Switching from active to passive p'ups. Stupid?

[unadventurer]

I recently got a LTD MH-417 used. I really love this guitar. The neck is super thin and I've enjoyed playing it alot.

My question is.. would it be a total waste of money to convert over to some passive p'ups? Say some Lundgren M7s or some Bareknuckles?

Are there spacers that wouldn't make the body look Frankensteinish with physically smaller 'p'ups?

It comes with EMGs stock and they just aren't really cutting it for me personally. I still have more of an urge to pick up my Gibson SG when writing and messing around just because it feels much more organic when playing with harmonics and such.

Thanks people

 

[Tjore]

I think yes, it's a bad idea. Even though I prefer passive pickups, the price and/or time it takes to change out all the wires and internal hardware, it's just not that worth it. EMG's or Seymour Duncan Blackouts are good enough.

 

[MastrXploder]

Just get some good passives! (it lets more of you and not batteries come out of the sound)

 

[benjy]

I was disappointed with my emg's at first, but i raised my action and adjusted my eq a bit and now i love them. I personally wouldn't bother with passives.

 

[Miek]

It's not stupid at all, but try messing around with your EQ and pickup height a bit more if you haven't. Otherwise, yeah, I'd definitely give going passive a shot. You can put passives underneath an active cover or you can get in-route conversion pickup rings if you do.

 

[painless6505]

I went through the same decision recently. Decided to 18V mod my EMG 707's instead. Cost me $4 for a few 9v battery clips, and an extra battery. Totally worth it, sounds killer.

 

[ZXIIIT]

Do you like actives? have you tried passives?

I went from strictly active to strictly passive, and my tone is really good, but I do miss the tonality of active pickups, but not the battery changing at all (don't care if it was once every 6 months, I DON'T care for that.)

Try out what works best for you and if your happy, then go with it

But, +1 for passives

 

[Ironbird]

I have 'D-Activated' a guitar that came with actives before, and it isn't much of a hassle, really. But only do it if you're dead sure - I went from active to passive and back to active again (with the same guitar!). Sure learned my lesson the hard way!

 

[Michael T]

+1 for passives. As most I was strictly ACTIVE pups for a few years, them got a guitar with some passives in her that slayed my EMG equipped axe.


After that there was no turning back, for me personally passives let more of my playing style come thru and allowed me to achieve a wider variety of useful tones.


As Stated they have active covers that will fit your passives or in the route pickup rings, both of which look nice.

 

[iamdunker]

Passives for sure. They really sing.

 

[Elijah]

Have you thought about giving EMG's X series a shot? I haven't tried them out yet but I've only heard good things about them. A lot of passive pup players seem to like what they hear from the X series, so I'd say give those a look.

 

[AwakenNoMore]

Try Blackouts, I threw a set in my ESP H-207 and its made a stellar difference, more flavor than EMG's.

 

[BabUShka]

Have you thought about giving EMG's X series a shot? I haven't tried them out yet but I've only heard good things about them. A lot of passive pup players seem to like what they hear from the X series, so I'd say give those a look.

i have a 707X in neck, and it sounds awesome. Unsplitted it sounds pretty much like regular 707's.. But when splitted, it really clears out the sound very well. Escpecially with cleans and old good bluesy low gain stuff.
Doesnt sound nearly as good as the passive single coils in strats for sure, but its still a worth the money going with X instead of regular EMG.
Really just adds more versatility.
I dont mind passives or actives, i like em both. Learn to EQ EMG's and you'll be able to tweak some nice sounds. I wouldnt bother swapping them with passives, getting pickup rings +++
But if you really hate them, then theres no question.

Just google EMG707 swaps and you'll see how people swap EMGs with passives. Ive seen some really nice Schecters and ESP/LTD's gone through this transformatin. Pickup rings aint that bad looking

 

[technomancer]

If you don't like them and know what you want swap them

If you know how to solder the process is really not a big deal at all assuming the cost of new pups / pots isn't an issue.

 

[s4tch]

If you don't like them and know what you want swap them

If you know how to solder the process is really not a big deal at all assuming the cost of new pups / pots isn't an issue.

This.

I did the same with an RGA32. Factory actives were poor, so I decided to get some DiMarzios that would be fine in a mahogany body. I ended up ebaying an AT-1 (Andy Timmons signature, awesome pickup, very clean, accurate and had a lot of harmonics) and a Breed Neck (everybody knows that), and the cheap axe just rocked with them. Of course, I had to get some new pots, too: on ebay, you can find dead cheap push-pull pots, they were perfect. I googled some wiring solutions for a HH config and coil tapping, did my homework in soldering, it was a great experience. OP, if you prefer passives, just go ahead.

However I'm not sure EMG routings would be fine for passives. It may require some pickup rings or EMG-sized covers.

 

[Ryan-ZenGtr-]

As Miek already said, earlier;

Try messing around with your EQ and pickup height a bit more if you haven't

Adjusting the height of EMG's is really important. It's also free. The lower the pickup, the more dynamic the sound is. The higher the pickup, it's more compressed.

 

[Guitarwiz2k]

Just pretend you're on a gig and your tone starts to not sound as good as it should... do you change out the batteries, or play the night as is. With passives, that question never comes up. Same reliable tone all night long...

 

[Max_SMW]

I played EMG`s for about 5 years till I got my LP where I switched the Bridge PU for a passive Bareknuckle Cold Sweat.
Dynamics and punch are unmatched with that one, for my taste it just has more feel and tone to it, it sounds less "electric" and more "wood" if that makes any sense

Still like the EMG`s, how couldn`t I, but the Bareknuckle simply blew it.

Plus, as Guitarwiz2k mentioned, it feels good not to have a battery. One point less to worry about.

 

[mr_rainmaker]

maybe its me but I can tell the difference in sound between types of batteries,I`ll never go back to active.

 

[pushpull7]

I've just gone into this "passive only" phase for guitars. I have one guitar with emg's and just recently decided I don't like them anymore. Personal taste obviously.