# Seymour Duncan Blackouts vs EMG 81's



## The Rhone (Sep 25, 2008)

Has anyone on this forum have a Seymour Duncan Blackout in their guitar? If they do can you give me an idea n their tone. I currently use Bare Knuckle Pups as in the Nailbomb, Rebel Yells, Painkiller and War Pig. These pups sound good, but like we all I'm always after tying to nail a better tone.

I used to use EMGS but moved to Bare Knukcle as they provide a more organic feel and suit my leads better. With my leadwork I found EMG's too compressed sound wise and the Bare Knuckles opened up the sound more.

I've heard the Blackout give the that great high gain tone the EMGs provide but open up to an organic tone to for the sweeter tones too.

Any opinions on this?


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## FYP666 (Sep 25, 2008)

Well, BKP's rule. But the BO's compared to EMG's, have more lows and highs, and somewhat about 14 less dB. I tried em' out since my friend has a Tokai SG, that he got da blackouts in, and i gotta say, that the sound is lot more versatile and more passive-kinda than the EMG's. But for example, that same dude has an Jackson COW, and he wanted to change the EMG 707 to the Blackout pu, because of the good results with the Tokai SG. He first thought that he'll put the Blackout phase 2 bridge pu in, but he decided to check out the Blackout phase 2 neck pu, and he got it in there now. And it sounds huge  It's like 707 on steroids, and more versatile, softer, PAF-like sound. So why not, check em' out. I've been kinda looking for the 6 string blackout set for my LTD M-1000, to replace the stock EMG 81's


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## The Rhone (Sep 25, 2008)

FYP666 said:


> Well, BKP's rule. But the BO's compared to EMG's, have more lows and highs, and somewhat about 14 less dB. I tried em' out since my friend has a Tokai SG, that he got da blackouts in, and i gotta say, that the sound is lot more versatile and more passive-kinda than the EMG's. But for example, that same dude has an Jackson COW, and he wanted to change the EMG 707 to the Blackout pu, because of the good results with the Tokai SG. He first thought that he'll put the Blackout phase 2 bridge pu in, but he decided to check out the Blackout phase 2 neck pu, and he got it in there now. And it sounds huge  It's like 707 on steroids, and more versatile, softer, PAF-like sound. So why not, check em' out. I've been kinda looking for the 6 string blackout set for my LTD M-1000, to replace the stock EMG 81's



Excellent write up dude, but how do you think they would campare to the High Output BKP?


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## jllozano (Sep 25, 2008)

to my ears actives(or some of the more common passives) compared to BKPs just sound like solid state vs tubes.......thinner vs thicker, sweeter sound....


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## FYP666 (Sep 25, 2008)

The Rhone said:


> Excellent write up dude, but how do you think they would campare to the High Output BKP?



Well, HO BKP PU is always more djenty, in a way that it has more soundscape to it. The active pu's like EMG and BO are basicly like high output pu, with more thicker sound and more lows and highs. Actives are like modelling devices, you get a good sound, and with tweaking you get even better sound out of it. Passives again have more like their own sound, so you really have to be sure what mix you do with the PU's + the guitars wood + neck joint... I'd say try out BO's, and try em' out with different kind of gear, you can really get some sweet tones from BO, since it's got more tonality to it so it sounds good w/ clean channel or Overdrive channel. It suits many styles, and it's got really good sound to it :chris:


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## Dylan7620 (Sep 25, 2008)

i've been jammin on a hellraiser at work (mainly because it one of two decent 7 strings there) and i ordered the blackjack ATX for my friend. i got to try it out first. i gotta say, i'm diggin the blackouts alot more. they seemed tighter and dryer than the EMGs but it felt like i had more than enough gain to do anything. they do sound more organic than emgs but also a little more pissed.


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## The Rhone (Sep 25, 2008)

Dylan7620 said:


> they do sound more organic than emgs but also a little more pissed.



What a quote ....

Still sounds that the BKP's win the toss. Is there anyone out there who's compared the two?


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## nikopapp (Sep 26, 2008)

Anyone who is unhappy with EMG's just needs to do the 18v mod, you'll find them more organic and less compressed.
I put BO's in a guitar that previously had an 81 & 85, and I liked them better at first.
But after playing for a couple of weeks, I ended up going back to the EMG's.
I haven't tried the BKP's, so I cannot give a fair assesment.


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## HamBungler (Sep 26, 2008)

I'd honestly keep the Bareknuckles in the guitars you have, but try out the Blackouts in something like a Blackjack ATX and see if you dig them or not. They do have a more organic-ish tone than EMGs, but they're still actives afterall and will still have that distinct sound.


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