“EMGs make everything sound the same...”

[JB_From_Hell]

“EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Bull****.

We’ve all heard legions of people claim EMG pickups completely override the natural sound of a guitar. From here on out, every time I see someone post that, I’m going to remember not to listen to any of their advice after that.

I have a Schecter C-1 Platinum that sounds great with EMGs. 81/81, 81/85, 85/81... doesn’t matter. It’s gnarly as hell whichever way I combine them. I decided to try the 85/81 in my PRS SE CU24 today. First I did it at 18V. Didn’t like it. Swapped to 9V. Still don’t like it. Gonna go back to the stock SE HFS/VB, and it’ll probably go back to being awesome.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

I've always heard that EMGs make all woods sound the same. Strings, scale, and the bridge itself still make a difference.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

“EMGs make everything sound the same...”

“EMGs make everything sound the same...”

My experience is that EMGs sound like EMGs. I first started using them in the mid 80s when I worked at American Showster Guitars.

So when I started building basses I used EMGs; a 40-P5 at the neck, and 40-J at the bridge. They are nice sounding pickups, but what I started to realize is when I played my bass unplugged it sounded very different then when it was plugged in.

This lead me to start making my own pickups that sounded like the bass. Over the years I find that any instrument I had with them sounded like EMGs.

So why do they sound that way? They operate sort of like two single coils in parallel. Only the two coils connect to a differential amplifier. This sums the output of the coils, minus any noise they might pickup, but unlike a regular parallel connection the two coils don’t connect electrically. Then they tune the output of one coil to do what they call “tone modeling.

I like their guitar pickups more than the bass pickups. I have used them in about 20 years, so I’ve not tried any of the new models.

Also, pickups aren’t where the tone of the guitar comes from. They just reproduce it while changing the harmonic balance in their own way.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ibanezrocks]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

The 81 lacks presence, where a lot of the uniqueness of an instrument is evident. Combined with the compression, I could see that they make things sound more similar than more neutral sounding pickups, like a Custom or some PAF variant.

I think there's pickups with more overpowering voices though. For example, Dimarzios with vocal mids (i.e. the cocked wah sound). See my thread on the Evo vs 81. The Evo is a unique sounding pickup that really changes how a guitar sounds. Far more so than an 81 IMO.

Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

My LTD and PRS SE both have 85's in them right now. They sound as different from each other as they did when they both had Black Winters, which is considerable, and it's pretty surprising, because they're both relatively similar guitars. JME.

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

I've always heard that EMGs make all woods sound the same. Strings, scale, and the bridge itself still make a difference.

Both guitars are mahogany with set maple necks. The Schecter is 25.5" with a tune-o-matic string thru, strung 10-52 tuned to drop C, while the PRS is 25" with a floating bridge, 11-49 to drop C#.

With the same pedals and amp settings, the Schecter sounds killer, but the PRS does not. I think this is a (rare) case of the stock pickups being a perfect match for a guitar.

 

[Archer250]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

The same people don't talk **** about Steve Lukather's tone even though he used EMGs either

Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Both guitars are mahogany with set maple necks. The Schecter is 25.5" with a tune-o-matic string thru, strung 10-52 tuned to drop C, while the PRS is 25" with a floating bridge, 11-49 to drop C#.

With the same pedals and amp settings, the Schecter sounds killer, but the PRS does not. I think this is a (rare) case of the stock pickups being a perfect match for a guitar.

My LTD and my PRS SE are both mahogany set necks in mahogany bodies, built in the same factory, even. Yet, they sound pretty different from each other. The only times I've had the same pickups in both were when I had Black Winters, and now EMG 85's in the bridge, and the difference carried on to being the same. Both sound good, though. Just different. I'd say the 85 is probably a better match for the PRS SE, though, but I really like how it sounds in the LTD as well.

 

[ibanezrocks]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

I'll also add that it makes sense you hear this from people who don't like EMGs. If you like them, you appreciate the differences between the guitars. If you hate EMGs, you just hear the part that annoys you.

Think of a genre of music or artist that annoys the crap out of you. Have you ever thought about how similar it all sounds? People are like that with everything.

Sent from my BlackBerry using Tapatalk

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

^ this is very true.

In the last couple years, I’ve had Duncan Distortions in two guitars. Though I used to love that pickup, they made an Epiphone Les Paul Standard and a Legator 27” 7 string with a bolt-on all maple neck sound like twangy ice picks to me.

This makes a lot of sense, and put the whole thing in perspective. Thanks.

 

[Mincer]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Well, if you play the same stuff, it is going to sound the same. I am not a fan, but there are enough diverse players who use them to think that there is something there, and you can find it if you want to put the time in.

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

My experience is that EMGs sound like EMGs.

Thank you. High five, man. I like 'em in basses, but never liked them in guitars at all. But that's just me.

I first started using them in the mid 80s when I worked at American Showster Guitars.

You worked at American Showster? WOW! For awhile I thought those were pretty dang cool.... Then after awhile they seemed like just another novelty axe.

What was your experience, and your assessment of them at this date?

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

“EMGs make everything sound the same...”

“EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Thank you. High five, man. I like 'em in basses, but never liked them in guitars at all. But that's just me.




You worked at American Showster? WOW! For awhile I thought those were pretty dang cool.... Then after awhile they seemed like just another novelty axe.

What was your experience, and your assessment of them at this date?

I worked there when they were still in a little storefront in Maplewood, NJ. Then he closed the store and we moved into a factory space in Palisades Park.

The guitars were cool. They had a great tone. It was a combination of the basswood body and the aluminum parts bolted on. Rick, the guy that started the company was a bit shady though. I ended up leaving after he was having trouble paying us (he used business loan money to buy a house and a vintage Ford T-bird). Then he stole my designs for the Kramer Showster guitars, which he had rejected at the time, after I left.

The current American Showster is a different company and they altered the design of the guitar. The new ones don’t look as nice.

Here’s one I built. I might start making them at some point. I still have an unfinished one in my workshop.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ICTGoober]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

I met Rick in Chicago at a NAMM show back in the Stone Age. Didn't take him for a crook then, but success, money, and power sometimes change people for the worst. Sorry you were caught in the crap storm.

 

[DavidRavenMoon]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

I met Rick in Chicago at a NAMM show back in the Stone Age. Didn't take him for a crook then, but success, money, and power sometimes change people for the worst. Sorry you were caught in the crap storm.

He was never successful. He had a great opportunity but blew it.

From what I gather, he owed investors money, so they got his patents on the guitar.

He was a nice guy in general, but he told tall tales.

I found a blog a few years ago with him telling the Showster story and half of what he said was lies. Me and another guy that worked there started commenting pointing out the stuff he was changing to make himself look good. Like he tells people he invented the cutaway on acoustic guitars because he worked at Guild, and claims it was his idea. That’s ignoring the fact that there were other acoustic guitars with cutaways made 100 years ago!




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[InbredJunk]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Yea man. It's just recycled garbage that somebody started years ago. Same as the "emgs sound sterile" bs. Maybe some dude that had a decent following was paid to say that so folks would start buying more passive pickups lol.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

 

[donaldr]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

I moved my HSS EMG set (60/S/S) from an alder body superstrat to a Godin Exit 22. The EMG set sounds different in that guitar, as would any other pickups you move from one guitar to another.
Pickups are a personal choice, you like what you like. I like my EMG set as I like my SD set (STK-S7/Screamin Demon), as I like my Gibson set ('61).
It's not because someone doesn't like lobsters that lobsters are not good.

 

[ToneFiddler]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

I'll also add that it makes sense you hear this from people who don't like EMGs. If you like them, you appreciate the differences between the guitars. If you hate EMGs, you just hear the part that annoys you.

Think of a genre of music or artist that annoys the crap out of you. Have you ever thought about how similar it all sounds? People are like that with everything.
...

that might be true.

i had the EMG81 in a 10 lbs gibson LP custom Bridge spot and i liked it MUCH better then in my tremolo alder 25.5" scale guitar where it is now. the difference is HUGE. i would be glad if they would sound the same!
But yeah, the host guitar doesn't matter as much as with PAF style PUs.

 

[Chistopher]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

I suspect that these myths were perpetuated by someone trying to front their lack of authority on gear topics by using poignant language to make up for their lack of content and inadvertently exaggerating the subject matter 10 fold. Then people who have no experience with the item in question parrot the misinformation across the internet.

 

[OLDERBUDWISER]

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Re: “EMGs make everything sound the same...”

Bull****.

We’ve all heard legions of people claim EMG pickups completely override the natural sound of a guitar. From here on out, every time I see someone post that, I’m going to remember not to listen to any of their advice after that.

I have a Schecter C-1 Platinum that sounds great with EMGs. 81/81, 81/85, 85/81... doesn’t matter. It’s gnarly as hell whichever way I combine them. I decided to try the 85/81 in my PRS SE CU24 today. First I did it at 18V. Didn’t like it. Swapped to 9V. Still don’t like it. Gonna go back to the stock SE HFS/VB, and it’ll probably go back to being awesome.

I heard they sound great in a mix, I like my passives any day, all day. I have the 57/66 and I tried, not sure gut the electronics or sell the guitar. Schecter, ebony, paint job changes colors. Hate to gut it and regret it