EMG and SD

Toto

New member
hi!

can u deskribe emg humbucker's tone. but deskribe it in comperation with SD pups. expl: EMG 85 sounds like 59 or JB or.....

I'm intereseted in all EMG pups. (81, 85, 60, 89)

thanks!
 
Re: EMG and SD

I honestly don't think you can compare EMG's to Seymours in that sense. To me they sound totally different.

I have the custom and I have an 85... them both being high output thats about closest thing they have in common. Tonally they are completely different.
 
Re: EMG and SD

the JB is ballpark with the EMG 81 in this way,
'both are very cutting,do not have a tone of bass and have harmonics out the wazzoo!
really though like others have said EMG is EMG and duncan is DUNCAN! :laugh2:
 
Re: EMG and SD

vinterland said:
I honestly don't think you can compare EMG's to Seymours in that sense. To me they sound totally different.

I have the custom and I have an 85... them both being high output thats about closest thing they have in common. Tonally they are completely different.

Well, everyone's ears are different.....
 
Re: EMG and SD

The JB is probably the closest SD pup that compares to the 81. Both are percussive and mid happy (cutting), but their voices are still different. Lots of similarities, yet easy to tell apart. Although, I've never A-B'ed them in the same axe, so there are definatly other variables.

I have limited experience with the PG, but I'm wondering how it compares to the 60. They seem like they maight share a relationship similar to the JB/81.
 
Re: EMG and SD

I'd actually say that the 81 seems a little bit closer to the Duncan distortion, though with a bit less fuzz, and a little more hi-fi sounding (as all EMGs are).
 
Re: EMG and SD

you can't compare them. EMG's are active, SD's (in general) are passive. I think the only SD you can compare EMG with is the Live Wire, and even then i don't know "which" EMG pickup it resembles. I'll try and give you a decription though. EMG's are very high gain, excellent for metal, and if you like sizzly, high mid, metal sound. SD's are passive (meaning they have no onboard poweramp in the form of a battery) but by no means can you say that you can't get a metal tone out of a SD. I have an Invader in a guitar i built and that thing absolutely rumbles. Its all personal preference. Everyone in here is going to give you their opinion, the only thing you can do is go to your local music shop, and try out guitars with different pickups that you're interested in, and decide which one soudns the best to YOU
 
Re: EMG and SD

Of course you can't compare both brands 1:1, but it is helpful to compare which types the EMGs are compared to the Duncans.
The 85 is a more PAFish but loud pickup, like the SH-5,
The EMG 81 could be compared to the DD, and i would compare the EMG 60 to the Jazz or maybe the Stag Mag Humbucker.
 
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