Lace Alumitones vs EMG

I've used both, so I'll chime in.

The Alumitones allow more of the guitar's natural character to come through. I found them to be very full sounding, but plenty clear. I plan to install some into my currently electric guitars. I'm completely tired of any and all buzz and other noise, and I'll be thrilled to be able to turn off the noise gate! They can sound somewhat sterile, but of course, some people say that about EMGs too. They are not as noiseless as EMGs, but they do a great job, even when split (I've not tried their single coils). But, no batteries! That's a big deal for me.
 
But, no humbuckers or P90s. And nothing for 7 string (I really, really wish Lace would make a 7 string single coil!).
 
I have standard Alumitone humbuckers in all of my guitars. I used EMG's for 10+ years and once I made the switch, I'll never go back.

For me, the alumitones just sound more natural. They're the entire spectrum of frequencies that you can carve and shape however you'd like inside the Axe FX. When I hear them, it just sounds like strings vibrating through wood and not a pre-eq'd compressed signal. I made a bunch of demos a year or so ago. This is a $600 guitar.

Dry (bypassed axe fx) Chords in each pickup selection: Neck, Middle, Bridge and then the same thing with coil taps on both.
[Soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/sidivan/charvel-alumitone-dry-chords[/soundcloud]

Same thing with my clean channel. I literally just re-amped this.
[Soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/sidivan/charvel-alumitone-wet-chords[/soundcloud]

And finally some full blown distortion. Bridge pickup. I had to play a different song because I have WAY too much gain on this patch to play big full chords like that.
[Soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/sidivan/stp-plush[/soundcloud]

It should be said that when I first made the switch, I immediately thought I had made a huge mistake and didn't have the know-how to dial in the sounds I wanted. Luckily I learned pretty quickly. The above patches have been tweaked extensively after firmware upgrades.
 
I liked the alumitones. Definately more natural IMO, but like mentioned above, very full-freq'd. It took me a while to dial out some chirp in my tone with the Laces that I didn't care for, but otherwise a very solid investment if you've also got the time to go in and carve your shapes like Sid said.

No batt's, that's a big plus in my book too.

I didn't notice a significant noise difference... it might've been there, but it wasn't enough for me to get worried about it (it gated perfectly fine, noise vs. output, etc.).

I do not like EMGs or most actives for that matter, so I may be biased in my opinions on this.
 
Zexcoil TOTALLY has humbuckers. Well, none of their products is technically EITHER a classical humbucker or single coil - but they HAVE modeled BOTh single coil and humbucker pups. And they keep threatening to do a P90. I hope they do!
pima1234 said:
But, no humbuckers or P90s. And nothing for 7 string (I really, really wish Lace would make a 7 string single coil!).
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I ave never really looked at these very hard, maybe just to traditional from an electric guitar stand point but went and did some you tube watching and a few different sounding demo's. I must say I'm liking what I'm hearing so far , very intrigued.
 
The work really well with piezo-equipped guitars also. They blend in quite nicely and fill out the frequencies that piezos can neglect.
 
Not in humbucker size.

funny_polymath said:
Zexcoil TOTALLY has humbuckers. Well, none of their products is technically EITHER a classical humbucker or single coil - but they HAVE modeled BOTh single coil and humbucker pups. And they keep threatening to do a P90. I hope they do!
Click to expand...
 
Anyone have any modern metal Alumitone clips? I hear grindcore guys love them, which seems like an odd niche. I wonder why that pickup is so popular in that genre?

I found this one good demo of them. I love this guys gear demos. They sound a bit sterile/clinical

 
I don't know if this really qualifies as a good demo. The clean part sounds a little out of tune.

One criticism is they can sound sterile.

I don't recall that, but they definitely don't have the natural character of good traditional pickups. I was just really happy to lower the noise floor. (I should qualify that by saying the builder of my current guitars does not shield his guitars.)
 
rsf1977_again said:
Anyone have any modern metal Alumitone clips? I hear grindcore guys love them, which seems like an odd niche. I wonder why that pickup is so popular in that genre?

I found this one good demo of them. I love this guys gear demos. They sound a bit sterile/clinical

Click to expand...


Keep in mind that there are a few different version now. Those are the Deathbucker's which are a little scooped compared to the standard humbuckers.
 
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