How do EMGs clean up?

G

guitarplayer100

New member
Hi, I was just wondering how does EMG81 clean up. My amp is Orange OR15. Because it's a single channel, I like to get it clean by rolling off the volume on my guitar. I'm looking for pushed clean sound, maybe a little less hot than AC/DC rhythm tone. I do quite some gain (LP pups do it for me 6/10 on volume to give me the results I want).
Is it doable on EMGs without setting the volume to like 1? Or is passive the only way to go?
 
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Re: How do EMGs clean up?

Lower your EMG 81's height, then it will have moderate/vintage output. I think it cleans nice. 60 in the neck has the best cleans I've ever had.
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

Yeah, but I find it impractical for me to switch to neck pickup for cleans mid song with high gain. I only use neck for some of the leads and only clean stuff.
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

In my experience, really well! I use a TSL100 for one project and the guitars are EMG loaded. I can get a really nice sweet overdrive with the volume rolled back considerably. I don't use tone controls generally (shoot me) and my two custom guitars don't have them at all. But on the ones that do, rolling the tone back can serve to thicken it out slightly if so desired. I never need it though. You will learn where abouts it should be.

For reference, bog standard EMG81 and EMG 85 in the neck, alder body guitars with maple necks, either thru neck or bolt ons.
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

So I've never tried EMGs; people comment that they won't clean up using the volume control. Is that true? I can't imagine how they could stay dirty from 1-10 on the volume pot, is the perception that they "don't clean up" just a consequence of their output/compression or something inherent to EMGs?
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

Silence Kid said:
So I've never tried EMGs; people comment that they won't clean up using the volume control. Is that true? I can't imagine how they could stay dirty from 1-10 on the volume pot, is the perception that they "don't clean up" just a consequence of their output/compression or something inherent to EMGs?
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the 18v mod can help the cleans a little bit. (but IMHO it hurts the distorted tones). Output is not that hot. My 85 (which is hotter than 81) sounds a little weaker than my Dimarzio Blaze bridge, which is not considered as a high output pickup, there are many bridge pups out there with higher output than the blaze.
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

18 volt mod will definitely help.

I've had EMG's in a guitar and they cleaned up really well with the volume down. The EMG's really aren't that hot. They just have a very focused mid range that makes you think there's more gain going on there.
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

I think will depend some on how much gain you're using.

Many moons ago I had a 81/85 set-up in my Les Paul. It would clean up some when I ran it through the distortion channel of a Carvin X100B. Little to none when run through other amps with more gain. I eventually switched the pickups to EMG 89's with push-pull coil taps. In single coil mode, the lower output would clean up better.
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

My favorite EMG setup is the 81/60. The 18V mod does help, but the real key is to not have them right up at the strings. I put them at the same height as standard humbuckers and they sound much less harsh (not quite the word I'm looking for tho)
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

Dang! I don't want to hijack the OP's thread, but my question is identical. I just acquired an EMG 81, (thanks thrill74), and I thought it might go nice into my Peavey Rockmaster.

Rockmaster-02_sm.jpg

So, if I lower it down a bit, and do the 18-volt mod, it might do "cleans" fairly well?
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

ArtieToo said:
Dang! I don't want to hijack the OP's thread, but my question is identical. I just acquired an EMG 81, (thanks thrill74), and I thought it might go nice into my Peavey Rockmaster.

View attachment 77881

So, if I lower it down a bit, and do the 18-volt mod, it might do "cleans" fairly well?
Click to expand...

Absolutely. If you're gonna roll down the volume then you can get great vintage style cleans. If you want the more modern crystalline cleans (Metallica live for instance) then you're gonna need a clean channel of an amp.
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

Going to be twangy unless you roll-off the tone as well as the volume a bit,,,,,,,IMO.
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

My Kramer had livewires 18v stock. When I fitted 85b/81n I had to bridge the 18v down to 9v in order to get all the squealies I wanted. So my mod was from 18v -> 9v, so there's a trade-off. But generally under high gain any moderate->modern HB with vol over 1.5 (scale 1->10) will not clean up nicely of you hit the strings hard IME.
 
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Re: How do EMGs clean up?

I have an EMG 60 bridge and S middle and neck in a super start. They clean very well but I have to go down on guitar volume as low as 2-3. Used to not like EMG that much but when I found how to ride the guitar volume properly (going very low to cleanup but without losing perceived volume) I really love them, but it's unusual to have a 60 in the bridge.
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

This is, IMO, so much about output as it is about voicing. The 81's voicing, or EQ, has that upper-mid push and tight bass that one associates with boosting with a TS. It's not the most pleasent of clean tones IMO.

The 85, 60, 57, 66, etc are all better though, and even the 81 responds very well to the guitar volume. It's just that it's not exactly a sweet sounding pickup. It's more a fast-tight-crunch-etc-thing.
 
Re: How do EMGs clean up?

It's never been the strong suit of EMG HBs. Your best bet is the 60 or 89 at the neck, with honorable mention to the 81.

EMG singles like the SA can be very nice clean.
 
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