Seymour Duncan AHB-1B Blackouts HB Bridge

The Seymour Duncan Blackouts are a new beast in the active pickup market. This is the main bridge pickup of all the Blackouts. This pickup takes aim at the iconic EMG 81. This pickup like the 81 is an active pickup. This means that you need a battery for the pickup to operate. You also need special tone and volume pots. These are usually included if you buy the pickups new but if you buy them used you may have some problems trying to fit these into a guitar. Usually if you need both active pickups because it is very difficult to run an active pickup with a passive pickup. The 81 is a great pickup and has been used for years but everyone knows its weaknesses. This AHB-1B Blackout aims to make the 81s weaknesses its strenghts. The thing that most people dislike about the 81 is its lack of bottom end. That is not a problem with the AHB-1B because this pickup has bottom end a plenty. The pickup has all the high end crunch and gain that you expect from an active pickup. They are just as hot as any EMG's you have heard. With the added bottom end it does not sound harsh and thin like an 81 can sound sometimes. To me it is more like an 85. I prefer the 85 to the 81 due to its fuller sound. This AHB-1B is like they combined the 81 and 85 and stuck a Seymour Duncan label on it. Where the extra fullness hurts you is if you are tuning very low. If you are tuning very low you may want to stick with the 81. You will need the top end clarity to keep everything clear. If you are not tuning super low the AHB-1B can give you a much bigger sound than the 81 at higher tunings without clarity problems.

I used two months on a SG with a standart 5150 and orange 4x12
compared with emg 81 it sounds a little less compressed, a little warmer, less synthetic, more balanced (less than meduim), less attack, less accurate therefore fatter on all diffiérences they are similar enough that n ' is not a sound revolution
since I turned 81 the sound means for him is like
in fact the SD 81 and knocking sound is good but the skinny compared to the original 498T or SH13 I feel that I know what spectrum or with the assets is reduced
So here I prefer liabilities from afar and there are many more choices
I would do that choice and I think SH13 resume itself or something that looks like a +

I use this mic in the bridge position for more than three months on my washburn st-pro with a peavey amp vk212 (original lamps), and I playing metal. For the negatives, I would say that Seymour Duncan is a liar: having compared to a EMG81, I can say that "it does not provide 12 to 14dB less noise, but rather more ... If the microphone is a real killing: the bass is round (although drier than a dimebucker, but fatter than EMG81), the mediums more than creuss EMG81, sharp and treble (equivalent EMG81, and more than dimebucker on), but where it really makes the difference is in the precision and dynamics, to be comparable to the one as the other. I think the report is justified qualitprix . To the question: "With the exprience, you do again this choice ?..." I would say yes because the difference in sound with the EMG81 and gain precision and dynamics with the dimebucker are final ...
As a "general" I think it is much better than a micro EMG81 to play metal, I would do this choice but hesitant when even with a dimebucker ... but this choice I would do ... but even with a hesitant when dimebucker ... but this choice I would do ... etc ...