Seymour Duncan AHB1 Blackout - Bridge

ok, the only reason im posting this is because i want to forewarn anyone who is going to buy these or emg actives. BE CAREFUL. they are plastic on the arms that connect the pickup to the screws, and they are definitely not made for strength. i had my blackouts in a mockingbird special for a month, with medium playing and live gigging. just throwing the thing around a little can break that plastic. i would expect something with a little more durability. not saying that they are bad in any way, just be careful with them. or go the safe route and get a warranty on them.

Humbucking active bridge pickup. Bridge pickup has a ceramic magnet, and what is really interesting is the neck companion has an alnico magnet.

The main thing you are likely thinking, "do I go with these or an EMG?" I am going to try and point out the difference, as I have two kellys, one with blackouts and another with EMGs.

I have the SD Blackout set in a Jackson KE2 USA Kelly that replaces a seymour JB and jazz combo. Only guy I know of using these pickups is Alexi from Children of Bodom. I went with active pickups over stock passives due that the big bodies of Kellys naturally sound a little darker and fatter and wanted a pickup with higher output to give the guitar a brighter, higher output sound.

THe bridge pickup has a lot of output as to be expected from an active humbucker. THe output level is about the same as an EMG 81 also in the bridge position. Where the real difference is between an EMG 81 and an SD Blackout is the tone! EMG's have a compressed, heavy metal sound with lots of bass and treble, but not much in between. THe Blackout has just a 'tad less bass, but a bunch more mid range drive. This delivers a little more "crunch" from the blackout than an EMG, IMHO. Leads from the blackout, because of the more defined mids, seem to cut through a little better and is just a hair less muddy when you are up the neck on the upper strings.

Another big factor is the noise and feedback. Hate that your EMG's like to feedback easiely when your hi gain tube amp is cranked? Blackouts have less hiss and definantly resist feedbacking much better than EMG's.

Again, I've got blackouts in one Jackson Kelly, and EMGs in another Kelly. Side by side comparison! If I had to choose one, I'd take the blackouts. I've been playing for about 10 years off and play mostly old school metal. I don't down tune lower than drop D alternate.

ALso, this is through a Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier tube amp, so the actuall benifets of an active metal pickup can be relized.

Both the blackouts and EMG's are probably the best metal pickups out there, but I think I'd take the blackouts.

If youre reading this review you prly know that this is an active humbucker for the bridge position. Ceramic bar magnets, lace style so it works in pretty much any humbucker space.

I installed this in my gibson faded v replacing the standard 500t bridge position humbucker. The blackout is standing alone right now but i may add a matching neck pup or maybe an EMG-60. From what I understand Alexi Laiho and Mick Thompson are using these now replacing the old stand by EMG setup. I chose the Blackout for two reasons: one, because I wanted something as much as output as possible and two because EVERYBODY uses EMGs and I wanted to give the new kid a shot so to speak. I was not disappointed.

My rig is pretty simple V > Marshall GV-2 > Mod Tone Speedbox > EHX Metal Muff > Boss GE-7 > Mesa Boogie Express 5:50. Basicly a bunch of distortion into class A clean producing well rounded and harmonically rich distortion. The tone I get with the Blackout is RIDICULOUS! Huge crunch, tons and tons of low end boom and excellent tight highs. This thing absoulutely screams. I play metal pretty much all the time: Amon Amarth, Cannibal Corpse, Maiden, Tool, Metallica... you get the idea. Blackouts were put on this earth to bring the sky crashing down in crushing waves of distortion and let me they can do the job. I will say that it is pretty difficult to get cleans out of these things but lets face it if you wanted clean you'd prly go get some single coils or a p-90 or something. Even in a clean situation though my Blackout holds its own with a little natural overdrive. Fn awesome tone. Virtually no noise, definitely quieter than, say, an EMG-81. SD Blackouts > EMG. I'm only giving it a 9 because of the lack of clean tone. Fantastic.

If something were to happen to this pup I'd definitely get another. I don't see anything happening though, I mean its a pup for christs sake. I've been playing for about 5 years, I've been through my share of gear and honestly I haven't heard any pup with as much tone and as little noise as this. Aside from my V I play a Fender Highway One Strat, My Franken-Squire with Gibson pups and an Ltd that is currently out of service for paint and some other custom work. I work in a guitar shop and we've have a couple Deans hanging around with super h/o pups including a Dime Razorback V with emgs (81/85) so ive done my share of a/b-ing tone. Blackouts are definitely the way to go if you want huge tone and low noise. Love the tone, honestly can't think of anything I hate about this thing. I have officially found my metal sound Excellent stuff from Seymour Duncan.

Active Bridge Position Humbucker

What model guitar or bass did you install this in?
1973 Gibson Les Paul Custom

What position is it in?
Bridge

What pickup are you replacing?
EMG 85

Other pickups installed on the instrument?
EMG 81 at the Neck

Reason for changing the pickup?
Tired of EMG sound, but love active p'ups

The amp I use is a 2007 Mesa Boogie Roadster into a Mesa Recto 4X12.

First off the Blackout is much, much quieter, even though the Blackout is noticeably hotter than the EMG 85 that was at the bridge, but it???s still articulate, more so than the 85. I agree that it???s a much warmer, and organic tone, and maybe a hair more bass response than I had hoped for, but no problem there. I set the Blackout about 3/16 to <1/4 from the action, and had to raise the EMG 81 at the neck just a hair to match. I???ve always preferred the warmth of an Alnico p???up at the bridge in my Les Paul and the Blackout is reminiscent of that. The Blackout is not at all brittle even though it uses a ceramic magnet. I think that is why I never liked the EMG 81 at the bridge, I found it brittle, harsh and thin in my Les Paul.

With the Roadster at band volume I noticed a much sharper midrange and smoother top with a slight touch of compression in the amp when pushed. The Blackout does not mud up the amp at loud volume/gain settings like the EMG 85 could if not careful. Ch 4 Modern sounds great as is for tight palm mutes, no need for my clean boost pedal anymore. The only EQ change I made was a hair less mids and more presence. I have the presence at about 11:00-11:30 and it nice and sharp, but not fizzy at all to me. With the EMG???s I kept the presence under 10:00 to keep the bees happy.

Lead tones in Ch 3 Vintage sound much smoother. The EMG???s had a much more aggressive top end, somewhat razor sharp but easily ???smeared???. The Blackout has more punch and a less compressed attack, with a strong upper mid push. I dialed the mids and treble back a bit and brought up the presence here as well. The Blackout developed nice sustain at band volume and had no problems with pinch harmonics and tasteful feedback.

Clean sounds are good for a high output p???up, but you have to dial back the volume for squeaky cleans. Ch 1 Tweed sounded nice when pushed, and Ch 2 Brit had a nice crunch to it now. I did not get a lot of time in these channels.

I???m ordering the neck position Blackout, I???m sure I will not be disappointed.

If it was destroyed or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else?
I would definatly but it again.

How long have you been playing?
25+ years

Are you satisfied with this pickup or still searching for <b>that</b> sound?
Very satisfied with the sound.

Anything else you'd like to share?
Bottom line, if you just cannot part with the benefits of active p???ups but are finding the EMG???s harsh and boring you really need to try the Blackouts. IMHO the bridge pickup does not feel as ???plastic??? as the EMG???s did. The Blackout has a much more ???passive??? feel to it, but with more punch and less noise.