SD Blackouts or EMG 81, 85's?
- Thread starter Venom Spitter
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
This site may earn a commission from merchant links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.
jaretthale78
7 stringed playa
the blackouts sounds better and you dont have to route or anything...should be an easy decision...
cypher858
Well-Known Member
personally i like the blackouts, but im a seymour duncan fanboy so... im definitely biased.
Phlegethon
Well-Known Member
Doesn't mean they're not douche bags for providing that excuse to guitar manufacturers
And that's what it is, an excuse. Do you honestly think that extra little bit makes THAT much of a difference to their CNC machines? They might save like one bit every 5000 guitars or something stupid. I'd say it hardly makes a difference when you're already routing. Probably takes about half a second too.
I will both agree with you (proprietary anything does nobody any good, period) and play a bit of devil's advocate. . .
if you were in the same position emg was back in the day why *would* you follow a format that could potentially cut into your own profits? especially if that means your company has to cut into its profits to conform to said format? I would venture to say that it's better to force the larger industry you serve to use your proprietary format so that you can keep your competitors away for a longer period of time.
and with the way a guitar company works, if they save even a small amount by routing for a proprietary pickup then that's what they're going to do. . .so this really worked out for emg when they were the first (and only) active 7 string pickup makers. they got a substantial lead on the profits (how many years until blackout 7's came out?) and made sure that everybody followed their format (SD had to make a blackout 7 that would be able to retrofit 707 routes).
now that the bit of being a devil's advocate is over, I call shenanigans on emg for their seven (and eight) string pickup housings. yes it is laziness, and while I own some of their six string stuff I didn't have to take my router to a guitar to install it. would rather track down a pair of PSND's that ibanez used in the GRG7's they made back in the day and swap them into my seven if anything ever happened to the current pickups
mrhankey87
Banned
Don't want to be a dick, but:
1: this has been discussed TO DEATH over the internet.
2: it's the wrong forum section.
btw, remaining in topic: Blackouts or EMGs? IT'S PERSONAL PREFERENCE. While blackouts sound huge, full of mids and low-mid growl, they surely don't have the tightness in the low end that the 81, 85 and their seven string models provide.
Speaking on a live situation, the blackout could sound better than a 9v 81 or 95, but when powered with 18v these are very good.
In a recording situation I think that the blackout has TOO MUCH gain. this, coupled with the fact that has loose lows, surely don't help the tightness and clarity of the overall sound. The 81 (or 81-7) is still the king of actives when recording, imho.
That said, I don't use actives anymore because even the blackout to me sounds so much active that the guitar's tonal properties are way less important. This is good on a mid-low end guitar, but not so much on a high end one.
my two cents
1: this has been discussed TO DEATH over the internet.
2: it's the wrong forum section.
btw, remaining in topic: Blackouts or EMGs? IT'S PERSONAL PREFERENCE. While blackouts sound huge, full of mids and low-mid growl, they surely don't have the tightness in the low end that the 81, 85 and their seven string models provide.
Speaking on a live situation, the blackout could sound better than a 9v 81 or 95, but when powered with 18v these are very good.
In a recording situation I think that the blackout has TOO MUCH gain. this, coupled with the fact that has loose lows, surely don't help the tightness and clarity of the overall sound. The 81 (or 81-7) is still the king of actives when recording, imho.
That said, I don't use actives anymore because even the blackout to me sounds so much active that the guitar's tonal properties are way less important. This is good on a mid-low end guitar, but not so much on a high end one.
my two cents
Don't want to be a dick, but:
1: this has been discussed TO DEATH over the internet.
2: it's the wrong forum section.
btw, remaining in topic: Blackouts or EMGs? IT'S PERSONAL PREFERENCE. While blackouts sound huge, full of mids and low-mid growl, they surely don't have the tightness in the low end that the 81, 85 and their seven string models provide.
Speaking on a live situation, the blackout could sound better than a 9v 81 or 95, but when powered with 18v these are very good.
In a recording situation I think that the blackout has TOO MUCH gain. this, coupled with the fact that has loose lows, surely don't help the tightness and clarity of the overall sound. The 81 (or 81-7) is still the king of actives when recording, imho.
That said, I don't use actives anymore because even the blackout to me sounds so much active that the guitar's tonal properties are way less important. This is good on a mid-low end guitar, but not so much on a high end one.
my two cents
This
BUT the last thing i disagree, there's a huge diference between different guitars with the same 81/85, although they maintain its character, they had a completely different low/mid/high response, the 81 usually sounds trebly, thin and ear piercing in alder or ash, but they sound brutal as hell on mahogany.
They can make an cheap guitar sound nice, but in a good guitar they sounds amazing IMO.
