Passive pickups vs active pickups... and mix!

[killthepixelnow]

Hey there, I just bought another guitar and I wanted to test it against the old one. The results really surprised me. OK, here's the specs of my gear:

Jackson RR3
Strings: D'addario 0.10 (brand new set)
Pickups: Neck: Seymour Duncan JB / Bridge: Seymour Duncan Distortion

BC Rich Warbeast NJ Deluxe
Strings: D'addario 0.10 (brand new set)
Pickups: Neck: EMG 81 / Bridge: EMG 85

Amp
Peavey Bravo 112. Ultra-gain channel 8 / Bottom 5 / Body 3 / Edge 6

Mic
SM-57 facing lower right part of the speaker cone.

I recorded both guitars on ProTools 8 using a Tube MP Project series preamp thru a Digidesign M-Box2 interface. When the recording was done, I realized the passive pickups have more gain than the active pickups, or at least that's what I heard. Even the sound-waves are richer and bigger. I captured an image of the session so you can see what I mean:

I'm attaching the audio files so you can hear'em all:
Jackson vs. BC Rich 16bit [.wav] files

If you don't want to download that shit, you can hear the files on SoundClick:
http://www.soundclick.com/antoniopalacios

Just in case, that's what I recorded:
- Jackson guitar, bridge pickup.
- BC Rich guitar, bridge pickup.
- Mix of both guitars, Jackson to the left and BC Rich to the right.
- Mix of both guitars, BC Rich to the left and Jackson to the right.

So, what do you guys think about it? Do you think the passive pickups have more gain or is just my impression? What's the mix you prefer?

 

[moresound]

Hey Kill, Interesting analysis. I have an old Guild bass guitar that everyone loves to use during recording and leave their basses in there cases.

I don't know some basses got it and some don't.

When visiting local GC stores and have a lot of time to kill, I'll lay hands on about 20 or 30 different guitars and maybe ~ maybe five feel and sound good.

Beauty is in the ear of the beholder.

 

[killthepixelnow]

You're right, some instruments have this kind of magic. You know, there's something else concerning my test, the Jackson guitar is cheaper than the BC Rich (USD 450 vs. USD 800). I changed the pickups a long time ago but I always wanted an active guitar... now that I have it it seems the old have have more power. Nevermind, lessons is money don't guarantee a damn thing! Pity I cannot test more guitars because in my country the music stores are really small, they don't offer a lot of choices. Next year I will travel to London, hope I can find another axe and add it to my collection!