EMG vs. Seymour Duncan - Active vs. Passive Pickups - Part 3 of 3

I hope you enjoy my EMG vs. Seymour Duncan pickup comparison. If you think my videos are helpful, consider making a small donation through my website: http://www.dmometalguitar.com.

This is the third chapter of my comparison between active EMGs and passive Seymour Duncans.

I'm using these guitars:

. ESP M-II (Japan) with active EMG 81 pickups (bridge and neck).

. Jackson King V KV2 (USA) with passive JB TB-4 (bridge) and JB SH-4 (neck) Seymour Duncan pickups.

I discuss the following:

. Active EMGs sometimes catch the vibration created by the strings, tremolo springs and other bridge parts (even if you don't use the tremolo), creating a dirty sound.
This vibration may be invisible to the human eye but not to the EMGs.

. I compare the sound of string brands such as Ernie Ball, D'addario and Dean Markley Blue Steel. I also demonstrate the EMG 81 pickup on my B.C. Rich Wartribe Warlock guitar with a Kahler Hybrid tremolo.

. Wood is a matter of taste, but based on my tests with numerous guitars, alder is my favorite wood for heavy metal. Not only it's light in weight but also sounds extremely heavy.

. A Kahler installation on a Gibson Explorer was my best evidence on how much the bridge's metal affects the sound. The Gibson pickups became excessively bright (without crunch), and I got tons of pickup noise. My costliest mistake! I ended up selling the guitar. Some players haven't had problems with Kahlers on their Gibsons, but at least on my Explorer, it diminished the sound.

. You can have the heaviest guitar with the loudest pickups ever, but depending on your right hand technique, you may still not achieve that crunchy, powerful sound.

. EMG also makes passive pickups such as the EMG-HZ series, and Seymour Duncan makes the highly acclaimed active Blackouts.

. DiMarzio, Bill Lawrence, Carvin and other brands also make high quality pickups. I was impressed when trying out a B.C. Rich with Rockfield pickups. The combination of Rockfield, Floyd Rose and nato/maple produced a clean and crunchy tone.

. One of the best (yet underrated) pickups I've ever played is the active Jackson on my old Charvel Model 4. The sound is clean and defined.

Then I conclude the following:

. Active EMGs are incredibly noise-free, but depending on the string brand and/or bridge, they might enhance the string oscillation and create a dirty sound.

. Passive Seymour Duncans work great with any string brand or bridge, but they might create excessive amplifier hum -- mainly if the guitar is poorly shielded. Some guitar companies, unfortunately, do a poor shielding job (or do nothing at all.)

. It's hard to say whether a pickup brand or model is better than its competitor. Many other factors impact a guitar's sound such as wood, bridge, strings, amp/effects and even playing style.

. When trying to find your desired guitar sound, at least make sure you test different guitars using the same string brand and amp/effects set-up.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• emg
• seymour
• duncan
• pickups
• active
• passive
• 81
• jb
• tb-4
• sh-4
• jackson
• king
• esp
• m-ii
• alder
• maple
• amplifier
• hum
• line

[elmegacool]

LOL..News music xD..

[lzmiranda]

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

[joshludge]

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

[pivetlord13]

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.

[TheStovan]

THE MUSIC LMAO IT SOUNDS FROM HOTSHOTS GOLF GAME

[ZeMPzo]

@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.

[radit777]

EMG 81?

[160895andy]

@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....

[BrujoAsesino123]

Dimarzio X2n FTW!!!!

[LeStr3l0k]

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

[Seby8844]

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

[harisarnautovic]

whats better Amazing or Excellent ? xD