Replacing EMG 81/85 set with Seymour Duncan Black Winter set on Jackson soloist SLSMG

[Babazon]

Hello

The EMGs on this axe sound too much, cant describe, they overdrive my clean channel.. I get much better definition and rawness with black winter on my Alder body, Maple neck neck through floyd rose Jackson KV5.

Is it a good idea to replace them with Black Winter set, or would they sound weak on such a light and thin guitar with mahogany neck and body?

I've heard of bare knuckle too but haven't tried

[fidelis]

I do not know about the black winter pickups. But in order to stop the clipping of your clean sound you should try the 18V mod to your EMGs. This distortion is due to the lack of voltage and most of the time the 9V battery won't be able to drive the 27V circuit of the EMG pick ups.

[Number Of The Priest]

Have you tried swapping the Black Winter set from your KV5 to your SLSMG to see if you like how they sound in the SLSMG?

[pianoguyy]

EMGs are known for being fairly neutral. Bland. Flat. Tone-less. Boring. Whatever your favorite adjective...

So, really, if overdriving a clean channel is the outcome, perhaps we could try rolling back the volume knob?



*here's a secret that some tone snobs won't tell you. Roll back your volume knob. Create your tone. That way, you always have room to go up or down. It is especially helpful for ear splitting lead tones. Creating a tone with the volume at 8, and then giving that little boost to 10 for your lead - yum.

[Babazon]

Thank you guys

SLSMG comes with EMG 81/85 set so nothing I could do there. I've bought it old new stock, in factory packaging from 2010. I noticed how boring the EMGs sound when I got my first tube amp (5150 clone) and heard how passive seymour duncans sounded through it compared to EMGs. It's like there is a depth and different aspects to the tone that you can focus individually if you listen.

I don't want to do soldering job just to try out the the BW on the SLSMG, I'm not very clean with it. So I will first try the 18W trick, SLSMG has a battery socket so there is enough space to stick a second 9w in the electronics cavity. And if that doesn't sound good either, I have to order a pair of black winters (they are quite expensive!) and have them professionally soldered. Chances are I can sell the EMGs with their electronics, and save some costs in this time of lockdowns and pandemics.

I love this guitar even if it doesn't have enough thickness to route for a Floyd Rose, it feels so good to play it. You can feel the notes all over your torso.

[toejam]

Try swapping the pickups around. The 85 in the bridge and 81 in the neck sound better to me that way.