EMG Jim Root - any good?

[Rex_Rocker]

I'm thinking about grabbing a set for a new guitar. Are these any good?

I've read these are passive-like because they're built around the Retroactive platform. Which passives do they most resemble? I'm thinking perhaps Super Distortion, Duncan Custom, or Duncan Distortion seeing as they are ceramic?

Any thoughts about them? Are they bitey or warm? Are they tight or fat?

 

[Rex_Rocker]

No one?

 

[pskorz]

I’m not well-acquainted with EMGs nor this root set. But I think your question warrants a response, so I’ll get the ball rolling.
This is still an active EMG with an onboard preamp. So I’d imagine that it’ll still play and react like an active. DiMarzio made the D Activator, which was kind of the reverse mentality-a passive designed to sound/feel like an active. I played that pickup for a few years, and i didn’t think it resembled my experiences with actives.

All that is to say I don’t know that you could pinpoint a passive equivalent that it would really resemble. (but it’s probably more on par with a super distortion or Duncan custom than it would be with a jazz or 59). Maybe like an 81 but with a different magnetic field due to the pole pieces. If I understood the emg site, I think the neck pickup uses ceramic magnets as pole pieces, and the bridge uses slugs and a bar magnet. Probably an interesting pickup set if actives are your bag.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

I think it's going to more resemble an 81/60 with some tweaks. Jim's guitars and amps have changed a lot over the years, but until the sig set, he always used the 81/60. I've heard him say that pretty much all of his guitars had the 81/60, so he clearly digs it.

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Thank you for the replies! I actually ordered a set to try. I took a chance.

These are supposed to be based on the Retroactive platform, so I guess it's kind of a "what if the 81/60 set was passive".

I just wish there were more reviews on what they actually sound like.

I do like the standard 81/60 set, though, so I hope I actually like these.

 

[pskorz]

Thank you for the replies! I actually ordered a set to try. I took a chance.

These are supposed to be based on the Retroactive platform, so I guess it's kind of a "what if the 81/60 set was passive".

I just wish there were more reviews on what they actually sound like.

I do like the standard 81/60 set, though, so I hope I actually like these.

my gut tells me that if you dig the 81/60 set, this will probably have a similar flavor but slightly different vibe. Could be the perfect fit.

 

[Dahla]

I’ve had them. I think there is a thread on here also.

Short story: I find them veeeeeery similar to the 81/60, tone wise. They have a kind of stiff feel to them though. I wonder if that is the double slug design?

All in all I prefer the het set, and I put that set back in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rex_Rocker]

I’ve had them. I think there is a thread on here also.

Short story: I find them veeeeeery similar to the 81/60, tone wise. They have a kind of stiff feel to them though. I wonder if that is the double slug design?

All in all I prefer the het set, and I put that set back in.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Interesting. Thank you. I do like the 81/60. I just hope these have a more passive-like EQ curve (more highs and lows).

I've used the Hets before, but I think they're too hot for what I want right now. Cool pickups, tho.

 

[Dahla]

Interesting. Thank you. I do like the 81/60. I just hope these have a more passive-like EQ curve (more highs and lows).

I've used the Hets before, but I think they're too hot for what I want right now. Cool pickups, tho.

I agree. The het set is waaay hot. Sometimes too much so. But as far as feel and not as stiff feeling, the het sets were a better fit. At least in that guitar.

And the JR set is more passive like than 81/60. Again not so much in tone/EQ perhaps, but it’s the feel thing again. They feel perhaps not as compressed, and perhaps a little «broader» somehow. I’ll bet you like them.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Thanks, man. Let's hope I do like them!

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Got the Slipknotbuckers in! Really digging them! They're bright and tight with a nice upper-mid focus, as expected. They do have a bit more width than the traditional 81/60 combo. They're more passive-like for sure, but they're pretty hot, and they've still got that active compression (which I like), albeit to a lesser extent (don't really have an 81/60 combo at hand to directly compare, though, so take that for what it's worth). They're not Black Winter kinda hot, but hotter than the pickups in my other guitars for sure (Fluence Classics and 498T/'59).

I do like them, but I don't know if I like them more than the Fluence Classics in my LTD. I've still got to spend more time with them, but the Classics are beefier (the guitar they're in is overall fatter-sounding, so there's that too) and clearer with more of that nice overwound Alnico pickup squishiness.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Totally unrelated to this post, but Rex, you should totally check out the Elysian Trident pickups. I bet they’re right up your alley.