EMG pickups

[Nimitz]

Which "old" Metallica albums are you talking about? He didn't start using them until Justice.

Justice, Black, Kirk on MOP and Ride?

"I have been told..."

Bravo

[SausageofPower]

I'm indifferent to the "vanilla" EMG's, but I love the 81X/85X combo in my PRS Torero SE (I upgraded from the regular 81/85). I also love the 81X/SAX/SAX setup I put in my Model 4. They don't sound interchagable in the bridge position to me, so I call shennanigans on the "all EMG equipped axes sound the same" argument.

[Twitch]

shenanigans

Fixed "Hey Farva, whats that place you like to go eat with all the goofy shit on the walls?"

[Nimitz]

^ "it smells like sex in here"

[Chad]

I've owned several guitars with EMGs including the 81, 85, and 60. They absolutely sound different in different guitars. People who say otherwise are either tone deaf or just repeating what they've read other people say on the internet.

My opinion: with high gain, I love'em. With cleans, I hate'em. I don't like dealing with the 9 volt battery but at the same time I HATE guitars that have a separate rout for battery access.

Summary: great for metal guitars where you'll be playing with gain 99% of the time. As I get older, I play metal less, so I'm less drawn to EMG pickups. But they do what they do great.

[emperor_black]

I reckon, most opinions about EMG's sounding same come from people (a.k.a kids or budding artists just to be politically correct) who save up enough to buy their favorite artist's signature model which usually comes with EMG's but forget the other part of the equation; i.e the amp. A EMG equipped mahogany guitar vs Alder guitar will sound the same through a Crate combo.

BTW, what's different in the "X" versions? Less trebly? more bassy? It still has an internal preamp right?

[clifffclaven]

I've owned several guitars with EMGs including the 81, 85, and 60. They absolutely sound different in different guitars. People who say otherwise are either tone deaf or just repeating what they've read other people say on the internet.

My opinion: with high gain, I love'em. With cleans, I hate'em. I don't like dealing with the 9 volt battery but at the same time I HATE guitars that have a separate rout for battery access.

Summary: great for metal guitars where you'll be playing with gain 99% of the time. As I get older, I play metal less, so I'm less drawn to EMG pickups. But they do what they do great.

pretty much this. emg-> high gain amp? cannot be beat, IMO.

[Hellbat]

BTW, what's different in the "X" versions? Less trebly? more bassy? It still has an internal preamp right?

My understanding is the pre-amp is a new design on them with lower noise and better headroom, but otherwise they aren't significantly different from the older series. But I have been wrong before. Possibly even in this very thread.

[warlok]

I definitely hear differences in different guitars, that is definitely BS.. And also, recently noticed how much difference there was in the tone of my RM100 with high gain modules. With my SD Custom and DMZ TZ soloists the modules sounded great.. With the EMG 81??? Holy fucking shit! Much more raw and driven (for lack of a better term).. Made the TZ and Custom sound like low output, lower gain pups. Just with that amp though.. Just something else I've noted..

I'm also not in the camp of them sounding bad clean. I did a cover of Tesla - Only You with a DKMG (81 in bridge) with a 12 string-ish patch through my POD 2.0. Sounded great!

Question? I have this Soloist Pro set up with 81/S (no middle). I find the S in the neck a bit too bright. I have an SA I could try. Think the SA's a little warmer?

[SausageofPower]

Fixed "Hey Farva, whats that place you like to go eat with all the goofy shit on the walls?"

Oops. Thanks dude.

BTW, what's different in the "X" versions? Less trebly? more bassy? It still has an internal preamp right?

The main selling point is the headroom. They basically gave them the headroom of the originals with an 18v mod, only running on 9v instead. I like 'em, but then again I haven't had the cash to A/B them against pricier counterparts.

[Axewielder]

Sweet, it sounds like we've reached a clear consensus regarding the "EMG sounding similar" issue. So I guess we don't need to debate that ever again.

[javert]

Sweet, it sounds like we've reached a clear consensus regarding the "EMG sounding similar" issue. So I guess we don't need to debate that ever again.

Just like all those other topics we put and end to on this forum!

[petez0r]

another option if you wanted, are the new emg sig hetfield pickups, they are modeled after the 81 and 60 but are passive, i dont remember where but i read they were very good.

[toejam]

another option if you wanted, are the new emg sig hetfield pickups, they are modeled after the 81 and 60 but are passive, i dont remember where but i read they were very good.

They're still active but have some passive qualities to them.

[petez0r]

didnt know that i thought i read they were passive!