Noob metal guy questions

[TmcB]

Goldmine already here folks.

Got another Q - I see active pickups being a thing for metal, particularly the EMG 81/85 set. What are these giving you that something hot and passive don’t?

[jeremyb]

Less hum, interference, and feedback

[StratMatt]

Low end response too, they don't flub out like passives can. Never tried emgs myself but others say they can sound sterile. yymv

[Kris]

again,angry old metal metal guy yelling at the the modern metal kids-i hate emg's and actives.Lower noise is good but i find them kinda compressed and find i get ear fatigue after playing them for an extended period.There plenty of hot passives and unless you are just going guitar ->amp nothing you cant use a boost/eq to achieve.

[Mattallica]

I only really associate actives with thrash and nu metal. They were a solution to problem that no longer exists; not enough gain from amps. Batteries are a PITA.

I'm happy with my mid output passive pickup, 9-46 strings in drop D straight into my high gain amp. The amp does the work. I can vary my chug with picking dynamics. Noise is minimal

[Jops]

How's your Lion Red consumption going?

Woefully inadequate it seems.

Where does one even purchase this? The only place I even saw a billboard for it was outside of Dargaville

Home sweet home!

[hamo]

I'm still considering actives in my Epiphone, because even with a DiMarzio Evo and SD Alnico 2 it still sounds dull and muffled compared to my Charvel. Figured actives (possibly with 18v) to try to overcome this, but not sure it would work.

[Candeevr4]

The compression and sterileness was why I didnt bond with the EMG's. Apparently the fishman's are better, but a decent set of passives work better for me.

[Candeevr4]

I'm still considering actives in my Epiphone, because even with a DiMarzio Evo and SD Alnico 2 it still sounds dull and muffled compared to my Charvel. Figured actives (possibly with 18v) to try to overcome this, but not sure it would work.

What pots etc are in the epi? I found replacing the stock pots etc in my tokai, it took it to another level.

[Zaulkin]

I can't say I like EMGs either. Used to have them as a teenager, but they seem to lack the character that passives have.

[mrmofo]

Metal is serious business.
don't go in half cocked. Metal is no joke.
learn that triplet chug Megadeth do so well.
Listen to King Diamond. understand King Diamond, you need to realise the imaginary, accept the theatre and give in to the denim and leather.

Listen to these bands in this order:

Sabbath
Purple/Rainbow

then listen only to the first four albums of these bands:

Raven.
Venom.
Bathory.
Tank.

Then:
Girlschool.
Motorhead.
Judas Priest.
Saxon.


Then:
Trouble.
Mercyfull Fate.
Megadeth.
Celtic Frost (forget the fourth album)

and then open a Woodie.

[jeremyb]

SD Blackouts sounded better to me than EMGs, but all the serious metal kids are on passives or fluences these days...

[godgrinder]

What I like for drop C on my Gibsons would be the 2nd-6th strings from a 09/42 set for the 1st-5th strings on the guitar, plus a single 60 for the low C. My issue with heavier gauge sets is that the 5th string are always too thick for drop tunings. For example a 10/60 set would have a 52 for the 5th string and that's WAY too thick for G.

The tone in the video sounds pretty generic. A quick google shows that he has Rectos and a 5150. I'd say for the ease of use get something from the 5150/6505 lineage.

[Danger Mouse]

I have the EMG 81/85 set in my Gunslinger, I like them. If you find them too compressed, the 18V mod will open them up and make them much more dynamic*.

They were pretty expensive when they came out, so general consensus at the time was $$$$=excellent and they got a reputation they probably didn't deserve. Then the price dropped to the point where you'd find the set in some pretty budget guitars and for a chunk of the 2000s it seemed you couldn't buy a rock or metal focused guitar without them installed. They do a thing, if you like that thing then great, if not then hot passives, I personally don't like SD Blackouts when tuning low (haven't tried Fishmans yet)

They do push the front end of your amp, so you get more of a pre-amp gain boost kind of effect. My Greenstone sounds great with the Gunslinger, but I use a clean boost pedal if using my Mockingbird, Ibanez or Charvel. You do definitely get more dynamics with good passives, but having gone through the amp design process with the Greenstone, I realised that modern high gain amps/channels are compressed to buggery anyway so you're not dealing with a huge dynamic range in the first place.

I recorded this 8 years ago with Zorran, Gunslinger with EMGs and my Greenstone, doesn't sound particularly sterile or compressed to my ears (YMMV etc).

https://soundcloud.com/dangerous-mouse/ ... tone-grind





*this is largely a myth, I almost certainly think it has made more of an impact than it actually did when I 18V modded mine.

[godgrinder]

My maximum tolerance on 81/85 is about 20 minutes. I can gel with the 57 but a passive sounding EMG is a bit of an oxymoron...