EMG 60A or 66?

[Rex_Rocker]

Lately, I've been posting a lot of threads regarding EMG's, but please bear with me, as I think I'm close to finding the perfect combo for me.

I like aspects of the 60, 81, and 85, but I wish I could merge them all into a perfect neck pickup. Mainly, I like the 60's chimey clean tone, and the 85's smooth lead tone.

I wonder wether the 60A or the 66 is what I want. I basically want something with a smoother lead tone than the 60 while still having a lively clean sound, but leaner than the 85 clean while still having a smooth lead sound.

So what should I be looking at? 60A or 66? How do these two compare?

Thanks!

 

[Teleplayer]

Re: EMG 60A or 66?

I have not used a 60A, however I have a suggestion for getting a more mid focussed tone from the 60 w/ ceramic mag. I suggest to change the cap value in the passive tone control. The stock value is 0.1uF, but I prefer to use 0.022uF in general. Currently I'm using a 0.018uF cap, but its almost the same as 0.022, depending on the tolerance. Caps in this range work well for passive tone control, but are mostly useful in the top half of the tone control range. IOW, it may not give useful a result when the tone knob is used below 5/10ths.

 

[Ascension]

Re: EMG 60A or 66?

Have a 85 in the bridge of my one off Washburn USA Mg and the H 60 A in the neck. IMO it's a very nice tonal combo that is largely ignored.
Not at all what you expect from a set of EMG's much more organic and warm. Feels and sounds more like a standard passive set up but is dead quiet and pushes effects like an active set up.
The 60A is dead on what you describe a bigger fatter rounder and sweeter 60. the 85 is pretty much just a 81 with a A 5 mag so the 60 with an A 5 in the 60 A IMO makes it a perfect match.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: EMG 60A or 66?

Thank you both for the replies.

Yeah, I'm leaning a bit more towards the 60A. It seems like the 66 is a bit more PAF-like in the sense that it's got a lot of chirpy top-end and attack, or am I hearing it wrong?