Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

[sudzinsky]

Hey all,

I'm looking for some ideas on a new project guitar I'm working on. I got an Epiphone Matt Heafy 6string for cheap and really like the way it plays. I've replaced all the hardware on it and it sounds great, I like the sound of EMG's but I'd like to have more range and versatility.
What kind of passive pickups would come closest to the sound of EMG 81/85's?

I was thinking of either a JB or Custom in the bridge or 59 / Jazz for the neck but I'm new to the game in terms of changing electronics so I'm looking for some advice. What do you guys think?

 

[Chazzy]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

For the closest sounding bridge the miracle man by bareknuckle is always recommended. For the neck a coldsweat by bkp is good, If you are on the cheap the dimarzio d activators seem to have a near active feel, for sd the nazgul sentient combo works well and sounds pretty compressed and tight like an emg, blackwinters as well might be better suited to 6 string as the nazgul sentient is designed for 7 string. The custom and jazz combo pretty common and alot of people like them together. The jb is nowhere near as tight as the 81... the jazz however is very versatile, although I dont have much experience with it, it is highly recommended around the forum, I am thinking about picking one up, dunno about the 85 tho... personnally. The 59 which i have tried, i always find it to be a bit boomy in the neck... its good for crazy sludgy smoothness if you are into that, but i believe the 85 in the neck is more defined and articulate than a 59.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

I like the sound of EMG's but I'd like to have more range and versatility.
What kind of passive pickups would come closest to the sound of EMG 81/85's?

Any pickup that comes close to copping the feel and tone of an 81 isnt going to be the most versatile pickup. The closest out there will be the Dimarzio Dactivators, the BKP Blackhawks or Aftermaths.


A better way to approach this is.. What is the rest of your gear and what tone are you after exactly? You want versatile but you need to prioritize which tone you want to be the most important and what tones can suffer a little.

 

[sudzinsky]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

For the closest sounding bridge the miracle man by bareknuckle is always recommended. For the neck a coldsweat by bkp is good, If you are on the cheap the dimarzio d activators seem to have a near active feel, for sd the nazgul sentient combo works well and sounds pretty compressed and tight like an emg, blackwinters as well might be better suited to 6 string as the nazgul sentient is designed for 7 string. The custom and jazz combo pretty common and alot of people like them together. The jb is nowhere near as tight as the 81... the jazz however is very versatile, although I dont have much experience with it, it is highly recommended around the forum, I am thinking about picking one up, dunno about the 85 tho... personnally. The 59 which i have tried, i always find it to be a bit boomy in the neck... its good for crazy sludgy smoothness if you are into that, but i believe the 85 in the neck is more defined and articulate than a 59.

Thanks for the quick reply. I want to stick with Duncan's for now until I get more comfortable with swapping out pickups and then I'll start exploring other brands and such. Is there a big difference between the Custom and Custom5? Is the 5 pretty much the same but just hotter?

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

Thanks for the quick reply. I want to stick with Duncan's for now until I get more comfortable with swapping out pickups and then I'll start exploring other brands and such. Is there a big difference between the Custom and Custom5? Is the 5 pretty much the same but just hotter?

Why? Dimarzio is no more complicated to install than a duncan, hell actives with the quick connects like black outs and emgs are even easier than passive duncans.

The custom is hotter than the C5. The C5 has less mids and the highs are clearer and not as extended.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

Hey all,

I'm looking for some ideas on a new project guitar I'm working on. I got an Epiphone Matt Heafy 6string for cheap and really like the way it plays. I've replaced all the hardware on it and it sounds great, I like the sound of EMG's but I'd like to have more range and versatility.
What kind of passive pickups would come closest to the sound of EMG 81/85's?

I was thinking of either a JB or Custom in the bridge or 59 / Jazz for the neck but I'm new to the game in terms of changing electronics so I'm looking for some advice. What do you guys think?

The EMG X-Series and the Duncan Blackouts are all active pickups and have more organic and passive sounds than the regular EMG set. They also use 9 volts which means there would be no modding done to your guitar outside of unstringing, unscrewing the old pickups, using the quick connect system to replace the new pickups, and then shredding.

The Matt Heafy LP's are great guitars but he's stuck in the "EMG 81/85" combo and I find that is really only good for aggressive music.

 

[Rand-O-Monium]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

Swap the EMG's positions!


:headbang:

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

Swap the EMG's positions!


:headbang:

This is a cheap and quick thing he can try that might improve the tone for them (though personally i cant stand the 85 in the bridge but some guys like it)

Oh and a side note does anyone know if that Epiphone has a ground wire? Cause if it doesnt he will need to install one with the passives.
Many guitars that ive seen come from the factory with actives are missing the ground wires and dont even have the channel for it.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

Oh and a side note does anyone know if that Epiphone has a ground wire? Cause if it doesnt he will need to install one with the passives.
Many guitars that ive seen come from the factory with actives are missing the ground wires and dont even have the channel for it.

It comes stock with EMG's so I'm assuming it doesn't

 

[dominus]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

Get an EMG 60 for the neck and figure out if you prefer the 81 or 85 in the bridge.

 

[RustInPeace]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

The BK miracle man is voiced like an EMG 81 and I would agree. I had one in an Agile AL3200.

Not quite sure what matches the 85 though, its pretty unique.

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

The BK miracle man is voiced like an EMG 81 and I would agree. I had one in an Agile AL3200.

Not quite sure what matches the 85 though, its pretty unique.

The problem with that is that he is going from actives to passives and runs into the problem that he will need a ground wire. If he sticks with actives (and goes to a more organic sounding pickup) he'll be able to just plug and play rather than doing serious guitar surgery.

 

[sudzinsky]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

The problem with that is that he is going from actives to passives and runs into the problem that he will need a ground wire. If he sticks with actives (and goes to a more organic sounding pickup) he'll be able to just plug and play rather than doing serious guitar surgery.

Part of this switch is to actually get into the serious guitar surgery and do all of the soldering myself. I like electronics and tinkering, and being new to it I suspect I'll swap pickups a lot. So I'm actually not looking for plug and play, if that makes any sense.

As for what tone I'm going for is a bit harder to answer. I don't have a specific tone I'm trying to achieve. I like to have range and versatility at the guitar. I don't use pedals and am just plugged right into a cheap line 6 spider jam for the time being. It's probably easier for me to explain what I don't like about the EMG's. They are a little bit too hot for my taste. Backing off the volume or tone doesn't really change the sound very much. Also the fact that they're not very responsive to my attack bothers me. I realize this is a big issue with a lot of actives, and I did buy the guitar with the intention of changing out all of the electronics. I love the look and feel of the guitar and the Axcess heel, just don't want the one trick pony pups. I also plan to go with 2 push/pull pots as well just for more sound options.

 

[Dahla]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

I have that guitar, and it doesn't have a ground wire installed. That means pulling the stud and drilling a hole.

I tried both the het set and 57/66 in the guitar, and the het set won out. Those pickups sounded absolutely heaven. I have a het set in my explorer too, and I'm replacing those with something else. The MKH suited them more.

IMO, try other actives first, then think of switching to passives.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Johnny the Kid]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

I have that guitar, and it doesn't have a ground wire installed. That means pulling the stud and drilling a hole.

I tried both the het set and 57/66 in the guitar, and the het set won out. Those pickups sounded absolutely heaven. I have a het set in my explorer too, and I'm replacing those with something else. The MKH suited them more.

IMO, try other actives first, then think of switching to passives.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The X series, Duncan Blackouts, the Het Set, and the 57/66 are all more passive sounding and feeling pickups and will respond more to pick attack and volume and tone roll offs. That's where I would start.

 

[sudzinsky]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

I have that guitar, and it doesn't have a ground wire installed. That means pulling the stud and drilling a hole.

I tried both the het set and 57/66 in the guitar, and the het set won out. Those pickups sounded absolutely heaven. I have a het set in my explorer too, and I'm replacing those with something else. The MKH suited them more.

IMO, try other actives first, then think of switching to passives.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hmm, I have considered these two for a different guitar. What was the main difference between the two sets? They both sound good but the differences are very slight when hearing them through youtube videos.

 

[sudzinsky]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

Blackouts are too much for my taste. I'm not familiar with the X series but have been interested in the 57/66 and Het set for awhile now but could never decide on a set.

 

[Gibson 1964]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

I have that guitar, and it doesn't have a ground wire installed. That means pulling the stud and drilling a hole.

I tried both the het set and 57/66 in the guitar, and the het set won out. Those pickups sounded absolutely heaven. I have a het set in my explorer too, and I'm replacing those with something else. The MKH suited them more.

IMO, try other actives first, then think of switching to passives.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Pulling a stud is no big deal if you do it the easy way. In fact, it is one of the easiest procedures on a guitar.

 

[Dahla]

Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

Hmm, I have considered these two for a different guitar. What was the main difference between the two sets? They both sound good but the differences are very slight when hearing them through youtube videos.

Both the het set and 57/66 are active perfection. At least if all you ever know is the plain old 81/85 and play something other than just palm muted riffing.

They both sounded way nicer than the 81/85, but the her set feels like it was made for my guitar. The feeling I got when I plugged it in and started playing was "ooOOoo yeeeeAAAAAAAH!"

And I play everything on it. From metal to rock (lol), just use volume and tone knobs.

Pulling a stud is no big deal if you do it the easy way. In fact, it is one of the easiest procedures on a guitar.

Oh, I know. It's just that he wrote something about learning to solder, and that stuff. Installing a ground wire is not just soldering. I just wanted him to know.


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[Fusion1]

Re: Passive alternatives to EMG 81/85's ?

Dimarzio D'Activators or EMG H4/H4A set (passive version of the EMG 81/85).