# Jeff Loomis Signature SD Pickups



## jc986 (Nov 25, 2015)

Saw this over at the SD Forum and figured guys here would be interested in this:







Not really any info on the pickups, but I'm interested in seeing some specs/demos. Hopefully they'll be available in 7 string as well.

That guitar shape is horrendous though.


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## jc986 (Nov 25, 2015)

Looks like I'm late to the party...just saw this info posted in the Standard Guitars section. Mods can remove this thread if necessary.


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## dshea19 (Nov 25, 2015)

That thread is about the guitar. If we are specifically are talking about the pickups, no need to delete. However, I have heard next to nothing about the pickups. Hopefully they are Blackout versions of the 57/66. That would be sweet.


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## GuitarBizarre (Nov 25, 2015)

Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or is that bridge pickup slightly narrower than the neck pickup? Almost looks like it splits the difference between a mini humbucker size and a standard size, compared to the neck.


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## odibrom (Nov 25, 2015)

GuitarBizarre said:


> Are my eyes playing tricks on me, or is that bridge pickup slightly narrower than the neck pickup? Almost looks like it splits the difference between a mini humbucker size and a standard size, compared to the neck.



I guess there's something Bizarre happening to your eyes...


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## blkroseimmortal (Dec 24, 2015)

Looks like there will be both 6 and 7 string models. If you look on the Schecter website all of his guitars now have his signature pickups in them. Still no info though on the SD website as far specs. Very interested to try these out since I wasn't too impressed with the 57-7 & 66-7 that came stock in my JL-7.


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## robski92 (Dec 24, 2015)

I think there is a video or two on Keith Merrow's youtube channel of him using them. They were play through videos though so they might be the EMG's he was using when they recorded their album.


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## Agramal (Dec 25, 2015)

Shape, finish and inlays are not my thing, but I like the other appointments. Will be interested to see what those pickups are.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 19, 2016)




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## Hachetjoel (Jan 19, 2016)

Guess Keith merrow got to him


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 19, 2016)

Hachetjoel said:


> Guess Keith merrow got to him



Well Loomis got him a signature guitar, so Keith got him a signature set of pickups.


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## onefingersweep (Jan 20, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


>




Nice! 

Whats the Bach-esque song he's playing?


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## Kevp714 (Jan 20, 2016)

onefingersweep said:


> Nice!
> 
> Whats the Bach-esque song he's playing?



There are several Arch Enemy songs from War Eternal in the video. At the beginning is As the Pages Burn, second song is Avalanche, and near the end is War Eternal, I believe. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but none of the solos he is playing in the videos are featured in the studio versions of these songs since Jeff hadn't joined the band yet when it was recorded.


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## Hachetjoel (Jan 20, 2016)

I hated that guitar shape until I saw him playing it in the video, call me crazy but I think it looks really cool on him.


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## oneblackened (Jan 21, 2016)

These sound good... I don't usually say that about actives.


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## Blytheryn (Jan 21, 2016)

Keith raising his fist at the end is pretty funny lmao.


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## Spicypickles (Jan 21, 2016)

That dude can play like a ....in beast, but his tone is far from something I would strive for, honestly.


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## chassless (Jan 21, 2016)

i'd like to hear a more varied demo! with comparisons and different styles, in depth descriptions and all. that's one savage rhythm sound though at 2:57


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## Spicypickles (Jan 21, 2016)

Kinda sounds like an EMG-81, that hollow, dry ass scratchy sound. I've always been partial to the 85/85x type sounds. More mids, more ass end.


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## chassless (Jan 21, 2016)

^ you think so? i think it sounded more fluid and "full" though, and less fizzy. (my comparison is based on descriptions and clips of the 81 i heard. i don't have first-hand experience with it)


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## RUSH_Of_Excitement (Jan 22, 2016)

Loved the rhythm and lead sound on these, cleans? Not so much


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## chassless (Jan 23, 2016)

Yeah the clean setting they used seemed a bit half-assed. Too much chorus on top and too short of a clip. But i guess we can always wait a bit, there's bound to be another demo coming out any time soon.


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## onefingersweep (Jan 23, 2016)

RUSH_Of_Excitement said:


> Loved the rhythm and lead sound on these, cleans? Not so much



Haha yes the cleans were horrible. So "synthetic" sounding. I will start to call this type of clean sound as "plastic cleans".


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## Petar Bogdanov (Jan 23, 2016)

onefingersweep said:


> Haha yes the cleans were horrible. So "synthetic" sounding. I will start to call this type of clean sound as "plastic cleans".



Plastic would be too kind. Computer mice are plastic and they make a soothing noise.


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## Lasik124 (Jan 24, 2016)

That video was cool!

It sounds like the pups work really well for him and cut through great for playing with Arch Enemy.

I'm not sure if these pickups would be something I'm looking for, but they seem to suit Jeff well!


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## Carlm83 (Feb 7, 2016)

Any news on a release date yet?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Mar 1, 2016)

So, they finally put the pickups on their site...

*$150 a ....ing piece.*
And the soapbar is ....ing $180.

Jeff Loomis Blackouts &#8211; neck 7 strg, passive mount | Seymour Duncan
Jeff Loomis Blackouts &#8211; bridge 7 strg, active mount | Seymour Duncan


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## jc986 (Mar 1, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> So, they finally put the pickups on their site...
> 
> *$150 a ....ing piece.*
> And the soapbar is ....ing $180.
> ...



Wow that's crazy high.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Mar 1, 2016)

I agree. I was expecting at least $100 or at most $120 each

Seriously, for the price, just get an EMG 57/66 or Fishman Fluence set. Much, much cheaper.


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## jc986 (Mar 1, 2016)

I'm also curious why they are choosing to upcharge for the active mount when they don't do that for any other pickup they offer in both mounting styles.


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## chassless (Mar 1, 2016)

well, at least the neck humbucker's cleans sound better in the website's clips than in the video they did last month.


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## Spicypickles (Mar 1, 2016)

chassless said:


> ^ you think so? i think it sounded more fluid and "full" though, and less fizzy. (my comparison is based on descriptions and clips of the 81 i heard. i don't have first-hand experience with it)



I used to have a couple 81 loaded guits.


They definitely serve their purpose, but they have a weird hollow sound to them (IMO), this video sounded similar. It is a bit more full, yes.


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## Mathemagician (Mar 1, 2016)

I mean...does Michael Ammott even let other people solo? Genuine question. Haven't seen it in any recent videos, but I haven't followed them closely since Wages of Sin.


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## jc986 (Mar 1, 2016)

When his brother Chris was in the band he played the majority of the leads and any time I've seen them live Michael takes more of a rhythm role.


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## Spectivum (Mar 2, 2016)

Are signature pickups relevant outside of the signature guitar they were developed in? I feel they are catered for a very specific need and might not translate to varied setups as much as more generic designs.


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## chassless (Mar 2, 2016)

^ i dunno, their descriptions are pretty generic to me


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## Spectivum (Mar 2, 2016)

chassless said:


> ^ i dunno, their descriptions are pretty generic to me



it's another blackout variant...


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Mar 2, 2016)

Wouldn't be surprised if it's a slightly revoiced 57/66. It's alnico like them, has polepieces like them, and is even voiced to have more midrange/treble emphasis like an EMG.


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## Emperoff (Mar 3, 2016)

jc986 said:


> I'm also curious why they are choosing to upcharge for the active mount when they don't do that for any other pickup they offer in both mounting styles.



That's absolutely incorrect. Check the prices for regular Sentient/Pegasus sets and then the soapbar ones. 40$ rip off per pickup (at least here in europe).


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## jc986 (Mar 3, 2016)

Emperoff said:


> That's absolutely incorrect. Check the prices for regular Sentient/Pegasus sets and then the soapbar ones. 40$ rip off per pickup (at least here in europe).



I only looked at pricing for their other active pickups. I see now that they do the same type of upcharge for their passive models in the soapbar mount.


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## Aymara (Mar 8, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Wouldn't be surprised if it's a slightly revoiced 57/66.



A direct comparison would be interesting.

From the description the JL Blackouts deserve a different name, than Blackout, because they seem to have a totally different sound profile. The other Blackouts have more a bathtub profile and the JL a midrange boost, right?


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## Jmk338 (Mar 11, 2016)

This just popped up on Instagram today


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## SqWark (Mar 12, 2016)

I'm a huge fan of Jeff Loomis but honestly, I'm not blown away by what I'm hearing from the new pickups. They sound articulate but not particularly warm. His swamp ash/maple neck/maple fretboard guitar likely has a lot to do with this also.


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## Aymara (Mar 12, 2016)

SqWark said:


> His swamp ash/maple neck/maple fretboard guitar likely has a lot to do with this also.



This wood combination might be nice for super high gain stuff on a 7-string, but nothing else for my taste.

Put the SDs in a Schecter Hybrid e.g. with it's mahogany body and maple neck and I bet they will sound pretty similar as it's stock EMG 57/66 set.

THAT test would show, if these new SDs really have the potential to be as versatile as these EMGs.


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## Pav (Mar 12, 2016)

Are these coming from the SD custom shop or something? Why on earth is Seymour Duncan closing in on BKP prices here??


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## Aymara (Mar 12, 2016)

Pav said:


> Are these coming from the SD custom shop or something?



No, regular shop ... but they were introduced at NAMM this year, so it takes some time until we see them in shops.



> Why on earth is Seymour Duncan closing in on BKP prices here??



I think, it'll take some time for a price drop ... until they notice, that JL isn't THAT huge superstar, that sells every moon price


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## Lorcan Ward (Mar 12, 2016)

Pav said:


> Are these coming from the SD custom shop or something? Why on earth is Seymour Duncan closing in on BKP prices here??



Maybe they are testing the waters to see if people will pay crazy prices for production pickups. If they're made in the custom shop it still doesn't explain the price since they have a floor level price for production pickups in custom colours, they are making hundred(s) for Schecter to put in Jeff's new 6 string so the price is a strange.


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## SqWark (Mar 12, 2016)

$124.95 for the 6 string version which isn't too bad IMO. An extra 10% off from Macdaddy music if you sign up for their website so to me, price isn't really too much of an issue. List price on a new EMG 81 is $99 and I recently paid $129 for a Fishman 7 string pickup by comparison.
Plus I don't remember getting much change back from $300 when I bought a set of 57/7H 66/7H's


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## jc986 (Mar 12, 2016)

SqWark said:


> $124.95 for the 6 string version which isn't too bad IMO. An extra 10% off from Macdaddy music if you sign up for their website so to me, price isn't really too much of an issue. List price on a new EMG 81 is $99 and I recently paid $129 for a Fishman 7 string pickup by comparison.
> Plus I don't remember getting much change back from $300 when I bought a set of 57/7H 66/7H's



When they were first added to the site prices were $150 for the active mount, and $180 for the passive mount, so it looks like they've already dropped down considerably since then. Still not sure why they are charging $30 more for a different mounting style, as that is inconsistent with the other active pickups they offer.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Mar 12, 2016)

The passive mount is still $150, but the active mount is $124.


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## Planezero (Mar 15, 2016)

I wonder how these compare to the EMG57/66 set in the previous Schecter JL-7 models ..
If this 2016 upgrade is the SD take on the EMGs then it doesn't feel like it would be worth swapping the EMGs out..


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## Aymara (Mar 16, 2016)

Planezero said:


> I wonder how these compare to the EMG57/66 set ...



A side by side comparison especially on clean tones would for sure be interesting. I wouldn't be astonished, if they sound similar to the EMGs, but with the Blackout-typical higher output. But this new JL Signature guitar is a bad choice for such a demo, because of the wood choice, which produces a totally cold sound character.

I have the first gen Blackouts in my Mayones and the output is so extreme, that I have to cut the guitar volume by 50% (!!!) to achieve dynamic clean tones. On my Schecter Hybrid with EMG 57/66 the needed cutoff is 20-30%.

For my taste the Hybrid would be ideal for such a side by side comparison, because the mahogany body with a maple neck produces a very versatile sound character ... warm low end with a cristal clear high end.


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## nistley (Mar 17, 2016)

What's interesting is that EMG 57/66 set, which is the only active pickup I actually like, is that they kept the traditional full middy frequency profile, but added the dynamics, and that worked great for clean, but it didn't make the cleans really like passives. They have an interesting soft punch, and it sounds great. It still can't sound like a passive pickup. So, it can't be expected from Blackouts either. But, if they tweaked them in a similar fashion, it should still be a very cool pickup. I hope someone can do comparisons of these and EMGs.


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## monkeysuncle (Mar 17, 2016)

Love the shape of his new sig, wish he'd ditch those hid ass inlays though ...
No real comment on the pickups though, Loomis sounds like Loomis


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## Emperoff (Apr 6, 2016)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzWcZnwlblQ

The neck pickup doesn't sound anything like the 66, that's for sure. It seems to have a very pronounced strat-like attack, and the 66 is quite the opposite. The bridge pickup sounds more akin to the 57.

They seem hot as hell too, but also are EMG 57/66 sooo...


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## nistley (Apr 6, 2016)

Emperoff said:


> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzWcZnwlblQ
> 
> The neck pickup doesn't sound anything like the 66, that's for sure. It seems to have a very pronounced strat-like attack, and the 66 is quite the opposite. The bridge pickup sounds more akin to the 57.
> 
> They seem hot as hell too, but also are EMG 57/66 sooo...



Wow, that's actually really cool. I really like the clean neck, different, maybe more than 66! Reviewer has some great taste too


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Apr 7, 2016)

Semi on-topic, but I just got an email from EMG, and look who's video they chose to promote the 707.


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## Veritech Zero (Apr 7, 2016)

Glad I'm not the only one that thought that was a bit funny.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Apr 7, 2016)

I'm not sure if that's just coincidence or a subtle jab.  

"Don't forget, we made you. Enjoy your Duncans. "


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## xCaptainx (May 9, 2016)

so I'll be getting a set of this at the end of the week. If all goes well I'll be picking up a loomis signature later on so I'll be able to do a really nice comparison between the emgs and his new set.


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (May 10, 2016)

SqWark said:


> I'm a huge fan of Jeff Loomis but honestly, I'm not blown away by what I'm hearing from the new pickups. They sound articulate but not particularly warm. His swamp ash/maple neck/maple fretboard guitar likely has a lot to do with this also.



Well, his sig guitars didn't really change from last year's (aside from pickups), but I loved his tone with 57/66. Check the Conquering Dystopia record, his tone killed on that album. 

These new pickups sound to me more mid-scooped in comparison with 57/66. I'm not hearing the chunky mids he used to have, say here: 
Check his playing at 3:00


Or anywhere on this one:


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (May 10, 2016)

Emperoff said:


> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzWcZnwlblQ
> 
> The neck pickup doesn't sound anything like the 66, that's for sure. It seems to have a very pronounced strat-like attack, and the 66 is quite the opposite. The bridge pickup sounds more akin to the 57.
> 
> They seem hot as hell too, but also are EMG 57/66 sooo...




Great demo! Here it is in-line:







> P.S. To embed youtube videos, just take the video identifier (stuff after = in URL, which is *rzWcZnwlblQ* in this case). Then, paste it between *{youtubevid}*, and *{/youtubevid}* but using *[]* instead of *{}*.


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## narad (May 10, 2016)

^^ To my ears they sound super similar to the het set in that demo. A good thing, but I guess I have less reason to go out and buy a pair.


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## Decipher (Nov 21, 2017)

Gonna necro-bump this one to give my insight one these pickups! I snagged a set for my RGD2120Z off of eBay. I had to enlarge the route in my RGD by 1mm on the length and width but once they were in I was extremely pleased. I'm a SD Blackouts enthusiast thru and thru. Been using them since '08 (I think that's what year they came out??) and have them in all of my guitars. I didn't like the EMTY's for my style (a little too tight/stiff). The Retributions are my favs (and I would have them in all of my guitars but they only offer 6 string variants through the Custom Shop for $$$$) but the Loomis Blackouts may be taking the lead! Besides the sext aesthetics, they are an awesome active pickup. They have a great "chunk" to them when palm muting, very thick but detailed sounding and the high end has an almost strat like quality that is much smoother than the regular Blackouts. I hear that 'strat-quack' in the pick attack which is really neat. I especially enjoyed the cleans with them! I was afraid I may not like them but now the fear is I may want to throw them in a couple of my other 6's haha.


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