Pickups...

[d7th]

What are the differences between active and passive pickups ?

[EricV]

Active pickups, such as EMGs, usually are powered by a battery ( which is kept in the guitar ).
Most active have an integrated preamp-circuit, meaning that the signal picked up by the pickup is preamped internally.
( Note that there also are active electronics, which is different from active pickups )
So basically, an active pickup is a pickup combined with a preamping circuit, powered by a battery.

The pros of active pickups:
- Less magnetic pull ( "Stratitis" )
- No real loss of treble when using long guitar cords.
- Less noise ( Humming )

Cons:
- They usually sound different. Some people say that active pickups sound "sterile", compared to regular passive pickups ( those are the regular pickups, humbuckers and single coils ).
I don´t think they sound sterile, they just sound a bit different, and passive pickups do fit better to my sound and style of playing.

Some popular EMG-users:
- Steve Lukather. Using an EMG 85 and SA-singlecoils, he has quite a trademark sound, and I like especially those clean sounds he used in the 80´s... a guitar with EMG´s, straight into a desk by way of a chorus. ( Steve also sometimes uses custom-made EMgs and regular, passive DiMarzios )
- Zakk Wylde. One component of his trademark sound are the EMG81´s, really agressive sounding humbuckers. They might make it a bit easier to get those squealing harmonics
- Kirk Hammett and James Hetfield of Metallica.
Those are just a few...

Hope this answered your question
Eric

[EricV]

Here´s a LINK (http://www.emginc.com/EMGFAQ.html) to an FAQ at the EMG-website ( http://www.emginc.com ) which should answer further questions about their active pickups and maybe explain a bit better what I tried to say :rolleyes:
Eric

[szulc]

I have a set of 81's which are nice for playing into a vs880 since it wants a low z signal, but I don't like them for running through my boogie. The variation in tone you can get with tapping or phasing a seymore duncan jb or custom or pearly gates is more pleasing to my ear. I get a prety much one dimensional sound with these. One of my guitars has a texas barbeque which sounds great. I have some actadyne pickups made by the brother of the lace sensor guy which are pretty cool but still pretty sterile.

[EricV]

Hey there...

Well, I had a Valley Arts Strat with EMGs ( 85 & 2 SA ) and it sounded ok with effects, also sounded good clean... maybe that´s why Luke likes them, he used bunches of effects in the 80s
For straight sounds ( right into the amp or by way of a stompbox or two ) I prefer my DiMarzios.

The 85 has less output than the 81 and I think that´s why I prefer it over the 81. It can resemble the sounds of regular, passive humbuckers, but there still was some difference in sound. Or maybe it´s just me, being weird :)
Eric

[João Paulo]

Well... Can you tell me whats the difference between this pickups 81, 85, 89 EMG.

[EricV]

Yes,

the EMG 81 is a ( very ) high output-pickup, best for distorted sounds, metal- and rock-stuff. The guys from Metallica and Zakk Wylde use the 81, and it´s become some part of their sound.

The 85 is smoother, more "classic style" ( like a slightly hot-rodded PAF etc. ). Very nice for lead-sounds, too. One of the popular EMG81 users would be Steve Lukather.

Regarding the EMG 89, lemme quote the EMG-website (http://www.emginc.com) :
"The EMG-89 Dual Mode Pickup is truly two pickups in one; single and dual-coil with two separate outputs. With the single flip of a switch you can change from the crunch of a humbucker to the clarity of a single-coil. Using alnico magnets, the single-coil mode is like that of the EMG-SA, and the humbucking is patterned after the EMG-85"

Hope this answers your question
Eric

[metallibeast]

I use a Ibanez 7 string equipped with a 707, according to the EMG website they say that the 707 is very similiar to the 85.

I do find that the active pickup sounded a bit funny as well. Perharps its juz me and Eric. :D I too prefer DiMarzio and uses a Super Distortion.

-Metallibeast

[EricV]

Originally posted by metallibeast

I do find that the active pickup sounded a bit funny as well. Perharps its juz me and Eric. :D


Yeah I guess so :)
See, I was told ( before I ever tried active pickups ) that they sounded very sterile and unnatural.
One day, I tried the guitar of a student, some "metal-axe" with active pickups by some company ( it wasn´t EMG, I never found out which company made them ), and they did sound sterile, kinda flat, compressed.

Then I got my hands on an EMG-set ( EMG 85-SA-SA ) which I installed into my Valley Arts Strat, and it didn´t sound sterile.
But there still was something about the... I dunno, about the response and "feel" of those pickups that just wasn´t for me.
They sounded great with clean and with higain-sounds, but somehow, they weren´t for me... so I still prefer the different DiMarzio-pickups
Eric