Metal music relies on a very heavy tone that is saturated with high gain distortion. This is why the best metal guitar manufacturers opt to install humbuckers into their models meant for this genre of music. If you want to find out which brands we are talking about, check out ‘Who Makes The Best Guitars for Metal‘. Installing humbuckers instead of single coils doesn’t really solve the issue completely. Not all humbuckers are the same, and they definitely vary in terms of sound they deliver.
At the end of the day, there are two options on the table - active or passive humbuckers. The difference between the two is sometimes marginal, but sometimes very obvious. Both of these have their own pros and cons which you definitely need to know about when deciding which way you want to go. Today we are going to talk about humbuckers and show you what each type offers in terms of performance.
Passive Humbuckers
Passive humbuckers are found on anything from affordable guitars to more expensive ones. They are called passive because they require no extra power in order to work. This means that their output is somewhat limited. Speaking of which, the output is what differentiates good passive humbuckers from the mediocre ones. As you can probably guess, passive humbuckers that are average at best get installed into more affordable guitars made for metal.
The good ones will be found in more expensive models. The main benefit of passive pickups is their clarity and how expressive they are. You can get incredible amounts of definition from a set of passive humbuckers, which is why a good portion of guitar players prefer them over the alternative. Aside from that, passive humbuckers require no special maintenance. They simply work.
Active Humbuckers
Active humbuckers require an additional source of power in order to work properly. They use this extra juice to significantly increase the output levels. More output means more gain and a very saturated distortion across the range. This fact alone is why active pickups have become synonymous with metal music over the course of the last decade. Almost every high-end guitar built for metal will have some kind of active humbucker setup.
One general major drawback of active pickups is their lack of clarity. When you crank up the output to the max, you start losing a lot of that definition, which is something most people simply can’t work with. Also, the fact that you have to pay attention to the battery in your guitar is a small thing, but something that can become tiresome really fast. With that said, active pickups are more versatile than passive ones, and if you’re careful, you can create a tone that is both expressive and clear.
Conclusion
Active versus passive is an argument that has been going on for a while now. Both sides have many members and they don’t give in easily. The truth is that both of these are great, but they offer a completely different performance. Active vs. passive is not a question of which one is better, but which one’s performance is more aligned with your own needs. If you could benefit from that higher output and you don’t really do a lot of soloing, a set of good active pickups is probably what you need. However, if you love the feel of passive pickups, but you also want to improve your tone, there’s a number of great passive humbuckers on the market that will help you achieve this goal. It all comes down to which is a better tool for the job at hand.
Another thing that prevents most people from installing active pickups on their guitars is the price tag a decent set comes with. Active pickups are generally more expensive than passive pickups. If you are looking to give your old guitar a new set of humbuckers, you should know that having active pickups doesn’t guarantee a good tone on its own. A lot of factors need to align in order for active pickups to show their true potential.
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