Pick up comparison....

[Riffmeister]

Now that I have ran through the new amp and cranked everything a bit, The Emg 81, has plenty of gain to it, and it sounds great for some things, others it leaves something to be desired. It has a processed kinda sound to it. It seems like no matter what I do, I get ONE sound out of it, as with other pup's I can pick harder, or other certaing things and get differnt sounds out ouf them .

Now in my other guitar , I have a Full shred. It is considered a High output pup, but it doesn't have as much output as the EMG. It has a thicker sound, than the EMG, almost to the point of being a bit muddy.

Now I don't know how much of this is affected by the guitar itself, but I have been told the EMG is going to sound the same in any guitar. That being said, the DKMG is alder with the flamed Maple veneer and my other guitar is made out of poplar, and it is the one with the full shred. It has an Original Floyd on it, so I though it would have sounded brighter with the full shred, but it didn't.

Compared to some Dimarzio pickups, like the Tone Zone or Super Distortion, where does the EMG rank as far as output?

So , most likely the Emg's are going and I will put one of the above mentioned Dimarzios in along with a liquifire in the neck. At least with Dimarzio, if you don't like it, you can get something else

I'm sure Fender is going to chime in hear and say " I told you so" But that is ok, this wasn't worth passing up the guitar, I love it

[DonP]

I have many guitars with many different pickups, and two are Full Shreds. Full shreds are not as high output as most. 500T, Duncan Distortion, JB, etc. are all higher.

EMGs have a constant output which might be why you seem to not get much dynamics. They might be smoother than the DiZ pickups, but not when you hit the passives hard.

Why not just come clean and say what the problem is?

What is wrong with your sound?

[Newc]

EMGs don't make every guitar sound the same, they make every guitar sound like they have the same pickup. After years of trying to like EMGs, I can only tolerate them for a while then I have to swap them out for passives. Even with a stack of EQs, I cannot dial up a tone with EMGs that I can spend eternity with, much less a month.

I truly envy the people who don't see a problem with them, but to me they do sound processed (this from a guy who loves a processed rack tone over a blaring raw geetar+amp-on-10+cabinet tone).

To me, they sound synthetic; like I'm playing through a MIDI device that simulates an electric guitar. There's almost a slight delay between hitting the string and hearing the sound from the speakers.

And yeah, I, too, was fooled by the name of the "Full Shred". I thought it was one of the weakest pickups I'd ever heard, and wondered where all the "shred" was supposed to come from. Scalar hammer-on and pull-off passages choked out early, and every note had to be picked to get any kind of drive. Harmonics were a constant struggle. The Distortion spits them out all day long, and I can run the neck with nothing but hammers and pulls and get the same level of drive from every note.

[Sunbane]

Now that I have ran through the new amp and cranked everything a bit, The Emg 81, has plenty of gain to it, and it sounds great for some things, others it leaves something to be desired.

Yup. It does a scooped metal rhythm sound really well, but it gets dull really quickly for a lot of other things. But hey - is this a stock DKMG with the 81/85 in it? Then you MUST try the 85 in the bridge position. It's a lot more versatile than the 81. Suddenly you get things like, MIDS!

It has a processed kinda sound to it. It seems like no matter what I do, I get ONE sound out of it, as with other pup's I can pick harder, or other certaing things and get differnt sounds out ouf them.

On 9 volts, they sound very compressed. When running them on two batteries in series (18v), they get a little better, but are still rather compressed. Some people like that, while others don't.

Now I don't know how much of this is affected by the guitar itself, but I have been told the EMG is going to sound the same in any guitar.

That is bullshit, because people just don't listen carefully enough. EMGs do sound different in different guitars, but they also have that typical "EMG sound" in the way they distort, and that's why people keep saying this.

Compared to some Dimarzio pickups, like the Tone Zone or Super Distortion, where does the EMG rank as far as output?

Not quite sure exactly where they land output wise, but they are up there with the Duncan Distortion. The only pickup I've had that was hotter for sure, was the DiMarzio X2N, which is the hottest that DiMarzio has on offer.

[Riffmeister]

Why not just come clean and say what the problem is?

What is wrong with your sound?

Come clean and say what the problem is?? I beleive I did that, I said the Emgs are good only for some things, and describedwhat you call , a lack of Dynamics.

[Nightbat]

I wouldn't call EMG's lacking dynamics, but rather 'hifi' since there's no real character to the waveform
I agree that the way an EMG distorts (slams the input) is what makes it most appealing
but for that, any passive P'up with a gainboost would rival it (and that's where EMG can help out with it's PA2)

[MakeAJazzNoiseHere]

I like EMG's for the "EMG sound." Really, picking up my Dinky and playing some thrash metal it's great. But, it sucks for anything else.

There is a lot of compression to the sound and it doesn't respond to picking dynamics like a good passive pickup will.

The Duncan Custom has a good heavy tone and will clean up a bit for a Classic Rock/80's metal tone, too. The Tone Zone also sounds great. To my ears, unless I'm playing thrash metal, damned near anything sounds better than the EMG 81 or 85, including the JB, which I really don't care for. :dunno:

[Spivonious]

I don't like EMGs either. They sounded okay for hi-gain metal, and lifeless for everything else. For thrashy stuff I turn to the Duncan Distortion. For everything else the JB rules the world.

[mustaine-who?]

Full Shred is a medium ouput PuP...

Actually the EMG 81 isn't really that high-output either. There are plenty of passives that are hotter, and some actives as well (EMG 85, BO Bridge, BO model 2 and 3).

[DonP]

Come clean and say what the problem is?? I beleive I did that, I said the Emgs are good only for some things, and describedwhat you call , a lack of Dynamics.

Why did you buy the EMGs in the first place?

Ask questions first then buy

I have three EMG guitars. 1 is with an 81 and an EMG-S wired at 18 volts. Not so hot.

Another has an 85n 81b and has an SPC boost at 9volts. Not so hot.

But the new RR24M with the stock 81 at 9 volts sounds great.

Go figure.

[Tricky]

I like Carvin M22SD for high gain. Killer

[Dreamland_Rebel]

don't get the Duncan Distortion. it sounds great by itself but if the whole band is playing it gets washed out in the mix.

do try the Dimarzio Super Distortion. it will please you all the way around.
the Duncan Custom will work well too.
the JB is a totally different sound but will do RATT and Megadeth perfectly.

[sully]

Duncan Custom FTW!



sully

[Spivonious]

don't get the Duncan Distortion. it sounds great by itself but if the whole band is playing it gets washed out in the mix.

Worked fine in the mix with my band. :think:

[Riffmeister]

The Emg's Cam in this particular guitar. I don't live in an area where they stock a lot of Jacksons, so I was limited to what the store had. This was the only higer end they had and it was still pacakaged from Jackson when the dude pulled it out from the back.

I loved the looks and the feel of it, and I have changed pups a million times in all my guitars so, I wasn't going to not grab it just cause of that.

I don't really like ordering guitars online that I can't play first, but there is a DK out now that comes with a Tone zone and and Evolution stock in it, that would have been awesome, but it comes in ONE color only and it has Gold hardware on it, which I don't like.