EMG's love them or hate them

[toejam]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

Originally posted by Newc:
I had an 85 in the Warrior Pro and it was ok. Kinda dark output for me. Probably woulda been better on a 25 1/2" scale, or an 81 woulda done better on the naturally darker 24 3/4" scale.

Chuckracer had the LP with EMGs - nothing but passives in my LP [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Newc

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Ah, okay. For some reason I thought you put EMGs in your LP at one time. Guess not. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[sully]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

hate em.

sully

[jtr]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

Go with a 89& SA that way you'll have 2 single and a humbucking (the 89 is a 85+sa in one). If you add a PA2 you can boost the signel as much as 20db and look at the other EQ circuts.(go to the EMG website) EMG's are the only pickups I used for live or studio for the last 20 years.

[jr73]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

if your running a rack or gig alot they are really nice & quiet. i know my passives would hum like crazy if i was near the neon signs when i used to gig & EMGs are beer & soco proof.

I prefer passive pickups but for speed/death metal with really heavy gain EMGs are great. but for more rock type & over driven tones they do lack warmth.

[thenine]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

Love um too. My strat with 81/SA combo has the most clarity in my setup.


JOHN

[David]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

I think if your GMW is made of Maple and Alder you will really like the EMG 81 and SA setup...I have a XTREME Rhoads and the guitar sounds brutal with the EMG 81 set...If your GMW is Mahogany then you may want to find a nice set of Duncans like a Distortion/bridge and a STK-1/neck...Whatever you do, don't buy the "JB" as I've never liked it..in any guitar.
[img]graemlins/band.gif[/img]

[slayer]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

I have an EMG 81/SA in my Archtop Soloist, and I think the 81 is kinda Thin sounding, and I don`t like Single cils or neck pickups at all. Now in my 1984 Hamer Blitz, I have a 85/81 setup, and don`t like the neck pickup again, but I really love the 85 in the Bridge, the Blitz has the 24.75 scale, my prefered scale length. I prefer the 85 over the 81 by far, much more full and chunky sounding. That beeing said, if like like alot of highs and like to solo alot, I reccomend the 81 for that, for heavy rythym, I reccomend the 85, my prefered EMG [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] I don`t like the Duncan JB or Distortion, but I really like the Custom 5 and the Dimarzio Slammer humbucker in my 1986 Hamer TLE. Jack.

[shreddermon]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

By and large, I give EMGs an ...ehhhh. Don't hate them, but they wouldn't be my first choice by a long shot. One trick ponies, IMHO. If that's all you want out of this given axe, and you have others too, fine. Otherwise, not particularly versatile.

[Greg Crowe]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

Love 'em in some guitars, hate 'em in others.

[paddok]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

I just had EMG's (81's) put into my RR1 and let me just tell you I love how they sound. I would highly advise going for EMGs.

[JACKSONFREAK]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

I can't stand EMG's Thier preamps are cool but the pups are icky. when I bought my Lightnining sky Strat It had an 85 in it and it sounded pretty desent but lacked charactor and sounds sterile. So I pulled it and stuck in a JB and wow
what a differance. It's alive now and has tone for days. It has a charactor all it's own. Even though I have other guitars with a JB in them this just sounds unigue. Maybe it';s the jt6 trem who knows. All i know is its killer now.
Every guitar I buy that has a EMG in it. The pup gets yanked and replaced with a Duncan or a Jackson pup depending on the guitar. But then to my ears the Jackson pups sound like Duncans with a bit more bite.
Gil

[Inazone]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

My only experience with EMGs is the 89/SA combo in my Hamer Californian. For all the hype I've heard concerning EMGs, I expected more. Certainly not bad pickups, but different in a way that I didn't care for. Excellent sound for heavy distortion, and not bad for soloing either, but the actual tone and the pickup's reaction to my playing just weren't there.

I'll probably use that guitar for direct recording through my J-Station.

[Newc]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

The one thing most people fail to realize about EMGs is that they are designed to have a flat response. They are specifically voiced to a degree (81 for high output, 85/89 for smoother output, etc etc) but they are still pretty much flat and independant of the natural tones of wood.
You are supposed to keep a specific EQ patch set up for them which is close to the sound you prefer from passives. Also, studio engineers can more easily tweak them in the mix via EQ to sound like practically any guitar that the song calls for - from Jazz to Blues to Rock to Metal.
You cannot swap an 81 for a Distortion and just plag and play - you have to adjust the EQ to make it sound like the Distortion did.

Newc

[VulfgangPfuck]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

Love 'em to record with...Hate 'em playing live with (too sterile IMO for a live guitar)...but they're clean and bold in a studio setting (81's).
My heart still belongs to Duncans!

[toddstaples]

Re: EMG\'s love them or hate them

Luv Em.......... [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]
(Chuck likes 'em too,....... [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] )