Syns Signature Pickups

[Julian Penz]

Hey Guys
I saw the Signature Pickups in the Store, that Im quite interrested in. I have the Synyster Gates Standard Signature guitar with the Seymour Duncan pickups. My question is, does anybody know how big the quality difference between these two is??? As always, thank you.

 

[idssdi]

Check out the video Hector made on a comparison of the Invaders vs. the signature Syn pickups. Even though I think the standard has Duncan designed pickups it should still be a good comparison for you.

 

[Julian Penz]

Ahhh thanks. Can you give me a link to this video? I cant find Hectors channel in the forum

 

[idssdi]

Here it is

 

[Julian Penz]

Thnaks!

 

[Christopher Lonski]

I will say, even though Hector’s video is very good and the tone sounds great, its really difficult to tell how different the pickups sound without being in the room and playing through an amp and cab. Recording adds compression a lot of the time making it more difficult to hear nuance. Also, Youtube compresses their videos which makes the sound quality less detailed as well and they rarely sound as good as the original recordings. I will say that I have a pair of those pickups and they are phenomenal. Easily the best pickups for metal that I’ve played in 20 years, and they will DEFINITELY be an upgrade from the Duncan designed pickups in your Standard. They are incredibly clear and articulate. Very, very tight sounding pickups. They definitely have a certain feel in them that other pickups just dont have.

 

[Julian Penz]

Thanks Christopher for your opinion. That really helped me It’s like you have said, Hectors video is great but through the YouTube Video quality it was hard to hear any difference between the pickups. Both sound just amazing!
Thanks for help guys

 

[Matt Wildman]

In the video It looks like Syn signed hectors guitar with the custom pickups. Does Syn always sign the guitars that are bought here at the store? If so that’s pretty cool

 

[Matt Wildman]

It says “thanks Hector!” On it I think

 

[idssdi]

I think he does but I think Hector bought the Hang and Jam thing.

 

[Matt Wildman]

Ah, nice

 

[Julian Penz]

Ahhh before I forget. The Syn Signature Pickups don’t have the single coils, am I right? With the standard signature you can switch between Humbucker and Single Coil. Thanks

 

[Christopher Lonski]

They do. All humbuckers with 4 wires allow you to split the coils.

 

[Ed Seith]

According to the specs, the new Syn’s are easily the highest output passive pickups I’ve ever seen.

 

[Julian Penz]

Passive Pickups? Aren’t the Invaders active Pickups? Sorry questioning all that stuff I’ve never questioned about all my equipment. I’m just the guy that likes to play the expensive
stuff
So, is it worth to change the active Pickups to Passive Pickups?
Thanks again

 

[Christopher Lonski]

No, invaders are passive and so are syns schecter pickups. Active pickups arent that great with dynamics, they are just loud. They are good for metal rhythm and ok for leads. I personally wouldnt buy anymore active pickups. I’ve tried a few different brands and I didnt like any of them.

 

[Ed Seith]

Changing a guitar from passive to active pickups (or back again) is a lot more work than just changing the pickups. There’s wiring for the battery and the volume and tone pots (I think both, but maybe one or the other) need to be changed out as well.
Finally, Considering just how DIFFERENT they are, I really feel like, outside of “special needs guitars,” you pretty much need to be all active or all passive. If you tune your rig for actives, then passive pickup guitars sound terrible through it, and vice versa.

 

[Julian Penz]

Ahhh Okay thanks for the advise. Didn’t know all of this

 

[Christopher Lonski]

Yeah, you actually have to change everything except the switch. You need 25k pots instead of 500k for both tone and volume, and a stereo 1/4 inch jack to activate the battery when you plug the guitar in. Also you have to unplug it anytime you arent playing it because the battery will drain, just like an effect pedal. The tone also changes as the battery drains, which is no bueno. Honestly, I dont think active pickups are worth the hassle at all. They sound great for one thing and that’s it.
Allegedly Fishman Fluence pickups are different and more organic, and they can also use USB rechargeable batteries, which is great, but everything I’ve heard so far I havent been super impressed with. I would need to play them to get a real opinion on them though.

 

[idssdi]

For me the only active pickup I’m actually interested in is the sustainiac. Besides the sustainiac I never really thought an active pickup sounded good enough(or better) to have all the hassle of batteries and stuff like that.