ophey

Hey, I'm trying to replace my guitar pickups. I have an Epiphone SG. It's my first ever electric (over 3 years old). I haven't quite found a better guitar that I really like yet, and since I really like the shape of my SG I'm trying to replace the pickups. So... what would you reccomend? I'm thinking Seymour-Duncan humbuckers, but I'm not entirely decided. Also, what are the differences between EMG humbucker pickups and Seymour-Duncan humbucker pickups?

Another somewhat random question, but what's the difference between an active and a passive guitar/pickup? I see those words around sometimes, but I have no idea what they mean.

And finally, I'm trying to get a new distortion pedal. A year or two ago, I bought the Boss DS-1 distortion pedal. I guess it's cool if you're constantly looking to have a grainy overdrive-y sound which I do like, but there is little if no room for variation as far as tone. The sound is mostly distorted and mostly very grainy, regardless of the setting. I'm looking for a distortion pedal that allows me a lot of variation for the type of distortion and amount of distortion, as well as a lot of leeway regarding whether I want overdrive or bass-y distortion. Do you guys have any reccomendations? I found one called the Hot Cake. It's pretty good as far as different tones/amounts of distortions, except that the plain distortion sound is a bit too bass-y, and the pedal itself is almost $300. So yeah... I'm looking to buy a pedal that gives me a lot of variation as far as tone and the amount of distortion, any help/reccomendations are much appreciated.

Thanks.