Input boost as a replacement for EMG 81s?

BludgeonedGtr

BludgeonedGtr

Member
Curious, I wonder if I can get my passive Seymour Duncan Distortion pickup to sound like an EMG 81 using the input boost on neutral. Wouldn’t that be similar to the boost the guitar signal is getting from the emg 81’s onboard preamp? 🤔
 
mr_fender said:
Not really. It will just sound like a louder Duncan Distortion. The 81's output level is not much different from a Duncan Distortion. The 81 is cleaner and clearer sounding with extended highs and a bit more compressed on the pick dynamics.
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I would say the reverse though. The distortion has more extended highs than EMG 81. Just in my experience though. EMG will feel more compressed and thicker imo.
 
They're two different pickups; the distortion is not simply an EMG 81 without the active preamp, it's its own thing, so they won't sound exactly the same. They do have similar purposes though, however, the distortion will likely always sound a bit more raw and organic compared to the mechanical precision tone of the 81, and you'll never emulate the extra oomph of an active pickup.

Worst case scenario, EMGs have their own solderless installation system, so you can always just replace the Duncans.
 
Besides the built-in preamp the other difference is that active PUs have less turns on their coils compared to usual passive PUs. That makes a way different signal right from the start.
However their frequency chart is typical, it's like a cat's arched back.
To get the lows right treat your passives with an eq where you lower the bass some. Easy.
The get the highs right might be impossible though. The highs of your passives might role off way earlier then the highs of your actives and an eq is not able to amplify highs that don't exist. Also passives cause a resonance peak, which actives don't do or don't do that much (less turns, less peak). Turning down the poties on your guitar lowers that peak, but it steals even more highs. Also an eq could iron it out some, however you need to know exactly where the peak is.
 
The closest sounding passive to a stock 81 that I've found thus far is the BKP Nailbomb. Outside of that, you need an 81. And slap a 24v mod on it.


John Stamos Kiss GIF by Grandfathered
 
Romo82 said:
The closest sounding passive to a stock 81 that I've found thus far is the BKP Nailbomb. Outside of that, you need an 81. And slap a 24v mod on it.


John Stamos Kiss GIF by Grandfathered
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Does the 24v mod actually do anything? I bought one for the heck of it. It doesn’t work with my Kiesel with Polarity pickups so I haven’t got to try it yet.
 
Romo82 said:
The closest sounding passive to a stock 81 that I've found thus far is the BKP Nailbomb. Outside of that, you need an 81. And slap a 24v mod on it.


John Stamos Kiss GIF by Grandfathered
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Nailbombs are great, but BKP specifically designed their Blackhawk pickups to emulate the active sound. Misha Mansoor's Ragnarok models are also supposed to be "active-esque" but to my ears they don't have the same fizzy high end you get with 81s.

With the pound as weak as it is these days, now is probably a great time for me to order some more, actually...
 
666was999 said:
Besides the built-in preamp the other difference is that active PUs have less turns on their coils compared to usual passive PUs. That makes a way different signal right from the start.
However their frequency chart is typical, it's like a cat's arched back.
To get the lows right treat your passives with an eq where you lower the bass some. Easy.
The get the highs right might be impossible though. The highs of your passives might role off way earlier then the highs of your actives and an eq is not able to amplify highs that don't exist. Also passives cause a resonance peak, which actives don't do or don't do that much (less turns, less peak). Turning down the poties on your guitar lowers that peak, but it steals even more highs. Also an eq could iron it out some, however you need to know exactly where the peak is.
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+1

Came here to write pretty much that. You can't amplify what simply isn't there with a passive pickup.
 
jephjacques said:
Nailbombs are great, but BKP specifically designed their Blackhawk pickups to emulate the active sound. Misha Mansoor's Ragnarok models are also supposed to be "active-esque" but to my ears they don't have the same fizzy high end you get with 81s.

With the pound as weak as it is these days, now is probably a great time for me to order some more, actually...
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Yeah I had heard that too and looked into them but the tone examples I could find didn't convince me. The only reason I came upon the Nailbombs is my Caparison had them when I bought it. I was fully intending to swap them for EMG's but when I played them I was extremely surprised and felt no need to swap, 80% of everything was there.

The 18/24v mod does make a difference from what I can hear, they sound smoother to me with more "Airy-ness". Its not a hugely prominent difference, which I think is what people expect, but when A/Bing takes between modded and non modded, there was a definite preference for the modded tone.

Another well worthwhile company to look into is Guitarmory. Another pickup that I came across by accident as my Skervesen has Guitarmory 'Skerv' pickups in and they sound incredible. Not a comparison to 81's but just a very well balanced and articulate pickup and is by far the best sounding split-coil pickup I've encountered. The 'Skerv's' are not a production model but I'm told they are a slightly modified version of their 'Orion' set and they really are excellent pickups.
 
jephjacques said:
Nailbombs are great, but BKP specifically designed their Blackhawk pickups to emulate the active sound. Misha Mansoor's Ragnarok models are also supposed to be "active-esque" but to my ears they don't have the same fizzy high end you get with 81s.

With the pound as weak as it is these days, now is probably a great time for me to order some more, actually...
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Highly recommend the Black Hawk. Just massive sounding without the "clinical" sound you tend to get with actives.
 
mr_fender said:
Not hardly. The 81 has much more upper high frequency response. The Duncans have the typical high end roll off of overwound high output passive humbuckers.

Listen to the clean examples here:
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Must be the guitars I had them in. It was night and day difference the distortion pickup was treble city in my LP. EMG in my PRS sounded very balanced to the point I thought they were too dark. Replaced those with Holy Divers which are supposed to be a super smooth pickup, still more treble than the EMGs.
 
I’ve personally never played a pickup more trebly sounding than the Duncan distortion. On their website it shows the distortion as like the most trebly non blade pickup they make.

Edit : My guess is I had the distortion pickup height way too high. At least compared to the EMG. Who knows.
 
I was always told that you could crank EMGs much closer to the strings than passives, I guess because they're not as magnetic due to fewer winds. But then, I never seem to keep any guitar with EMGs...
 
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