Ibanez RG852 808 vs Nazgul

[Ericjutsu]

So I had my guitar's stock pickups (808) changed to Seymour Duncan Nazgul/Sentient with a push/pull knob for coil splitting. I did a tone comparison between the 808 and Nazgul. Sorry, the playing isn't the greatest but I think it can still be useful. I double tracked (two takes) for each comparison. Everything besides the pickups are identical except the 808 has slightly thicker gauge strings (60 and 76) than the Nazgul one (56 and 74). Pretty soon I'll do a comparison between this guitar and my old Schecter C8 Hellraiser Special with 808s. I like the Nazgul/Sentient better than the 808s. The Nazgul is really tight and defined and less "plastic" sounding than the 808. I like the feel of these pickups better too and love having a coil split.

EMG 808

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/ericjutsu/ibanez-rg852-emg-809[/SC]

Seymour Duncan Nazgul

[SC]https://soundcloud.com/ericjutsu/ibanez-rg852-nazgul[/SC]

 

[bcolville]

They both sound pretty good to me in this context! But I think the 808 wouldn't sound as good with fast palm mutes. Could you tell me how you recorded this?

 

[Ericjutsu]

yeah I would like to do another comparison clip with my other 8 string (hellraiser with 808s) vs my new Ibanez using palm mutes, chordal stuff and this meshuggah riff along with cleans. For this recording I used a backing track that had drums and MIDI bass. For the guitars I used Cubase's VST Amp Rack with just a High and low pass and thats it.

 

[Vrollin]

Might just be me but the Nazgul sounds a lot clearer and the 808 has a bit of a wet blanket deal going on.....

 

[Ericjutsu]

yeah I really like these new pickups. I like the sentient on coil split with the volume rolled down slightly for a bluesy tone. Clean are great too. The nazgul sounds tighter and more defined and just feels nicer to play than the 808. Anyone else want to give their opinions on the tone comparison?

 

[Konfyouzd]

Might just be me but the Nazgul sounds a lot clearer and the 808 has a bit of a wet blanket deal going on.....

This is what I ALWAYS thought of the 808 series. Even the Xs to be honest. I like 45DCs a LOT better although it seems I end up having to crank my gain a tiny bit more with those. They just seem to be voiced better than most of the pickups EMG originally released for 8 strings.

I honestly feel similarly about the 808s to how I feel about the DiMarzio Blaze. They reproduce the notes, sure, but there's just something missing in the delivery for me.

 

[G-Varbanov]

Hey man I got an Iron Label RGIR27FE and the only thing i did not like are the 707EMGs. I was planing to change them to Nazgul & Sentient but found out that they have to be Active mount in order to fit. Did you do the wiring by yourself or did you give the job to a tech?

 

[clay]

cool

 

[Ericjutsu]

I had the tech do the wiring.

 

[Batsinthebelltower]

Thanks for this comparison dude, nice clean clear contrast between the 2 !

 

[takotakumi]

Got the same guitar yesterday man! How did achieve this tone? I am thinking in swapping for that same pair as well

 

[sevenstringj]

Guess I'm the only one who thinks the 808 took a shit on the Nazgul. More balls AND more hair on the balls. And that's not even with the 18v mod, right?

 

[BigHandy]

Till now I was pretty convinced about the Nazgul's superiority against the 808 based on Youtube demos floating around, but this comparison made me a bit unsettled. The Nazgul seems a bit clearer but the 808 seems to have more 'beef' and thickness in overall on the lower tones. Maybe 808's arent that bad as many describes it? Hmmm... Still a bit unsure tho'...

Another comparison with more versatile tones would be usefull!

 

[GunnarJames]

Guess I'm the only one who thinks the 808 took a shit on the Nazgul.

+1