The ULTIMATE Metal Guitar Pickup Test
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- Опубликовано: 16 окт 2024
- The ULTIMATE Metal Guitar Pickup Test. WINTERSUN ALBUMS MASTER FILES, ISOLATED TRACKS, INSTRUMENTALS, REMASTERS: wintersun.band...
Read Jari's full detailed review and opinion here:
/ wintersun
Which guitar pickup is the best? Does Fishman beat EMG? Why are we here? These are the questions we want to know the answers to! Let me know what you think in the comments!
Contenders:
Duncan Solar
Fishman Fluence Modern *Voice 1
Fishman Fluence Devin Townsend *Voice 1
Fishman Fluence Classic *Voice 2
EMG 81 (85 for neck pickup)
EMG 57 (66 for neck pickup)
*Fishman pickups have two voices, so I chose the best voice what I considered being the better sound for metal
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Sick!
Thanks man!
Yehaaaaaa
Ola!!!!!!
Woah an Ola was spotted in the wild youtube...
Spot on demo
EMG 57 and 81 sounded great. Townsend pickup and Duncan Solar were also great. The Modern and Classic Fishmans just sounded too 'scratchy'.
Yeah. EMG for life 😁
FACTS 🤘😏
I agree with you bro with 57 & 81
YAP
I always use emgs
My opinion:
- Fishman Classic definitely the worst, too shrill/djenty and not enough oomph
- Duncan Solar good EQ balance but not enough output, could be compensated with more gain on the amp
- EMG 57 great bass, great on big chords but too “sludgy” and not tight enough on lower tunings
- Fishman Devin Townsend awesome mids, very musical sounding, very balanced, like it a lot
- Fishman Fluence Modern I think it’s my favorite, very clean sounding, very tight, not shrill in the mix, sounds polished and powerful
- EMG 81 while not my favorite I think it’s probably the best for Jari’s tone. I think the more Jari tries new pickups, the more he goes back to the 81 :)
Great comparison, thanks for the DIs! I think I’ll go with Fluence Modern myself
Gotta remember the Solar's were designed with the Satan in mind. You slam to much output into that beast you lose some clarity.
I thought the solar duncans were the worst
Overall I'd say EMG 57, Modern and Devin's are the best imo.
ah art
EMG 57 has the most body of them all
slightly boomy IMO
too my ears(and speaker setup) the 57 has too much treble like a lot of distorted peaking overtones
It has the most bass... I had to dial it out to sit in a mix or live. Haven't had to do that with the fluence abasi.
The 57’s def had bolder, rounder sound to it
Too much lowend. Sucks ass.
what I find most interesting is that you can graphically see the headroom issues of the EMGs people talk about... EMG 81 was my favourite though, and I also really liked the Fishman modern and the Devy signatures.
@@MadaraSy666 ehm no? I have EMGs in both my guitars, and if you were to play some really high gain stuff (Nile etc...) you'll find that it's super hard to accent palm muted notes properly. With a set of Bareknuckles on the same guitar and with the same amp settings - no problem at all. And you can literally see the EMGs capping in the video...
I love the 81. Its only problem is that if you play a chord with more than 3 notes in it - forget about hearing anything :D
This has to be the best mic comparison video I have ever seen. Very clear presentation. Thanks Jari! See you at John Smith festival! \o/
These videos are treasures
Pretty much all of the sounded like shit. Icepick straight to forehead
Man, Fishman should pay you for this. Thorough, precise and extremely useful.
Thanks Jari for the great work. Definitely useful to make an opinion based on our taste.
Now TIME II go back to work 😜
TIME II get rid of this joke... Oops
Stop that. You can't force creativity IF you want good result in the end.
Nah,he better make the self titled part 2
Time II is already recorded Jari said!
All pickups sound awesome. My preference is the Fishman Fluence Classic, followed by the Solar and EMG 57, I think that these have a lot of definition for metal riffs.
I totally enjoy the 57 the most. Those low-lows and high-mids jump out in a sweet way and the clarity through the rest supports it well
For the active pickups I’d go for the DT set. Have to say- the stock Solar pickups are sleepers. Keep in mind that if you had a much hotter signal chain, that pickup would probably handle the extra gain better than most, and still have that passive feel going for it.
Came here looking for alternatives to old EMG 81, but honestly it sounded the best out of this lot. I guess Fishman modern was quite nice too.
For me it really depended on what you did. With most stuff I prefer the EMG 81. But with faster stuff I prefer the Devin Townsend. While I prefer the EMG 57 on open chords.
I think emg 57-66 set is the best, but the standard 85-81 could cut through the mix also good. Fishman's pickups have also well-sounding magnets and the Devin's couple one is particular whit its midrange cutted sound. It's diffiult to put a pickup on the edge.
I really like to watch/listen to Jari's playing.
Loved the 81, it has this percussiveness about it that beats the others imo
Too much bass, the 57 are the same but whitout the bass, and if you are in a band you want to hear the bass.
Love this comparison, though it’s weird the Fishman Classic sounds completely different in my guitars and the others sound similair.
Really dig the Devin, Emg 57 and the Moderns.
Mmmm love 81 and Fluence modern.
Amazing how the old EMG 81 wins for metal rhythym. Have to admit when compared to the Fluence Classic I relistened 3 times and have to give the ever so slight edge to the Fishman. And I must say, this is how you demo metal pickups against each other. Best Ive seen by far cos he does different types of metal riffs not the same one over and over like the awesome Keith Merrow ones, which are badass too.
EMG 57 was the best ones )
Great test. I can see why some people say EMGs are somewhat muddy. But sometimes they sound more rich for the same reason. Overall i think the 81 or the townsend were the best of the bunch. Fishman modern are very tight, maybe too much.
Emg 81 has the most meat. I only didn't like the solar, too "dry" imo
Agreed
Nah he just didn't compensate for the output levels between all those actives and the one set of passives (solar).
I have those pickups in a guitar and they are plenty beefy and articulate. Some of my favorite pickups actually.
I think he tested all the pickups on the same settings. The solar duncan are killer versatile pickups.
@Marius peepee poopoo wiggly wang woosh
@@misterringer Nah, they're too dry
Great Demo! I agree the EMG 57 has my win.... However, I would've loved to hear more Duncan Solar. It sounded the most unique in the bunch and I wanted some in the mix. Maybe next time? Amazing demo dude! Never would've thought EMG would've won out for me.
57 and Solar are my favorites - clarity without losing body.
Very useful thanks man. I met you in seattle at your first US show. I got you to sign the backplate to my guitar haga
I've been a Fishman fan for several years now but I must say the EMG 81 pickups have more thrust and power than the others. This is the best comparison test I've ever seen.
EMG 81 out of this bunch. Personally, I love the DiMarzio D-Activator the best, but thats just me! Keep the 81, the original and the best!
Fishman Fluence Modern and EMG 81/85 for me. Loved them both!
i've always loved how the EMG 81 sounds. the Fishman Devin Townsend one was also pretty nice!
FINALLY, someone demoing actives without a ton of post processing and highlighting everything I dislike about actives, LOL. Great video.
The top 3 for me were:
1. Fishman Devin Townsend set
2. EMG 57
3. Duncan Solar
All of the Fishmans sounded best to me. The EMG 81 was nice and chunky but I fear it's the noisiest of em all.
EDIT: Honestly they're all really good pickups, but I was thinking more along the lines of the context they're in.
givemeanumber0123456789 I pretty sure Jari could make a broom and some magnets and copper sound as heavy as any of this 😂
nice clean balanced tone from the fishmans I found
Have to go with Fishman modern on this one.
Although, it did catch alot of that spring vibration on Evertune - so maybe not with trem systems or anything related with springs.
It depends on the riff but on average 81 and Modern for sure.
the guitar tone was set to sound really bright and the pick-scrape was so present, of course the more bassy EMG won. For Jari.
I would have listen all the pickups in the mix. Like the Solar etc so we could have compared it to our ears.
Hearing alot of fuzz artifacts, treble and presence must be set to 15. Cranking the headphones hurts. Would have been a great demo, like when they keep time somewhat short when switching from example to example. Would like to here it again with less brightness.
I closed my eyes and looked at what I thought sounded best and it was the Fishman Modern both times. Hmm. Surprised me.
EMG 81 stills "the king", great video and complete stuff !!! wow amazing work here :) thanks a lot man !!! you're awesome !!
Good in a mix
I don't know much about guitars, but yours looks gorgeous with the golden pickups.
I'd have to say a tie for me between the EMG 81, Fluence Modern and Fluence Devin Townsend. The EMG has the most reliable 'drive' to it, but while an occasional 'twang' comes out of the Fluences (kind of an annoying 'derrrg' which was worst on the Classic), they clean up better and have the versatility of the voicings. The Devin Townsend seemed to be the happy medium of a lot of them.
The Solar probably has its applications but just was just a little too dry and well-behaved. I'd like to see him check out more passive SD's for metal.
The Townsend pickup is trash
@@xiyx9748 What makes you say that?
All are good pups, but for me I'll go with (in order of preference) classic, 57, modern, 81, townsend
EMG 81 still rocks!
Imo, emg 81 wins ! Probably because of the mid spike voicing, I feel it sit better than all other in the mix but yeah a little bit too compressed. Better pickup comparison available on youtube!!! Sadly, I prefer passive pickups. I don't want to think about battery issues...
Best comparison out there! Thanks!!
The EMG 81 produces a rich sound, that would be my pick.
I dug the Fluence Classics and the 57 the most. What really surprised me was that I liked the 57 and the 81 over all of the Fishman offerings except the Classics. The Solar pups were really good too.
Thanks for doing this demo. It's very helpful.
The Solar pickups really shine with detuned guitars I feel. With what you are doing I feel like actives might be more suited. Cool video
Overall like the solar, Fishman Classic and the Devin Townsend. All sounded good tho. I’ve owned both the EMG81 and Fishman Moderns and they are good for heavy rhythm, but that’s about it IMO. I think the Fishman modern just sound like better 81’s with more headroom.
Really blown away by the EMG57, curiously didn't like the fishmans at all which is sad, hoped they'd be as awesome as everyone makes them seem. But I think they fit great in a mix! That's where I liked the EMG81and fishman classic the least. Very nice demo! Hope to see more of you in the near future :)
I was struggling to decide between EMG 81 or EMG 57, but in the pharaoh riff the 81 kills it.
And in the mix too 😊
The emgs have the most grit to them and sound best for riffing and palm muting but the fluence pickups definitely sound more fluid and cleaner for leads. I would still go for fluence.
u should become an solar artist, it suits you well!
Hey Jari I'm a big fan of yours, I love what you do as always, greetings from Costa Rica
For me
1. 57
2. Devin Townsend
3. 81
4. Modern
5. Classic
6. Solar
Love that types of vids!
EMG for life!
The emg 57 and 81 sounded by far the best...those Fishman's sounded shrill tinny....I don't know what all the fuss is over them...emg still rains supreme! Thanx for putting this vid together bro🤘😉
I love this test. Been debating between all these pick ups. The only other I would consider is Elysian pickups. Have to tried them and how do they compare. Really like to hear you try them
For me personally seymour duncans has always been the way to go. Having 3 of my 4 main guitars loaded with nazgul/duncan solar (neck), distortion/jazz and 1 pair of Jeff Loomis blackouts. I also have EMG's but for my taste it just seems that the SD's have a more round and natural punch and overall sound to me. As always just personal taste. :)
That's difficult..
Overall, the victors in the mix are Fishman Fluence Modern and EMG 81. The second has more bass, but the first sounds overall more complex.
But, on different riffs, there were different responses:
Fishman Fluence Devin Townsend sound good in the middle tones, Duncan Solar have not enough gain in your mix (they would've sound better), EMG 57 and Fishman Fluence Classic sound too passive - no go.
Upd. As I see in the rough mix, EMG 57 just cuts all the high notes. You call this pickup a winner, really?
I liked the Fishman Moderns and all of the EMG's also sounded great as always. I didn't really like Duncan Solars. They were way too choppy for me.
Btw, loved the PERKELEEEE!! @ 12:04
The Duncan Solars are the most low output pickups, so this test wasn't kinda fair for them. They need more distortion and gain from either the amp or from a distortion pedal. But in my last test I set gain according to the Duncans, which made the EMGs sound overly distorted, so this time I set the gain according to the Fishmans and EMGs. My full detailed review and opinions here: facebook.com/wintersun
@@WintersunJari Oh interesting, that's why the Solars sounded a bit off. And yeah I thought the EMG's sounded a bit too sharp in the last test and now I know why haha.
I bought my first guitar a few months ago and it has Ibanez's stock Quantum humbuckers. I've been thinking of getting EMG's (81 & 85) for a while now and this video and your review made me decide getting them. My amp (BOSS Katana 50) doesn't have much distortion so the Ibanez's stock pickups don't sound heavy enough for metal. If the EMG's themselves indeed have a lot of distortion, the amp shouldn't be a problem then. Kiitti Jari \m/
I liked the EMG 57's and Fishman Fluence Modern's the most. EMG 81 was also great but it's almost too metal for my taste.
And gotta say, I love how many Solar guitars have an Evertune bridge - makes life of a musician so much easier
Any EMG is the winner for me, though the fishmans also sound amazing. Not a fan of the solar PU's, too thin and no clear top end.
this is how you do a pickup comparison! not sure I agree on winners, interesting what each brings......
AMAZING comparison, seems to be very much effort behind the comparison. BUT you use a very specific EQ: much bass, very less mids and scooped highs for your rhythm - i'd say this is a very modern neo-metal-style. --> I'd suggest to play on a REAL tube-amp with REAL cabinet with V30s. Also sadly, the only DUNCAN was the Duncan SOLAR. DUNCAN has lots of modern passive/active pickups like the SH6 DISTORTION or the BLACKOUTS or BLACK WINTER/NAZGUL which would be very interessint hearing them in the comparison. In this example, of course the active-pickups are fatter (especially on the picking with 6th-e-note) That said, you are a very modern player with deep-tuning who does really need very clean tonal and less mud on your rhythm and your solo-playing -> unfortunately, you need active-pickups =)
EMG 57 if u ask me
EDIT: Or maybe EMG 81, idk some of the EMGs atleast
2nd EDIT: Funny how i voted on the winners before i saw them at 15:10, gotta mean they're the best!
I haven't tried the fishman fluence yet... But I do have the EMG 57-66.. and 81-85.(in plastic) an the 81-60 (in metal covers). And I have the pi-2 EMG phase inverter on the 81-60... And 57-66 sets. To me. The 57 is just a little more Fuller tone than the 81... But I'm used to how the 81 reacts to my pick attack.....
Best pickup comparison video ever. Thank you Jari 🤘🏼 now lets get a new single out or something 😜
1:19 Solar 2:10 EMG57 4:29 Solar 4:48 Modern 5:07 EMG57
Definitivly the Fluence Modern, it's the less earpiearcing, the best note definition and the less flobby bass (so if you want more body just crank the bass on this one ;) )
It was not better than the EMGs...
Kick ass review! Thanks!!
Fishman pickups are outstanding! Heavy, sharp and tight!
While I like both EMGs, I think the -57 has significantly more articulation than the -81, while retaining the richness. When we get to the "in the mix" section, it's not even close: even compared to the -81, the -57 blows away the competition with a "fiercely sweet" timbre (as they said of Pavarotti) that both harmonizes *and* establishes its own identity. In the DI section, it sounds almost like the non-EMG pickups are completely missing entire octaves (especially that Fishman Fluence Classic).
In any case, thanks Jari for sharing this with us: really fascinating stuff!
Which guitar pickup is the best? Does Fishman beat EMG? Let me know what you think in the comments!
Jari's full detailed review and opinion here:
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Damn. Guess I’m the only one who loved the fishman classic. To my ears each note in the chords had equal presence. I’m more into riffy stuff than shouty leads so chord definition is really important to me
I felt like the Fishmans had similar push and the saturation of the EMGs, but flattered your playing a little more (Especially the Fluence Modern). The EMGs were a bit more "wild" and "out of control" by comparison, which muddied the sound in the busier riffs, and generated more "white noise," and sometimes the pick attack felt "tinny" or "icepicky" (especially the EMG 57), which the Fishmans and the Solar managed to avoid. The Duncan Solar was nice and clear in all cases, but sacrificed the "meatiness" and saturation that the others had.
Anyway, I preferred each of the Fishmans for their balance of aggressive meat & saturation, articulation & clarity, and the focused & balanced EQ with tons of harmonics. Sat great in the mix, and the sweeps sounded super clean and even. My favorite for your approach was the Fluence Modern, tho the Townsend and even the Classic sounded very toneful.
Really makes me want a Fluence modern!!
I heard the most difference from the 57? Not saying it was the best but way different to my ears
Amazing video! What do the schecter APOCALYPSE pickups sounds like out of this list? Thanks
Thank you so much Jari! I happen to have the same axe (if this is S1.6ETFSBM) and stock pups seem to lack power, even compared to a Solar A2.6 with the very same pickups) - it's easy to hear that in the vid. I was looking for replacements and you definitely helped me with it;)
The Fishmans seem to have the highest output overall with the most dynamic range.
And while the EMGs don't come quite a far as output goes, they sound hotter because they're more compressed.
They both sound great in their own way and in the end it all comes down to preference.
As for myself, I'm sure the Fishmans would be amazing for clean tones and maybe some crunchier stuff. But for metal I don't really see a necessity to switch from my trusty old EMG 81s. (But if I had to choose, I'd take the Devin Townsends)
I did a cover of Summer a while ago. I don't think my stock SGJ was the most appropriate.
I would go for the EMG81 for future projects. The output of that one is amazing!
the differnces seem to be in the high end with these pick ups more then anything, low end seems to have very very minor differences that are actually pretty hard to point out.
For that particular rig the EMG 57 was the best. I think the Duncan Solar would have performed much better with more gain. The tone on all of the pickups was very scratchy. Maybe should have dialed the treble back on the amp a little bit.
Awesome vid!! 🤘🏼
Only thing missing would be the 81X and the Het Set bridge. great work for sure. You still favoring the 81/85?
OMG this video is very cool. Thank!
Why don't my EMG 81 sound so amazing?! All these pickups sound incredible! Thank you for the effort you put in to make this video, must've taken you eons to wire all the pickups!
EMGs are easy to drop into any guitar that’s already equipped with EMGs.
emg 57 to me is the best pick up in this test, thanks for doing this man
EMG57 it shall be!
57 sounds awesome!!
It all sounded very fizzy and screechy to me on all pickups, I like warmer tones. I understand that boosting high end will give more attack but It doesn't sound very balanced. It will surely cut trough a mix but at the cost of the listeners ears fatiguing rather quickly. The EMG 81 in this case however had the most beef, sounder better than the others for this particular sound.
I enjoyed the Devin pickup the most
Should be noted technique changes the pickup sound heavily, some ppl sound better on actives some on passives depending on their attack, finger tone etc.
I can't play guitar very well, nor do I know much about guitars, but EMG 57 sounded nice and wide, especially in the mids
Besides the classic, they all sounded good in their own way. 57 sounds like it has a little too much low-end. I think the modern is my favorite, but it sounds like it could have been set a little closer to the strings. The 81 is a metal classic, you can’t go wrong, and this comparison shows why.
Fishman Fluence Modern gets my vote! 😎🤘
I love EMG 81 but the EMG 57'S SOUNDED better in this demo. I dont think you can go wrong if you play Thrash or Metal with EMG's period . Gonna check into those 57's for sure !