Seymour Duncan Mark Holcomb Scarlet/Scourge set

[Kyle Jordan]

I MIGHT be wrong but I recall it being stated somewhere that the 60 is actually a mini humbucker. Maybe that's where some of the magic comes from.

Yep, EMG states that the 60 is leaning towards mini humbucker on their website.

That’s one of the main reasons I love it. Has always sounded kind of like a mini humbucker or fat single coil. Somewhere between the two.

 

[Purelojik]

Yep, EMG states that the 60 is leaning towards mini humbucker on their website.

That’s one of the main reasons I love it. Has always sounded kind of like a mini humbucker or fat single coil. Somewhere between the two.

i've always loved the 60 in both neck and bridge and happy to hear there are others here too . so much more to offer than the 81 and 85 in terms of character

 

[Emperoff]

I mainly use passives these days, but I've done a lot of shows with a 707 / 60-7 combo and you can just play absolutely everything with them. So everytime I get a guitar that comes stock with the usual 81-7/707 or dual 707 combo I just keep a 707 and get a 60-7 until I decide which passives to get for it.

I still have a guitar that way, and I have zero hurry on swapping the pickups.

 

[Matt08642]

The last few posts here have made me want to put my 85 in the bridge and get a 60 for the neck of my EMG guitar

 

[Metalscreame]

Found this vid that shows the sound. Really not that much of sound samples could be found so far still

 

[MAJ Meadows SF]

Found this vid that shows the sound. Really not that much of sound samples could be found so far still

Yeah there aren't any that are not mix based or pre-recorded. I can hear the brightness come out, reminding me again of a couple SD models I swapped with A8 magnets. I'm not one for cutting too much low end but that's not a recording observation; I definitely see the studio value of these, and FWIW I kind of like the 7 string tones. I think I prefer the A/O for 6 strings, which makes sense for voicing preference to my ears; I prefer Black Winter 7s over A/O 7s (neither is bad just preference). I'd need to play them though to be certain.

Adding to the EMG sidetrack and pickups vs strings/tunings, I think the Het Set is my ATF actives in E & D standard, 1 step drops. Tuning to B or lower, the chug sound gets "spongey" and "chewy", which I am no fan of. The old 81 does better, but still has a "thud" I can never unhear (thanks Metallica). The EMGx series however, is gold for those lower tunings, B and below, 6 thru 8 string. I mostly stick with passives for 7 strings and lower, but the 707x was a pleasant surprise. I have not tried the Duncan actives beyond one or two store jams besides the Livewire and both Blackouts, and I favor the AHB-2 w/o jumper strongly. Retribution needs a serious opportunity too. AHB-2 is bass heavy and mid thick, so my ears both active and passive dig the punchier low-mid strong pickups over higher end clarity.

 

[SubsonicDoom99]

Other than some instances where audible differences are glaring, or some of the better-made shootout videos, really I don't think judging pickups by how they sound on videos is much help. I'd seen some clips of people using the Alternative 8 pickup and honestly I didn't get any overwhelming sense of it sounding too different than something like a JB, but when I finally tried the Alt-8 pickup for myself I could hear (and probably more importantly) feel a considerable difference, in a good way. So it wasn't really until I tried it for myself that I became sold on the A8 magnet. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on the Scourge, at least I can honestly say that none of the clips I've heard of it so far sound bad in any way, so that's a good start.

 

[SubsonicDoom99]

Adding to the EMG sidetrack and pickups vs strings/tunings, I think the Het Set is my ATF actives in E & D standard, 1 step drops. Tuning to B or lower, the chug sound gets "spongey" and "chewy", which I am no fan of. The old 81 does better, but still has a "thud" I can never unhear (thanks Metallica). The EMGx series however, is gold for those lower tunings, B and below, 6 thru 8 string. I mostly stick with passives for 7 strings and lower, but the 707x was a pleasant surprise. I have not tried the Duncan actives beyond one or two store jams besides the Livewire and both Blackouts, and I favor the AHB-2 w/o jumper strongly. Retribution needs a serious opportunity too. AHB-2 is bass heavy and mid thick, so my ears both active and passive dig the punchier low-mid strong pickups over higher end clarity.

The Retribution set is actually really good, and I'm not a huge fan of active pickups overall (though in some instances they're brilliant). I'm surprised that the Retribution flies under the radar most of the times. As I mentioned in another thread, I think a lot of players tend to lump all of the Duncan active pickups into one category and assume they all sound and respond the same, which they don't from my experience. Retribution is one of the better active pickups I've tried for seven string, actually. And yeah I agree with you about the 707x, I had a positive experience with those too in the same instance.

 

[MAJ Meadows SF]

The Retribution set is actually really good, and I'm not a huge fan of active pickups overall (though in some instances they're brilliant). I'm surprised that the Retribution flies under the radar most of the times. As I mentioned in another thread, I think a lot of players tend to lump all of the Duncan active pickups into one category and assume they all sound and respond the same, which they don't from my experience. Retribution is one of the better active pickups I've tried for seven string, actually. And yeah I agree with you about the 707x, I had a positive experience with those too in the same instance.

If I ever get another 7 string with actives I'm definitely giving the retribution a spin. Great input, and you're 100% right that the Duncan range is plenty different between models.