Seymour Duncan Blackouts AHB-1 (Set)

active 9v humbucker

installed in a carvin dc127. replaced the stock c22b. i think dino cazarez (sp?) uses them and mick thomsom of slipknot.

man the bridge is hot hot hawt. neck is normal hot the tone is a bit trebly in the bridge. the neck is beautiful. but the real magic is when you switch the neck to the bridge slot. it is a very balanced thick huge tone. while being just as brutal as the bridge it offers more versatility and i think has better articulation. the bass is perfect. huge and tight but not too tight. enough to be percussive and clear.
i play metal from judas preist to cannibal corpse my band tunes down to c sharp and it handles it beautiful. i am also a fan of hard rock heavy blues and southern rock. the neck in the bridge position it great at these styles. the only thing unsuitable that i play is outlaw country. need a tele for that. this pick up made me switch from passives when i thought it would never happen. i gave a 9 because 10 would be perfection. maybye if it was splitable.

if it were destroyed or slolen i would get another in a heartbeat. i have been playing for 14 years and have had several guitars and pups through the years. nothing has had the satifaction that this gives me. i am telling you neck in the bridge slot is the way to go

These are some super hot humbucking pickups. To get a real metal sound all you need to do is hook it up to anythihng that has distortion (im not kidding - they're that over-the-top) and it can b a little difficult at first to get a nice smooth clean sound out of these monsters, but once you get it - it sounds amazing.

I installed these into a 2008 Jackson Kelly KE3 that was imported from Japan. I put the set in so that I wouldn't have the horrible problems of having a passive and an active pickup on the same guitar and I was replacing a set of passive SD's that came standard on the Jackson. The only reason that I needed to change the pickups on the guitar i have is so that I could pull the crazy whammy dives that need the active pickups so that the sound is retained, but other than that the JB-1 set I had was still good.

These pickups are HOT!!! They're not some wimpy sterile EMG type deal, these will blow your socks off. I play through a Marshall MG250, and with the right distortion it literally feels like these pickups punched you in the face (I'm not kidding, the first time I used these at band practice I turned my amp up to where I normally had it set, and everyone, including myself, stopped and simply stared) I play a lot of metal and if you like playing anyhting heavy - these are your best friend if you like a good sound. The only drawback was that the bridge pickup sounds insanely bright when playing clean so I normally need to switch to the neck pickup (which can be a pain live...). One last thing... The pinches that I can pull out of these demons surpasses anything I've EVER heard. (If you listen to Killswitch Engage you know that they have good pinches and they don't even come close to what I can pull out of these MFrs) also the tapping that you can do with these sounds unbelievable...

If these pickups had something happen to them, i would hunt down the person who messed them up and I would drown them in a toilet... then I would go and buy another set... (yes, they are that good...) I'm a semi-professional musician and I've played through a lot of different types of pickups in my years, but these are by far the best for ANY type of metal or rock. The ONLY thing I wish they improved the how bright the bridge pickup sounds when its clean, but what can you expect - they're made for distortion. These really gave me my signature sound, and I really don't know how I can improve on how my guitar sounds like... it would be really difficult to find somthing that sounds better than these. If you're considering buying these for a metal guitar - don't hesitate. These are worth four times what they cost.

Active Humbucker

B.C. Rich NT Warlock

To my eyes the Blackout bridge are a little smother and a little fuller on the bass than the EMG 81, and the neck are a little cleaner than the 85 (close to the EMG 60). So if you a more bride sound i suggest that youll go for the EMGs.
The Blackout are also great for wen you play clean stoff, becourse of the greater picking dynamics. Wen you hit it hard or soft you'll get that sound, witch the EMG's lake.
The great thing to is that iv been using a NS-2 for my EMG for some time. But weirdly enough i all most don't need it on the Blackout, becourse of the lower noise produce by them.

I think this are some of the best pickups iv ever tried.
Iv tried a lot through my time, and they are just ******* awesome.
I will not set them up against EMGs becouse the are buth warry good metal pickups and there own sound, but i will say that there are some defrense to the EMG 81/58 combo that iv been using for a lot of years.

Active humbucker set.

I installed this in my 2008 Gibson Worn Cherry Faded Explorer, replacing the stock 496R and 500T ceramic passives. I wasn't really satisfied with the sustain and harmonics on the stock pups and the clean tones were rather twangy. I was also looking for more chug in my rhythm playing.

One warning with these pickups, they are HOT. I had to tone down all of my OD and distortion effects and completely re-EQ my cleans. And even then, if you strum really hard on the cleanest clean, it will slightly distort your signal. I run my guitar through a Dunlop Crybaby->Boss OD-20->Boss MT-2->Boss DD-6->Furman pedal board->Mesa/Boogie Formula tube preamp->2 12" Eminence Screamin' Eagles in a custom built speaker box. I run the amp effects with a combination of an OD-1 for more crunch. I use the MT-2 with DD-6 for solos. Now, for the pickup itself, cleans sound absolutely incredible. I kind of describe it as a warm, Les Paul kind of sound. The Bridge is kinda twangy, but I use the middle for cleans anyways. Chords have insane clarity, and every note is heard in equal proportions. There is just more bass, mids, and treble then the stock ones did, and just sound way more glassy and the pick attack is hardly even heard at all. For distortion, these things are absolutely incredible. I play alot of Mathcore, Prog Metal, and Thrash, and these things have an insane amount of chug to them. Palm mutes sound brutal, and they are a bit more scratchy (good thing) than my old pups. Chords also sound incredible and powerful in distortion, which with my old pickups, only the first 2 strings could be heard. Pinch harmonics are intense and very easy, even on low strings. Overall, taking a very heavy tone I already had, and enhanced the few areas that were lacking. The cleans are leaps and bounds better than the old ones too. The sustain is incredible too. I've tried out EMG's of all varieties, and they can't even compare to the Blackouts. The EMG's sound super digital and tinny. Installation was a little tough, but it was way worth it after installation. I recommend these pickups to anyone, but remember that they have a super high output and may not be suitable for all types of music. Overall, I love them.

if it was destroyed or stolen, I would buy them again in a heartbeat, and I think these will be my pups for all my guitars until SD makes one even better. I love the warm cleans, and the extra chug, sustain, harmonics, and clarity in distortion. I think that cleans can sometimes get distorted, but it's nothing that ever really gets in the way for me. In my opinion, way better than EMG's and cheaper.

Active set. Will drop in replace EMG's.

Paul Reed Smith Custom 24.
Full set necka nd bridge.
Tried other pickup Dimarzio PAF Joe, Evolution EVO2 ect..
Duncan custom (was a really nice match but not quite what I wanted better clarity)

Amazing. Does require a little tweeking mainly reducing the gain settings on amps or presets.

I use a Line 6 X3 Live.

Bridge is clear and full. Has standard ceramic pickup type compression. Cleans up when volume is rolled back.

Neck an active neck pickup that actually sounds like a neck pickup.
PAF type neck but not muddy. Very resposive.

I play a lot diffent styles so I need versitile pickup. I Play everything from Jeff Beck to Vai to Beatles to Dream Theater ect....

I will put this any new guitar I aquire.

Been playing 26 years.

I love the note to note clarity. When you play a m9 you can actually hear the 9th.

I have had to adjust to batteries. They last pretty good amount of time but again takes some getting use to.

I would like to have a bridge that was alnico like the neck that is matched to the set.

Active humbucker set. Coils can NOT be split.
You can hotswap these if you already have EMGs installed.

Carvin DC400.
Replaced 18v mod EMG 85 neck and bridge, for about one hour.
I wanted actives for my ibanez but couldn't fit two 9v in without chopping into the body so I ordered these. The EMGs on 9v sounded like a starved kitten so I decided to check out SD's Blackouts.
I bought these because I use this guitar at soul sucking high gain settings, it does this better then passives ever will hands down.

High output capable of dismembering your audience with just a thought.

This goes into an Engl Powerball...ok I'm lying, it's the Engl powerball setting on my POD into a carvin ts100 poweramp split stereo into two 4x12 cabs, one with celestions and one with british style speakers.

Note: If you're thinking of active pickups I -strongly- suggest you try out a friends guitar with EMG or Blackouts to see if this is 'the sound' you're looking for, because you aren't going to get much of a variation in the sound (no matter HOW much hype people put into their ads).

The difference between the Blackouts and 18v EMG (again, 85 in bridge and neck) was almost zero. If you're already running the 18v mod I suggest saving your $$. I found it interresting that even though the seymour duncan label is on the cover, someone else was given credit for the actual pickup design (on the underside of the pickup).

These were cheaper than EMGs and I didn't have to wire two 9v together to get them to kill people (in the face).
I'm putting the EMGs back in this guitar and putting the blackouts in my ibanez.

ANYWAY, Seymour Duncan gets the job done hands down, but there sure is a lot of hype floating around. The EMG 85 and blackouts -both- use Alnico V for their pickups.
I think their hype must be centered around comparing the EMG 81 which is a ceramic to their Blackouts. Not a very fair comparison but that's marketing for you.

These are Seymour Duncan's active humbuckers. 9v battery operation with the EMG style connectors.

I put these in a 90's ESP explorer, a Schecter Gryphon and a Jackson RR24. I originally replaced the pickups in the Gryphon because I wanted active pickups and wanted to try these things out. The explorer and rr24 originally had EMG 81's. I liked the way they sounded on the gryohon so I ended up changing the pickups on the other two.

These are some pretty hot pickups. They sound fuller with a stronger mid-range than the EMG 81's and less sterile. There is still that 'not natural' sound like the EMG's vs. a non-active pickup, but it is a lot less pronounced. In the bridge position, the pickup sounds very clear and well defined, probably because of the mid-range boost vs. the EMG. The neck position, even though I have been toying around with the height, sounds muddy and less defined, especially when played with distortion/high gain. I do not use the neck very often, other than when I finger pick on clean.

Right now I'm running a 6505 combo with a Ibanez TS9 and a MXR 10 band equalizer in front. This pickup is definately more oriented towards harder rock and metal and works with distortion more articulately than the EMG's do. I play metal most of the time with some classic rock thrown in for good measure so these pickups work well for me.

These are definitely worth hearing if you're looking at active pickups and play some harder styles of music.

I would definitely replace these babies if anything ever happened to them. I love the tone I get through my 6505 cranked. I've been playing for around 9 years and have been plenty of pickups in my time. I think these pickups are great compared to other pickups due to the added clarity and punch. The only thing I would like them to improve them with is a little warmer sound, but I guess that's the trade off for an active pickup.

These are pretty much perfect for my playing style and work very well. Don't expect to play jazz or blues with these. These are very hard edge sounding but it will give you a better punch, in my opinion, the EMG's.

Active - 9V operation, humbuckers, solid black, plug and play replacement with EMG wiring harness. It took me 15 minutes to install.

One of my guitars is a 2007 Jackson Soloist SLSMG (satin black). I love neck, the body (weight) etc - A nice Japanese made Soloist. The guitar came with EMG-HZ's. I replaced them(in less than 24 hrs) with a set of EMG 81/85's that I had. The issue was then that the EMG's 81/85 would distort when the volume was turned up. If I moved the PUP's away from the strings to reduce output, the tone died. So I often backed off the volume, etc. Tradeoffs everywhere. I have a fortune tied up in equipment to get my tone/distortion at the other end of the guitar cable, I didn't want to have it come from the guitar!. The EMG's were great for death metal...not something I played much. The other issue was that I have a dozen other guitars and everytime I plugged this guitar into my rig, I had to do a lot of changing of settings, etc. It took the fun out of the guitar. Then came the Blackouts....

Output level is more uniform. I can turn these up and still get a clean sound without distortion. Setting vs string is important (very close is a good thing). Smoothed things out bigtime. This guitar is played through a Mesa Stilleto head/cab (left channel) and Carvin XB100/cab right side with a RP500 in the Mesa effects loop. I play blues and classic rock. I wanted a guitar that could have a full sound, be extremely light and comfortable, with a butter smooth neck, awsome harmonics, etc So far, I am a happy camper.

I am considering putting a set into my 2003 Gibson SG Supreme. Maybe... Got lots of guitars (Gibson's, strats, jacksons, schecters, etc.) played a long time, etc, etc. I just needed to smooth this guitar out a little. I have other guitars with EMG's in them and I would not replace them ever. It's all about guitar/wood/neck/pick-up combinations. Sometimes thing's are not always as one might expect. This combination for me is an improvement over the past two PU scenarios.

Now to decide what I am going to do with the SG.....ahh the quandry..

Active Dual Humbuckers

Non-splittable. SD claims the use of a "balanced input". Whatever
that does for them.

PRS SE Mike Mushok Model Baritone.

Bridge and Neck.

Stock PRS-designed pickups.

Artists include Mick Thompson from Slipknot. A few others I can't
think of at the moment.

Being active, they have super high output.

Used with a Mesa/Boogie Dual Caliber and Recto 4x12.

Extremely well balanced. Tight and articulate, I can clearly
hear all lows, mids, and highs evenly.

This guitar is my metal drop tuned guitar. Heavy riffing with
lots of gain.

My main guitar for the past 3 years has been a PRS Custom 22. Kept in standard tuning, I have a JB/Jazz setup for rich, classic tones great for hard rock. I bought the Baritone SE to keep in Drop-B, and obviously wanted it to be extreme metal.

I used EMG's in Ibanez guitars for many years before I switched to PRS. I use to love 'em, and decided to try the Blackouts. At first I was unsure if I liked them, but it turned out I just needed to get use to the actual guitar. Now that I've fallen in the love with the instrument, I've also fallen in love with the pickups. They were an excellent choice. Very similair to EMG's, though it's been a long time since I used those. These pickups are staying in the guitar.

Active Humbuckers Bridge & Neck

Installed in a Carvin DC-200, replacing stock carvin M22 Humbuckers. Carvin builds beautiful guitars, amazing fit and finish, but the electronics just seemed a little lacking. The sound seemed thin and lacked punch. They seemed a little compressed.

What a difference... The Blackouts have made this my new favorite old guitar.... There is NO NOISE at all wich is nice because these pickups sound bestl on a highly driven amp. Used with a Marshall JMP-1 Pre and 100 watt stereo tube power and a 4x12 cab and it sounds ideal to my ears. Great distortion, cleans up well, but really like to be driven. Great balanced sound - good lows and highs but not too bright or harsh.

Great p/u's. Would definitely buy again. Easy installation, but I had to modify the carvin p/u rings since the carvin pickups are narrower and had a bigger corner radius. If considering an EMG set you should give these a try.