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Enter the 7-String EMTY Blackouts
Slipknot guitarist Mick Thomson’s always been a tad reluctant to embrace the world of 7-string guitars. In fact I can recall the days of my budding youth when he flat out lambasted them for a perceivably trendy nature about them at the time that many felt made them a bit taboo. While as far as I can tell the general opinion over the years has shifted to more of a “who cares” mentality, Mick Thomson himself has yet to make a habit out of playing a 7-stringer, though his signature pickups however have been recently adapted to accommodate those that do.
Introducing the Seymour Duncan 7-string Mick Thomson EMTY Blackouts.
The Blackouts
Before getting too in depth with Thomson’s pickups let’s take a look at the previous installments of blackouts to aid us in seeing what sets them apart from the rest.
Blackouts are a popular line of active pickups from Seymour Duncan. They come in several variations including single-coil and bass models, but are most famously known as guitar humbuckers for both 6 and 7-string guitars, each similar by design, but with enough to set them apart from each other.
For example. The Blackouts AHB-1. Here is a pickup that is designed to reduce noise, add more lows, highs, and more output with balanced inputs and differential preamps. The AHB-2 is if anything a sequel to the AHB-1. It builds on the shoulders of the previous model by starting where it left off and going even further. It pushes the signal further than before with only the most abrasive of metal in mind.
The AS-1 single-coils on the other hand are designed to give single-coil guitars a pair with stronger output for both rock or metal rhythms and leads. The AS-1 sets itself apart by adding a dual pin configuration on the bottom of the pickups to switch between a normal mode and a high-gain mode. In one setting it resembles the sound of passive pickups while the other gives it a substantial boost.
Mick Thomson Blackouts
Thomson’s custom active humbuckers are also the third part in the trilogy of AHB pickups. Better known as the Blackouts EMTY, the AHB-3 pickups push forward to tighten up the lows, while adding a bit more cut to the highs as to complement the sound of those that prefer lower tunings. What makes them even more special now is the demographic has been widened from just those that like to tune way down to those that prefer their lower sound to come from a seventh string instead. Just because Mick Thomson doesn’t play a 7-stringer doesn’t mean you should be inhibited from acquiring his tone, and now that’s a concern that’s been pitched to the wayside.
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