Esp Eclipse II Pickup Advice

[Philippe]

Hey guys,

I was told today that Seymour Duncan is going to be coming to my school tomorrow and that they will be selling pickups at discounted prices and installing them on the spot free of charge. So basically I'm wondering if I should change my EMG 81 (Bridge) and 60 (Neck) for either a model of their active pickups or some passive pickups.

I really love the Eclipse but I just find that with the EMG's that my picking can never have an effect on the tone and that it would be cool to have something more dynamic but that can also have really smooth clean's but high output for Paul Gilbert'ish riffs.

Would any of the active pickups be an upgrade to what is currently in the guitar or should I switch for one of the active models?

Looking forward to your suggestions,

Thanks again

 

[MTech]

The Custom/59 or Custom/Jazz is a great combo. Keeps it sounding tight with a good output and versatile range of good cleans to articulate distortion.

 

[Philippe]

So no one thinks that the blackouts would be an upgrade?

 

[FireInside]

So no one thinks that the blackouts would be an upgrade?

I do. I have Emg's and Blackouts in several guitars. I much prefer the Blackouts.

 

[MTech]

So no one thinks that the blackouts would be an upgrade?

I do like blackouts more since they have more output with less noise and way better tone/articulation but I still like passive pickups best hence my recommendation above.

 

[Philippe]

Awesome I will definitively go for it then

 

[Rook]

I'd say you definitely have something to gain, and the Blackouts are more dynamic than your average EMG, however I'd have recommended a Custom/59 (passive) set, which will be more dynamic too.


Also, Seymour Duncan coming to your school? That's awesome!

 

[Mukersman]

What's the deal with SD coming to a school?

 

[zimbloth]

Active pickups are still active pickups. I do like Blackouts better but they still can't compare to a good passive IMO. I think Seymour Duncan makes some fairly nice stuff that would be an upgrade over the EMGs in your Eclipse. I would recommend the Custom or Custom 5 in the bridge and the 59 or Jazz in the neck. I also like the Full Shred.

Remember when installing passive pickups in a guitar with EMGs, you will need new 500K pots.

 

[Philippe]

Hey guys thanks a lot for all the help I went with the blackouts as they didn't have the custom 5 for the bridge or 59 in the neck with matching covers. One of the Seymour Duncan guys told me that if I bought covers online that it would be a very bad idea to get it installed at a local shop or do it myself since he explained that putting covers is actually a complicated process so I therefore decided that I didn't wanna waste my time going through that whole process since I need my guitar every day. So far I haven't been able to try them on a real amp however tomorrow I will be able to put them to the test through an ENGL Power ball. I will let you guys know whether or not I see an improvement.

Another weird thing, I heard him talking to someone at one point who mentnioned BKP's and he seemed to be totally against the fact that the pickups are hand wires and he was also saying that boutique pickups such as BKP are not as carefully made as even there standard pickups. I thought that was quite interesting as I have some Aftermath's in my Loomis and I think they totally kill! What are your guys's thoughts on this?

Thanks again

 

[danielzabolotny]

Well of course Duncan is talking bad about BKP's, because BKP's are rapidly becoming one of their biggest competitors, look no further than this forum, where everybody's hyping up BKP's and replacing their Duncans with them.

 

[Rook]

^don't exaggerate, and do look further than this forum. We as players are a minority among the mass guitar market

BKP have nothing on Duncanas far as market share is concerned, the general pickup market share probably goes:

40% Duncan
20% EMG
15% DiMarzio
The other 25% probably makes up the other, smaller brands, BKP, Lace, Bartolini, you name it. Don't forget some of the most popular guitar brands make their own pickups - Fender, PRS, Gibson - and sell plenty of them separately too and an awful lot of lesser educated guitarists with Gibsons and Fenders are reluctant to veer away from branded stuff like that.