Active vs. Passive

[Orochimaru]

I start a new thread to discus the advantages and disatvantages of active and passive pickups.

Any comment and opinion is welcome.

Thanks.

[djohns74]

The only true disadvantage of actives is that they require a battery which needs a space of some sort to live within your guitar and that will at some point (probably a long time) die and need to be replaced.

Every other advantage or disadvantage you will hear about on this matter is PURELY SUBJECTIVE. Meaning that it may or may not be a problem for you and is only the opinion of the person making the statement. Common complaints about EMGs (which is what I'm primarily familar with) are:

- Active pickups sound sterile/lifeless. Tone is almost entirely subjective. Those who started this popular knock against EMGs simply don't like the way they sound, or don't think they like the way they sound, or just don't like the idea of a battery in their guitar. EMGs do have a somewhat unique sound, however whether it's a good thing or not is up to the individual player.

- EMGs sound the same in any guitar. This is FALSE, plain and simple. Some of the qualities that make EMGs what they are will be apparent no matter what guitar they're installed in, which again may be good or bad depending on your point of view, but they are at least as affected by tone wood as any other pickup.

- It's impossible to get a good clean tone from EMGs. Again, this is entirely FALSE. EMGs offer some of the cleanest / clearest raw signal that I've ever heard, particularly from a humbucker. They do however have rather high perceived output, and thus may initially not seem to be terribly clean if you're not used to them. Some minor tweaks to your amp settings may be needed, but if you can't get a good clean tone out of an EMG 60, at the very least, then something else is wrong.

[taracatac]

Originally Posted by djohns74

The only true disadvantage of actives is that they require a battery which needs a space of some sort to live within your guitar and that will at some point (probably a long time) die and need to be replaced.

Every other advantage or disadvantage you will hear about on this matter is PURELY SUBJECTIVE. Meaning that it may or may not be a problem for you and is only the opinion of the person making the statement. Common complaints about EMGs (which is what I'm primarily familar with) are:

- Active pickups sound sterile/lifeless. Tone is almost entirely subjective. Those who started this popular knock against EMGs simply don't like the way they sound, or don't think they like the way they sound, or just don't like the idea of a battery in their guitar. EMGs do have a somewhat unique sound, however whether it's a good thing or not is up to the individual player.

- EMGs sound the same in any guitar. This is FALSE, plain and simple. Some of the qualities that make EMGs what they are will be apparent no matter what guitar they're installed in, which again may be good or bad depending on your point of view, but they are at least as affected by tone wood as any other pickup.

- It's impossible to get a good clean tone from EMGs. Again, this is entirely FALSE. EMGs offer some of the cleanest / clearest raw signal that I've ever heard, particularly from a humbucker. They do however have rather high perceived output, and thus may initially not seem to be terribly clean if you're not used to them. Some minor tweaks to your amp settings may be needed, but if you can't get a good clean tone out of an EMG 60, at the very least, then something else is wrong.

Well said!

[Shredragrammaton]

I use EMGs myself , and i have for about 7 years. I find them to be much more powerful than passives; the attack is crisper , the individual notes are more searing , and generally you get a more savage sound (distortion wise).

I also find that they dont give a good clean sound, they lack the twinlkle of passive pickups, and when i listen to some bandsi can tell by ear theyre using emgs for clean sounds. They arent totally lifeless but you really have to layer up the effects top hide that "emg" sound.

www.myspace.com/almightyexcalibur

The tracks on my profile were all recorded with emgs , all except for "Rise of the true" and "The Master of your Fate" which was seymour duncan JB and Jazz. You can hear what (in my opinion is) the inferior lead sound, during the solos in these tracks.

The doublebass/picked rythmns in "Curse of the pharaoh" are where emgs excell, also the lead sounds on "curse of dragon castle" (ode to la gilbert lol) are very emg based, that cutting expressive tone.

However i still want the things im missing out on from passive pickups, so im considering making one of mu guitars a passive setup, to have both variations available!

Thats my two cents!

[Foulacy]

Yep, the tone is purely subjective. Right now I'm jivin' on passives, but I still like my EMG's in my rg2550. The EMG 60 has some of the best clean sounds I've EVER heard.

[jim777]

EMG isn't the only Active horse in the race. Duncan makes active pickups, and Bartolini does as well. I'm sure there are others but those two for certain off the top of my head. You don't have to choose EMG to go active.

[HeavyMetal4Ever]

Yeah, a pickup is a pickup, whether active, passive, alnico, ceramic, DiMarzio, EMG, who cares? You either like the way they sound or you don't.

Arguing about active vs. passive is like arguing about tomato sauce vs. BBQ sauce, they both do the same job but some folks prefer one flavour to another, and some folks even like both. The best part is, all of 'em are right.

Rock on!

[Thrash]

Just my personal opinion: I have owned guitars with active and passive pups. When I first started playing about six years ago I bought mostly EMG's cuz that's what most metal guys were playing. Over time my tastes developed and I started to admire more skilled players like Satch, Vai, Gilbert, Friedman, Becker, Petrucci and others. I started playing dimarzios and instantly noticed how much more personality they had. They were more dynamic, warmer, and cost a lot less to boot. I did side buy side samples of EMG 85, 60, 81 vs. Evo's, Breeds, Tone Zones and others and always liked the Dimarzios better. I played them on several different amps with the same result.

Some argue that actives are more, aggressive, I'll put an X2N or Evo against them and they are more versatile in my opinion.

I think I liked actives at first because they covered up my bad playing. To me they did make my guitars sound alike and colored my amps tone too much. The trend in heavy metal now is to buy 2,000-3,000 boutique amps and play active pickups with tons of gain. They all sound the same.

That said, this is only my opinion and if you like actives and they sound good for your style and rig, great. If tone is good then it's good no matter what the gear is. Bottom line, form your own opinion by playing stuff yourself.

[RSVampire]

I think everyone is wrong about active pickups.

think about it for more than 1/2 a second guys.... Seymour Duncan just released their active pickup contenders against EMG....

This has taken a LONG time! EMG's pickup design hasn't changed or evolved.... they just keep building the same pickup over and over again. This is really really old technology by today's standards.

Seymour Duncan has released a great active pickup with new technology and new circuit designs compared to EMG so it's no wonder they sound better/more organic.

I agree with everyone on here who just tell it like it is... active vs passive doesn't matter as long as you're happy with the sound you're getting.

[Orochimaru]

I just love the passive pickups. To me they have more feel and sound better. I am not interested in high output pickups. I just want a certain sound. I tried few active pickups and I felt like they are made for more power, I mean I felt like they are build to provide a high output for your guitar.

As long as I am not interested about high output I go for passive pickups. Then I don't like the sound of the active pickups. It's not like they are wrong I just don't like them. It's the same way I love a girl and ignore another girl. It's not like one of the girl is wrong. It's just about the fact that I don't like one of them. The thing that makes me go for active is not the fact that active pups are wrong. I just love the passive pups. Even in passive I don't run for very high output pickups.

In my Ibanez S320 I love a DiMarzio Humbucker From Hell in the neck and a DiMarzio Evolution in the bridge. I know the Evolution is a bit high output but this was not the reason I chosen that one.

[6fingers]

I laughed a lot when I read active X passive.
HERE there are 2 types of g.ay.( why g.ay is censored wtf ???!!!)

1- active=the one who does

2- Passive=the one who is made

bwahahahahahahahahahahaha

[Orochimaru]

Originally Posted by 6fingers

I laughed a lot when I read active X passive.
HERE there are 2 types of g.ay.( why g.ay is censored wtf ???!!!)

1- active=the one who does

2- Passive=the one who is made

bwahahahahahahahahahahaha

ha ha ha ha ha ha. I laughed a lot.

You are funny man. You really know how to make a joke.
You are welcome. Thank you.

[6fingers]

Originally Posted by Orochimaru

ha ha ha ha ha ha. I laughed a lot.

You are funny man. You really know how to make a joke.
You are welcome. Thank you.

Thanks man,without sense of humour we'll be dead.Or we'll become robots.
BTW I love vampire movies like interview with a vampire etc.
Please no comedies.
Why I'm talking about vampires?
ROMANIA !
I wish I could travel to your country.

[Orochimaru]

I know I live in a nice country. I have to say Brazil is a nice country too. There are a lot of football players and many nice things.

By the way do you have any preferences about pickups, mr. 6fingers?

Which way you go? Active or passive?

Just let us know about it.

Thank You.

[6fingers]

humm...Dimarzio.
Evos and d activators.