. Kirks are the 81/81. Kerry King usees 81/85 as does Jeff Hanneman.

    If you're going to be stupid, at least have a decent cover up. Idiot.

  • @rp1986 yeah i totally agree with you

  • @rp1986 Also Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. He's been using Seymour Duncan actives for years, and he has his own branded LiveWire. Yes, it is true that many, MANY years ago he used JB humbuckers. There was a time when almost everybody doing heavy guitar used the JB because of its extreme high output, but virtually everyone in metal uses actives of one sort or another now because they push tube amps so hard compared to actives. The folks in metal using passives are the exception now.

  • @Zaidmolina I know for a fact that Kerry King from Slayer uses active, because he uses EMG 81 and 85

  • @rredzone well , i guess he started using them lately , not all the way since Slayers early times

  • @rredzone ya, i think your right. What ever though, I don't like actives either

  • Comment removed

  • mind helping me out! So my birthday is comming up and i wanna buy new pickups,and if u Look At (EMTY Seymour Duncan AHB-3 Blackouts )you mind teling me if they are good and /////////////// if i have a normal guitar would ACTIVE PICKups work? Please answer PS.  Thanks!

  • I have EMG-HZ set on my LTD and I think HZs are pretty good. It has very good bottom but compared to Seymours they don't win. I think Seymours has better sound but overall EMG-HZ isn't bad.

  • Don't like EMGs, lacking some serious dynamics (and frequencies), boring.

  • great vid man. Thanx!

  • thank alot! I think that's honest pickup competition!

  • 3. It is clear that the SD's have more treble, AND THAT'S ALL.

    Both pups are good. Boost treble and add a shitty delay on these 81 EMG's and enjoy pretty the same sound as that of the SD's.

    4. it is very much true about the "EMG's are INCREDIBLY noise-free compared to..."

    5. The music of this video makes decent people puke. OK, kidding.

    6. Unfortunately, there were only HM examples, no funk no jazz. No donation then, sorry.

    Overall, a very good vid. End of story.

  • the dimarzio are good pickups? and

    dimarzio vs seymour duncan

    which is better and why ???

  • @guitarramaniacx Dimarzios. They sound just as good as active pups, and don't require batteries.

  • Does EMG 81 pickup sound good on a Dean Razorback? Sorry im new to guitar.

  • I work at guitar center in brownsville and i must say i am very very impressed on the new information i had learned in this lesson! I will be sure to pay my dues in a small donation but i am broke at the moment! great work and specific detail! I will she sure to recommend this video to my customers. thank you man and keep rockin!

  • You should try a Duesenberg Crunchbucker!!!!

    The thing has more out then the SH-4.

  • If you interested in hot PU´s for Metal, you should check on the Duesenberg Crunchbucker!!!

    No Joke, this thing has more output then the SH-4. Just try it.

  • could u tell ur amp settings.

  • i've got d'addaroi strings but there nickel wound does that make a lot of difference?

  • Ok, I have a Jackson RR3 with those Duncans in it. Should I replace them with EMG 81 85 if I already have them in another guitar?

  • Good lesson on 6:32

    and always go with D´ardios , done it in last 10 years or so , gut the ernie balls are good to, but got a darker tone ? . dont remember , but I remember that I thourt that it was more chunk and chrispy treble in the d´ardios :) . WERY GOOD VIDIOS THIS ! I should love to se this then I was 14-15 , then I would have learnd ALOT !