Dialing in EMGs... specifically 81 and 57 in bridge position

[Rocco Crocco]

Hello. I am new to the forum and this is my first post.

I am in a classic rock/old school metal cover band. I play through a Line 6 Helix (mostly Marshall and 5150 patches). My absolute go-to bridge PU is the Duncan JB. I have it in most of my guitars, and all of my Helix presets are set up for that pickup. I must admit up front that building presets and tweaking amp setting are not my forte.

I recently acquired a couple of Ibanez RG series guitars. I am used to the Gibson scale length, but really like the playability of these new guitars, and want to be able to play them live through my Helix. One has the 81/60 EMG combo, and the other has 57/66 pickups.

These guitars sound pretty bad when playing through my JB optimized presets. The 81 just gets out of control highs and sounds washed out, and the 57 has midrange weirdness that is hard to describe. With the 81, I dropped the "low cut" parameter on the Helix from about 7k (my setting for the JB) to about 4.5K for the 81. It is better, but there is still room for improvement. I actually don't have the EMG 57 equipped guitar at home, so I can really begin tweaking setting for that guitar just yet.

So I guess I need advice on how to EQ or get amp gain differently to get these guitars to sound great. I don't have money in the budget for new pickups, and just want to learn how to get the most from these EMGs. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Lucy Diamond]

Re: Dialing in EMGs... specifically 81 and 57 in bridge position

Hello and welcome to the forum. I recently took a job that has me working UNGODLY hours each day and I haven't posted here in quite some time so I am happy to come back to such an issue.

Firstly, when dialing in tone (let's say an amp) I usually tell people to set everything FLAT and then close their eyes and tweak according. I'm not sure this will work with your helix because I think you need to see what you are doing.

You can roughly follow the same principle. Start brand new patches for your new Ibanez guitars and go from there. If you want to mimic your "JB" patches, you can easily select the same effects you have always liked but you may need new levels depending on how the Helix reacts.

Again though...don't tweak or dial with your eyes. Chug...dial. Strum.....dial. Pluck....tweak. Your guitars will tell you what they need to sound great, you just really need to listen.


NOw.....since this IS a Seymour Duncan pickup forum...I must also (at the very least) suggest that you go ahead and change the pickups on the new guitars. I have had a JB in two Ibanez's and I didn't like them at all. If that is your go to pickup though, you may like it better than I did.

Play with the Helix first and then consider new electronics. If you do change the pickups though, switch out ALL the electronics. Stock Ibanez electronics are just sad.


Best of luck to you.

Welcome to the forum.

Enjoy in good health.

~LD

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Dialing in EMGs... specifically 81 and 57 in bridge position

Honestly, I am surprised you find the 81 too bright compared to the JB. Passives tend to have a lot more lows and highs than the classic EMG actives. Even the very mid-focused JB has a lot more going on up top and down low in my experience.

I'd just say dial in more lows and less gain in the patches for the actives.

 

[Rocco Crocco]

Re: Dialing in EMGs... specifically 81 and 57 in bridge position

Hello and welcome to the forum. I recently took a job that has me working UNGODLY hours each day and I haven't posted here in quite some time so I am happy to come back to such an issue.

Firstly, when dialing in tone (let's say an amp) I usually tell people to set everything FLAT and then close their eyes and tweak according. I'm not sure this will work with your helix because I think you need to see what you are doing.

You can roughly follow the same principle. Start brand new patches for your new Ibanez guitars and go from there. If you want to mimic your "JB" patches, you can easily select the same effects you have always liked but you may need new levels depending on how the Helix reacts.

Again though...don't tweak or dial with your eyes. Chug...dial. Strum.....dial. Pluck....tweak. Your guitars will tell you what they need to sound great, you just really need to listen.


NOw.....since this IS a Seymour Duncan pickup forum...I must also (at the very least) suggest that you go ahead and change the pickups on the new guitars. I have had a JB in two Ibanez's and I didn't like them at all. If that is your go to pickup though, you may like it better than I did.

Play with the Helix first and then consider new electronics. If you do change the pickups though, switch out ALL the electronics. Stock Ibanez electronics are just sad.


Best of luck to you.

Welcome to the forum.

Enjoy in good health.

~LD

Honestly, I am surprised you find the 81 too bright compared to the JB. Passives tend to have a lot more lows and highs than the classic EMG actives. Even the very mid-focused JB has a lot more going on up top and down low in my experience.

I'd just say dial in more lows and less gain in the patches for the actives.

Thanks guys. I now have the 81 sounding great. Still working on the 57 though...

 

[Masta' C]

Re: Dialing in EMGs... specifically 81 and 57 in bridge position

Add a little presence/treble with the 57 and bump the mids and gain ever-so-slightly, it'll get you closer to the 81's sound, if that's what you want.

It should be noted that there are a lot of pickups that will simply plug-and-play with your existing EMG wiring if the 57 or 81 doesn't suit you entirely...Fishman Fluence, Duncan Blackouts/Duality, etc.