I hear a smidge of compression with the EMG's and personally i prefer passive to not use batteries but i do still use active guitars occasionally like my Schecter C1 FR S
@@KeeperOfPoops I used to think that I like passives more, but ever since having a guitar with actives for a few years; for metal I actually like actives way more.
It’s all up to preference. There’s awesome active, and passive pickups out there. But if you’re making the decision SOLEY based on the battery aspect, that’s very silly. The batteries last a long freaking time! They can last years for a casual player. Should get a solid year for a active player. A lot of people just change it whenever they change strings. It’s really not adding a lot of work.
@Duane Burfield The excuse of batteries is the most stupid of all time and the one that is repeated the most, in all forums. Only a jerk ever said that nonsense, and the others just repeat it over and over again. The same as EMG sounds the same on any guitar, which is not dynamic and so on. A damn battery lasts at least 6 months and that's exaggerating, because normal is a year or more, it only costs 5 bucks, you spend more dealing with passive pickups, with the capacitance of the cables, since you lose signal with cheap cables, with impedance on interfaces, DI Box, noise problems, and more aggressive noise gate settings ETC. With active EMG you don't have any of those problems, and you save a significant amount of money. In fact, batteries should never be a problem for anyone, since they are the least amount of money that is invested.
@@butcher_0392 Oh yes! I hate that even more then the battery excuse. When people say active pickups make every guitar sound exactly the same. If that were true, why would anyone buy expensive guitars?!
Everything is subjective, you are the guitarist, you pick the tone you like better. Don't buy pickups because your friend told you so. Your friend has an opinion, so you do too. Objectively both passive and active pickups sounds great.
Totally... if you want a compressed and saturated metal tone and don't care about dynamics, then active are the way to go. If you want dynamics because you play in a melodic style, want a more natural sound and are not worried about endless sustain, then passive are the right choice. I love the Fishman Fluence pickups personally, because then you don't have to make that choice! But that's just me, I like having as many different tools at my disposal as possible... AKA being picky. 😆
extremely right, my teacher often says me some opinions about some stuff, but im a metalhead and he's more into Blues so we never have the same opinion lol
the chugging sounds more muted and chunkier with passive, but slides with active sound more "slicey" and sharper. if they made a tone with those passive chugs and those active slides, then this would fucking rip.
I have a guitar with Seymour Duncan blackouts and the pinch harmonics sound godly compared to my other guitars, maybe it’s the Floyd bridge that enables them to be played so perfectly every time I find hard tails have a tighter sweet spot for pinch harmonics, as for the sequels they pretty much sound the same but I can get better vibrato with the Floyd
I love the punch, warmth and fullness of active pickups, but I also really like the crisp clarity of passive as well. As far as I know, the only pickups that have all of those qualities combined are James Hetfield's EMG Signature pickups. I'm sure there's a few more by now since I haven't researched that topic in a couple years.
Got news for you buddy, those opencore pickups are 100% an active circuit. fishman doe not make any passive pickups for electric guitars. they make a few for acoustic but thats it.
@@diegomacias4787 yep. They're magic pickups. I basically despise the EMG81/85 combo but will never rid myself of a Fluence, and their bass pickups are sonic perfection as far as this J-bass lover is concerned. The reason they can nail the "passive tone" is all in how they're built and the coils/voices are activated. They are NOTHING like EMGs lol.
Hey man, you do you. I personally really like Bare Knuckle Silos and a lot of people hate BKP for being a meme within metal. If you get the sound you're looking for out of EMG's fucking sick
I know one key thing I noticed going from passsive sing coils (my squier guitar) to active humbucking (my MM bass), is there is EXCELLENT reason to call it a humbucking pickup. I wanna hear how a passive Spector bass sounds, but that'll be in a couple weeks
I didn't get a chance to try them (I am a lefty so I barely get to try new stuff). Fishman Fluence do seem like a pretty solid middle ground option as well imo, though I still see room for improvement.
@@Theflamers08 If you're a lefty, you can always buy an inexpensive guitar and upgrade them with whatever pickups you want, it's the easiest way to upgrade the sound of any guitar. Although it might be a bit silly if you're like me and put EMG 808X's into a 160euro 8 string, the pickups cost about the same 😂
I run active emg 81 set in my six string and an active Seymour Duncan blackout set in my seven. I honestly never have been able to tell the difference between active and passive, all I know is I like the sound from the pickups I choose.
I love the way the Templars have that extra breakup somewhere in the mids. I’ve always said I would never use active pickups but damn I can hear how the 81s would really cut and sound killer in a mix.
Both pickups sounds so good. Passive sounds with little less distortion, active pick ups sound more abrasive and aggresive so i think those will be much better for high Gain
I never thought, in a million years, would I ever say... The EMG was my least favorite. The first one was amazing. I've got my first aftermarket passive in my seven string and I guess say, I friggin live DiMizario!
What I do with my band is we track rhythms with actives (EMG 81 and 85 for my particular PRS Torero) so it'll stay consistent if we double or triple track a part, then we do the leads/melody lines with whatever fits the song. I've got a ton of guitars with various DiMarzio pickups that all sound great.
Actives is like a tube screamer kinda mid boost low cut, so tighter, so better. Just make more sense, I never hear anyone say "my guitar needs more mud."
Good chunky riffing is mostly in the technique, I found. Active pups are very useful when you have a lot of hum in your setup - from power sources or pedals. And they have an internal preamp that gives a 'compressed' feel and high output. Passive pups are more transparent, and sound more 'alive'. Personally I prefer mid to high output passive pickups for modern metal styles, no overdrive, straight into a good tube amp. YMMV.
I've always been a passive pickups kind of guy. However, I did have a friend who owned a Jim root fender telecaster, simply an amazing guitar. One of the best playing guitars I've ever felt in my hands and also one of the best sounding, it made me a believer of active pickups, it's just a little different that's all
I've found that if I gain stage with high output pups, add some clean boost with slight saturation into an crunchy preamp, i can pretty much get roaring power chords with enough gain but still manage to sound close to how metallica used to quadtrack with decently dry tones per track. Makes you also work the tone instead of the other way around
From these speakers, the active pickups have more treble and gain. I'd have to hear them in person to know if there's really THAT much of a difference.
Been playing for years mostly metal guitar and have owned guitars with several of the more popular pups for metal. for metalcore/deathcore/ death metal NOTHING beats an EMG 81/60 or 81/85 if you prefer a darker neck pup. But its "the sound" for that genre . But passives are generally more dynamic for pretty much everything else from pop punk to indie to other styles of metal(power,thrash,hair etc). They respond better to pick attack changes, volume/tone roll-offs and the obvious no battery required. Ive yet to try fishmans tbh butnive heard they are the best of both worlds.
I use Fishmans and absolutely love the versatility. Currently having one of my guitars wired to have both voicings, coil split and high frequency tilt. Should be fun to mess around with.
Might sound crazy but if you want a super clean tone for Jazz I believe active pickups are the cleanest thing I've ever played. With that said I think they are boring when you add any level of distortion whether it be for Blues or Metal. Just what I've experienced owning two guitars that were exactly the same besides the pups
I played 2 guitars with active pickups for the first time in a guitar store last week, one with EMGs and the other wish fishmans. I was fully exoecting to like them considering I am a high gain player and i love the sound of high output passive pickups like black winters, but i just couldn't find anything i liked about either one.
The passive pickups have a “Hey-how’d you get into my house and why are you eating my chili?” kinda sound to them, while the active pickups have a “Hey-you guys wanna break into a house and eat some guys chili?” sound to them. If that makes any sense.
Active vs passive used to be a lot more obvious. You can tell a lot easier when you play chordy passages though. You can also feel the difference when you're playing one vs another.
I hear active pickups distorted having nasal attack which makes more modern metal sound. I say nasal attack to describe for example, unique tone in the attack that defines a Strat’s neck pickup which other fender guitars doesn’t have. It sounds like a slight change of comprising frequencies of the sound in a short time to me. People here who say they find no difference didn’t hear or play enough guitar-based music but that’s fine because that means you’re not a nerd.
Active pups always always always sound sharper and a little harsh to me. So it's a bit of a double edge sword. Put an 81/85 set in my explorer way back in the late 2000's as a impressionable youth seeing all the big names using and endorsing EMG, and i honestly regret doing it. There's a reason passive pups are still holding strong.
Awesome video! Does the distance between the pickup and string affect the change in magnetic flux? Like would the Δφ be greater for a string closer to the pickup than the Δφ for a strings further away?
The last set the active EMGs sound crisper. I prefer that but am debating on buying a new guitar (something cheap from a pawnshop) and buy a new set of DiMarzio Pandemonium passive humbuckers. The Nita Strauss sound I gotta admit I like
I have a friend who is interested in changing pickups in his Peavey 23. Its a nice enough guitar with some upgraded can actually be pretty decent. Honestly i believe the best way to find pickups you like is to find a store with a guitar that has the pickups youre looking for. Plug it in and play, its easier to pickup on the differences in tone when you do it yourself. Fortunately for him(and myself), about half of my guitars have EMGs in them. One of them has a seymour duncan, and the rest are factory pickups which do the job just fine. Going to switch out my EMG-Designed pickups in mg EC-257 to a Seymour Duncan Nazgul(bridge), and Seymour Duncan Invader combo to see what tones i can get out of it. Never been disappointed with EMGs or Seymour Duncans though. I really want to try some Fishman Fluence modern pickups though.
I’ve always preferred passives. To me they just sound tighter and more aggressive. I had EMGs once in a schecter and couldn’t stand how they sounded. Switched to Seymour Duncan Nazgul/Sentient and the same guitar sounded amazing.
Just bought a guitar with active pickups the other day and to be honest they don’t make enough of a difference to my sound for me to care to use them, and dealing with batteries is a pain in the ass.
Man,those fishmans are awesome. I have a couple of active guitars and they sound pretty good, but I might be getting them replaced with some fishmans they rock.
Both. My Solar A2.6 LN has the stock Duncan Solar, my Ibanez RGD320Z has a Duncan Nazgul and my B.C. Rich Wave, Harley Benton EX-84 Modern VW, Schecter Hellraiser C1 Ultraviolet has EMG pickups and my Subzero Fanfret 7 string has an EMG 707.
It's always so hard to tell a difference if I don't have two guitars to play with over a significant amount of time. A lot of people claim to hear a significant difference, but I'm not one of them. Of my 3 guitars, 2 have passive, one has active. My passive ones seem a bit 'messier' on distorted channels, and have a bit more...character? IDK how to describe it, the neck pickups sound more...necky? Like less highs, creamier. The bridge pickups sound more nasally and honky, I guess. That has its benefits and drawbacks. The active pickup guitar sounds a lot tighter, as if there were a good gate on it as a baseline. The neck pickup sounds doesn't have the same amount of passive neck pros or cons, likewise for the bridge. I find it easier to play active, but writing and practicing with passive is more beneficial for me. And keep in mind, that's a very limited sample, I'm aware. My thoughts might just be due to the guitars and the particular pickups. BTW, Hourglass is such a great pick.
Till to this day passive hasent lost its edge at all still a classic go to but i also love active ❤ on my modern guitars 🎸 ❤ they both have a very important use in the guitar world and thank god we do have such a huge choice when it comes to making our instruments come alive and share our experience with everyone 😊rock on and enjoy 😊❤
Well when the tone coming from the amp/amp sim is that good then the difference is pretty insignificant. If the starting tone wasn't as tight and boosted, that's where the active will shine brighter
the fishman sound like the would filter unneccessary frequencies pretty good. more tone, less fizzy noise. comparison shouldnt go in between active-passive
For metal, I like my actives, just the feel of them and I like the compression. For rock and blues, I like my actives. But honestly, they sound the same in the video. Probably because listening on mobile phone and not on hi-fi audio system.
Batteries can be another expense plus there are passive pickups that rival active pickups , not to mention if you leave your guitar plugged in, on an active pickup you loose battery life.. And don't forget about oxidization on your battery connection ..
I honestly couldn't hear a difference. Maybe my hearing sucks. In general I prefer passive because I hate dealing with batteries.
I hear a smidge of compression with the EMG's and personally i prefer passive to not use batteries but i do still use active guitars occasionally like my Schecter C1 FR S
@@KeeperOfPoops I used to think that I like passives more, but ever since having a guitar with actives for a few years; for metal I actually like actives way more.
It’s all up to preference. There’s awesome active, and passive pickups out there. But if you’re making the decision SOLEY based on the battery aspect, that’s very silly. The batteries last a long freaking time! They can last years for a casual player. Should get a solid year for a active player. A lot of people just change it whenever they change strings. It’s really not adding a lot of work.
@Duane Burfield
The excuse of batteries is the most stupid of all time and the one that is repeated the most, in all forums.
Only a jerk ever said that nonsense, and the others just repeat it over and over again.
The same as EMG sounds the same on any guitar, which is not dynamic and so on.
A damn battery lasts at least 6 months and that's exaggerating, because normal is a year or more, it only costs 5 bucks, you spend more dealing with passive pickups, with the capacitance of the cables, since you lose signal with cheap cables, with impedance on interfaces, DI Box, noise problems, and more aggressive noise gate settings ETC.
With active EMG you don't have any of those problems, and you save a significant amount of money.
In fact, batteries should never be a problem for anyone, since they are the least amount of money that is invested.
@@butcher_0392 Oh yes! I hate that even more then the battery excuse. When people say active pickups make every guitar sound exactly the same. If that were true, why would anyone buy expensive guitars?!
Everything is subjective, you are the guitarist, you pick the tone you like better. Don't buy pickups because your friend told you so. Your friend has an opinion, so you do too. Objectively both passive and active pickups sounds great.
Exactly. Very good answer
Totally... if you want a compressed and saturated metal tone and don't care about dynamics, then active are the way to go. If you want dynamics because you play in a melodic style, want a more natural sound and are not worried about endless sustain, then passive are the right choice. I love the Fishman Fluence pickups personally, because then you don't have to make that choice! But that's just me, I like having as many different tools at my disposal as possible... AKA being picky. 😆
extremely right, my teacher often says me some opinions about some stuff, but im a metalhead and he's more into Blues so we never have the same opinion lol
Guess it all depends on who’s playing 😅
the chugging sounds more muted and chunkier with passive, but slides with active sound more "slicey" and sharper. if they made a tone with those passive chugs and those active slides, then this would fucking rip.
I believe James Hetfiled signature pickups do that!
@@marcelinonunez8066 well then those seem like the ideal pickups, esp for 7 string
Best pickups you can ever buy , are BareKnucklePickups from the UK, they are hand wound etc. They are incomparable
Dimarzio D activator. Its passive but has power and punch of active
@@skinnybigstuff1040 can confirm my ibanez xpt700 has them best guitar I own/have heard
Actives for that kind of riffage, passives for everything else
Riffageness
Agreed
Active for the chug chug, passive for the weeewooweewoo
@@AltairCreedZ *weedlyweedlywee parts
please use correct music terminology
Couldn't you just turn up the gain on your amp or your overdrive pedal to get a similar effect to installing active pickups?
Emgs were the worst to me. I prefer passives but damn those Fishmans in either passive/active sound mint!
Emg's were played on cheapest guitar. It is a common misconception that guitar doesn't matter with actives. It sure DOES.
Passives are more versatile, but that EMG 81 just hast that certain extra punch for the Chugz. Fishman Moderns also can do that similarly.
I know you didn’t just hate on EMGs
@@kostyantynkravchenko5770
Guitar wood plays no part in regards to what the pickups sound like in a guitar.
Personally feel that it’s easier to do harmonics with passive pick ups which is the main selling point for me
i feel thats the truth
its so true actually dam
I have a guitar with Seymour Duncan blackouts and the pinch harmonics sound godly compared to my other guitars, maybe it’s the Floyd bridge that enables them to be played so perfectly every time I find hard tails have a tighter sweet spot for pinch harmonics, as for the sequels they pretty much sound the same but I can get better vibrato with the Floyd
I love the punch, warmth and fullness of active pickups, but I also really like the crisp clarity of passive as well. As far as I know, the only pickups that have all of those qualities combined are James Hetfield's EMG Signature pickups. I'm sure there's a few more by now since I haven't researched that topic in a couple years.
Passive all day. Those fishman open core passives have incredible punch without excessive treble and awesome clarity.
Got news for you buddy, those opencore pickups are 100% an active circuit. fishman doe not make any passive pickups for electric guitars. they make a few for acoustic but thats it.
@@diegomacias4787 yep. They're magic pickups. I basically despise the EMG81/85 combo but will never rid myself of a Fluence, and their bass pickups are sonic perfection as far as this J-bass lover is concerned.
The reason they can nail the "passive tone" is all in how they're built and the coils/voices are activated. They are NOTHING like EMGs lol.
Probably gonna take a beating for this but I still am all about the 81.
same best bang for your buck in active pickups imo
@Wojciech Szeler agreed, but emg’s seem to be a love em or hate em especially on YT comparison videos lol.
Tried most passive pickups, always prefer EMG81. The only things that comes close imho. Is the SD Black Winter.
Hey man, you do you. I personally really like Bare Knuckle Silos and a lot of people hate BKP for being a meme within metal. If you get the sound you're looking for out of EMG's fucking sick
Same
The fishmans in passive mode will take a beating. The Templar is also great 👍🏻
Classic Lamb of God. Love it
Passive all the way, I believe it has way more dynamic range
Active for rhythm stuff and cleans, passive for lead stuff for me
I typically go active. But Seymour Duncan has some AWESOME passive pickups. The Nazgul is a killer passive pickup!
I know one key thing I noticed going from passsive sing coils (my squier guitar) to active humbucking (my MM bass), is there is EXCELLENT reason to call it a humbucking pickup. I wanna hear how a passive Spector bass sounds, but that'll be in a couple weeks
I find the EMG X series to be a nice middle ground between the two
I didn't get a chance to try them (I am a lefty so I barely get to try new stuff). Fishman Fluence do seem like a pretty solid middle ground option as well imo, though I still see room for improvement.
@@Theflamers08 If you're a lefty, you can always buy an inexpensive guitar and upgrade them with whatever pickups you want, it's the easiest way to upgrade the sound of any guitar. Although it might be a bit silly if you're like me and put EMG 808X's into a 160euro 8 string, the pickups cost about the same 😂
Thank you for making a short and straight to the point comparison but I can’t tell any damn difference between both pickups
I only have actives (emg and Fishman) but I prefer the passives in this video. They sound fuller and clearer.
I run active emg 81 set in my six string and an active Seymour Duncan blackout set in my seven. I honestly never have been able to tell the difference between active and passive, all I know is I like the sound from the pickups I choose.
Both are good , both inspire ideas.
I think the extra compression from actives suits metal more than passives but hey if you pick hard it's gonna sound good either way
it's subtle hearing it 2nd hand over the internet but the active pickups are brighter and edgier.
The more modern metal the tone is (like here) the less it matters
Active EMGs and Passive Fishman are both really nice! Also, love your shirt!
Active for death metal, deathcore and some thrash. Passive for everything else
That black and white jackson is sweet. I've got the red and black version. They're so nice to play and sound great
I love the way the Templars have that extra breakup somewhere in the mids.
I’ve always said I would never use active pickups but damn I can hear how the 81s would really cut and sound killer in a mix.
Both pickups sounds so good. Passive sounds with little less distortion, active pick ups sound more abrasive and aggresive so i think those will be much better for high Gain
I never thought, in a million years, would I ever say... The EMG was my least favorite. The first one was amazing. I've got my first aftermarket passive in my seven string and I guess say, I friggin live DiMizario!
Those EMG81s sound so good with this riff
Those earrings are adorable! lmao
I wasn’t expecting to, but I prefer the active pickups
What I do with my band is we track rhythms with actives (EMG 81 and 85 for my particular PRS Torero) so it'll stay consistent if we double or triple track a part, then we do the leads/melody lines with whatever fits the song. I've got a ton of guitars with various DiMarzio pickups that all sound great.
Actives is like a tube screamer kinda mid boost low cut, so tighter, so better. Just make more sense, I never hear anyone say "my guitar needs more mud."
Good chunky riffing is mostly in the technique, I found.
Active pups are very useful when you have a lot of hum in your setup - from power sources or pedals. And they have an internal preamp that gives a 'compressed' feel and high output.
Passive pups are more transparent, and sound more 'alive'.
Personally I prefer mid to high output passive pickups for modern metal styles, no overdrive, straight into a good tube amp.
YMMV.
“Privileged, a chosen few!!”
“PRIVILEGED, A CHOSEN FEW “🤘🏻
There’s so much gain in the tone it’s not going to matter what pickups are used.
Passive for me, I like both but when playing I just prefer the sag feel of passives when galloping or chugging.
Jesus, those sound amazing.
I've always been a passive pickups kind of guy. However, I did have a friend who owned a Jim root fender telecaster, simply an amazing guitar. One of the best playing guitars I've ever felt in my hands and also one of the best sounding, it made me a believer of active pickups, it's just a little different that's all
I prefer the EMG 81, i use a one since 2 years and i still love it.
def the EMGs \m/
I love the juice of active pickups
I prefer Passive because I notice a difference in note clarity. But it’s all personal preference.
the passive are more aggressive and bright sounding but the active ones are more tight and has more mid to it
I've found that if I gain stage with high output pups, add some clean boost with slight saturation into an crunchy preamp, i can pretty much get roaring power chords with enough gain but still manage to sound close to how metallica used to quadtrack with decently dry tones per track. Makes you also work the tone instead of the other way around
From these speakers, the active pickups have more treble and gain. I'd have to hear them in person to know if there's really THAT much of a difference.
I preferred passive I am blown away by that as I've always thought emgs were god shit boy you learnt me somethin
I can't hear much of a difference, except that it slightly sounded louder after the first passive one
I think (based on what I've heard here) I'd use actives in a mix and passives for playing by myself.
Been playing for years mostly metal guitar and have owned guitars with several
of the more popular pups for metal. for metalcore/deathcore/ death metal NOTHING beats an EMG 81/60 or 81/85 if you prefer a darker neck pup. But its "the sound" for that genre . But passives are generally more dynamic for pretty much everything else from pop punk to indie to other styles of metal(power,thrash,hair etc). They respond better to pick attack changes, volume/tone roll-offs and the obvious no battery required. Ive yet to try fishmans tbh butnive heard they are the best of both worlds.
Both sound great
PASSIVE, for me.
With the Passive I see Gold n Satin. With Active, I see Silver n Glass.
Fluence Actives sounds incredible!
I use Fishmans and absolutely love the versatility. Currently having one of my guitars wired to have both voicings, coil split and high frequency tilt. Should be fun to mess around with.
I think the amp matters more tbh. any decent pickup that is MADE for metal is going to sound good when you dial your go to tone in.
Might sound crazy but if you want a super clean tone for Jazz I believe active pickups are the cleanest thing I've ever played. With that said I think they are boring when you add any level of distortion whether it be for Blues or Metal. Just what I've experienced owning two guitars that were exactly the same besides the pups
I played 2 guitars with active pickups for the first time in a guitar store last week, one with EMGs and the other wish fishmans. I was fully exoecting to like them considering I am a high gain player and i love the sound of high output passive pickups like black winters, but i just couldn't find anything i liked about either one.
I like emgs cuz of how tight they sound. Very little mess and is nice and clear.
Just bought a demon-6 I definitely hear the difference
PRIVILEGED A CHOSEN FEW
The passive pickups have a “Hey-how’d you get into my house and why are you eating my chili?” kinda sound to them, while the active pickups have a “Hey-you guys wanna break into a house and eat some guys chili?” sound to them. If that makes any sense.
Super aggressive hard clipping makes them sound basically identical
The passive voice on fishmans does not kill the preamp output so its still active...
Active vs passive used to be a lot more obvious. You can tell a lot easier when you play chordy passages though. You can also feel the difference when you're playing one vs another.
I had it queued up on the background and perked up to see what it was for the open core.
I hear active pickups distorted having nasal attack which makes more modern metal sound. I say nasal attack to describe for example, unique tone in the attack that defines a Strat’s neck pickup which other fender guitars doesn’t have. It sounds like a slight change of comprising frequencies of the sound in a short time to me. People here who say they find no difference didn’t hear or play enough guitar-based music but that’s fine because that means you’re not a nerd.
Active pups always always always sound sharper and a little harsh to me. So it's a bit of a double edge sword. Put an 81/85 set in my explorer way back in the late 2000's as a impressionable youth seeing all the big names using and endorsing EMG, and i honestly regret doing it. There's a reason passive pups are still holding strong.
Awesome video! Does the distance between the pickup and string affect the change in magnetic flux? Like would the Δφ be greater for a string closer to the pickup than the Δφ for a strings further away?
Sick Jackson
The last set the active EMGs sound crisper. I prefer that but am debating on buying a new guitar (something cheap from a pawnshop) and buy a new set of DiMarzio Pandemonium passive humbuckers. The Nita Strauss sound I gotta admit I like
I wish they were less traditional with the colors.. I get it that black hits most people, but at least give more options.
Active for lead parts for sure
You can’t hear allot of difference over you tube because of the compression. But you can hear some differences in person
Passive for me, I like the articulate notes, and heavy sound that’s not artificial sounding
I have a friend who is interested in changing pickups in his Peavey 23. Its a nice enough guitar with some upgraded can actually be pretty decent. Honestly i believe the best way to find pickups you like is to find a store with a guitar that has the pickups youre looking for. Plug it in and play, its easier to pickup on the differences in tone when you do it yourself. Fortunately for him(and myself), about half of my guitars have EMGs in them. One of them has a seymour duncan, and the rest are factory pickups which do the job just fine. Going to switch out my EMG-Designed pickups in mg EC-257 to a Seymour Duncan Nazgul(bridge), and Seymour Duncan Invader combo to see what tones i can get out of it. Never been disappointed with EMGs or Seymour Duncans though. I really want to try some Fishman Fluence modern pickups though.
I’ve always preferred passives. To me they just sound tighter and more aggressive. I had EMGs once in a schecter and couldn’t stand how they sounded. Switched to Seymour Duncan Nazgul/Sentient and the same guitar sounded amazing.
I like the passive one
I like my passives for the dynamic range, but I do love a good set of Fishmans
I personally like the Fishman active tone over the EMG active tone.
Just bought a guitar with active pickups the other day and to be honest they don’t make enough of a difference to my sound for me to care to use them, and dealing with batteries is a pain in the ass.
Man,those fishmans are awesome. I have a couple of active guitars and they sound pretty good, but I might be getting them replaced with some fishmans they rock.
Both. My Solar A2.6 LN has the stock Duncan Solar, my Ibanez RGD320Z has a Duncan Nazgul and my B.C. Rich Wave, Harley Benton EX-84 Modern VW, Schecter Hellraiser C1 Ultraviolet has EMG pickups and my Subzero Fanfret 7 string has an EMG 707.
It's always so hard to tell a difference if I don't have two guitars to play with over a significant amount of time. A lot of people claim to hear a significant difference, but I'm not one of them.
Of my 3 guitars, 2 have passive, one has active. My passive ones seem a bit 'messier' on distorted channels, and have a bit more...character? IDK how to describe it, the neck pickups sound more...necky? Like less highs, creamier. The bridge pickups sound more nasally and honky, I guess. That has its benefits and drawbacks. The active pickup guitar sounds a lot tighter, as if there were a good gate on it as a baseline. The neck pickup sounds doesn't have the same amount of passive neck pros or cons, likewise for the bridge.
I find it easier to play active, but writing and practicing with passive is more beneficial for me. And keep in mind, that's a very limited sample, I'm aware. My thoughts might just be due to the guitars and the particular pickups.
BTW, Hourglass is such a great pick.
Till to this day passive hasent lost its edge at all still a classic go to but i also love active ❤ on my modern guitars 🎸 ❤ they both have a very important use in the guitar world and thank god we do have such a huge choice when it comes to making our instruments come alive and share our experience with everyone 😊rock on and enjoy 😊❤
Well when the tone coming from the amp/amp sim is that good then the difference is pretty insignificant. If the starting tone wasn't as tight and boosted, that's where the active will shine brighter
ACTIVE ALL THE WAY!!!
PASSIVE PICKUPS; BEEN THERE DONE THAT!!!
That first guitar is dope
That colour scheme reminds me so much of synyster gates sig guitar
Dude it matters when you have the zebra alnico from Epiphone, EMG's for the win
love that guitar!
the fishman sound like the would filter unneccessary frequencies pretty good. more tone, less fizzy noise. comparison shouldnt go in between active-passive
Active ten times easier to get those tasty pinch harmonics
For metal, I like my actives, just the feel of them and I like the compression. For rock and blues, I like my actives. But honestly, they sound the same in the video. Probably because listening on mobile phone and not on hi-fi audio system.
Batteries can be another expense plus there are passive pickups that rival active pickups , not to mention if you leave your guitar plugged in, on an active pickup you loose battery life.. And don't forget about oxidization on your battery connection ..
I only really noticed a difference with the EMG. It sounded sharper.
Actives for clean and clarity, passives for grit.
I choose both! And i choose emg.
I love the total lack of difference i hear. That sweet passive sound is worth a the 9 volt battery!