Commentary on EMG's at 18 volts.

[Cleveland Metal]

Well... I've been chasing an issue with my USA Jackson Fusion for a while, as I felt it didn't sound as good as my Charvel 475, although they are setup with the same EMG 81 pickups and the same EMG PA-2 Preamp. I totally felt it was in the two different Floyd bridges or maybe different woods.

It was sorta hard to explain, but the issue seemed that the Fusion wasn't as clear, had a mushier or dead low end, and in higher registers, I noticed it sounded as though the pickup was sounding more like a center or a neck pickup sound somewhat. Even Bill noticed it at a show when I swapped guitars.

The ONLY difference, is the Fusion is running 18 volts and the 475 is running 9 volts.

After setting up the Fusion for a show yesterday, I got focused as to what the issue was. I swapped bridges to a Kahler Steeler that is a great sounding bridge. Steel construction, brass block etc. Rings nice.

Ugh... still no change.

Decided to check the circuitry incase I wired up something different between the two.

All, ok. So.... Then I removed the extra battery....

It now sounds crisp and heavy... Weird...

Seems I remeber that I liked the 18 volts with JUST the EMG 81 pickups. Umm, I think... Been years...

HOWEVER, I have a feeling, the EMG PA-2 must not do so well with 18 volts. It's a HUGE difference.


So, just some commentary on my experience that might helps someone with the issue.

Now if I could chill the pick noise I get from this highly preamped setup, I'd be happy. Just the nature of what I'm doing though.

[Grandturk]

You're description of the Fusion's sound is exactly how I felt my Fusion sounded on the bridge pickup. It was muddy, necky and not bright and cutting. Now, I tried a number of pickups - Jacksons, Duncans, but never EMG's - and never really got the hot-rod strat sound I wanted out of it.

On my Model 4, I have the 81 at the bridge, 18V and the Afterburner circuit. It is very crisp, cutting and clear - not muddy at all.

On my SG, I have the 81 at the bridge, 9V, no tone - I haven't played it all that much, but on first listen, it was very thick and heavy sounding - not crisp at all. Warm and fat in the midrange.

What I'm getting at is I think its more the natural sound of the guitar - pickups aren't going to put you in a new world, they're only going to color it. My SG still sounds the same, just a different color. The Fusion sounded the same to me with all manner of pickups.

That's not to say that removing a circuit like the PA-2 from the guitar isn't going to make a massive difference. There was definately a change (to me for the better) when I removed the 1500 circuit out of the Fusion (that mid freq boost is a dog, IMO).

[Cleveland Metal]

This wood thing may somewhat be the case (it's absolutely what I thought before), but I'll tell, at 9 volts, this guitar sound great now and JUST like the 475. No difference. I'm told the Fusion and the 475 are both basswood. Not sure tho...

I will go on to add, I never noticed it with most amps I've owned. However, it just stands glaringly out with the CAE3+se preamp. Which, is notorious for illustrating the difference in pickups, tubes, stomp boxes out front, cords and wireless systems. Ugh... In other words, it's VERY sensitive to stuff.

I never noticed the Fusion sounding bad till I set up the 475 tho, haha...

PA-2 and Afterburner are the same circuit I believe? Interesting.

I also have an EMG 81 in my 76 SG, and it sounds stellar, crisp and solid. I feel it's my best sounding guitar.

I've always been the EMGs @ 18 volts guy here on the forum. I just had to mention my findings tho.

[sevser]

You know I wired my XTRR 18v and after playing with it a while I decided it didn't have that tightness it used to...Just keep forgetting to change it back...Lazy!

I also have a Fusion and it had an older 81 in it...Let me tell you...Even with a crappy bridge it sounded heavy as hell. The best tone I ever had in a guitar.

The guitar eneded up sitting around, getting stripped of the pup and when I finally got the frets leveled (Reason it sat) I put a real OFR in it as well as a Trembucker...Not as nice as I remember the 81, but still very tight, heavy low end.

My flying V has the 85/81 9v set up and sounds great that way.

[Grandturk]

PA-2 and Afterburner are the same circuit I believe? Interesting.

I forget which is which - The Afterburner has the pot and the the other one is just a switch (boost/no boost). I don't really use it anyway (just wanted to fill the hole).

I've always been a believer in that no two guitars sound the same no matter what they're made out of, given the same variables - guitar -> cord -> amp. Once you mix in other preamps, pedals, wahs, eq's, it all goes to pot.

I've got 4 basswood guitars, two w/ vintage trems, one kahler, one floyd and honestly, I can't pick out "similar" tones from any of them - they all sound different. I have never played another Les Paul that sounds like mine (or plays like mine) to me. The SG is fairly consistent - they all seem to have that honky midrange.

That's why I don't give much credence to guitars "sounding better" with this upgrade or that - there is no "better," only different. Even "bad" stuff like microphonic pickups can be cool - listen to the old Black Sabbath Live At Last (they call it "Past Lives" now). There's these sections where Tony Iommi stops playing just a second, or right when he turns up the volume before a song, and you can hear the pickups squeal microphonically - to me, that's a cool vibe you just don't get anymore with today's tech.

[Cleveland Metal]

You know I wired my XTRR 18v and after playing with it a while I decided it didn't have that tightness it used to...

Ahh, well, maybe it isn't the PA-2... Been so long since I've not ran a PA-2, I couldn't comment on 18-9v on the EMG 81s.

I'd have sworn it sounded better when I first did it before the PA-2, haha. But, I quit playing that guitar because of it of how it sounded, and it was just a backup for shows.

Now, I wanna use and it's sorta feels odd because of the different neck scale.

[jgcable]

I ran 18v on many EMG set ups and the only problem I heard was the pickups amplified every noise and creak coming from my guitars. I switched back to 9v. There isn't that much of a difference in output.

[Newc]

You may also want to try wiring it so the pickups run off one battery and the PA2 off another. I wired a Soloist Pro with an 89/SA/SA setup so the singles were on one battery and the hum was on another. Definitely loved the singles that way.
Didn't really care for the 89 though, except when split, and then only for Stratty tones like SRV or Pink Floyd.


I was going to wire each pickup to its own battery but sold them instead

[Phantom Hawk]

You could also consider adding in a series/parallel switch for the batteries. That way you get the best of both worlds ... 18 or 9 volts at the flick of a switch. I did that in one of mine and it works great.

[Cleveland Metal]

Probably a nice idea there really.

Yeah, I always thought the 18volts was the shiite, and was a major pro 18v guy for them. Maybe it is with great w/just the pickups. I'm thinking that PA-2 preamp just ain't diggin it though... It's seriously yukky @ 18 volts and I can't imagine anyone liking what it's doing.

Weird dude's afterburner seems ok with it. Maybe this PA-2 is a spaz, dunno, haha... I'm happy as a lark with it now, so I guess I'm good.