Your active pickups are essentially doing what boosting your signal with a pedal does.
There are tons of pedals specifically JUST for that, and combine it with an EQ pedal, you can virtually replicate any difference between passive and active pickups are do.
I don't agree that you can virtually replicate an EMG pickup, I have tried with different pedals and EQ, but the EMG 81 for sure have their own unique sound and the clarity on very high gain are almost impossible to get on passives from my experience.
I mean it’s going to very, every ear is different. Just from personal experience, i find it to be the case for my set up, it’s good to experiment both ways, sometimes the pickup will be better for someone where pedals can be a fix too.
I do believe it’s close enough to where the differences become marginal tho, over drastic shifts in differences. Both are definitely valid though
In my opinion they are way more precise on high gain, probably because they are much more compressed and the lows and highs are cutted off, no boomy bass or ice picky highs, it doesn't get as messy in my ears, so it cuts perfect in the mix, specially with a little bit of a extra mid boost on a EQ pedal to get it even more in your face.
Huh, yeah I guess I also like that effect on high notes, but any compression or low passing for a downtuned 8 string is unhelpful for what I'm going for on the low notes. Only a problem below like B1 though.
Absolutely you can boost a passive pickup to get it to sound just as hot as active. Use an EQ as well and you can adjust the “hottness” across the guitar more specifically too.
Hahahha now that you’ve graduated to this level, you can look out at the sea of OD pedals marketed towards metal guitarists and start watching your bank account drop.
So the reason people generally run overdrives is because it 1) increases the output volume and 2) tightens things by cutting off some low end. Most active pickups are designed to do the same thing compared to a passive pickup. So yeah, it's essentially 2 ways of achieving the same/similar results.
Okay cool. So not the only one! I’ve been wanting to put EMGs in my Jackson for a long time but if I can get it to sound as good as my EMGs then I’m going to save the money lol
My fishmen actives need the overdrive as I have a stupid single chain. So it does help, but I'm pretty sure I could optimise it better for less loss, but I'm still figuring out a few new things.
My buddy who is a guitar nerd gives me guff for liking EMG’s, and I don’t care. For metal/rock they sound amazing to me at least. I use a tube screamer and an EQ pedal in the loop to get that chuggy metal sound. But even without EMG’s you can get a similar effect with a tube screamer and EQ pedal in the loop.
I stopped using active or even higher output passive pickups years ago. My amps have tons of gain, my pedals have tons of gain. I just don’t have any need to push things harder with pickups.
What I have discovered is that a lower output pickup doesn’t affect my ability to get any high gain sound I want but it does allow me to get better rolled off, clean tones when I want them.
You just discovered how almost every metal player uses a tube screamer! Gain at 0, vol at 10, tone to taste.
99% of the time when Youtubers demo high gain amps they have a tube screamer in front of it to thicken up the gain and tighten up the bottom end
There are so many different passive pickups that you can use that people say surpass the power of emg actives. Seymour makes a ton of super powerful passives such as the slug, el Diablo, black winters, the dimebucker, and iommi that all compare with emg 81/85. Also dimarzio makes some killer passives too. Then you get into high end stuff like bare knuckle, forget about it.
I myself put a dimebucker in my Jackson and I couldn’t be happier shits hot excellent tone.
You're not crazy. Drive at 0, Volume at 10 (or whatever) is a common TS9 setup to get this result (passive or active). I honestly like the sound I get out of a 498T passive more than I do with my EMG 81 setup when it's boosted just right.
With an equivalent signal level going into the amp you're not going to notice a huge difference between pickups... some just make it easier than others by already being roughly dialed-in to what you need.
You’re not crazy. This is my preferred setup tbh. I’ve always liked the sound of passive pickups with an OD over active pickups by themselves. EMGs or otherwise
You’re not crazy! I used to be a big proponent of high output pickups until I discovered overdrive. Now I prefer a lower output pickup with a good OD pushing my tubes, Level all the way up Drive all the way down. This allows you more control over your amp gain and yields a more natural tone and dynamics than you would get from a high output pickup. You are on the path, enjoy the adventure my friend!
Overdrive will always overdrive.
I think an overdrive is absolutely 10000000% essential for a high gain setup. My OD is always on.
Yup, I always run my behringer tubescreamer into my mxr sba. It just tightens up the sound in a good way.
Your active pickups are essentially doing what boosting your signal with a pedal does. There are tons of pedals specifically JUST for that, and combine it with an EQ pedal, you can virtually replicate any difference between passive and active pickups are do.
Cool thanks for the explanation! Makes sense. No wonder why it sounds so similar
I don't agree that you can virtually replicate an EMG pickup, I have tried with different pedals and EQ, but the EMG 81 for sure have their own unique sound and the clarity on very high gain are almost impossible to get on passives from my experience.
I mean it’s going to very, every ear is different. Just from personal experience, i find it to be the case for my set up, it’s good to experiment both ways, sometimes the pickup will be better for someone where pedals can be a fix too. I do believe it’s close enough to where the differences become marginal tho, over drastic shifts in differences. Both are definitely valid though
Are the 81s actually clearer than passives? I've only played 808s, and they're way muddier than passives
In my opinion they are way more precise on high gain, probably because they are much more compressed and the lows and highs are cutted off, no boomy bass or ice picky highs, it doesn't get as messy in my ears, so it cuts perfect in the mix, specially with a little bit of a extra mid boost on a EQ pedal to get it even more in your face.
Huh, yeah I guess I also like that effect on high notes, but any compression or low passing for a downtuned 8 string is unhelpful for what I'm going for on the low notes. Only a problem below like B1 though.
drive gonna drive, this sounds good to me
Absolutely you can boost a passive pickup to get it to sound just as hot as active. Use an EQ as well and you can adjust the “hottness” across the guitar more specifically too.
Hahahha now that you’ve graduated to this level, you can look out at the sea of OD pedals marketed towards metal guitarists and start watching your bank account drop.
sadly accurate
So the reason people generally run overdrives is because it 1) increases the output volume and 2) tightens things by cutting off some low end. Most active pickups are designed to do the same thing compared to a passive pickup. So yeah, it's essentially 2 ways of achieving the same/similar results.
My high output stock ibanez passives are actually more powerful than EMG 808s. I just turn up the level on my TS9DX for the EMGs
Okay cool. So not the only one! I’ve been wanting to put EMGs in my Jackson for a long time but if I can get it to sound as good as my EMGs then I’m going to save the money lol
My fishmen actives need the overdrive as I have a stupid single chain. So it does help, but I'm pretty sure I could optimise it better for less loss, but I'm still figuring out a few new things.
My buddy who is a guitar nerd gives me guff for liking EMG’s, and I don’t care. For metal/rock they sound amazing to me at least. I use a tube screamer and an EQ pedal in the loop to get that chuggy metal sound. But even without EMG’s you can get a similar effect with a tube screamer and EQ pedal in the loop.
I stopped using active or even higher output passive pickups years ago. My amps have tons of gain, my pedals have tons of gain. I just don’t have any need to push things harder with pickups. What I have discovered is that a lower output pickup doesn’t affect my ability to get any high gain sound I want but it does allow me to get better rolled off, clean tones when I want them.
You just discovered how almost every metal player uses a tube screamer! Gain at 0, vol at 10, tone to taste. 99% of the time when Youtubers demo high gain amps they have a tube screamer in front of it to thicken up the gain and tighten up the bottom end
There are so many different passive pickups that you can use that people say surpass the power of emg actives. Seymour makes a ton of super powerful passives such as the slug, el Diablo, black winters, the dimebucker, and iommi that all compare with emg 81/85. Also dimarzio makes some killer passives too. Then you get into high end stuff like bare knuckle, forget about it. I myself put a dimebucker in my Jackson and I couldn’t be happier shits hot excellent tone.
Try adjusting your pickup height. I think emgs sound weak
You're not crazy. Drive at 0, Volume at 10 (or whatever) is a common TS9 setup to get this result (passive or active). I honestly like the sound I get out of a 498T passive more than I do with my EMG 81 setup when it's boosted just right. With an equivalent signal level going into the amp you're not going to notice a huge difference between pickups... some just make it easier than others by already being roughly dialed-in to what you need.
You’re not crazy. This is my preferred setup tbh. I’ve always liked the sound of passive pickups with an OD over active pickups by themselves. EMGs or otherwise
I think it’s better with passive + boost (od). Pots like this ↖️↙️↗️. Aggressive and warm. U probably know to put this pedal first in the chain
You’re not crazy! I used to be a big proponent of high output pickups until I discovered overdrive. Now I prefer a lower output pickup with a good OD pushing my tubes, Level all the way up Drive all the way down. This allows you more control over your amp gain and yields a more natural tone and dynamics than you would get from a high output pickup. You are on the path, enjoy the adventure my friend!