Guys using Duncan Blackouts... Anyone have links to clean clips?

[JoshuaLogan]

I'm trying to decide between a set of EMG 707TWs and a set of Duncan Blackouts for my custom 7 string that's being built, and right now I'm leaning towards the 707TWs because of the coil tap single coil sounds available... I like using a single coil sound for clean playing a lot... but I really like how the Blackouts sound... kind of like a balance between EMG's and passives... but they aren't coiltappable and they don't have a 7 string version of the single coil.

 

So, do any of you know where I could hear the Blackouts being played clean? I just want to hear the tonality of them.... both the neck pickup and also the middle position that mixes the bridge and neck together (for a brighter sound).......

 

Which pickups go in this guitar really depends on how good the Blackouts can sound clean... Help me out if you can.

[ScreaminSaint]

Blackouts are super hot and have tons of mids. My Quickrod doesn't have a clean channel with them... They make the lead channel pretty dark too.

[Chrisjd]

I have owned the 707, 81-7, and blackout.

 

I think it would sound a LOT nicer to put a passive pickup in there.

 

I really did not like the blackouts, much prefered the emgs. I thought the blackouts had no character or variation. they sounded the same all the time. No picking dynamics.

[tws!]

Blackouts are super hot and have tons of mids. My Quickrod doesn't have a clean channel with them... They make the lead channel pretty dark too.

 

 

I get great clean tones with my neck Blackout, it's a humbucker too. I think it is a lot better than my EMG 60 in my other guitar for cleans.

[JnBroadbent]

Blackouts make me cum hard.

[ScreaminSaint]

I get great clean tones with my neck Blackout, it's a humbucker too. I think it is a lot better than my EMG 60 in my other guitar for cleans.

 

With a dedicated clean amp, they will do ok, but with my QR, the clean dirties up pretty easily with HB's.

[tws!]

With a dedicated clean amp, they will do ok, but with my QR, the clean dirties up pretty easily with HB's.

 

I'm using a DSL 100:poke: They even clean up with a volume roll back. Have you checked your battery? Just asking.

[JoshuaLogan]

 

Blackouts are super hot and have tons of mids. My Quickrod doesn't have a clean channel with them... They make the lead channel pretty dark too.

 

 

I use the Axe-FX for all my clean playing now, so I don't have to worry about the output level overdriving a clean channel. I can make any pickup as clean as I want to on the Axe-FX. I'm just more wondering how the actual tone of them sounds clean.

 

I usually use two basic clean tones (not taking into account effects, just the base tones): one is just the neck humbucker for melodic two hand tapping riffs and legato stuff, and the other is a brighter more jangly clean sound for chords, arpeggios, etc.... think a strat or the middle position on the EBMM Petrucci guitars. With the blackouts, I wouldn't have a single coil sound available, so both the humbucker and middle position combining bridge and neck humbuckers would need to sound good.

 

I'm not sure which way to go...

[JoshuaLogan]

 

I have owned the 707, 81-7, and blackout. I think it would sound a LOT nicer to put a passive pickup in there. I really did not like the blackouts, much prefered the emgs. I thought the blackouts had no character or variation. they sounded the same all the time. No picking dynamics.

 

 

Hmmm, that's pretty much the opposite opinion of what most people have about them. everyone says they are a lot more balanced and dynamic than EMG's and have more character and "naturalness" to them. Kind of like the best qualities of both worlds (passives and actives). Even your dudes in Slipknot use them... I personally hate that band and that kind of music, but I know you like them and they do have pretty good guitar tone though... and Dino Cazares has really, really good tone with them on the Divine Heresy cd.

 

I want to go with actives, so it's either going to be the 707TW's or the Blackouts... I like the extended EQ range and clearness of actives. Plus, this guitar is going to have a Floyd, so the extended high harmonics would help a lot for whammy tricks and the like.

 

From what I've heard of opinions of guys on sevenstring.org and videos on youtube of Dino Cazares using them, it seems like the Blackouts are an awesome balance between EMG's and passives... they have boosted bass and highs, giving them a more liquid, saturated kind of sound than EMG's, but are a little more responsive like passives. I do like EMG's (pretty much all of their pickups except for the 81 and 81-7), but I think I'd like the Blackouts better... It's just a huge trade off for me since the 707TW's add so much functionality with the coiltaps...

 

So, I'm having trouble making up my mind. Does anybody have any clean clips?

 

Also, I saw some guys using the neck blackout in both the bridge and neck positions... Have you tried it? which do you prefer?

[JoshuaLogan]

I get great clean tones with my neck Blackout, it's a humbucker too. I think it is a lot better than my EMG 60 in my other guitar for cleans.

 

Make some clips for me, biatch!

[JoshuaLogan]

Blackouts make me cum hard.

 

Clean clipz, plz.

[MightyThor]

[JnBroadbent]

Clean clipz, plz.

 

I wouldn't know.

 

They are metal.

[JoshuaLogan]

 

I wouldn't know. They are metal.

 

 

...say what?

[JnBroadbent]

...say what?

 

WHY THE FUCK WOULD I PLAY CLEAN WITH BLACKOUTS

 

asshole

[Chrisjd]

The blackouts were so hot that my cobra and 5150 seemed to lose dynamics with them. I don't care if slipknot uses them or not. The blackouts had a lot more treble and bass than the emgs, but sounded too dull and smooth in comparison, it was like they overided the amp and my fingers and just sounded the same 100% of the time.

 

And emgs, ESPECIALLY the 85, sound dull compared to a good set of passives.

[tws!]

Make some clips for me, biatch!

 

I would if I could brother.

[Dropsix]

The blackouts were so hot that my cobra and 5150 seemed to lose dynamics with them. I don't care if slipknot uses them or not. The blackouts had a lot more treble and bass than the emgs, but sounded too dull and smooth in comparison, it was like they overided the amp and my fingers and just sounded the same 100% of the time. And emgs, ESPECIALLY the 85, sound dull compared to a good set of passives.

You approve of teh Framus Dragon, therefore your opinions of teh toanez is invalid

[Chrisjd]

You approve of teh Framus Dragon, therefore your opinions of teh toanez is invalid

 

Fortunately I have had the ability to approve of a lot more than just the dragon.

 

What have you been able to approve of?

[Dropsix]

Fortunately I have had the ability to approve of a lot more than just the dragon. What have you been able to approve of?

I think you're missing the point slightly

[the_bleeding]

GET A PASSIVE!

 

active 7 string buckers are strangely sized... and {censored} with your ability to do modifications.

 

lundgren m-7 would be right up yoru alley.

[Dropsix]

[YOUTUBE]Uq-vB_Z7QWU[/YOUTUBE]

 

These clean toanez sounds ok?

 

Seems responsive aswell

[JoshuaLogan]

 

The blackouts were so hot that my cobra and 5150 seemed to lose dynamics with them. I don't care if slipknot uses them or not. The blackouts had a lot more treble and bass than the emgs, but sounded too dull and smooth in comparison, it was like they overided the amp and my fingers and just sounded the same 100% of the time. And emgs, ESPECIALLY the 85, sound dull compared to a good set of passives.

 

 

...Sounds like you didn't turn your gain down. And if you prefer the 81 over the 85 then you shouldn't be replying to me anyways, because the 85 sounds way better to me. The 81 is thin and scratchy sounding. haha.

 

And I'm way, way over the bull{censored} EMG hate. The kind of metal tones a lot of you guys are trying to mimic come from probably 90% of bands and producers who prefer using active pickups. Like Killswitch Engage for example, so many guys here want their sound and yet they regurgitate bull{censored} rants about EMG's, when the band themselves used them on the albums. Hell, even the older dudes going after the Metallica MOP do the same thing.

 

And I really love the SA single coils. They sound great, and I've heard players of all styles using them in strats. So, that's why I was really interested int he 707TW's, but the Blackouts having less compression, more dynamics, and more lows and overall liveliness have got me really interested in going with them instead. I just don't know if the trade off of not having a single coil sound for cleans will be worth it to me or not.

[Chrisjd]

 

...Sounds like you didn't turn your gain down. And if you prefer the 81 over the 81 then you shouldn't be replying to me anyways, because the 85 sounds way better to me. The 81 is thin and scratchy sounding. haha. And I'm way, way over the bull{censored} EMG hate. The kind of metal tones a lot of you guys are trying to mimic come from probably 90% of bands and producers who prefer using active pickups. Like Killswitch Engage for example, so many guys here want their sound and yet they regurgitate bull{censored} rants about EMG's, when the band themselves used them on the albums. Hell, even the older dudes going after the Metallica MOP do the same thing. And I really love the SA single coils. They sound great, and I've heard players of all styles using them in strats. So, that's why I was really interested int he 707TW's, but the Blackouts having less compression, more dynamics, and more lows and overall liveliness have got me really interested in going with them instead. I just don't know if the trade off of not having a single coil sound for cleans will be worth it to me or not.

 

 

The 81 sounds thin and scratchy in the wrong guitars. Throw one in a mahogony bodied guitar with a nice balanced sounding tube amp and I think it destroys the 85.

 

Also, all the produced guitar tones don't really do a lot of justice to simply the pickups' tones.

[JoshuaLogan]

 

GET A PASSIVE! active 7 string buckers are strangely sized... and {censored} with your ability to do modifications. lundgren m-7 would be right up yoru alley.

 

 

No offense, dude, but I've seen you regurgitate trendy little comments like that a ton of times.

 

1. The EMG 7 string are slightly bigger and need a little routing, but if you like the pickups who cares? It's not like you're going to change them.

 

2. The Blackouts come in both the EMG 7 sizing (which is just the bass housing size) and also regular passive size.

 

3. Both Bareknuckle and Lundgren get way too much hype. They both make great pickups. So do a ton of other passive builders like Q-Tuner, Wolfetone, Adder Plus Corps, etc. But there is nothing magical about any of these. Tim at BKP is a great guy and provides good info and does his best to make pickups that you'll like, but there's no special magic about them that makes them any better than Duncan, Dimarzio, Suhr, Anderson, etc. The Lundgrens are the same way. They are so popular because of Meshuggah, and how trendy the djent stuff is now with guys like Bulb getting so popular. I like that style of music a lot, but I don't really think Meshuggah's guitar tones are anything special either. The people getting them are obsessed with Meshuggah or following the djent trend like sheep. They are NOT worth $200 per pickup.