Passive pickups, EMGs and harmonics...

[Newc]

It may be an effect of the pickup being closer to the string, thus affecting your picking hand technique i.e. can't dig as deep because of the pickup, allowing for the correct touch to do pinch harmonics effortlessly.

It may also be "Zakk Wylde Syndrome", where your subconscious is saying "EMG = Zakk Wylde's pinch harmonic overdose" and you do them more out of mimicry than actual effort or intent.

I mean, you can get pinch harmonics off any string and any pickup, really, even with cleans.


However, EMGs do have a balanced tonal response compared to passives, and since the preamp supplies the same amount of power to each string, you're not having to put out as much effort.

[Sunbane]

It just feels like the "sweet spots" for harmonics get wider. Whereas with the J-80C I had to pay more attention to where I was picking them.

[RR4LIFE]

I found the stock JB in my RR1 actually easier to pull off pinch harmonics than the EMG 81 which replaced it. JB's seem to be very picky about which guitar they are in but when it works, it sounds perfect to my ears.

[Sunbane]

I found the stock JB in my RR1 actually easier to pull off pinch harmonics than the EMG 81 which replaced it. JB's seem to be very picky about which guitar they are in but when it works, it sounds perfect to my ears.

That is interesting. I've never been a fan of any of those two pickups, but the JB should definitely have more pronounced mids than the 81.