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From: Valserp
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  • 81 sounds tighter, but freakin' weak...

  • My guitar has 2 single coils and a dual action humbucker and i want to play metal but also play cleans aswell. what one should i have? i have an ibanez sa260fml btw

  • You record this with micro? or with interface?

  • Slipknot's guitarist Mick Thomson uses Blackouts and I can't even hear them bass guitar for the guitarists lol. They both have pros and cons which is why my guitar has them both.

  • ahh 240p we meet again.

  • EMG<BLACKOUTS<EMGX's

  • Seymour D's have too many low mids. They sound better on cleans, but from a mixing a standpoint, you want bass to have most of those lower mids. EMG's are way clearer sounding, and double tracking with EMG's would be better in my opinion, at least for what I'm doing

  • I've been watching demo videos all day and this was the best of the bunch! Keep it up!

  • dude what amp is this that you played the blackouts on the distortion setting? it sounds brutal at 5:05 what amp and what settings?

  • for me it is like Blackout is spoiling work of bass

  • if the blackouts were as cear sounding as the emgs iid chose the blackouts.im a guitarist who likes mids in my sound and the blackouts do a better job then the emgs,the emgs just are so much more clearer to my ear at least

  • i don't really hate the blackout but ...ah.....that thing is just swallowing every tone ...it's to fat awesome for chugging but emg81 just handles high notes way better and that's just my opinion...

  • Also, the only difference between passive and active is that active don't really need a shielding job where as Passives do. That and Passives seem to struggle with pitch harmonics on lower gauge or old strings so a new set of 9-42 ernie balls and a good electric shielding job will Make them identical unless your pickups are shit in the first place...

  • I have a BC Rich Warbeast nj Deluxe with emg 81/85 and a Schecter Blackjack ATX C1 FR With 2 standard blackouts and apart from pickups and cosmetic appearance they're the exact same on paper. The emg pickups are much better for your

    Metallica end of things and they have extremely good boosted highs and controlled lows, the blackouts on the other hand have extremely boosted but not very controlled lows and less pronounced highs so would be good for say motorhead or sabbath...

  • @HeavyMetalMasterSid I believe the emgs are better for Metallica because those are what are in the guitars and bass they use...just saying...

  • Seymour ducan invaders top all

  • As subtle as the difference between the two are, an EQ would have no trouble making one sound exactly like the other.

  • @petedogg369 Yea, really.... Grab a decent eq pedal (I have the mxr 10-band, I'm happy with it) and boost/cut whatever frequencies you want...

  • i would chose the emgs tone over the blackouts output anyday...

  • It's totally a matter of taste. I have EMG-81's for my POD Farm tones, then I change over to the 8-string with SD Blackout's for my fatter tones in POD HD Pro. It actually sounds really nice when I blend the two together in a quad track. Still I keep going back to the EMG 81's time and time again for my next-djenteration sounds. The 85's are great for the neck pickup.

  • Comment removed

  • Or is it better to have them in the bridge or the neck for metal? Or one EMG and one Blackout. See, a friend said I could't put blackouts on my guitar.. But I don't know. Maybe the Blackout Modular Preamps would be best?

  • Alright guys, I have a Dean Vendetta XMT Standard Humbuckers. Can I replace them with Blackouts? If so, Can I also use EMGs? Also, which is better? I want a very amazing distorted Heavy metal sound. But also a nice clean sound.

  • @ephnessofthedude I have the same guitar and dropped Blackouts in it. It sounds incredible when playing low tunings like D, C, or even Bb. As for anything higher than one step down, I can't say. I never use E or Eb.

  • emg's mix with blackout's

  • emg 81 are not meant to play clean... if your looking for clean compare the blackouts with an emg 60 or emg 85

  • @tangleone Some people like clean of 81. But 85 is probably better. Also EMG 81TW is very great option for cleans. The cons of tapped actives is half of battery life. So it is 3000/1500 hours. Not a big deal though.

  • @WakizashiSabre i will definatly give the 81TW a try!

  • EMGs it´s good

    

  • Personally i think that it depends what wood the guitar are made of, i think EMG'S sound better with mahogny and the Ducan's sound better with basswood. And you can't really believe videos like this you gotta try them yourself and it depends what settings your amp is on. EMG'S sounds good with more bass, gain and treble while the duncans sound better with more mids and less gain and treble.

  • Thanks for doing the comparison.

  • EMGs sounded much better. 

  • I love both. The only thing I don't like about blackouts, is that when I mute the notes I get a loud feedback, I'm even using a noise suppressor. My other guitar has EMG's and they are very clean when it comes to mutes and are not so distorted so you can actually hear the notes. But I still love both. :]

  • all of it is good.

    but why do disgusting minor compositions sound only? or does the minor key pass descriptions better?=))

  • @RuslanCareless I'm not very partial to jolly major sounds ;)

  • @Valserp Lol I thought I was the only one xD Good, informative comparison as well. Thanks!

  • if the blackouts were less rumbly, then it would be 20000x better than emgs

  • is the emgs coil tapable? the clarity of the emgs makes it sound good enough to coil tap em

  • I've always preferred EMG's, I still do. They get clearer cleans and more devastating crunchiness, but I do like the lead tone of Duncans.

  • I prefer stricly EMG's

  • Love them both..nuff said

  • please dont call me dumb :( but i was curious... the difference between seymour duncan AHB-1's and AHB-2's is just buying them in a set or alone right? or are they completely different models?

  • Blackouts :D

    

  • basically semour duncan is more bassy and emg is more cleary. u chug better with one and lead better with other.. 0_0 dam it

  • I'm confuse and I don't which want to get. I'm more into metal stuff. Idk whether which one should I get. EMG, JB or Blackout? And btw, this is my first time trynna change my pickups, so which one would you all suggest me to use? and also, btw, i'm using squier strat.

  • @dudegendud

    Strats have a very Bright and clear sound cause of the way they r made (wood and construction).

    So when you put the EMG in it, your sound will have way to much High and Mid.

    I recommend Dimarzio Tone Zone or SD Blackouts.

    Correct me if i'm wrong

  • @tom06081996 okay, thanks :)

  • @dudegendud i think if you wanna play heavy music you should changing your pickup to the Blackout Metal... :)

  • EMG

  • I love my emg 81!

  • i believe in the end it all comes down to personal preference im sick of ppl say oh yeahh emg's way better or seymour duincans are way better like emg 81 ofcourse is a high end pickups but paired with 85 there not a problem at least thats what i think but i think blackouts are way better for drop tuning they sound sick in drop tunings to give that extra grunt like where as emg's are better for standard but people dont argue if we all are cool enough to watch videos on this dont argue bag bieber

  • Thanks for this vid ! has helped me a lot

  • i think that emgs are better pickups in most cases because there clearer and i dont think your amp did these pickups justice, because i've played them on a 6505 and they were alot better then this,

  • EMG for lower tunings imo. The chugs sound clearer and tighter, whereas the Blackouts sound like loose farts.

  • @ferociouspokemachine

    I have the 7 string Blackouts, and they sound really good. I can play chords with them (yes including the low B) and it's very clear. All the strings ring out perfectly.

    The reason why you like the EMGs more probably is they're more treble-like. The blackouts are pretty much like the EMG 85, with a sprinkle of the 81's feel.

  • Wehe that's Super- Farewell to Arms of Machine Head!!!

  • This video does not reflect as much as it possibly could. AHB's are much much better. Even those cheaper Duncan Designed are much better than EMG's. They have more tone, more crunch, they're less noisy, but as soon as you go for the higher frets, they're just as clear as EMG's, so...... yeah, jog on EMG bum boys.

  • @hubertson93 Believe it or not, I've spent a fair amount of time comparing Duncan Designed pickups with real Duncans, in the same guitar, and you can't tell the difference. Pepsi challenge that shit. Save your money on upgrades.

  • I got a jackson rr24m and it came with a EMG 81... you know what I did? I took the EMG out and burnt in the fire place and installed an awesome blackout >:D

  • Just wondering. I asked around about which pickups to get between these two and mentioned this video. Since many people are quite defensive over EMGs because they're "Industry Standard", they were wondering if you changed the pots around when swapping the pickups around.

  • @ArcanineBucK no, I didn't

    Shouldn't make a difference, since both pickups work with 25KOhms.

    Far as I remember - I used the Duncan provided pot.

  • @Valserp Oh ok, thanks :)

  • @Valserp well i think that, yes at 5:15 the emgs needed a touch more gain, but , the blackouts sounded muddy, and i prefer the clear sound of the emg over the mushy sound of the blackouts,

  • Blackouts all the way. will be picking up the phase II pack soon. However this video does not show them in the best light, the same for the EMGs

  • Darkend163 just goes spread hate on the duncans on all vids ...

  • i'm thinking of instaling EMGs on a Jackson i have, and for the same reason you give in the end. The body of the guitar. Since it has a heavy body, it will have lots of mids/lows, so, i'm going with the EMGs. But i still don't know if i should put EMG60 or 81 in the neck. I want a guitar that pretty much works as a kirk hammett sort fo guitar, would the 81 be too strong for cleans in the neck versus a 60?

  • @megahurtz30 EMGs do not care about your body nor the wood used. They sound the same in everything. If you like the EMG sound, save your money by buying a plywood guitar to use them in. That's why the poster preferred the EMGs, because he didn't like the sound of his basswood, and the Duncans didn't cover it up.

  • Hetfeild uses detour outlet gates

  • the way i see it, i think EMGs r better for the classic metal tone, look at players like Hetfield, Rob Flynn and Vogg. SD BO's i find good to be a better suit for a clearer tone with the same metal sound, u can hear it with players like Gus G, Jeff Kendrick and Corey Beaulieu, my conclusion, ima try and mix and match lmao

  • someone likes machine head, emgs sound better too much mids makes it sound too muddy

  • People that know a thing or 2 about music will, based on this review, say that the Blackouts are a better pickups. All the rest are just EMG fanboys. I'm not saying that they are. The EMG's will sound better with certain amps, where the Blackouts will be better with others. And most importantly, its personal. But it seems like the guitar's frequency charecteristics were more suited for the Seymours.

  • I sure prefer clarity than muddy sounds :b

  • I personally feel the Seymour's blow the EMG's out of the water. Much more darker and balanced sound. With the EMG on clean, they sounded thin and really lacked any luster at all. The Seymour's seemed to have a more rounder tone and the balance between strings was much better. Distortion wise, again the Seymour's win. Much more defined yet chunkier tone. Again, just my opinion but I really feel the Duncan's are a far better pickup, at least in this review.

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  • EMGs all the way. DiMarzio D activators are my favourite passives.

  • i think if you want really heavy chugging sounds and smooth, warming acoustic, and massive gain buy blackouts 

  • my personal opinion.....emg for the win. i prefer passive pickups actually dimarzio pickups more then anything but if i had to go with active pickups definetely emg

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  • This demonstration's ame is to prove which active pickup sucks more, yes, because 99% of active pickups, especially if not used in the right way, really suck.

  • FUck yeah on the Machine Head....

  • the AHB-2 is more like an EMG 85 in the bridge, and the AHB-1 is more like an 81

  • The EMG sounds horrible on the clean tone...seems like most metal guitars have clean with no character or mojo to them at all. With distortion they are good and growl and scream pretty well, but the clean is poop sounding.

  • EMG81 better than Blackouts ...this video unfair record sound EMG81 never dry tone when play clean sound

  • MACHINE HEAD!!!

  • Comment removed

  • i have emg 81/85 on my guitar, and i have used a guitar with both sd blackouts, i feel like with distortion blackouts blow the emg's away, but in clean emgs are better. I love my emg's and wouldnt switch them for blackouts just because blackouts dont have as much versatility to them. With one 3-way selector and one volume/tone you can get any sound with emg's, havent had that experience with the sd'd.

  • double post and good vid

  • stupid question but if i had 2 active pickups would i need 2 batteries or can i just connect them both to one battery?

  • @bloodbird6six6 one battery bro

  • stupid question but if i had 2 active pickups would i need 2 batteries or can i just connect them both to one battery?

  • farewell to arms <3

  • Starting at around 3:38, does anybody else hear Pac Man faintly in the background? :D

  • The way you pick has a lot to do with the sound. It's kinda muffled and sloppy on the alternate picking honestly..not trying to down you or anything. Anyway, Blackout for sure.

  • anyone else think thats sounds like gears of war by megadeth

  • For my taste.... BACKOUTS DEFIANTLY

  • @ZetroidX "Definitely"

  • which amp did u use to record this ??

  • what amp this u use ??

  • EMG's, are made for all kinds of sounds Black out's are mainly heavy.

  • Blackout much better than EMG81, EMG81 give more crunch tone, but not metal.

  • EMG for both cleans and distortion. idk im just used to that tone... more percieved attack i suppose

  • seymour sound more powerful and that's why if u down tune your guitar really low it'll blow your fuckin' head off!!!

  • Well more mids are definitely better, so the Blackout is the way to go imo.

  • lol the blackouts are great but the emgs are great too but if your making the choice GO WITH THE BLACKOUTS the EMG 85, and was released to the market in 1981. but the semour duncas were made much later the semour duncas have a heaver crunch

  • thx for this video. it was so helpful !!

    good worx boy! Rated 6 stars !

  • Emgs are better. Case closed

  • @surfluvr666 Right, because sound isn't dependent on opinion or anything. It's just easy to say Derp EMGS bettar case closed.

  • BO normal VS BO metal?

  • the blackouts have more body to them and give an overall more metal sound, in my opinion, i know a lot of people will disagree, but i like the blackouts more, and they aren't as common on guitars so you don't seem like a copycat until everyone is using them, when i move to actives, i'm going blackouts all the way

  • So silly for Seymours to produse such a "EMG copy" pickups, even design is copied. Just to cover market. As if Seymours don't have their own ideas and can't create something new, I'll never buy seymours in future.

  • @Darkend163

    I definatly don't see blackouts as emg copys. The blackouts in my opinion have a nicer, warmer clean, and slightly better voicing for super low tuning. The looks might be the same, but seriously, what is there to change about the black box?

  • @Darkend163 You're an idiot.

  • Black outs remind me of a fat ass guy with a beer jog laughing, the EMG's remind me of a skinny guy doing it.. only looks right with the fat guy... The blackouts sound more metal, while the EMG's sadly seem more...? fake? but EMG's are usually

  • EMG 85/85 or 85/60 is the only EMG combo I'll use. Otherwise, passives all the way.

  • nice i loved the intro, farewell to arms, and i think both pickups are awesome...

  • lol nvm im rolling with blackouts

  • they are both good but emg sounds better. the notes are much clearer because it is more trebley. since the blackouts are more bassy the notes aren't as clear. and the emg doesn't sound as harsh on the high notes.

  • @14xJake good harsh or bad harsh?

  • @metallicaRobbie bad harsh.

  • seems like the first one is more bassy and the 2nd one has maybe more treble?

  • (sorry for the spelling) well HERE IS THE REAL ANSER ive never real watched this hole video but after finaly watching it ive dicided well many people have said blackouts r better and people r saying EMGs r better but after watching this i thing... (EMGs) r better because the blackouts theres more of a lower and base sounding but with the emg theres more of a chunky beefy chrunchy type but its my dicision you dont have to agree with me but thats what i think

  • IS IT POSSIBLE TO INSALL A EMG WITH A SEYMORE PICKUP TOGETHER

  • @savageblue25 yes

  • @NuclearFallout666 aawsome thats wat i want to do

  • @savageblue25 :=)

  • I generally like passive PUs, but that Blackout is INSANE!

  • try the 85 in the brige

  • what is their maximum k/ohms? i go for emg

  • Thanks for posting I will role for the Blackout ones sound more \m/

  • if i replace my DiMarzio pickups on my ibanez VBT700 with a blackout metal ahb-2 in the bridge and put a emg 85 in the neck would it sound good? or just put a ahb-1 in the neck

  • Thanks for the video man. This is exactly the kind of comparison I was looking for. I'm trying to decide whether to purchase a Schecter Hellraiser or Blackjack ATX. The main difference between the two are these two pickups. Hellraiser has EMG and ATX has Blackouts. Blackjack ATX FTW!!!!

  • Ive been playing emg's for years, and im liking the blackouts better, more bottom, thicker sounding.

  • is the blackout a 18v or 9v unit?

  • @demonbike666 9V.

  • Comment removed

  • i don't know if it's just me but i think the EMG's have this awesome habit of boosting highs when you chug and bleeding lows after whereas when you chug with seymour duncan's they're punching mid-lows all the time, very brutal... but EMG's have something special about them =)

  • could someone explain whats the difference between a active pick up opposed to a non active i guess

  • @EXODUSJUNKY Active pickups run off a battery and have a built in preamp. They generally have a hotter/fuller tone than passives. Theyre really versital when used with different levels of volume. They're also generally clearer than passives(when it comes to distortion). i hope that answers your question

  • @jjd81726354 thank you :D

  • @EXODUSJUNKY no problem. and judging by your username, active is defenetly the way for you to go.

  • @jjd81726354 haha yeah i have a set of actives on my warlock so i guess thats a good thing :)

  • if you have the EMG in the bridge and the Blackout in the neck position on the same guitar, it's pretty obvious that the Blackout is going to have more pronounced lows and mids and the EMG will sound more bright. That's merely because of the pickup placement relative to the strings. You can hear this when picking on different parts of the string. A more objective test would be to have two different guitars with both pickups in the same position.

  • @zsander11 No shit man, really?

  • @Valserp idk if that's sarcasm, but yes. It's very noticeable. That's the reason why there's multiple pickups on one guitar.

  • @Valserp which one is cheaper in price?

  • EMG is more selective, louder, and you can give more bass, you have more MIDS, in Seymour you cant get so clean and high sound

  • Sound on all  pickups a shit!

  • @rangauthier, lol peavey is one of the most aggressive amp designers in the world. How many people buy 5150's over the years trying to get van halen's tone? Id say line 6 and crate are good for digital solid state tone. marshal is an all-round great amp company, however in their better/older models (800 etc) the tone is excellent yet not that heavy, Mesa... mesa sounds great, looks great, has unbeleivable ammount of diversity in the mark V's etc, however you can get amps with more for 1/3the $

  • i dont think the emg sounds thick enough in this demonstration

  • 3:06-4:04 fucking depressing :'(

  • @rangauthier Well said.

  • I have 2 guitars with black outs 1 a LTD AX 400 ahb 1 bridge and neck the other a Jackson Kv5fr ahb-2 bridge hooked to a push pull pot and a ahb-1 neck. I also have a RR24 with an 81 and a KKV with 81 85 and a pa-2. I am much more fond of the blackout equipped guitars than an emg loaded guitars but both have their uses. Just a tip if you install an ahb-2 in a guitar spend the extra few bucks and find a 25k push pull pot. The ahb-2 can be wired up to give a more "passive" tone like the ahb-1.

  • blackouts have more low end

  • Were the pickup heights exactly same?

  • @cakire82 Not measured exact, but similarly high.

  • i think im gonna go to the emg81/85 because i've heard that they sound the same with any guitar and my guitars needs some brutal makeover...its an epiphone les paul nightfall with the passive emg which are the crappiest pups for metal ever compared to the seymour duncan passive pups...

  • are the seymour duncans the same on the bridge and neck?

  • i think the seymour duncans have better everything thats just my opinion

  • what does everybody have against emg?? i have EMG and theyre great!

  • so these are the ahb1?? or the ahb 2???

  • @KyrBaxladiotis AHB-2. It says in the description, dude.

  • Both are great pickups, but I have to go with the blackouts.

    Does anybody know how the EMG-X's compare with the blackouts?

  • idk but seymour duncan seems better to me. more natural tones.

  • @7thMaggot and seems clearer, too

  • @Metalhead121396 absolutely.

  • the duncans i'd say are way better sounding to me, but you do have to play alot more cleanly because youll be able to hear more mistakes than you would on emg.

  • Theres a diffrence between blackouts and blackout metal??

  • 2:14 MACHINE HEAD FAREWELL TO ARMS!

  • @0ConfrontTheCarnage0 sounds like the riff from gears of war by megadeth

  • The Blackouts delivered a nicer Low and Mid range although the EMGs pronounce a slightly better High range. Personally I like the Blackouts more but its up to personal preference. After all, EMGs are industry standard and who knows how long the Blackouts will last on the market.

  • What pick up would be good for paulowinia wood? :3

  • @bendean1997 youre an idiot, its all an even balance

  • were both pickups recorded with same tone presets and amps

  • Well in clean i definitely go for blackouts, but in drive - i`m confused. O_o. Depends on what kind of notes you`re playing (higher or lower).

  • Emg 81 are the neck pickups typically and mostly are clean, you should test the emg 85 bridge pickup, that will sound a lot heavier and more metal and crunchy

  • @Dawgoalie2

    The 81 is typically considere