DKMG-Active or Passive Pups?

[Riffmeister]

Ok , want all your opinions on active vs passive pickups. I want to keep it based on a DKMG, and although my personal comparison will be EMGs VS Dimarzios, you guys can post about Duncan and other actives and passives as well.

Which, and why?

[Spivonious]

I don't like the sound of EMGs, so it would be passives for me. But it's really a personal thing. Go find a DKMG at a store and play it. Then find a DK2 or DK2M and play it. Which do you like more?

[Riffmeister]

Well, those come with Duncans in them and I am not a Duncan fan at all, but if they actually had one in the store, I would try that. All they have are Dxs and they didn't feel good enough to me to even bother plugging them in.

[Wild Wally]

i LOVE the Duncan JB in the bridge! I have put them in tons of guitars. They're so toneful. You can really hear the character of the amp and the guitar, and at the same time they're hot enough to get a really great crunch. Great for drivin' country and blues, hard rock, and they nail the 80's metal tone!

Wally

[rattlehead74]

Dimarzio D activator, passive pick ups with active pick up characteristics.

[warlok]

I'm not positive on this but I think some of the ibanez pups are either designed by, or made based on dimarzios. (Kinda like how some of the ones in Jackson's are to Duncans.) So you may be able to find info on that and maybe they'll have a ibanez that you can use to compare-ish to the DKMG.

[Fender]

Who said you had to stick with the pick-ups they come with. You're gonna pay more for the DKMG just because it has the emgs in it. Active pick-ups are overpriced unless you really like them. So my best advice for you is, and i do this all the time, find a guitar that suites you: looks and feeling. Then simply buy and install some pick-ups that match the sound you're going for. You're not a duncan guy? Neither am i. I usually swap am out for some DiMarzios i keep around. Tone Zone, Evo, Paf Pro etc. That'll be way better than getting EMG's because you don't like duncans .

[MetalHeadMat]

I don't like the sound of EMGs, so it would be passives for me. But it's really a personal thing. Go find a DKMG at a store and play it. Then find a DK2 or DK2M and play it. Which do you like more?

.

[Riffmeister]

Who said you had to stick with the pick-ups they come with. You're gonna pay more for the DKMG just because it has the emgs in it. Active pick-ups are overpriced unless you really like them. So my best advice for you is, and i do this all the time, find a guitar that suites you: looks and feeling. Then simply buy and install some pick-ups that match the sound you're going for. You're not a duncan guy? Neither am i. I usually swap am out for some DiMarzios i keep around. Tone Zone, Evo, Paf Pro etc. That'll be way better than getting EMG's because you don't like duncans .

Well I got a great deal on it, so I'm not paying anymore for the Emg's. I have used Dimarzio Tone Zones, Super distortions and Air Norton and loved them, I just never used or knew anything about Emg's

Right now I am in limbo with all my gear either on backorder or awaiting my taxes to come So when I have all this stuff, I surely will know weather I like them or not, then I wouldn't need to post this thread, but that would be no fun LOL

Anyway, I like to soak up all I can from you guys

[Riffmeister]

I'm not positive on this but I think some of the ibanez pups are either designed by, or made based on dimarzios. (Kinda like how some of the ones in Jackson's are to Duncans.) So you may be able to find info on that and maybe they'll have a ibanez that you can use to compare-ish to the DKMG.

I had an iceman, that was an awesome guitar for the price, neck through etc, but it had somekind of Ibanez pups in it and they sounded like they were some out of phase , hollow sounding mess!

I imediately put a Dimarzio super disortion in it and it rocked!

[Cygnus X1]

I have a passive JC90 in the bridge of my DKMGT and love the sound of it.
I lean towards a Glen Tipton sound.

EMG85 in my Model 88, single pickup.
It's OK, nothing to sneeze at, but I think that EMG would be
better suited for a different guitar.

[Fender]

Thing is EMG's have one great tone and they nail it incredibly, but nothing else. They are simply not versatile. I hate the way they seem to have little warmth on a clean channel. They have a nice aggressive metal sound, but that's about it. Then again, many other pick-ups get similar sounds and are passive. High output passives, but passive none the less. I used to totally ball over emgs when i was younger, but those were simpler days. All i wanted to play was Metallica, Iron Maiden, Megadeth, Ozzy Osbourne, Slayer, Children of Bodom, Motorhead etc. Now i can do a lot of the same songs and more variety. I swing between some classics like Stevie ray vaughan and Jimi Hendrix. Hit some Clapton on the way back. Try to keep up with Steve Vai, and then play the same game with Satch. Then i can go balls out and chugg some early Metallica riffs. These days i mostly pull the hairspray out and go Van Halen on everyone...and poison, motley crue, cinderella, white snake etc

So it's all up to you, but if you don't have 6 or 8 guitars, i would suggest getting something else or planning a pup change because you will the days you had versatile axes. I have over 10 or so right now and i used to harbor them in the odds of 30-40 mid to high value ones. By then it was okay and it's still the same now because i have a few of them in standard E then another couple in Eb and then one or two sevens and a drop d then maybe 2 D's. You know that way you don't have to spend all the time changing strings and tuning guitars when you want to play some different stuff. Especially when 70% of your guitar have floyds or floating bridges. So again, i'd suggest a versatile axe if you got a few of them, but if you got a lot; then definately try them. At worst, you'll be headbanging with this one.

[Riffmeister]

Well, I will end up with 2 guitars, the Viv Campbell rep. is a one pup Blocked floyd that will be tuned down a half step to cover all the older VH and any newer stuff that is tuned down. It has a Full Shred in it, which I will find out if I really like it once I get my rig and start cranking it up a bit.

The DKMG is going to be my main guitar tuned to 440, and it is going to have to cover a lot of stuff from Ratt, to Ozzy, to Fuel, to The Goo Goo Dolls, to 3 doors down Etc Etc.

So from what it SOUNDS like to me without actually hearing them yet, I am going to need to go back to my tone zone and some kind of decent neck pup that I can split when I want. The Emgs that are in there, I have found out can't be split.

I guess I wouldn't have to many problems selling them on Ebay if I don't like them, or could always try one of them in the Viv Campbell rep since it will cover more of the heavier stuff.

[Fender]

Put them on ebay - leave the Viv cambell sig alone

[Nightbat]

If you have 1 EMG guitar, you don't need any more, ...EMG's that is, they also don't
matter in what kind of guitar they're in

I'm with Fender on this one, 1 sound, great, but only for one thing
A Hi fi pickup with lots of output, perfect for pushing (and keeping) an amp over the edge
but has no real 'own' character, nor does it really let the guitar's character shine