What do EMG pickups do that others don't?

[mrp5150]

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What kind of pickups did that guitar have in it?

Caparison PH-R

 

[itsme]

There's something un-natural about putting batteries in a guitar. Reminds me of the toy guitar my kids play. I had an EMG 81/85 set in my first Les Paul Custom. Played it for a year, pulled them out and put '57 Classic in it. Was much happier. Now I use 7 - 9K output Duncans. I play very high gain, but let the amp provide the gain, not the pickups.

 

[Scott Ians Beard]

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There's something un-natural about putting batteries in a guitar. Reminds me of the toy guitar my kids play. I had an EMG 81/85 set in my first Les Paul Custom. Played it for a year, pulled them out and put '57 Classic in it. Was much happier. Now I use 7 - 9K output Duncans. I play very high gain, but let the amp provide the gain, not the pickups.

I agree with you on the medium output for pickups. All of my guitars have HB with outputs of less than 10K. However, I do really like the EMG 85, its noiseless, very clear and reliable. I plan to get a guitar just so I can have that on hand, pref an 85/SA/SA combo..

 

[midnightlaundry]

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There's something un-natural about putting batteries in a guitar.

I dissagree with this. People talk all day about having a pure tube sound, but then they play their guitar through a stupid pedal board full of cheap stomp boxes. Pedals compress and eat tone, and it gets worse with each 1 you run in series.

What's more natural, a passive guitar through a pedalboard with a series of cheap pedals that run off' batteries, or a guitar with EMG's that's plugged strait into an amp?

WAIT, does anyone actually just plug strait into an amp and play the tone the amp designer intended to be heared???

 

[64DUECE]

I am in luv with my 81.


To me it's sound is strong, punchy, tight..........and quiet. I think I have really found the bridge pickup for me. And I'm no fucking shredder.

I think they're more dynamic than they are given credit for. Also, I don't get the compressed tone that I have always heard about. That's the one thing that kept me from getting an EMG for so long. My favorite part about mine IS the clarity, and the tightness. I don't have the pickup set so high that it touches my strings either.

I've tried the 81 in my Les Paul Special, BC Rich M-bird and now my LP Studio. It does react and sounded different in each guitar to my ear.

I've never been happier with my tone, but I'll still keep a passive S/D in at least one guitar though.

 

[cobrahead1030]

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I dissagree with this. People talk all day about having a pure tube sound, but then they play their guitar through a stupid pedal board full of cheap stomp boxes. Pedals compress and eat tone, and it gets worse with each 1 you run in series.

What's more natural, a passive guitar through a pedalboard with a series of cheap pedals that run off' batteries, or a guitar with EMG's that's plugged strait into an amp?

WAIT, does anyone actually just plug strait into an amp and play the tone the amp designer intended to be heared???

i pretty much always prefer to plug straight in, whether i'm using active or passive pickups

 

[itsme]

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I dissagree with this. People talk all day about having a pure tube sound, but then they play their guitar through a stupid pedal board full of cheap stomp boxes. Pedals compress and eat tone, and it gets worse with each 1 you run in series.

What's more natural, a passive guitar through a pedalboard with a series of cheap pedals that run off' batteries, or a guitar with EMG's that's plugged strait into an amp?

WAIT, does anyone actually just plug strait into an amp and play the tone the amp designer intended to be heared???

I do. My Les Pauls into Diezel Herbert. I've never used distortion or overdrive boxes. If the amp can't do it on it's own, I don't buy it. My Rectifier & Marshalls don't need them either. That's why I buy an amp, 'cause it sounds good. I never think, "It sounds OK, but if I add this or that it will sound better." No need to buy an amp that needs help. If I absolutely need effects for a gig I'll use a wah & maybe chorus or other modulation effect on cleans only. But smaller gigs, straight in.

 

[Oblivion DC]

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They are very clean pickups due to the active electronics. If you hear distortion when playing clean I seriously doubt the pickups are the problem.

I have not tried the 18v mod on the EMGs to know if it is worth it or not.

The EMG's aren't actually all that clean. They have a little pre-amp in them and when you run them at the standard 9 volts, the pre-amp doesn't have a lot of headroom, and they will distort and compress the guitar's signal. That's part of what the 18 volt mod is all about. The extra juice gives the pre-amp more headroom - which keeps it from distorting. It doesn't make it any louder, and it actually allows the pickup to stay cleaner under a heavy pick attack. If you like the cleans at 9 volts you'll love them at 18! It also sounds clearer in a high gain situation. Some folks don't like it but I think it sounds great.

 

[OneArmedScissor]

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They are very clean pickups due to the active electronics. If you hear distortion when playing clean I seriously doubt the pickups are the problem.

No way, they definitely break up if you whack a chord in a pretty obvious manner, and with everything else, the distortion is just enough to take the edge off of the peaks in the signal.

 

[metalpoida]

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No way, they definitely break up if you whack a chord in a pretty obvious manner, and with everything else, the distortion is just enough to take the edge off of the peaks in the signal.

You need to add 8 Boost Pedals to the chain to get the tr00 EMG thing happening...