Thomann Affiliate: www.thomann.de/intl/index.html?offid=1&affid=3210 Sweetwater Affiliate: sweetwater.sjv.io/k0mGvx My personal Thomann recommendations: thmn.to/thocf/cv37zixo68 My webstore for Captures, presets etc: ko-fi.com/sonicdrivestudio Thanks for supporting the channel!
MIX 2:53 passive 4:29 EMG 6:14 Fishman active voicing 8:12 FIshman passive voicing 9:53 back to back 1st riff 10:15 back to back 2nd riff 10:36 back to back 3rd riff 10:57 back to back last chord ISOLATED 11:18 back to back 1st riff 11:39 back to back 2nd riff 12:00 back to back 3rd riff 12:21 back to back last chord
Me too, Jon was one of the reasons I've revisited the 81 after many years, and the reason I tried the 57. Loooove the 57 and am keen on the 81 with the right amp...
@@Tsudkyk Completely agree. That was the point where the others fell apart during the isolated A/B comparison. I didn't go into this expecting the Duncan to be my favorite, but here we are... haha. However, if someone were to send me guitar tracks sounding like any of these, I would not be disappointed.
I still don't own a guitar with active pickups because I'm a sucker for my Duncans. They just feel right to me. Maybe next year when I get my tax return I'll buy a Balaguer and out Fishmans in it. The Espada is gorgeous.
Hey- great shootout! Loved the real time A/B comparison with and without backing tracks. Very comprehensive demo. We’re always proud of how the Seynour Duncan Customs fare in this space and love how well it pairs with the 6505 and other high gain applications. Great crunch and clear note separation. Kevin Kroeger, Chief Product Officer at Seynour Duncan
This is one of the best comparison videos of pickups I've ever seen. Comparing them in a mix with tight playing and varied riffs really helps for noticing the differences. They all sound great in their own way in a mix. The Fluence Passive was my least favorite, sounds the muddiest in comparison. I like the way the Fluence Active really cuts through the mix, but the tried and true Duncan Passives win again in a comparison test.
I've noticed with the Fluence's Modern's 1st voicing that if you use primarily amp gain and instead boost the amp with a graphic EQ the add and cut certain frequencies, you can get a really good compressed Metal tone with more dynamic range than one would typically expect. I've found this to be an even better solution to getting tight rhythm tones, while being abe to add that same treble bite you get from a tube screamer, as well as being able to cut as much of those bass frequencies as you'd like.
If you show off the 6505 in a Video i fall in Love with my amp again! Thanks for keeping this 15 Years of marrige alive! :) The Passive SDs are for me the most interesting ones here. The Dynamics between the the Low and High Strings just kills... That is why i switched back to SDs (The Nazgul is fkn awesome) The 81s just work, we hear that combo so much we used to it and it feels instant right and good (played it myself for years). The Passive Voicing of the Fishmans sounds more like the 81s than the passives to me.
It's a great comparison between pickup technologies, but there is one that is good too and people barely talk about it. That technology is called alumitone from Lace pickups, specifically the Lace alumitone deathbuckers.
Great test, thanks! What would be awesome is if in the future you could also capture the DI tracks off all the guitars and share them here. Being able to hear how the pickups would perform with our own gear would really take this to the next level. Thanks a lot!
The Duncan is the clear standout in this comparison. It still possessed note definition within this high gain demonstration. The attack was razor blade while muting as well. The Fluence did well, but is quite a bit of trouble to install. The passive/active modes are a huge plus. The main point of this comment is that the EMG simply lacked compared to the other entrants. The compression squashes note definition, and removes percussiveness during palm mutes. Thanks for posting!
what i like most about passive pickups is probably what doesn't comes through in these kind of videos but when playing them: It's the response on palm mutes which is very direct and punchy. Also i really like the high end of passives Thats probably because of the greater frequency response overall, less high and low cut in a sense.
Funny, I usually find actives to have a somewhat "flatter" frequency response (relatively more even to be precise), while passives always have more obvious resonant peaks (because they rely mostly on the coil design, which gives them a more characteristic tone to them).
Awesome comparison! The EMG's have a great tone in the mix, not necessarily when isolated out of context. The Duncuns seem to cater toward classic rock vs metal. However, they all sounded great in the mix. I prefer the Fishman! Perhaps do the same comparison via an ENGL Powerball, since channel 3 and 4 seem to be more compressed on this amp - I would think this would tax the pickups.
For me, the Fishman Active wins. Just sounds the heaviest and the pickin’ parts sounded as clear as the Duncan’s. I like the SD’s but has a little fuzz to it which I don’t like. Fisheys sounded the clearest and had the best chugginess to them. EMG’s aren’t on the same field any longer, they just sounded distant.
Very useful video because there are certain contexts where a given pickup, due to its own distinct EQ filtering, can really make a fixed amp, speaker and microphone/IR setup stand out in a manner that another pickup would not. That said, I did prefer the Seymour Duncan Custom; I have come to favour passive pickups on the whole, given that they relay a thicker and imposing tonality for my requirements, but obviously, the actives do have their distinct advantages, especially the Fluence Moderns and all the various iterations of the Seymour Duncan Blackout.
another phenomenal video, love it. My fave sound was the SD Custom (passive) with that snarl and high-end detail. My least fave was the EMG 81TW. The Fishman pickup voicing's fell in the middle for me, but I definitely dig the 'OD/tubescreamer' vibe of the Fishman's.
Great comparisson! My inner nerd wonders if you can hear any difference between the guitars acoustically. I found the fluence to sound a bit "strangled" for lack of a better word. On the chuggy sounds, the EMG sounded like a cleaned up version of the Duncan. I could see the preference for the pickups depending on the application.
You are correct - As an observation, the Fishman Moderns are indeed compressed (or clipped) already going into the amp. I have an Ibanez Prestige with Moderns and have analyzed the DI's which have tops clipped even when I lower the input volume on my interfaces (compared Focusrite Scarlett and Presonus Quantum). My EMG pickups (Schecter) does not.
I like both how unforgiving and clinical fishmans are, and how forgiving and rounded custom is. they perfectly complement each other, one for live and other for recording.
Whenever I watch a video on Active vs Passive I always prefer the Passives. Whenever I'm actually in the room playing the guitar I always prefer the sound of the Actives.
You probably find that the videos you're watching the amps have been set using the passives, where you're probably setting your amp for the actives. In a video like this, they'll say "oh this pickup loses bottom end" say, but if they were too adjust the amp settings for it, the passive pickup would probably end up sounding boomy and flubby.
I think what this shows more than anything is how small of a difference that different pickups make in this case, even between the active and passive I think matching the input gain would reduce that further, but it's still pretty close, even on the isolated guitars. In the mix, if I wasn't listening for it, I doubt many people would ever think "oh, that's a different pickup there!"
@@bmhyakiri even cheap stock pickups usually get the job done just fine. Of all the guitars I've tested and worked on, only 2 really needed a pickup replacement. One was an already unplayable cheap sears guitar from the 60s and the other was a super cheap epiphone branded (clone I think) with incredibly low output single coils. An $11 hot rod made it sound mostly as good as a Dimarzio
Emg fan here but gotta admit the Duncan sounded great. The very end is the most telling when comparing these. Quick clips without drums. Was hoping you did that! Thanks 🤘🏽
No matter what pickups I am using (even passive Bare Knuckles Nailbombs and Dimarzio Evolutions), I am always coming back to EMGs (at least for guitars with mahogany body and neck). And frankly - without those focused reviews, it's really difficult to distinguish the pickups in the mix.
Hey Sonic Drive Studio, great riffing and video! IMHO Seymour Duncan Passive does what great passive pups do..... Breathe and offer dynamics that let the music live. Least favorite in this comparison was the compressed EMG 81.
Oh one more thing maybe for the next Video. I would be interested to hear the picking Attack on single Notes on the high stings. On a Simple Melody around the 12th Fret with a Pull off and a hammer On will do. Just to hear the slight Picking Scratch. But as always: Awesome Video!
As a longtime emg user, I have to admit that I like the other two just as much, if not better. All are good. i see seymour best passively. Above all, the combination of the phat cat and the split function of humbucker and single coil seem to have the most interesting range of sounds
Great Playing, Love them all! Own several different Emg,SD and Fishmans. You honestly cant go wrong with any of them push em with awesome playing and a beautiful amp like yours any of them will Growl and chug.
I really liked the Duncan Customs the best. It just sounds the most full and it has the most character. The EMGs sounded good too, perfect for a more metallic sound. The Fishmans just weren’t it for me, but the passive voicing didn’t sound bad. I’d love to hear this sort of comparison with a more mid gain amp, like like a Marshall, a Friedman, or an Orange. I guess all of those can be high gain, but I feel like they hit the mid gain vibe better.
I'd definitely love to hear these through an Orange and a Mesa. I'd go with the Duncans in this test but depending upon the amp and type music I'm playing I don't mind the Fishman Active tone either.
Duncans definitely are my favorite, but forgot how much I enjoy the EMG sound. nice to have in your arsenal. Really underwhelmed by the Fishman surprisingly. Thought I'd enjoy them more.
Great demonstration! I found the differences between the mixes very subtle, but with the isolated tracks they became more apparent. I always have been an EMG fanboy, but I have to admit the Fishmans sounded great as well.
It is. Because the headroom is higher, there's a bit less of that "limiting" effect and the lows are less compressed to the front, so overall the X sounds a bit leaner and brighter. I think both the standard as well as the X versions have their charm so it's mostly gonna come down to preference and the guitar they're sitting in.
They all sound great, but hey, that’s probably thanks to the player/producer. Definitely need to try a set of Fishman humbuckers in the future. I always find it funny that I dig the sound of the EMG 81 when someone else is playing it, but I never got on with the sound/feel when I give them a spin. Yet another great, helpful video!
SD wins in my opinion, second place goes to Fishman's passive setting. My favorite guitar has EMG's in it and im thinking of changing it like i already have done on all my other guitars to either SD's or Bare Knucle. This video helps pushing me towards passive pickups!
I tought id need the fishman, but no, EMG allready have a couple, what i need are some pasei e SD baby. Tks a lot for this cool and helpfull clip my dude
I've had a 6505+ for years and it was really cool to see your side-by-side with a model so similar... I've always been curious if there was a difference between the two head models - perhaps that would make for some interesting content ;)
It helps having multi types of the same guitar so you dont have to swap the pickups in and out of one! There is a defiantly a difference. SD has bright high end, EMG tams the high end and keeps everything in a nice pocket (compressed I guess you can say but no in a bad way) and the Moderns sound good, but they have that mid hump in them I dont care for ( I am a massive fishman fan btw). But overall they all sound really good. Just depends which ones works better with your setup/work flow.
The Duncan Custom is my favorite pickup, and I like it the most here. I used to hate EMGs but I recently started liking them a lot. I am currently playing a Keith Merrow signature and his Fishman set is really nice, you should try it.
This was a great review! Thanks for comparing the Fishman's against other brands. Most of these comments are mentioning the voice 2 (passive) vs the Duncan and I would just like to say that the magnet configuration is different. If you compared the SD against one of our Classic humbuckers, the conversation would be entirely different. Thanks for the review! Ken Susi - Fluence Brand Manager
I like the Duncans the best. I always used to default to EMG (metal kid grew up reading GuitarWorld), but lately I’ve really been liking passives. I have a set of Fishmans and really don’t like them, might get a set of these Duncans!
Great video! However, I do think that the difference between all these picups sounds aren't that huge as people think. A much bigger difference in my opinion is how it feels like playing all these pickups. I have Fishman Devin Townsend PU, it felt kinda wierd first playing these. I guess, it has to do with the magnets and dynamic response.
I think the Custom sounds great and clear winner imo, but the Active Fishman when you hit the F chunks have an interesting sound like you can really hear the strings individually. liken it to if barbed wire was stringed kind of a tin chunka which was really a cool sound in drop C. I love my Pheonix 1000 with the custom in it. I didn't really care for the EMG because it sounded muffled not as many mids/highs i guess. Mesa Boogie Mini or any rectifier would be my vote for next amp to use. Great comparison John!!
EMGs have this particular thing where I don't necessarily enjoy playing them the most BUT they sound incredible recorded. The compression and aggressive tone just come out in spades in recordings. With that said, I was under the impression that Fishmans had fuller low end because I was considering switching out EMGs in one guitar for Fluences, but this review is making me rethink that. Maybe I just need a good ol 18v mod or an EMG x
if i could find a pickup that had the sound of the seymour duncans with open notes but with the sound of the fishmans with palm mutes, i think it'd be the greatest pickup ever
I own both EMG and fluence modern and after a long time playing with them i finally reached my tone goal: fluence for the chugging parts and emg for all the rest. It just works so well to me. By the way, i would be really curious to hear the peavey invective in a comparison between these pickups. Could it be the next in line? Thanks!
they all sound great, it's like blue is my favorite color and deciding which hue I prefer the most. I like duncan classic > fishman passive > fishman active > emg 81. I have white passive duncan invaders with black poles in my snow white Jackson Kelly with black binding maple fretboard black sharkfin inlays and floyd rose... love it.
I’m trying to figure out what I want for my Jackson juggernaut 7 string. It has BKs but seems lacking. I have an esp with FF . And some others with emg. Just not sure
Your vid on the Phoenix had me sold. Been enjoying it immensely this past week. Thanks for your effort and work. Any idea what your pickup height is on the Phoenix? Cheers from Texas! Keep it going!!
Seymour Duncan wins overall for me. It has the most bite and articulation. I do like the sound of the fishman active voicing for the low powerchord chug riffs though. It sounds like the EMG without all the mids scooped. Well done man!
Thomann Affiliate: www.thomann.de/intl/index.html?offid=1&affid=3210
Sweetwater Affiliate: sweetwater.sjv.io/k0mGvx
My personal Thomann recommendations: thmn.to/thocf/cv37zixo68
My webstore for Captures, presets etc: ko-fi.com/sonicdrivestudio
Thanks for supporting the channel!
MIX
2:53 passive
4:29 EMG
6:14 Fishman active voicing
8:12 FIshman passive voicing
9:53 back to back 1st riff
10:15 back to back 2nd riff
10:36 back to back 3rd riff
10:57 back to back last chord
ISOLATED
11:18 back to back 1st riff
11:39 back to back 2nd riff
12:00 back to back 3rd riff
12:21 back to back last chord
This series has me falling in love with EMG again.
81s and 5150/6505 are always a good combination. It just feels right
Me too, Jon was one of the reasons I've revisited the 81 after many years, and the reason I tried the 57. Loooove the 57 and am keen on the 81 with the right amp...
Been playing an 81 for 10 years… that Duncan was awesome.
The mids throatiness of the passive Duncans are nowhere to be found with the actives, clear favourite for me
The passive Duncan’s sound more dynamic during chords than the active pickups.
@@Tsudkyk Completely agree. That was the point where the others fell apart during the isolated A/B comparison. I didn't go into this expecting the Duncan to be my favorite, but here we are... haha. However, if someone were to send me guitar tracks sounding like any of these, I would not be disappointed.
Passive Duncan’s seem to always take the cake for me.
Fishman passive not bad, but Seymour Duncan wins here.
It's a different magnet configuration. Put Fishmans classics against a Duncan passive
@@TheKensusi The FF Modern and Classic are both alconico? And custom ceramic? I dont really follow the logic here.
@@raakareiska9804 Pickup design is very different for the fishmans, the main difference for me is that they have very little self noise.
I can't decide whether to buy a Phoenix with Seymor Duncans or Arctic Metal with EMG 81?!?!
I still don't own a guitar with active pickups because I'm a sucker for my Duncans. They just feel right to me. Maybe next year when I get my tax return I'll buy a Balaguer and out Fishmans in it. The Espada is gorgeous.
The Seymour Duncan sounded the best to me, very open and lively. The EMG would tuck in nicely behind vocals with less work though.
Hey- great shootout! Loved the real time A/B comparison with and without backing tracks. Very comprehensive demo. We’re always proud of how the Seynour Duncan Customs fare in this space and love how well it pairs with the 6505 and other high gain applications. Great crunch and clear note separation.
Kevin Kroeger, Chief Product Officer at Seynour Duncan
This is one of the best comparison videos of pickups I've ever seen. Comparing them in a mix with tight playing and varied riffs really helps for noticing the differences. They all sound great in their own way in a mix. The Fluence Passive was my least favorite, sounds the muddiest in comparison. I like the way the Fluence Active really cuts through the mix, but the tried and true Duncan Passives win again in a comparison test.
The Seymour Duncan just sounds so open and articulate, wonderful!!!
Great comparison! Congrats!!!
I'm quite relieved to see that these differences are easily achieved by an eq paired with just one guitar.
I’m an active pickup fan but those SD’s surprised me with how well they responded… good comparison.
The Seymour Duncan is clearly the best to my ears. The passive fishman comes in second surprisingly, but all sounded good.
I preferred the Seymour Duncan as it was the least compressed, most articulate, and I liked its overall tone.
I've noticed with the Fluence's Modern's 1st voicing that if you use primarily amp gain and instead boost the amp with a graphic EQ the add and cut certain frequencies, you can get a really good compressed Metal tone with more dynamic range than one would typically expect. I've found this to be an even better solution to getting tight rhythm tones, while being abe to add that same treble bite you get from a tube screamer, as well as being able to cut as much of those bass frequencies as you'd like.
If you show off the 6505 in a Video i fall in Love with my amp again! Thanks for keeping this 15 Years of marrige alive! :)
The Passive SDs are for me the most interesting ones here. The Dynamics between the the Low and High Strings just kills...
That is why i switched back to SDs (The Nazgul is fkn awesome)
The 81s just work, we hear that combo so much we used to it and it feels instant right and good (played it myself for years).
The Passive Voicing of the Fishmans sounds more like the 81s than the passives to me.
Loved the video. Really showcases that pickup model barely matters at all when playing through a great sounding rig.
Fishman Fluence modern (Active) is my favorite here! Great demo
John, I just want to say that I LOVE your riffs!! Listening to them is awesome regardless of the content.
It's a great comparison between pickup technologies, but there is one that is good too and people barely talk about it. That technology is called alumitone from Lace pickups, specifically the Lace alumitone deathbuckers.
Great job Jon! All three sound great. BTW, you are the reason I started using York Audio IRs!
Great demo !! It’s hard to tell .what’s best . They all sound amazing
Man, they all sound great (loving that 6505!)…I do believe I prefer the Duncan passives here though
I have always been a passive guy, but that fishman active voicing was right on spot too! Would love to see some blind test with these pickups.
Great test, thanks! What would be awesome is if in the future you could also capture the DI tracks off all the guitars and share them here. Being able to hear how the pickups would perform with our own gear would really take this to the next level. Thanks a lot!
The best comparison video I've seen, well done man.
The Duncan is the clear standout in this comparison. It still possessed note definition within this high gain demonstration. The attack was razor blade while muting as well. The Fluence did well, but is quite a bit of trouble to install. The passive/active modes are a huge plus. The main point of this comment is that the EMG simply lacked compared to the other entrants. The compression squashes note definition, and removes percussiveness during palm mutes. Thanks for posting!
Wow this is great. Great song/riff choice. Compliments the back to back comparisons. Well thought out, John! Cheers bro
what i like most about passive pickups is probably what doesn't comes through in these kind of videos but when playing them:
It's the response on palm mutes which is very direct and punchy.
Also i really like the high end of passives
Thats probably because of the greater frequency response overall, less high and low cut in a sense.
Funny, I usually find actives to have a somewhat "flatter" frequency response (relatively more even to be precise), while passives always have more obvious resonant peaks (because they rely mostly on the coil design, which gives them a more characteristic tone to them).
Actives always have more high end than passives
@@0megalul309 well thats not the case
Duncan but they all worked well with your mix. Great channel man, your work is greatly appreciated.
Awesome comparison! The EMG's have a great tone in the mix, not necessarily when isolated out of context. The Duncuns seem to cater toward classic rock vs metal. However, they all sounded great in the mix. I prefer the Fishman! Perhaps do the same comparison via an ENGL Powerball, since channel 3 and 4 seem to be more compressed on this amp - I would think this would tax the pickups.
Passive Duncans with Peavey gives a nice wet texture that I adore. Well done!
For me, the Fishman Active wins. Just sounds the heaviest and the pickin’ parts sounded as clear as the Duncan’s. I like the SD’s but has a little fuzz to it which I don’t like. Fisheys sounded the clearest and had the best chugginess to them. EMG’s aren’t on the same field any longer, they just sounded distant.
Love your comparison video. I would give a shot of Fishman pickups for my next guitar.
Only youtube content with valuable comparisons. Kudos! Thank you!
Cheers!
Epic video (as always). Best part was the demo song :)
Having all 3 of these guitars allows as much flexibility as realistically possible. You will never be out of tonal options.
Definitely the Duncan, sounds fuller. Interesting since I thought the EMG would have sounded slightly brighter.
I always find answers in your videos! Thanks! :)
Very useful video because there are certain contexts where a given pickup, due to its own distinct EQ filtering, can really make a fixed amp, speaker and microphone/IR setup stand out in a manner that another pickup would not. That said, I did prefer the Seymour Duncan Custom; I have come to favour passive pickups on the whole, given that they relay a thicker and imposing tonality for my requirements, but obviously, the actives do have their distinct advantages, especially the Fluence Moderns and all the various iterations of the Seymour Duncan Blackout.
Always love the grooves you write for these vids!
Passive pickups here have that smacky chunk, i really enjoy it along with the clarity
another phenomenal video, love it. My fave sound was the SD Custom (passive) with that snarl and high-end detail. My least fave was the EMG 81TW. The Fishman pickup voicing's fell in the middle for me, but I definitely dig the 'OD/tubescreamer' vibe of the Fishman's.
Fishman Active is impressively powerful.
It's the chunk to end all chunks!
Duncan’s sound so nice. Never would have thought
Great comparisson! My inner nerd wonders if you can hear any difference between the guitars acoustically. I found the fluence to sound a bit "strangled" for lack of a better word. On the chuggy sounds, the EMG sounded like a cleaned up version of the Duncan. I could see the preference for the pickups depending on the application.
You are correct - As an observation, the Fishman Moderns are indeed compressed (or clipped) already going into the amp. I have an Ibanez Prestige with Moderns and have analyzed the DI's which have tops clipped even when I lower the input volume on my interfaces (compared Focusrite Scarlett and Presonus Quantum). My EMG pickups (Schecter) does not.
I like both how unforgiving and clinical fishmans are, and how forgiving and rounded custom is. they perfectly complement each other, one for live and other for recording.
Excellent video. This channel is a superb resource.
Whenever I watch a video on Active vs Passive I always prefer the Passives. Whenever I'm actually in the room playing the guitar I always prefer the sound of the Actives.
That prolly means you prefer the sound of passives in a mix
You probably find that the videos you're watching the amps have been set using the passives, where you're probably setting your amp for the actives. In a video like this, they'll say "oh this pickup loses bottom end" say, but if they were too adjust the amp settings for it, the passive pickup would probably end up sounding boomy and flubby.
Sounds like you need to play a passive ceramic bridge then.
I think what this shows more than anything is how small of a difference that different pickups make in this case, even between the active and passive I think matching the input gain would reduce that further, but it's still pretty close, even on the isolated guitars. In the mix, if I wasn't listening for it, I doubt many people would ever think "oh, that's a different pickup there!"
Yeah.. it seems like as long as they are good quality pickups it doesn't really matter in the end, lol.
@@bmhyakiri even cheap stock pickups usually get the job done just fine. Of all the guitars I've tested and worked on, only 2 really needed a pickup replacement. One was an already unplayable cheap sears guitar from the 60s and the other was a super cheap epiphone branded (clone I think) with incredibly low output single coils. An $11 hot rod made it sound mostly as good as a Dimarzio
the thickness and warmness of the SD is just too good
Emg fan here but gotta admit the Duncan sounded great. The very end is the most telling when comparing these. Quick clips without drums. Was hoping you did that! Thanks 🤘🏽
No matter what pickups I am using (even passive Bare Knuckles Nailbombs and Dimarzio Evolutions), I am always coming back to EMGs (at least for guitars with mahogany body and neck). And frankly - without those focused reviews, it's really difficult to distinguish the pickups in the mix.
Hey Sonic Drive Studio, great riffing and video! IMHO Seymour Duncan Passive does what great passive pups do..... Breathe and offer dynamics that let the music live. Least favorite in this comparison was the compressed EMG 81.
Excellent pickup comparison demo. Seymour Duncans hands down!
Oh one more thing maybe for the next Video. I would be interested to hear the picking Attack on single Notes on the high stings. On a Simple Melody around the 12th Fret with a Pull off and a hammer On will do. Just to hear the slight Picking Scratch.
But as always: Awesome Video!
As a longtime emg user, I have to admit that I like the other two just as much, if not better. All are good. i see seymour best passively. Above all, the combination of the phat cat and the split function of humbucker and single coil seem to have the most interesting range of sounds
Very interesting. I'm now installing the EMG in a Cort superstato I'm modifying. Expecting to sound so great for heavy riffs.
Great Playing, Love them all!
Own several different Emg,SD and Fishmans. You honestly cant go wrong with any of them push em with awesome playing and a beautiful amp like yours any of them will Growl and chug.
I really liked the Duncan Customs the best. It just sounds the most full and it has the most character. The EMGs sounded good too, perfect for a more metallic sound. The Fishmans just weren’t it for me, but the passive voicing didn’t sound bad.
I’d love to hear this sort of comparison with a more mid gain amp, like like a Marshall, a Friedman, or an Orange. I guess all of those can be high gain, but I feel like they hit the mid gain vibe better.
Yeah I'll definitely do a mid gain amp in the future!
@@SonicDriveStudio Awesome! I'm excited to see how that turns out!
I'd definitely love to hear these through an Orange and a Mesa.
I'd go with the Duncans in this test but depending upon the amp and type music I'm playing I don't mind the Fishman Active tone either.
Duncans definitely are my favorite, but forgot how much I enjoy the EMG sound. nice to have in your arsenal. Really underwhelmed by the Fishman surprisingly. Thought I'd enjoy them more.
apply small dB boost to get them to shine. I too was unimpressed at first but have come to love them as much as BKP blackhawks.
Great demonstration! I found the differences between the mixes very subtle, but with the isolated tracks they became more apparent. I always have been an EMG fanboy, but I have to admit the Fishmans sounded great as well.
IDK in a live situation, I'd lean towards actives. More dependable/ less to worry about going wrong
The Duncan Custom kicked the asses of the others in this one and I love EMG. Way to go SD
Good video. I have the EMG808X in my Ibanez RGIF7, from comparisons it seems the X version of EMG is slightly brighter. You might like those
Yeah I definitely want to try one
It is. Because the headroom is higher, there's a bit less of that "limiting" effect and the lows are less compressed to the front, so overall the X sounds a bit leaner and brighter. I think both the standard as well as the X versions have their charm so it's mostly gonna come down to preference and the guitar they're sitting in.
I really love the bite of the Fishmans in active voicing.
Consider a similar test using the Full Shred and/or Nazgul instead of the Custom.
They all sound great, but hey, that’s probably thanks to the player/producer. Definitely need to try a set of Fishman humbuckers in the future. I always find it funny that I dig the sound of the EMG 81 when someone else is playing it, but I never got on with the sound/feel when I give them a spin.
Yet another great, helpful video!
SD wins in my opinion, second place goes to Fishman's passive setting. My favorite guitar has EMG's in it and im thinking of changing it like i already have done on all my other guitars to either SD's or Bare Knucle. This video helps pushing me towards passive pickups!
I tought id need the fishman, but no, EMG allready have a couple, what i need are some pasei e SD baby. Tks a lot for this cool and helpfull clip my dude
I've had a 6505+ for years and it was really cool to see your side-by-side with a model so similar... I've always been curious if there was a difference between the two head models - perhaps that would make for some interesting content ;)
It helps having multi types of the same guitar so you dont have to swap the pickups in and out of one! There is a defiantly a difference. SD has bright high end, EMG tams the high end and keeps everything in a nice pocket (compressed I guess you can say but no in a bad way) and the Moderns sound good, but they have that mid hump in them I dont care for ( I am a massive fishman fan btw). But overall they all sound really good. Just depends which ones works better with your setup/work flow.
Plus I can't solder to save my life haha
@Sonic Drive Studio 😂
Wow Nice Man... I Love SD Custom And Fisman Fluence Modern
The Duncan Custom is my favorite pickup, and I like it the most here. I used to hate EMGs but I recently started liking them a lot. I am currently playing a Keith Merrow signature and his Fishman set is really nice, you should try it.
The Duncan just really seemed to smoke the others for me. So much more character.
Passive for me thanks!!! Nice comparison mate!!!
love the mid-low growl on the Fishman active voicing , Duncan should sound killer when soloing
This was a great review! Thanks for comparing the Fishman's against other brands. Most of these comments are mentioning the voice 2 (passive) vs the Duncan and I would just like to say that the magnet configuration is different. If you compared the SD against one of our Classic humbuckers, the conversation would be entirely different. Thanks for the review! Ken Susi - Fluence Brand Manager
Cheers Ken, love your pickups!
I like the Duncans the best. I always used to default to EMG (metal kid grew up reading GuitarWorld), but lately I’ve really been liking passives. I have a set of Fishmans and really don’t like them, might get a set of these Duncans!
Great video! However, I do think that the difference between all these picups sounds aren't that huge as people think. A much bigger difference in my opinion is how it feels like playing all these pickups. I have Fishman Devin Townsend PU, it felt kinda wierd first playing these. I guess, it has to do with the magnets and dynamic response.
I think the Custom sounds great and clear winner imo, but the Active Fishman when you hit the F chunks have an interesting sound like you can really hear the strings individually. liken it to if barbed wire was stringed kind of a tin chunka which was really a cool sound in drop C. I love my Pheonix 1000 with the custom in it. I didn't really care for the EMG because it sounded muffled not as many mids/highs i guess. Mesa Boogie Mini or any rectifier would be my vote for next amp to use.
Great comparison John!!
Very helpful vid man! Thanks!
EMGs have this particular thing where I don't necessarily enjoy playing them the most BUT they sound incredible recorded. The compression and aggressive tone just come out in spades in recordings. With that said, I was under the impression that Fishmans had fuller low end because I was considering switching out EMGs in one guitar for Fluences, but this review is making me rethink that. Maybe I just need a good ol 18v mod or an EMG x
Be interesting to compare the Duncan with the EMG using 18v. I added the extra 9v to my EMGs years ago and found it brightened/clarified my tone.
if i could find a pickup that had the sound of the seymour duncans with open notes but with the sound of the fishmans with palm mutes, i think it'd be the greatest pickup ever
Fishman classic opencore
I own both EMG and fluence modern and after a long time playing with them i finally reached my tone goal: fluence for the chugging parts and emg for all the rest. It just works so well to me. By the way, i would be really curious to hear the peavey invective in a comparison between these pickups. Could it be the next in line? Thanks!
As always, TOP video! IMHO Seymour Wins! would you reccomend a 6505 o a 6505+ for modern metal with 7 string guitars?
I've never tried the 6505+. Have you considered the Invective?
@@SonicDriveStudio I don't like it, already got a 5153 100w Stealth, but I was looking for a classic to fit in my collection ;)
@@Frankdrabik can't go wrong with a regular 6505
@@SonicDriveStudio thanks mate! also looking for a Triple x :)
Like always you make everything sound great!
Thanks!
Great work! I subscribed :D
Should have added a fourth pickup… Vintage PAF with Alnico II magnet. Otherwise sick comparison. Nice work!
Great comparison, all sounded good but EMG is #1 for me, followed by the passive voiced Fishman at #2.
Keep in mind RUclips dulls down the sound quality pretty bad lol isn't like a bit rate of 20?
they all sound great, it's like blue is my favorite color and deciding which hue I prefer the most. I like duncan classic > fishman passive > fishman active > emg 81. I have white passive duncan invaders with black poles in my snow white Jackson Kelly with black binding maple fretboard black sharkfin inlays and floyd rose... love it.
I think I prefer passive pickups. Both the Duncan and the passive setting on the fishman were my favorites. The Duncan being number one!
I’m trying to figure out what I want for my Jackson juggernaut 7 string. It has BKs but seems lacking. I have an esp with FF . And some others with emg. Just not sure
Is that an original riff you are playing? I like it so much.
Your vid on the Phoenix had me sold. Been enjoying it immensely this past week. Thanks for your effort and work.
Any idea what your pickup height is on the Phoenix?
Cheers from Texas! Keep it going!!
Seymour Duncan wins overall for me. It has the most bite and articulation. I do like the sound of the fishman active voicing for the low powerchord chug riffs though. It sounds like the EMG without all the mids scooped. Well done man!
I'm a huge fan of passive pickups... This Seymour is amazing
Superb riffs!!!
SD Custom for me 👍🏽