Sun Valley Super Shredder EMG Retro Active Pick-ups compared to Regular EMG 85/81 pickups

My concern with buying the Schecter Sun Valley Super Shredder was the EMG RetroActive Hot 70 pickups. Would they sound like the EMG guitars I already have? I don't need another guitar if it is going to sound the same. I took the chance and bought the Sun Valley Super shredder. I put together a comparison video for you, comparing an EMG 85/81 guitar with the Sun valley Shredder EMG RetroActive Hot 70 pickups. Guitar Gear I use: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.”
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[@sunnys3325]

I have had one for 2 months now and my fav guitar by FAR!! Jus needed to set up to my taste and away i went! Great bang for the buck if u ask me!

[@XChristianNoirX]

Clean: 3:57 Schecter bridge 4:09 LTD Horizon bridge 4:03 Schecter neck 4:18 LTD Horizon Neck With High gain 7:10 Schecter bridge 7:53 LTD Horizon Bridge How it should be. Basically, if you need more mid cut, take the Schecter. If your setup has too much cut and you wanna look metal, take the LTD. I have the LTD, which is a beautiful guitar that is super easy to play however, through my setup, my Tele with a custom BC2 cuts more and wins shootouts. I think the Schecter gives me a shredder with a classic look and the cut of my Tele. Damn... like my Daddy told me, my money is burning a hole in my pocket! I just played one at the store and like the man says, the neck is amazing. It's a gentle satin finish that looks nicer than previous shechter maple necks and isn't coated to death like their poly urethane necks. OH! AND RIGHT NOW, YOU CAN GET THE SCHECTER ON SALE AT GC FOR $499! That the best deal on a brand new guitar I've ever seen! And the seafoam green... I hate seafoam green, but this one actually looks great in person. CRAZY.

[@XChristianNoirX]

So I tried the guitar again and... It sounded good through a Blackstar ID core, but very limited through a 5150. Maybe it would sound good in a mix, but I think the tone was bit constricting compared to a Jackson with an 81.

[@DeadShred9]

I have the Schecter SVSS Tele body in Seafoam Green with EMG 70's . Its very good for Blues if that's your thing its not really mine . I'm Metal /Thrash & Shred all the way . Your Amp no Offense intended does not showcase what the EMG 70's can do on the Metal side . I use a Boss Katana MKII and get blistering Leads and smashing rhythm tones from them no problem. I have been a EMG 81 - 85 H H configuration fan for most of my 38 years playing . Just my opinion the 70's are right there for those Heavy Tones !! Really like your Schecter I'm a Maple fret board only player and it looks great on that satin black very nice choice . Good showing for the EMG 70's video and Rock on Bro \M/ !!!

[@GearUpGuitar]

No offense taken. I love Metal/Thrash but I don't play it as much as I used to. I figured I would get a Fender and get a great clean tone as a starting point and then work with pedals. I think my MXR super badass would get me closest to metal tone at this point but I use the EVH 5150 overdrive mostly. But yeah if I wanted to go full on metal/thrash, I would maybe add an amp that is geared more towards that genre and I know the pickups are on point.

[@JokerCat9]

@DeadShred9 I'm glad the retroactives can do both. I love versatility and the open coil design. @Larry Riker great demo, strong Iron Maiden vibes, ala 2 Minutes to Midnight.

[@dans.5099]

Thanks for this demo man, it really helped me out!

[@fjk1138]

Great demo and comparison, thank you for posting.

[@ryant3600]

How the harmonics w/ the Retro hot 70's? I play a lot of 80's hard rock and my eyes just won't let me solder in Seymours anymore. I use mainly Seymour Jbs/TB 4, Sh/Tb 5and Sh/Tb6's. Have you compared these to anything like that? If so, whats your opinion? Looking for EMG's that compare the best to those Seymours. Thanks.

[@johnkerr6141]

I added a fat brass sustain block to the Floyd rose - got it set up by a guitar tech - sustains forever - changes the character - the original block is a cheapo nickel block - for £24 its a great addition

[@GearUpGuitar]

+John Kerr I think I need to try that. It’s a great guitar but yeah there is room for upgrades at this price level.

[@johnkerr6141]

Yeah I also too off the hideous Schecter logo and got one of the gold lettering black line from the 80’s strats - looks the part too now - I think Schecter need to ditch the shitty modern “gothic” logo - My mate Steve Jobs always said to “impute” quality like when you open the box of a mac or an iPhone - the old logo says class and quality - the guitars are great - I have an sls elite and there’s not another guitar under $3000 that competes with it for quality or sound

[@victorramsey5575]

im doing a emg conversion to a '98 Gibson LP Special SL with the Hot 70 set. Going with a worn seafoam green with cream plastics. It was all black. Will be a huge change in looks and sound. Yay

[@olejoergenmalm16]

I like how the low end of the Hot 70 neck pickup broke up when played through the Fender.

[@chriswalton3383]

Great demo, I'm getting a Harley Benton Amarok in the next couple of days and it's got rectro active 70's in it. A alnico for the neck and a ceramic for the bridge, same as your Sun alley shredder. Although the neck is a neck through design and it's 5 piece neck. It sound a bit different but relatively the same sound.

[@pgmrjaf]

6 times fast now....Schecter Sun Valley Shredder hahaha. Love your video.

[@michelleyashukmartinez6037]

Thanks for this demo!

[@papiper7773]

Hi there.......I have a Schecter Sustainiac.........Im taking the Sustainiac pickup up out .I have a EMG Hot retro 70 in the bridge......What should i put in the neck....The EMG 85 or EMG 81...........Thanks.

[@GearUpGuitar]

I would go with the 85 in the neck.

[@papiper7773]

@@GearUpGuitar Thank you.

[@rottenpotatoess]

I own a Jackson Js-11 right now and i think i need to upgrade my gear because it feels insufficient due to my progress. So do you think i can also get metal tones with this guitar ? After this compare video with ltd i think i can but i am not sure. And how do you like your guitar, is it comfortable on neck and higher frets?

[@GearUpGuitar]

Rotten Potatoes 100 percent you can get metal tones. The neck is amazing as it is super comfortable. I don’t think you would be disappointed. I used this guitar in so many of my videos after I got it so you can hear it in more vids. The Floyd is nice. Only thing I did was change the strings. A more aggressive distortion will get you metal sound no problem.

[@rottenpotatoess]

@@GearUpGuitar Thanks, I believe it comes with Ernie Ball right? Why did you change it tho

[@GearUpGuitar]

Rotten Potatoes They didn’t feel right to me. I use elixir polyweb 9’s on all my guitars so I’m probably used to a coated string.

[@Iamadroid]

@@rottenpotatoess I switched from ernie's to NYXL. Best switch ever.

[@NehirF]

Appreciate for the video. I've supper shreder but i want to play death metal. I'm planning to changing retros with 81-85 set. What do you think? Thanks.

[@GearUpGuitar]

They are both great pick up sets. I think if I wanted to just play death metal I would lean a little more in the 81-85 direction like you are doing.

[@Dmaher1111]

How well does the shedder floyde stay in tune? ive got a esp ltd f200 and as soon as I touch the tremolo bar it goes out of tune.

[@GearUpGuitar]

Dmaher1111 I changed my strings to 9s that I like. I readjusted the Floyd after that, and it actually rarely goes out of tune. I just use the fine tuners. Rarely I have to unlock and tune it.

[@virtue696]

A Special just means it has zinc block and saddles instead of steel, in my experience they stay in tune as good as the German original.. the tone is just not as nice. Stay away from Floyds on Ebay, its just a flood of Chinese fakes..

[@heberessau6244]

I really want to get the sun valley, but I am no sure about its sound. Do you think Seymour Dunkan pickups installed on a Jackson Soloist are better than the EMG pickups installed on the schecter?

[@GearUpGuitar]

I think you would like the sound. Its very versatile. I'm not a recording engineer so it could be my recording technique. I mic my amp and have an overhead mic to pickup vocals. The vocal mic picks up the guitar also and its just not optimal. Im working to improve this. The schecter sounds really good. The pickups were my initial concern also but I am convinced. the pickups bought separately are over 200.00. That said I don't think you can go wrong with a Soloist with Duncans. I wouldn't say the Duncan are better or worse just different. I mean I have guitars with Duncans and I love them(JB and 59 I think I have). The other part of this is which Duncan pickup? Their website is nice as it shows the frequency for each pickup type. You could go with Dimarzio as well. It really comes down to what you like they are all great pickups EMG, Dimarzio, Duncan.

[@heberessau6244]

Larry Riker Thanks for replying. Actually, I have just ordered the black one just like the one you have. Cheers!

[@slav0311]

yes!

[@AdamYoudell]

+Larry Riker Mute the overhead/vocal mic when you go to play, only have it on when talking. Don't worry there's videos by Misha Mansoor and Ola Englund where they were too lazy to mute the condenser so you can hear the pick clicking away loud as hell. Condensers pick up damn near every little whisper

[@heberessau6244]

Adam Youdell Thanks for the info. Cheers.

[@UhuStick]

This is no comparision between Sun Valley Super Shredder EMG Retro Active Pick-ups and regular EMG 85/81 pickups but between Super Shredder and LTD MH 350.

[@chriswalton3383]

I might be being a bit bias considering I have Retro's in my Harley Benton but the Retro active 70's are by far better than the LTD pickup's. They just sound fuller and clearer.

[@RavenMadd9]

thank you for the review

[@prodigalson6457]

That's not really a reasonable comparison between those two guitars of course; very different woods and construction techniques are used, among other things. But besides all of that, some of those LTDs are just dead, dull, muddy guitars, and that's clearly one of them. That Schecter on the other hand sounds like a real winner, and the dynamics coming through from those Hot 70 pickups are impressive. Up until now I've been seriously considering the Fat 55 set, but now hearing this Hot 70 set makes me want to hear a good comparison between the two.

[@GearUpGuitar]

It could be the battery in the LTD was getting weak. I've always felt that this LTD was pretty lively, it is a great guitar to play. The Sun Valley is very versatile and has become a go to guitar.

[@scottlurken9667]

Nicely Done!!

[@brianflanagan3654]

that sun valley is awesome. Did you install the pups yourself? i was wondering if they are solder-less like the Z.W kit.

[@GearUpGuitar]

I didn't install them, they come stock in the Sun Valley shredder. There is a model with the sustainiac pickup as well but I didn't want or need it and it cost more. I looked at the EMG site and if you buy a set of EMG retro 70 it comes with solderless install volume, tone pots, input jack erc... Basically everything you need.

[@brianflanagan3654]

Awesome, thank you very much for the quick reply. I am going to order a set for an Epiphone i just picked up.

[@Dmaher1111]

Awesome thanks Larry ✌

[@roosterj2599]

I play live and record with my sea foam green shredder. I need to buy a couple more for tours if and when that happens.

[@GearUpGuitar]

I love the Sea Foam green color. It is the color that pulled me in to play this guitar.

[@whitedime]

EMG's sound super muddy compared to retro-actives

[@ytrezazerty1]

lol

[@aakaashbulani9237]

Retro's are much more clear and warm.....

[@adozensparrows]

The Sun Valley DOES NOT have active pu's. They are passive. The batt is for an EQ which cuts harsh mids.

[@GearUpGuitar]

All the specs I have seen indicate they are are Active pickups. The Retroactive hot 70 set install guide on EMGs website states "The RetroActive HOT 70 Set is a matched set of Active Humbucking Pickups using traditionally designed coils and a new “plug-on preamp”" . The pickup description for example on GC says "Active or passive pickups: Active". If you have a source showing passive let us know so we can check it out.

[@davematney1918]

These emgs ARE active.

[@t00talbr00tal]

That's literally what "active pickup" means. The battery doesn't power the pickup itself, it powers an eq that boosts and modify the signal

[@ytrezazerty1]

@@t00talbr00tal yes

[@reardeltoit4644]

This is not a comparison. Schecter has maple fretboard, ltd has rosewood. The source of difference in tone is the fretboards.

[@dialysistechtipstricks8634]

Diet Oke!