Emgs vs Duncans

[Charvel]

hey guys,
I am purchasing new pick ups for my Charvel as you might know, and im just curious, is there any pick up you guys would suggest i should check into right now, i was gonna buy some 81/60 EMG humbuckers but im unsure, first off im in to metal metallica style ect.... so i want some kick @ss distortion, , so what im asking is can you guys tell me a pick up, and possible why it would be a good choice??

I got Duncun Live Wire Heavy metal pups right now, there nice but its too much output i cant get out of a distortion tone for parts of songs, so i need new ones

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

I don't know if you'll like the EMG's. I had the Zakk Wylde set and went back to my trusty Duncan Distortion and Jazz or '59 neck. They just sound so much better, and raunchier

 

[Charvel]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

I don't know if you'll like the EMG's. I had the Zakk Wylde set and went back to my trusty Duncan Distortion and Jazz or '59 neck. They just sound so much better, and raunchier

well there the same ones kirk hammet uses so i guessed that i would enjoy them cause there exactly the sound i like

 

[DeadSkinSlayer3]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

But he uses tube amps, and EMG's only sound good with tubes IMO.

 

[Xeromus]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

But he uses tube amps, and EMG's only sound good with tubes IMO.

It's true. For a while I loved my EMG's. They were better than sliced bread. Then I got tired of the one-dimensional sound. They just sound the same no matter what. And they suck clean. It's a one trick pony, they sound real good with gain, and that's about it. But what they are good at, they do well.

If you go with EMG's, I highly encourage the 18 volt mod, really makes them sound a lot better, less choked.

 

[\m/(00)\m/]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

i dont like emg's, one trick pony as Xeromus said. and, in all honesty, you're not gonna get the sound that they have. because it's all their hands. and in kirks case, maybe a wah or two or fifty
and plus they use pretty expensive amps like diezel, mesa boogie, etc. i think it would be better of with passives, i think you have a more range of tones at your finger tips with passives.
btw, nice guitar

 

[fenderiarhs]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

........i am sure you have heard the same way i have heard of all the usual misconceptions about active pickups....they are sterile e.t.c e.t.c......i decided to try them(i bought an emg 85) and it is since my favourite pickup.It is true that emg humbuckers do not excell in clean sounds(the emg SA's though are very nice clean) but they are very very nice under distortion....so if you are into metallica i would certainly give actives a chance.If you don't want something so extreme like the emg81 you could try the emg85....it has a slightly less output...it is warmer with more low mids it is a bit bassier and has sweeter treble.

 

[southadc]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

I don't think I'd be happy if all my guitars had either one or the other - I like them both for different reasons. Of the two guitars I play most, I've treated one to some EMGs, and I'm going to treat the other to some Duncans

 

[Charvel]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

well then i cant decide its kinda both ways here, duncans or EMG;s and i was plannin on buying them this week, so, uhh maybe i shudda did a poll haha,
Like i said, i got those UBER High output pups on my charvel, and i find it way too fuzzy for my liking, i like the distortion, but you just never get anywhere close to clean, and i dont got a TUBE amp either,

i think i will be picking up some pups on friday... so i need to kno if some things
-WHats bad about the EMg 81/60 humbuckers
-Shud i get the 85's as that one dude said?
-Why would passives be a good choice if i bought those
-Which would sound better for my taste in music... (metallica still)

 

[Lewguitar]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

EMG's sound fine. Lots of great players use them. I don't use them, but everytime I work on a guitar with EMG's I'm impressed with the tone and reminded that my prejudices and assumptions are often wrong. Lew

 

[some_dude]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

EMG's rock.

If you wanting to go the passive route, the JB/Jazz combo is pretty heavy.

 

[southadc]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

well then i cant decide its kinda both ways here, duncans or EMG;s and i was plannin on buying them this week, so, uhh maybe i shudda did a poll haha,
Like i said, i got those UBER High output pups on my charvel, and i find it way too fuzzy for my liking, i like the distortion, but you just never get anywhere close to clean, and i dont got a TUBE amp either,

i think i will be picking up some pups on friday... so i need to kno if some things
-WHats bad about the EMg 81/60 humbuckers
-Shud i get the 85's as that one dude said?
-Why would passives be a good choice if i bought those
-Which would sound better for my taste in music... (metallica still)

The advice I could give is limited, asI haven't tried out enough pickups to say, but I'm using EMGs with a solid state amp and I like the way they sound. They sound good to my ears when I'm playing metallica stuff, but I don't sound the same as metallica when playing with them (the standard of my playing accounted for ). To me, the emgs haven't really put me noticably closer to metallica's tone than passive pickups would've done; but then I'm not trying to get their sound. There are more factors than pickups involved I'm sure, plus the fact that their sound has changed over the years.

The way I've approached it (for what it's worth) with my guitars is this; do I want this guitar to be (a) active, or (b) passive. If the answer's active, I go for emgs; if the answer's passive, go for duncans.

Having said that, I've recently picked up a livewire metal/classic set to try out, and I'm looking at prices for an emg 85 and an emg 60. How about tossing a coin? :laugh2: (joke)

 

[litchfield]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

or a dime/59

 

[papersoul]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

But he uses tube amps, and EMG's only sound good with tubes IMO.

Others feel differently because I know plenty of guys who swear EMGs are the way to go with digitial. Something about the fat and clean signal which works well with digital. You never know.

Plus, lot's of guys swear the 85 and 60 are both great clean!

 

[ranalli]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

EMG 60 in the neck will do cleans fine. They sound great actually. Of course you usually want either an 81 or 85 in the bridge which doesn't do cleans well but I rarely use the bridge for cleans anyway.

My Les Paul has EMGs and I never regretted putting them in even if they do limit you some tone-wise.

 

[papersoul]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

EMG 60 in the neck will do cleans fine. They sound great actually. Of course you usually want either an 81 or 85 in the bridge which doesn't do cleans well but I rarely use the bridge for cleans anyway.

My Les Paul has EMGs and I never regretted putting them in even if they do limit you some tone-wise.

I really think the 85 bridge does cleans very well! very clear and crisp.

 

[southadc]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

Try listening to these clips from the 'tips and clips' room:

https://forum.seymourduncan.com/showthread.php?t=6773

These sold the idea of an 85 at the bridge to me, that's why I'm looking round at prices now

 

[Davey]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

you know what i'm going to say hehe...

if you want that tallica sound, try a distortion/59 combo .. or a JB/59

 

[Dirtyking]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

Others feel differently because I know plenty of guys who swear EMGs are the way to go with digitial. Something about the fat and clean signal which works well with digital. You never know.

Plus, lot's of guys swear the 85 and 60 are both great clean!

This is my brother's experience. He has the Zakk Wylde Emg set (85neck/81bridge) in his ESP explorer copy. Nails the Metallica tone dead on. While I'm a plug strait in type of guy, my Brother uses some effects. We have both discovered that the EMG's sound better when using effects (Boss Pedals)than my Duncans do thru the same amp. just my 2cents......

 

[Davey]

Re: Emgs vs Duncans

hetfield has the 81760 set in the eet fuk explorer and the neck has a really beautifull clean sound .. but they tend to sound the same everywhere.. depends on what you do with the signal too though..