I have the JR Daemonum set in my Epi Les Paul Standard and the EMG 81 HSS set in my Fender Strat and I feel like it's the perfect rhythm/lead mix for metal. The Daemonum's do have a much beefier output so I find that I have to adjust the amp settings to calm it down a bit but once I hit a setting that works, they sound heavy and amazing.
Well summed up my friend. Interestingly, the daemonums are in fact passive pickups, that have an active preamp on the way out, to give the benefit of quiet operation and a very slight bump to certain frequencies. This is opposed to the conventional emg active construction, whereby the coils are extremely underwound but boosted heavily by the internal preamp. I really like the daemonums, but if I'm going for the active sound, I want an 81, and if I'm going for a passive sound, I want something a little more relaxed than the daemonums. So, in that sense, these pickups, and indeed all the retroactive emgs, fall into a bit of a 'no man's land' for me, personally. Another great video my friend. Cheers
Thanks man ! You're right about the way those JR Daemonum and other retroactive have been built, I think that makes a real difference. Some people say you can remove the preamp on the retroactive and just use them as classic passive EMG. I have indeed removed the preamp from my fat 55 pretty easily. Now I just have to install the EMG solderless kit for passives in one of my guitars and try it :)
I'm also curious about the preamp removal experiment. Wouldn't it be the same as running them without a battery in? I think that just results in much lower output sound. I've done a mod with my fat 55s as well, I've got covers for them. Haven't installed them yet. Also I might try flipping the bridge one round to see if it gives a darker tone. BTW if you ever buy covers for retro active, you need 49mm poll spacing.
Do they make noise when you touch poles? I bought a set, kind of noisy compared to EMG vintage 70, much more output tho, like when I record with them I kind of need to turn everything down. Still not sure if I like them, I probably prefer stock emg pickups on my HB Fusion III sbk, are my pickups faulty? Wiring is 100% correct.
when I touch the pole with my pick, yes, there's some noise. When I touche the plastic part of the pickup too. But it's the exact same as on my EMG Super 77 set. If you find them noisy, maybe you should try and set them up 1mm lower. Here at home, they remain silent until I play.
Yes I did, but it was long ago ! They were the stock pickups in the Schecter Blackjack SLS I have demoed some 3 years ago. I should give them a second try with my current rig cos', lats time I've used those pickups, I had another amp, another overdrive pedal... But they didn't sound bad eventhough, back then, I was prefering the 81/85.
