Seymour Duncan Blackout

Active humbucker in the bridge position.

This was already in an ESP Alexi Laiho 2007 japanese model black and yellow. The guitar has a single blackout, volume and boost switch (for soloing).

This pickup screams, definately the best active Ive ever tried and a lot better (IMO) to EMG's. It seems fuller, more articulate and a better top end. This pickup is made for heavy riffing metal. Normally I play rock and use passives but I wanted a brutal guitar and bought the ESP Laiho. The blackouts are definately a big part of its sound and their added heat helps acheive very fliud fast runs and chunky riff work.

I use this mainly with an Elmwood Modena90 amp and sometimes through the ultra channel of a Peavey JSX. These pickups definately shine best when used with the right high gain amp. Very quiet too.

Active humbucker for 7 string guitars. If you want the tech details, I recommend the Seymour Duncan website.

I installed these pickups on a Schecter Hellraiser 7 string tuned to D standard, replacing the stock EMG 707's. After playing the Hellraiser for a few weeks with the EMG's, I was concerned about the lack of definition in the lower registers. Most of the low B riffs I played lacked the punch and definition required for some of the more technical metal that I play. I adjusted as many amp parameters as I could to compensate to no avail. After hearing about the Blackouts, I thought these might be an excellent and easy to install option.

This is definitely a high-output pickup. My rig uses an old POD pro and I can instigate some input clipping when I'm really digging on certain palm-muted sections. I have not found an opportunity to try these on another amp, so I can't comment on the tone in that respect.

In comparison to the EMG's, the tone is more defined across the entire register of the instrument and the mid-range (where the guitar lives) is stronger for the Blackouts. I find this really helps clean up the riffs on the lower strings allowing you to hear the individual notes with more clarity and separation. A fellow reviewer commented on the EMG's muddiness, and I can say that these pickups were able to maintain the low end of the guitar while still providing more definition.

To say that the Blackouts sound "better" than the EMG's is a simplification, but I believe the overall tone of the Blackouts is superior to the EMG's. If you???re familiar with the tone-term "djent", these pickups certainly have more capacity for that tone.

When used with less gain, say on a clean channel, the pickups still retain the definition, but lack the warmth and "feel" of some passives I've tried. I would say that these pickups are more purpose built for aggressive music. If you enjoy 15 minute jazz guitar odysseys, you might want to look elsewhere for pickups.

Although no product is perfect, I found these pickups to be a great investment. They helped turn a mediocre sounding instrument into a metal machine! If I had to do it again, I would buy these pickups without hesitation. I've been playing for about 16 years now and try to have an objective ear for tone no matter the musician, instrument, or music style. I believe these to provide the possibility for some crushing metal tone.

In addition, the Blackouts utilize the same quick connects that the EMG's do, allowing for a solderless pickup swap if you already have EMG's installed in your instrument.

This is for the AHB-2 (Blackout Metal).

Active humbucker. Read Seymour's site for specs.

Tried in 2 of my guitars. Jackson USA Soloist SL2H Mahogany with Floyd Rose, and a custom built Soloist "clone", also Mahogany, with Tonepros tune-o-matic bridge.

Replaced a EMG 81 in the Jackson. Replaced a Seymour Duncan Distortion in the custom guitar when I tried it.

I'm using with an Engl Fireball through a 4x12 loaded with Eminence Man-O-War speakers. I play pretty much exclusively metal for like 15 years, usually more articulate death metal type stuff, though I go old school Metallica occasionally.

It's a very hot, very sensitive. Definitely has a "bigger" sound than the EMGs tonally. More lows, more highs, and better middle cut. Chords sound full and smooth, leads are articulate, and single note staccato riffs sound very present and clear.

That said, I'm not keeping it :). Unfortunately, it suffers from the same lack of dynamics that the EMG suffers from. Everything sounds the same no matter how I play the note. For example, my passive pickups are a tad less sensitive but when I chunk chords on the passives, they really punch me in the face. With the actives (both the Duncan and EMG), the chunks are well defined, but they don't PUNCH me like the passives. It's more a feel thing. People listening probably couldn't tell, but, you know, feel is half the playing experience...

Additionally, I'm not the smoothest, cleanest player in the world, and the actives make me sound much noisier than passives b/c they amplify every, single little noise I make on the strings, no matter how slight.

Alot of it is the amp and my playing style. It's a great pickup for certain applications or playing styles.

Despite my problems with it, for what it is and its qualities, I'm giving it high marks.

Wouldn't buy it again. Not a good fit for me. But, don't get me wrong, the quality is there. They did a good job in design and refining the pickup. It's just not my thang.

But I'm going to stick with my passive pickups. The Bill Lawrence (the real deal, not the fake ones) is especially pleasing.

Active humbucker pickup, bridge position.
For specs go to the seymour duncan website.

* What model guitar or bass did you install this in?
Gibson Gothic V

* What position is it in?
Bridge

* What pickup are you replacing?
EMG 81

* Other pickups installed on the instrument?
No, this is the only pickup on this guitar. I replaced the pickguard to make this guitar a 1 humbucker guitar.

* Any artists using this pickup?
Dino Cazares. The rest i don't know & actually i dont care. I dont use it because of them anyway.

* Reason for changing the pickup?
Cause EMG sucks. I wanted a more organic tone coming from an active pickup. Only Duncan could do that.

* What's the output level like?
Very very hot ! this shit is loud as hell. I cant see the devil playing a guitar using blackouts.

* What amps and effects are you using it with?
I use Peavey 6505 with a framus dragon 4x v30 cab, no effects. Always using lead channel with the gain level on 3..

* Tone - Bassy, middy, muddy, trebly, balanced?
A lot of bass.. very good balanced. Lot of sustain. Tone is perfect, the way i always wanted my guitar to sound.

* What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
Death/Trash...metal very fast stuff

* For which positions is this pickup (un)suitable?
I only use bridge.

* If it was destroyed or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else?
I will buy it again, again & again.

* How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
more than 16 years. I also have an schecter hellraiser 7 strings, iam waiting for the 7 strings blackouts come out to replace the lifeless EMGs.. my other guitar a fender already got a Seymour Duncan passive.
I love Duncan products...

* What do you love about it? What do you hate?
i love the sustaine, the crunch.. the overall tone. sounds good on every position i play. I dont hate it at all.

* Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
Ive try lots of humbuckers, too many to mention.

* Anything you wish it had?
i only wish the 7 strings version of the blackouts where ready to order !!

* Are you satisfied with this pickup or still searching for that
sound?
I will stay here for a while.. this is the sound i was looking for long time..

* Anything else you'd like to share?
But this monster & destroy !

Single coil or humbucking? Active or passive?
-Humbucking active pickup.

Impedance or other specs?
-Don't know about Impedence, but one of the main selling points for this pickup was that it was 12-14db less noise than EMGs. I can say that is exactly the case. These pickups are HOT, but yet there's no additional background hum.

What model guitar or bass did you install this in?
-Schecter C-1 Exotic.

What position is it in?
-Bridge and Neck positions.

What pickup are you replacing?
-Schecter Super Rock IIs.

Other pickups installed on the instrument?
-N/A

Any artists using this pickup?
-Dino Cazeres (Divine Heresy, ex-Fear Factory), Mick Thompson (Slipknot), Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom)

Reason for changing the pickup?
-Been interested in EMGs for a while but everyone and their mom uses them. Saw a listing about the Blackouts in an issue of Guitar Player and then I saw an internet ad for them on Guitarworld.com, so I thought I might as well see what they're like. Best case scenario, I've got an awesome pickup and I'm using it before every other gearhead I know is using them. Worst case scenario, I tried 'em, didn't like em, and I'll pawn them off on one of the local kids that idolizes Slipknot.

What's the output level like?
-Very HOT pickups. Very loud!!! A little bit more gain than I'm used to, but I adjusted some stuff on my amp and it seems I've mostly licked that problem. Tends to crunch up the clean channel a lot, but there again, a little fix on the amp and a slight height adjustment to the pickup and the problem was solved.

What amps and effects are you using it with?
-Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier with Rectifier Standard Cab, and I'm running the signal through a Morley Mark Tremonti Wah, a Line 6 Echo Park, a Line 6 Verbzilla, an Ibanez LF7 Filter, and a Boss Noise Suppressor.

Tone - Bassy, middy, muddy, trebly, balanced?
-Very good tone for a headbanger. The extra gain played a bit of havoc with my gain setting too, but once I got that fixed, this thing bloomed and is already breathing new life into this guitar. The bass and treble response is the closest to perfect that I've ever heard from a guitar pickup for the style that I play. There's a healthy dose of midrange, but it's not overbearing at all; definitely a higher amount of treble and bass and what you play really cuts through. The neck pickup sounded alright at best though...I think I would have preferred an active pickup with more of a hot-rodded vintage sound to it.

What style of music do you play? Is this a good match?
-Heavy Rock, ranging from mainstream a la Underoath or The Used to extreme like Hate Eternal or Nile!!! This is a perfect match for any style in there. It's a screaming hot pickup with the right feel and bite for heavy distortion, no matter if it's utilized for rhythm or lead.

For which positions is this pickup (un)suitable?
-Definitely neck. I just didn't like the sound really...this is more for a guitar that has only a bridge pickup or if you can hook up a passive neck pickup in place of this.

If it was destroyed or stolen, would you buy it again or get something else?
-I'd replace this in a heartbeat. This thing has monstrous tone where it's shortcomings are so small that I know I can just work around them. And let's be honest, every pickup out there leaves a little to be desired. What I'm saying is that this pickup is the closest to perfect that I've ever found, and the only reason why it's not a 10 is because I only give 10 ratings if the thing is 100% perfect, exactly what I need.

How long have you been playing? What other gear do you own?
-I've been playing since I was 11, so about 13 years give or take. I also own various Ibanez guitars with all manner or Dimarzio or Seymour Duncan pickups. I also use a Schecter Damien 6 as my current stage backup, but it's been trashed. I'm looking to get an ESP Eclipse very shortly.

What do you love about it? What do you hate?
-I love pretty much everything about it. The tone is stellar, the output is more than I could have hoped for, and Seymour delivers when they say it runs quieter than any EMG out there. The only gripes I have are that I'd like a smidgen less gain, and I'd like Seymour to create a more vintage-sounding neck counterpart that they could sell in a set with this pickup.
Something else I love about it, is that I am a very image-concious player right down to how my guitar looks, and I have to say that this pickups looks awesome. It looks like a black EMG, but just with the Seymour Duncan logo on it, and the only other mod I've done to this guitar - which has a Flame-topped Black Stain finish, by the way - is that I added creme pickup rings to match the creme binding along the neck. Couple the creme pickup rings with the black active pickups and they just pop off the guitar aesthetically-speaking

Did you compare it to other products? Which ones? Why did you choose this one?
-I played guitars with all manner of EMG humbuckers in them (81, 85, 89, and 61), and I was impressed with the 81s and 85s (albeit they were a bit muddy), but I bought these Blackouts on a whim without hearing them and I have to admit they blow EMGs away, with the tone as well as the quiet operation. These things are EMG KILLERS!!!

Anything you wish it had?
Are you satisfied with this pickup or still searching for <b>that</b> sound?
Anything else you'd like to share?