Review: Seymour Duncan Gus G. Fire Blackouts Active Pickup System

The following content is related to the June 2013 issue of Guitar World. For the full range of interviews, features, tabs and more, pick up the new issue on newsstands now, or in our online store.

Gus G. used Seymour Duncan’s passive JB and ’59 pickups almost exclusively until the day that Ozzy Osbourne bestowed upon him the mantle previously worn by such iconic players as Tony Iommi, Randy Rhoads, Jake E. Lee and Zakk Wylde. Gus, in turn, changed almost all of his gear and switched to Duncan’s active Blackouts for the energy, overdrive and output that Ozzy’s heavy catalog required.

Ultimately, however, he decided that he wanted some of the benefits provided by passive pickups, so Gus and Duncan teamed up to create the new Gus G. Fire Blackouts pickup system, essentially marrying his old pickups’ passive dynamic range and open character with the active Blackouts’ wickedly engineered tone.