[Edroz]

Originally Posted by Grendel

Good point. What about the Loomis? I

I'm considering the switch as well, but I'm nervous about spending $100 and not being totally happy with the switch. IMO, the 707's on my Loomis are somewhat sterile. I've had the same experience with 81's in another guitar. I simply want a more organic and dynamic tone .

Thanks.

then you want EMG route concealing pickup rings and passives, or a different guitar. believe me, i've been there, and there's no other way around it .

[Jongpil Yun]

Originally Posted by Edroz

then you want EMG route concealing pickup rings and passives, or a different guitar. believe me, i've been there, and there's no other way around it .

Correct. I'll be the first to say that EMGs rule for rhythm work*, and you'll be hard pressed to find a set of passives that match them (though EVO7, M7, probably some of the BKPs do), for leads they're absolutely terrible (IMO, as always). They're just not built the same as a neck singlecoil or even humbucker. Yeah, you can compensate for it (Loomis does admirably) but for the most part, EMGs kill lead tone (see Rusty Cooley -- another EMG user with great rhythm and shit lead tone).

*I personally haven't had the problems with feedback and noise and what have you, but I'm a bedroom wanker and never turned my Dual Recto past 4.

[zimbloth]

Blackouts arent scooped at all, they just have a less pronounced nasally mid-range honk like an EMG 81, it's more of a smoothed out even midrange. Very balanced, but plenty of mids there definitely.

The Blackout Neck and EMG 707 sound somewhat similar, just quieter, louder, smoother, more organic. The Blackout Bridge however is much different than the EMG 81-7.

I can see why someone may prefer EMGs over Blackouts, it's not a black and white issue. All I can say is in mahogany guitars the Blackouts are fucking amazing. Ive never tried one in basswood, and in bright guitars I find the bridge model isn't ballsy enough, I have yet to try the Blackout neck in the bridge of a bright guitar though. That's the final experiment to try. However at this point I'm just going to throw a BKP in mine.

[7 Strings of Hate]

hey nick, wise men realize they dont know everything
i dont say that i do, but about the noise issue with the emg's? i think your dead wrong, and many people will agree with me. I have had tons of emg's through tons of rigs, and never ever had a noise problem. But anyway, i dont think i'm gonna convert

[neroceasar]

i have a pair of blackouts in my main seven and yeah there is a lot of hype. Their tone is more like a passive but with all the detail of active. emgs are typical more middy than the blackouts.

[musicman2879]

Ok before you go buying a set of blackouts cause you aren't sure you like the 707,, spend a few bucks and do an 18v mod...Believe me it helps...I ordered the Blackouts for my Ibanez 7 cause i played a gig with my bud's 7 and he had blackouts..I like the blackouts..The bottom line is the Duncans have more presence...which you can achieve with the EMG's by doing the 18v modd..No they wont sound Identical but the difference isn't drastic just suddle.. I think the 707's work better for hardtail and the Duncans are better for trem.. thats just my opinion and preference..My sixer has an emg 81 neck and Duncan Live wire metal bridge.. Cause i wanted both worlds....

[djpharoah]

Originally Posted by musicman2879

Ok before you go buying a set of blackouts cause you aren't sure you like the 707,, spend a few bucks and do an 18v mod...Believe me it helps...I ordered the Blackouts for my Ibanez 7 cause i played a gig with my bud's 7 and he had blackouts..I like the blackouts..The bottom line is the Duncans have more presence...which you can achieve with the EMG's by doing the 18v modd..No they wont sound Identical but the difference isn't drastic just suddle.. I think the 707's work better for hardtail and the Duncans are better for trem.. thats just my opinion and preference..My sixer has an emg 81 neck and Duncan Live wire metal bridge.. Cause i wanted both worlds....

Thanks but I did the 18V immediately after I got my guitar setup.

[Toshiro]

The way I see it is this, having had my local friend over with his EMG loaded LTD(6'er though ).

EMGs have more high mids. More cut, but sound a bit thinner. The Blackouts have more low mids, more chunk, and sound a bit fuller.

[Randy]

Originally Posted by Toshiro

The way I see it is this, having had my local friend over with his EMG loaded LTD(6'er though ).

EMGs have more high mids. More cut, but sound a bit thinner. The Blackouts have more low mids, more chunk, and sound a bit fuller.

That's what my experience was as well. The Blackout sounded like a better rhythm pickup, and the 707 stood out from the mix in the lead section better, IMO.

[musicman2879]

Originally Posted by Randy

That's what my experience was as well. The Blackout sounded like a better rhythm pickup, and the 707 stood out from the mix in the lead section better, IMO.

Yeah, but what was your guitar body made of and was it a hard tail or trem.. these are all factors in how the Duncans sound..The lighter the wood the higher the tone. Bass woods seem to darken the Duncans up alot..Ash type seem to work better 4 em