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11K views 19 replies 12 participants last post by  anuj 
#1 ·
what is active pickup?
what the difference from regular pickups?
i know that steve used Charvel guitars before the jems
and this is guitar with active pickups

alon.
 
#2 ·
active pickups

Without getting into the mechanics of active vs. passive, I will tell you the opinion of my ears.

Active pickups in guitars sound very cold to me. Lacking in body and very high-endy.

Probably fine for certain types of fast 'chunka-chunka-chunka' music (using the word 'msic' loosely), but for any kind of melodic soloing, *BLECH*

~Kenny
 
#4 ·
active pickups

Right Pryde7,
also Mark Knopfler and Zakk Wylde don't have quite a cold sound, IMHO.
It all depends on what gear/fx/amps you're going to run thru.

Active pick-ups have a more brilliant and bright sound, have more sustain, are more silent and are more likely to be processed with effects.
Passive pick-ups are more warm, more human, more crunchy and have more tone consistency, IMHO.
Just try them both.

(my $0.00001)
nuno
 
#6 ·
active pickups

Let me say this about 'Luke'.

Los Lobotomys "Candyman" is one of my favorite CDs of all time.

Great songs, no filler, musicianship is off the scale. But his tone is HORRENDOUS!

Listen to his version of Red House and Song for Jeff off that CD and you'll hear that the EMGs RUIN those tracks.

~K
 
#7 ·
active pickups

And....to try to actually answer...what is the difference...beyond the sound....this is a rather simplified description for you...but Active pickups have a power source.....Passive don't....i.e., active pickups are driven by a battery...passive have no battery. Now then I could expound and go into magnetic fields, coils, and how they can generate an electric current...but let's just keep it simple....Active use a battery...passive no battery. Most pickups in guitars are passive.

(Edited by maxax at 8:04 pm on Nov. 15, 2001)
 
#15 ·
active pickups

and what do u say on the Charvel?
is it like the jems?
Here I can comment, owning 2 Jems and 1 Charvel.

My Charvel is a late 1980's Model 5, through neck, 2x Active HB's equiped with a Kahler trem.

Simply comparing playability well for me, they're very much alike, the Jems are closer to the Charvel than many other instruments I've played.

The Charvel has greater sustain, something I've always attributed to the through-neck. The tone *is* certainly more clinical. My guitar has a third tone knob that dials-in some low end rumble / dirt and provides some extra character and for lead work it's something I really do like.

Tone-wise though the Jems are out in front - by a long way. The combination, configuration and flexibility of the Jems pickups delivers far far more tonal possibilities.

If you are looking for a charvel , pick wisely, there are an awful lot about that are poor. Certainly with a Jem you get consistently higher quality - if you're not an experienced purchaser I'd suspect that you are much more likely to be satisfied with a Jem than a Charvel.

Just 'cos it's a Charvel of course doesn't mean it'll be active - only a couple of the high end models were shippped with active electronics.... so pick wisely and get the right Charvel and you should pick up a great guitar for very little money!
 
#18 ·
active pickups

anuj on 10:00 pm on Nov. 16, 2001
actually, he's been using 'em since about '84 :)
all of pulse was active.. and DAMN that sounds good.

~A
You're comparing single coils to humbuckers. EMG singles aren't too horrible, I've actually heard them sound ok; especially clean or with moderate gain.

EMG humbuckers on the other hand sound sterile and buzzy.

Two very different animals.

And as a note, the only song in my book where Gilmour had "tone to die for" was 'Comfortably Numb', which was recorded in '79, pre-EMG days for Gilmour.

(Edited by jeffrey at 6:21 am on Nov. 19, 2001)
 
#19 ·
active pickups

the difference between active and passive.

Passive pickups: Passive pickups take the string vibration and turn it into an electrical signal. The sound from the is determined by the physical characteristics of the pickup (ie how many winds the coil has, magnet m,aterial) and nothing else. The signal passively passes out of the pickup, ie: No external modification of the pickup output takes place.

Active pickups:The same thing happens as with the passive pickup, but with a difference: The output of the coils is fed through some onboard electronics within the pickup, which cut and/or boost certain frequencies. You could say that the pickup is changing the sound before it lets it go by artificially enriching some frequencies, compensating others and suppressing other signals. This is why they are active, and also why they need a power supply (battery) to be able to power the extra electronic circuits inside the pickups.

As for the sound, weeelll, it varies really. For some sounds they are great, and I enjoyed EMG's in several guitars for years, and still do a bit, but they do in a way detract from the overall character of a guitar and the woods it is made off, whereas passive pickups tend to pickup more of the natural tone of the guitar and are more subtle in a way.

Don't get me wrong, I still like EMG's for some tones, so I still think they are good. Also, I seem to find that they work better in some guitars than other for some reason...

hope this helps,

James
 
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