I've been playing my epiphone les paul for a long time. Then picked up my washburn 332 ml. I actually like the way those pick ups sound better I think. But my les paul is built better. I was wondering. What profesinal pick ups will give me a tone close to those. Would emgs? I'm debating if I want active or not.

SD Invaders if you want passive, SD Blackouts if you want actives. Blackouts are far superior to EMGs in the active department.

As for passive vs actives, passives have more clarity and attack, and you can hear your picking dynamics very clearly. Actives sound heavier and fuller/thicker generally, but aren't as clear or defined. Actives are also somewhat quieter. I personally prefer passives, since my take on it is to just play harder if you want to sound heavier, and learn to mute if you're so worried about a little noise.

Also depends on the exact sound you're going for, and the genre you play the most. Myself I prefer a seymour duncan JB. And yeah actives are good for live playing and whatnot, because they're quieter, but I feel they kinda strip the soul out of the sound. Plus they often sound "sterile". Personally my favorite pickup is an old Ibanez V5, but those are hard to find.

Thanks man I think I'm going with the invaders. they sound awsome! Questions though. Should I change my pots with I change my pick up? And do they make nuts for baritone strings?

Don't have to change pots if it's passive to passive.

What's wrong with active?

If you put actives in a guitar that came setup only with passive pickups, there are quite a few things to change like the pots and stuff.

OK So I heard about people putting Full Shreds in the neck position. But I can't find a Full Shred that says neck position as an option on sites to buy from. Do people just use the bridge in the neck spot?

Nothing wrong with active pickups, but I also prefer passives.

Heck, just not having to change a battery is a big enough bonus for me. I hate that about actives. It's just one more thing to worry about -- and I've got enough to worry about already

But I've heard some nice sounding active pickups, like the SD blackouts. I have those in one of the newer guitars I bought (charvel desolation). They sound just fine.