I'm playing through a 5150 combo(JJ tubes) with a original floyd rose guitar and I figured I'd post a review of my latest pickup switch and some theories I have.
The Emg, in this amp, was a bit too harsh. I had to tweak my amp a lot to get a good lead tone, around the g-b-e strings at the 12th fret and above. I found it helped conceal my mistakes playing up that high, but when moving down to the low E palm mutes, wasn't as helpful for covering up my mistakes.
when I played a G chord with distortion on and off you could hear EVERY note in the chord distinctly. the Eq of this pickup sounds to me like it has scoop like:
B-7
M-4
H-7
which is probably what makes it a really good metal pickup?
the sound didn't really change much when I was doing sweeps with my right hand close to the bridge, and when I moved my hand over the 20th fret or so.
I guess that has to do with the compression emgs have. I really like the 81, as I was getting a dead on slayer tone and I loved it, but i didn't really have anything to smooth out the lead tone. for some reason the pickup was quietest(DEAD SILENT) when i was facing 1/4 turn away from the amp. if i would turn any other way, it would hum a bit louder, i've read this was due to 60 cycle hum.
The JB Trembucker sounded good with the same settings as the EMG 81, but I could hear the tonal differences. I think the JB has more bass and mids, but less highs. so:
B-9
M-6
H-6
The low end is a lot tighter, playing staccato rhythms is awesome now. It doesn't have as much gain at all, but its good for cleaning this amp up. I found the distortion a lot smoother, maybe a bit more rockish sound. it had a much better lead tone on the higher frets, but it wasn't so forgiving of mistakes up there. when playing chords, the JB doesn't match up. the notes mush together more so than the Emg 81, BUT its less harsh, so it kinda outweighs it. it has more of a constant noise floor than the 81 but its not horrible...also its more prone to feedback.
overall, i'd say they are equal, it depends on taste and usage. they're just different, not so much BETTER than one another. My theory is this.
EMG 81 would be best used to get a high gain out of a Marshall. I've played through a few stacks and was horribly disappointed by their lack of gain. I think the harsh and shrill qualities of the 81 would do well to brighten up any presence lacking Marshall, which in my experience, has been every one i've played. The JB would be better suited to an amp that already has high gain.
I found the JB smoother for my purposes but I still like the rhythm crunch of the 81.
The Emg, in this amp, was a bit too harsh. I had to tweak my amp a lot to get a good lead tone, around the g-b-e strings at the 12th fret and above. I found it helped conceal my mistakes playing up that high, but when moving down to the low E palm mutes, wasn't as helpful for covering up my mistakes.
when I played a G chord with distortion on and off you could hear EVERY note in the chord distinctly. the Eq of this pickup sounds to me like it has scoop like:
B-7
M-4
H-7
which is probably what makes it a really good metal pickup?
the sound didn't really change much when I was doing sweeps with my right hand close to the bridge, and when I moved my hand over the 20th fret or so.
I guess that has to do with the compression emgs have. I really like the 81, as I was getting a dead on slayer tone and I loved it, but i didn't really have anything to smooth out the lead tone. for some reason the pickup was quietest(DEAD SILENT) when i was facing 1/4 turn away from the amp. if i would turn any other way, it would hum a bit louder, i've read this was due to 60 cycle hum.
The JB Trembucker sounded good with the same settings as the EMG 81, but I could hear the tonal differences. I think the JB has more bass and mids, but less highs. so:
B-9
M-6
H-6
The low end is a lot tighter, playing staccato rhythms is awesome now. It doesn't have as much gain at all, but its good for cleaning this amp up. I found the distortion a lot smoother, maybe a bit more rockish sound. it had a much better lead tone on the higher frets, but it wasn't so forgiving of mistakes up there. when playing chords, the JB doesn't match up. the notes mush together more so than the Emg 81, BUT its less harsh, so it kinda outweighs it. it has more of a constant noise floor than the 81 but its not horrible...also its more prone to feedback.
overall, i'd say they are equal, it depends on taste and usage. they're just different, not so much BETTER than one another. My theory is this.
EMG 81 would be best used to get a high gain out of a Marshall. I've played through a few stacks and was horribly disappointed by their lack of gain. I think the harsh and shrill qualities of the 81 would do well to brighten up any presence lacking Marshall, which in my experience, has been every one i've played. The JB would be better suited to an amp that already has high gain.
I found the JB smoother for my purposes but I still like the rhythm crunch of the 81.
