Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

[Dave Locher]

I was wandering around YouTube (always dangerous!) and happened upon a shootout of GFS hot rails vs. an EMG H4. The EMG sounded better to me. Problem is, I can't find any decent comparisons of the passive EMGs to any pickups that I am familiar with. "Better than a GFS pickup I never heard or played in person" doesn't tell me much.

Can anyone tell me how any of the Hz H3-H4 pickups sound compared to, say, a JB or a Dimarzio Super Distortion?

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

...or a Tone Zone or Super 3? Those are the only pickups I've used in the past 20 years other than some oddballs.

 

[Oilid]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

Here are 2 vidz I made w/ the H3 & H4 :

 

[Oilid]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

The following vid, less hi-gain.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

Nice videos and really good playing, but you're playing very different guitars.
In another thread someone described the H3 and H4 as weaker and thinner than they expected. Would you say the same, compared to the other pickups I mentioned above?

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

Nice videos and really good playing, but you're playing very different guitars.
In another thread someone described the H3 and H4 as weaker and thinner than they expected. Would you say the same, compared to the other pickups I mentioned above?

Haha, that would be me.

Honestly, it's been a while since I've played HZ's. I used to have a Jackson DXMG with H3's, and have played through my friends' olders LTD's with H1's and H4's. They were pretty bland. The H1's were the best of the bunch, IIRC. I guess the biggest downfall of HZ's is one kinda expects them to sound like the active counterparts. They really don't. They're not very high output IME, and they're not as focused, but they do have a similar low-end rolloff as the actives do.

They're not terrible pickups, though. They are not noisy or particularly muddy or anything. They're just kind of underwhelming if you're looking for "the EMG sound", I guess. Then again, take that as a grain of salt. It's been a while since I've played them.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

I know Marty Friedman is getting some signature passive EMGs that look cool.

 

[Oilid]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

I agree with Rex. If you're lookin' for EMG classic sound, don't buy it.
I honestly was desapointed.
Now I'm lookin' for the Duncan tb6

Haha, that would be me.

Honestly, it's been a while since I've played HZ's. I used to have a Jackson DXMG with H3's, and have played through my friends' olders LTD's with H1's and H4's. They were pretty bland. The H1's were the best of the bunch, IIRC. I guess the biggest downfall of HZ's is one kinda expects them to sound like the active counterparts. They really don't. They're not very high output IME, and they're not as focused, but they do have a similar low-end rolloff as the actives do.

They're not terrible pickups, though. They are not noisy or particularly muddy or anything. They're just kind of underwhelming if you're looking for "the EMG sound", I guess. Then again, take that as a grain of salt. It's been a while since I've played them.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

I have a DXMG with H3's. They're not bad. What you would except for an EMG to sound like without the pre-amp. I'm still thinking about adding a Blackout modular pre-amp to them which should make them sound a lot more like regular active EMG's.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

Haha, that would be me.

Honestly, it's been a while since I've played HZ's. I used to have a Jackson DXMG with H3's, and have played through my friends' olders LTD's with H1's and H4's. They were pretty bland. The H1's were the best of the bunch, IIRC. I guess the biggest downfall of HZ's is one kinda expects them to sound like the active counterparts. They really don't. They're not very high output IME, and they're not as focused, but they do have a similar low-end rolloff as the actives do.

They're not terrible pickups, though. They are not noisy or particularly muddy or anything. They're just kind of underwhelming if you're looking for "the EMG sound", I guess. Then again, take that as a grain of salt. It's been a while since I've played them.

Yeah, I thought about interjecting into that thread but didn't want to take it off topic.

 

[Dave Locher]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

Thanks, everyone. Exactly what I needed to know.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

EMG HZ3s in both positions, with Afterburner on about 3, and working the Volume and Tone controls. Played through an ADA MP-1 preamp and Digitech TSR-12 for FX and EQ.

IMO the HZ3 needs the Afterburner to sound "good". Without it, they're just a tad under-powered, but anything above 5 on the Afterburner is just too much. According to EMG, the HZ-3 is their PAF-type model, and has a regular-sized ceramic magnet (same size as the A5 in a JB, not the double-thick one from a Distortion). It's my understanding the H4 is the "Distortion-class" HZ, though I've not tried one personally.

 

[Demanic]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

I did a bit of research on them and the H4 is supposed to be a passive version of the 81. It has rails where the H3 has slug coils. There's also an H4A with an A5 magnet instead of ceramic.
I liked the H3'S in my Jackson DXMG, but as you say, a bit underpowered without the boost. I just swapped the bridge pup for a TB-4. Seems similar in tone, but with a bit more beef to it.

Sent from my MotoE2(4G-LTE) using Tapatalk

 

[Rex_Rocker]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

The H3 is not their PAF-like pickup. The H3 is supposed to be the passive counterpart to the 60. Their PAF-like offering is the H2A, and the H2 is that, but with a ceramic magnet which is also the Alexi Laiho pup.

The H3 is something like 13K which is also the case for the H1, H4, and their alnico variants, so I suspect the difference between those is screws, slugs, or rails. The H2 and H2A are something like 8K which puts them in PAF territory.

 

[DrNewcenstein]

Re: Tell me about the EMG passives (H4, H4a, etc.)

Hmm. Seems I did read it wrong:

This model utilizes over wound coils and ceramic magnets, making it hotter than a traditional PAF

Derp.