Your opinion about EMG's?

[rombola]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

i dont think that James Hetfield , Kirk Hammett, Kerry King, Zakk Wylde, are wrong!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Benjy_26]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

EMG's definently serve there purpose and if i was a strictly rythmn metal player i would use the 81/60 combo without even batting an eye. They are very clear, tight , and loud. The 81 is a nasty SOB! But when it comes to leads, thats were the trouble for me. Great sustain, harmonics, and burning tone... But very unresponsive to the touch and way to compressed and yes sterile, when you bend a note you get none of the harmonic subelty that brings the sound to life, none of that for lack of a better word "life".

However, some players have somewhat of a remedy for this. Think of the best lead sounds youve heard with 81's... ok so what do Kirk Hammet and Zakk Wylde have in common... They almost always have a wah when they play lead, Zakk Wylde finds the "sweet spot" and leaves it there and Hammet just goes nuts.

In regards to David Gilmour's tone, the classic Floyd tones are not done with EMG's...

I never use a wah, or any other effects for that matter, and I regularly get compliments on my EMG loaded strat's tones.

I get as much of my touch coming through the EMG's as with any other passive pickup I've tried (Duncans, Dimarzios, Rio Grande's, etc...).

You're right about the early Floyd stuff not being EMG's, but I'll be damned if Mr. Gilmour's signature pickup set doesn't sound beautiful.

 

[TheProphet]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

An EMG thread and Screaming Daisy hasn't posted ?

Personally I think EMG makes a quality product. If I wasn't such a Full Shred guy, I'd definatly consider running an EMG 81 in the bridge (I like it, what can I say ... just not as much as some Duncans). The EMG SA's have produced some of my favorite single coil sounds.

Personally I think some of the bad rep about EMG's is due to a common problem with guitarists. We get a piece of equipment and never fully take the time to mess with it and try to get the best out of it. If it doesn't adapt to our ideas of 'tone' fast enough we get sick of it and denounce it using somewhat questionable statements. I've suffered from this ... I think we owe it to ourselves to spend more time tweaking new equipment until we find the spot were it works for us. There's been lots of times I've seen people regard pickups as being junk, when they never bothered with shifting their EQ around. Meh I digress

I can honestly say that maybe a few more guitars down the road you'll see me with an 81/SA/SA or 81/SA/60 equiped guitar

 

[TheGZeus]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

I think the humbuckers make a guitar sound like a cheap Casio, but I hear DECENT things about the SAs from someone whose opinion I take seriously(and agrees on the sound of the hummers.).

www.rondomusic.net will have some actives available(probably, Kurt's ordering some for me, because I begged, and I doubt he ordered 2 sets) that have all the things that EMG claims their pikcups have, IE more clarity, extended frequency response, more output, lower noise etc.
However, they don't have any of th 'phoney' qualities I hear in EMGs. Like a cranky midrange9what little there is) harsh highs, a gated and compressed dynamic response...

Probably due to a more simple design. Likely just a low-impedence pikcup with a simple SS preamp in it.
EMGs use all kinds of 'impedence modeling' and voicing in the preamp, using 1970s technology.

These have a 'singing' quality and smooth midrange, HUGE dynamic range, sound as good clean as they do dirty and they sound GREAT both ways.
The highs are more open than most humbuckers, but there's also alot of bass that goes alot deeper.
MMmmMmMmmmmgoooooood...

 

[Erlend_G]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

Hey GZeus, are you talking about the Mastertone SPA's?

*checking the link*

Didnt find it, well i hope i was rigth?

Hehe
-Erlend

 

[TheGZeus]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

I never use a wah, or any other effects for that matter, and I regularly get compliments on my EMG loaded strat's tones.

I get as much of my touch coming through the EMG's as with any other passive pickup I've tried (Duncans, Dimarzios, Rio Grande's, etc...).

You're right about the early Floyd stuff not being EMG's, but I'll be damned if Mr. Gilmour's signature pickup set doesn't sound beautiful.

Actually the DG setup is not more a signature set than the JB is a Jeff Beck signature.
Notice the site doesn't say anything more than "David hs used..." david who?

 

[TheGZeus]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

Hey GZeus, are you talking about the Mastertone SPA's?

*checking the link*

Didnt find it, well i hope i was rigth?

Hehe
-Erlend

Not even close.
These are inexpensive Korean pickups with no brand on them.
LOOONG story how I heard them but they were used on a guitar sold there, and I got ahold of them from someone who swapped them out.
I probably paid too much, but i had to get ahold of them BAD.

THey probably won't be on the site for a month or more, but it;ll be worth the wait.

 

[Farkus]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

Well everyone has their opinions...I just don't like EMG's. To me they sound too hi-fi (and no, that's not always a good thing-my opinion). I have a Tele with EMG's in it right now...they are OK, and much better than the 85's I've used in my Strats.

All that said, I hope that you like your 85 Erlend. Everyones different so maybe you'll love em!

Mark

 

[Erlend_G]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

Thanks Farkus and GZeus!

The guitar i'm putting the EMG in will be a straigth out metal and banger axe. It's a really old Peavey Raptor with a plywood body, so i'm actually hoping that the EMG will cover up it's sound, hehe .

I'm just looking for a gritty, compressed chrunchy hi gain tone in this axe. When i get my Schecter i'll use that for parts that actually require tone . I'm starting to get some gig work with my band, we play 80's metal, so the Peavey eith the EMG will suit my needs perfectly i think.

I paid $70 for the used EMG, and i find it a fairly nice price, since they cost about $200 new . And it's almost brand new hehe.

What the guitar needs now is a pickguard, which i'll be buliding from scratch of plexiglass, wiring which i'll buy from a dealer which sells everything from radio parts, to kitchen accesories to toys , and a nut. JohnJohn sent me a PM that he could make a nut and sent it to me, which would be very sweet of him!

I'll see if i can post a pic, atleast a sound clip of the axe when i'm finished "rodding" it!

Thanks alot everyone!
-Erlend

 

[Skarekrough]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

In 1992 I installed EMGs into my fave Telecaster. I was (and still am) primarily a blues player and I was intrigued with the idea that I wouldn't have to deal with 60 cycle hum anymore.

Slowly over the course of about six months after the install I played that Telecaster less and less. Finally it came to the point where it went into its case and maybe once or twice a year it would come out, get new strings and I would wonder why I wasn't playing it.

Then I'd plug it in and remember why.

...and then it would go back into its case.

About a year ago I attempted to record with it. It just sounded terrible...no soul, no heart, no tone, no life to them at all.

This past Fall I decided it was sink or swim with the guitar, but it deserved one more chance. I hit a local shop and bough a Little 59' bridge and a Vintage Stack for the neck and all the necessary pots, switches and caps. I had a local Mom and Pop shop down the street wire it up for me as I was short on time.

When I came in the door one of the guys that worked at the shop wanted to buy the guitar outright from me. Once I got a chance to plug it in I knew why; that guitar was a serious tone monster! It sounded EXACTLY like what a good Telecaster should sound like.

The EMGs made the guitar sound like what someones half-assed approximation of what a Tele should sound like. Even an unwholly-true vintage set of pickups breathed life into an instrument that sat dormant for almost a decade.

I've had the experience to back it up. EMGs are more worthless than a used condom. I lost ten years of playing a fantastic sounding guitar because I actually believed that EMGs were worth more than pocket lint.

The metal kids seem to do well with them...and more power to them if it works for them. But for my uses they're tone-sucking garbage that are best relegated to a trash bin than actually installed in an instrument you believe may actually have some positive tonal qualities to it.

 

[Erlend_G]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

In 1992 I installed EMGs into my fave Telecaster. I was (and still am) primarily a blues player and I was intrigued with the idea that I wouldn't have to deal with 60 cycle hum anymore.

Slowly over the course of about six months after the install I played that Telecaster less and less. Finally it came to the point where it went into its case and maybe once or twice a year it would come out, get new strings and I would wonder why I wasn't playing it.

Then I'd plug it in and remember why.

...and then it would go back into its case.

About a year ago I attempted to record with it. It just sounded terrible...no soul, no heart, no tone, no life to them at all.

This past Fall I decided it was sink or swim with the guitar, but it deserved one more chance. I hit a local shop and bough a Little 59' bridge and a Vintage Stack for the neck and all the necessary pots, switches and caps. I had a local Mom and Pop shop down the street wire it up for me as I was short on time.

When I came in the door one of the guys that worked at the shop wanted to buy the guitar outright from me. Once I got a chance to plug it in I knew why; that guitar was a serious tone monster! It sounded EXACTLY like what a good Telecaster should sound like.

The EMGs made the guitar sound like what someones half-assed approximation of what a Tele should sound like. Even an unwholly-true vintage set of pickups breathed life into an instrument that sat dormant for almost a decade.

I've had the experience to back it up. EMGs are more worthless than a used condom. I lost ten years of playing a fantastic sounding guitar because I actually believed that EMGs were worth more than pocket lint.

The metal kids seem to do well with them...and more power to them if it works for them. But for my uses they're tone-sucking garbage that are best relegated to a trash bin than actually installed in an instrument you believe may actually have some positive tonal qualities to it.

Yes, i understand. I played a Tele with EMG's myself and it sounded wierd. It had no warmth, growl or spankiness, it was just extremely hi-fi and clear. I played it trough a Mesa Boogie Lone Star, and i'm sure the amp wasn't the problem. The only good thing about the EMG's were the clarity, you could hear everything you played (ecpecially finger noise and fret clacking). I could get some nice cleans, but it didn't sound at all like a Tele.

Anyway, im planning to use the EMG in my project guitar. Im not saying that EMG's are the holy grail of tone, i just want to have an EMG equipped axe to play with. I guess they would work fine for metal tones though.

-Erlend

 

[ztevie]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

I've had the experience to back it up. EMGs are more worthless than a used condom. I lost ten years of playing a fantastic sounding guitar because I actually believed that EMGs were worth more than pocket lint.

Well, that says more about you than the EMG's, doesn't it? I mean, you install new pickups in a guitar, you don't like the sound of them, and then you blame the company that made them because YOU keep them for 10 years???

I can understand that some people don't like the sound of certain pickups while others do. EMG's are perfect soundwise and otherwise for what I like and what I like to play...
It's like bashin someone for liking a color more than an other: "Geez! You can't like blue, that's a stupid, ugly color! Go for green instead...."

 

[stevie_bees]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

It's funny how active v's passive can stir up a hornets nest, but comparisons between different passive just get opinions as a response!! I've only played 1 set of EMG's in a MM Lukather, sounded nice. I've only played a few types of SD pickups too, and like them. Sometimes it depends on the guitar they're in, sometimes even the mood you're in. Vive la difference I say.

 

[MikeRocker]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

People that say EMGs are sterile, or are completely artificial sounding don't really know what they're talking about.

EMGs are sterile and completely artificial sounding. :laugh2:
In my opinion, it's true. I just don't think that batteries belong in guitars. Regular passive pickups just sound too damn good. EMGs make me think of the 80s, when guys had racks full of preamps and power amps and enough effects boxes to launch the space shuttle. I also know for a fact that Seymour doesn't like active pickups either (I asked him). Maybe it's the equivalent of recording formats - a lot of people say that digital sounds sterile, but digital formats reproduce exactly what's put into them, while analog tape imparts a sound. Analog has a way of rounding off the harsh edges and it sounds great when it's really saturated. A lot of people these days will record onto 2" for the sound and then dump it right into Pro Tools, or record into Pro Tools and then send the tracks tracks out to 2", then back to Pro Tools, essentially using the 2" machine as an EQ. Maybe EMGs are just flat, and reproduce everything, hence sounding hi-fi and sterile. Whatever the reason, I just like the way good magnets and wire sound, nice and high impedence-y, with all the grit and soul they impart.
Friends don't let friends play active pickups. :nono:

 

[SirZeusor]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

the HZ is barely an EMG....there realy terrible if you ask me.

the real EMG's have a few flaws IMO.

First off they sound realy thin in a lower model guitar, appears they rely a lot off what the body is made out of, and way too bright.

Another down side is when you think of electrical current, and batteries...

A battery, from the moment you use it, is loosing its charge, think of a rollercoaster....when you insert a fresh battery, your at the top of the first hill...the rest of the time you use it its all downhill from there as far as charge is concerned......Having said that...imagine if your doing tracks in the studio, not on the same consecutive days, imagine how the tracks will have a slightly different sound, even though you used the same settings.

then theres the lazy musician factor....have a few beers....leave your ax plugged in, poof....one dead battery...no tone....

the fact that active pickups are just a plain old pain in the A$$ is enough for me to stay away.

I work in a music store, i have played just about anything you can think of.....from Paul Reed Smiths, to Gibsons, and all the way down to a crappy Samick.
when i get bored in the store, i always go to a Duncan equipted guitar

 

[Nate]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

The batteries in EMG's typically last a year before you end up needing to replace them. Go right ahead, leave that cable plugged in. You had your fun playing music, now it's time to have fun playing with the girlies. Just make sure you at least put your amp on standby. Otherwise I'd have to e-hurt you.

 

[ranalli]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

In 1992 I installed EMGs into my fave Telecaster. I was (and still am) primarily a blues player and I was intrigued with the idea that I wouldn't have to deal with 60 cycle hum anymore.

Slowly over the course of about six months after the install I played that Telecaster less and less. Finally it came to the point where it went into its case and maybe once or twice a year it would come out, get new strings and I would wonder why I wasn't playing it.

Then I'd plug it in and remember why.

...and then it would go back into its case.

About a year ago I attempted to record with it. It just sounded terrible...no soul, no heart, no tone, no life to them at all.

This past Fall I decided it was sink or swim with the guitar, but it deserved one more chance. I hit a local shop and bough a Little 59' bridge and a Vintage Stack for the neck and all the necessary pots, switches and caps. I had a local Mom and Pop shop down the street wire it up for me as I was short on time.

When I came in the door one of the guys that worked at the shop wanted to buy the guitar outright from me. Once I got a chance to plug it in I knew why; that guitar was a serious tone monster! It sounded EXACTLY like what a good Telecaster should sound like.

The EMGs made the guitar sound like what someones half-assed approximation of what a Tele should sound like. Even an unwholly-true vintage set of pickups breathed life into an instrument that sat dormant for almost a decade.

I've had the experience to back it up. EMGs are more worthless than a used condom. I lost ten years of playing a fantastic sounding guitar because I actually believed that EMGs were worth more than pocket lint.

The metal kids seem to do well with them...and more power to them if it works for them. But for my uses they're tone-sucking garbage that are best relegated to a trash bin than actually installed in an instrument you believe may actually have some positive tonal qualities to it.

No offense dude, but you're the typical kind of guy who doesn't like the way their guitar sounds with them then bags the whole company.

You could have put ANY pickup in that guitar and it might not have been the sound you wanted....if I gave up on Duncan after the first THREE pickups I tried from them I'd never be a Duncan fan. Passive or active, not all pickups work well with all setups. For every guitar that sounds good with a JB in it I can find at least two that sound like ass.....are Duncans crummy?

Just because YOU can't get them to work doesn't mean they are crummy pickups by a longshot.

Sounds like a lot of people expect pickups to perform magic instead of getting the pickup that matches their setup best and understanding that not all pickups work with all guitars REGARDLESS of the company.


And didn't Gilmour use the EMGs on the whole Pulse recording?

 

[TheGZeus]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

EMGs are sterile and completely artificial sounding. :laugh2:
In my opinion, it's true. I just don't think that batteries belong in guitars. Regular passive pickups just sound too damn good. EMGs make me think of the 80s, when guys had racks full of preamps and power amps and enough effects boxes to launch the space shuttle. I also know for a fact that Seymour doesn't like active pickups either (I asked him). Maybe it's the equivalent of recording formats - a lot of people say that digital sounds sterile, but digital formats reproduce exactly what's put into them, while analog tape imparts a sound. Analog has a way of rounding off the harsh edges and it sounds great when it's really saturated. A lot of people these days will record onto 2" for the sound and then dump it right into Pro Tools, or record into Pro Tools and then send the tracks tracks out to 2", then back to Pro Tools, essentially using the 2" machine as an EQ. Maybe EMGs are just flat, and reproduce everything, hence sounding hi-fi and sterile. Whatever the reason, I just like the way good magnets and wire sound, nice and high impedence-y, with all the grit and soul they impart.
Friends don't let friends play active pickups. :nono:

Actually, a 2" tape is infinitely more accurate than digital.
Anything below 192khz has HEINOUS phase angle distortion and wolf tones.
Open up Cool Edit and run a sine sweep from 20hz to 25khz.
Above 20 khz 44.1 disintegrates into worthless garbage quite spectacularly after various wolf tones appear.
A square wave(useful, as distorted instruments and synths have alot of harmonic content) will be 90% wolf tones.
Triangle doesn't do much better than square.

A white noise signal(to simulate a complex music signal) sound simultainiously harsher while having less high end content(low frequency waves completely dominate the samples, not allowing the highs to even be recorded) in 44.1.
In 92 things are alot closer to the true white noise.


Overall, 44.1 is a joke, 92 is a great deal better but not perfect, and 192 is very close.


Tape introduces EQ curves, digital does WEIRD shizzo.

 

[ranalli]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

An EMG thread and Screaming Daisy hasn't posted ?

Personally I think some of the bad rep about EMG's is due to a common problem with guitarists. We get a piece of equipment and never fully take the time to mess with it and try to get the best out of it. If it doesn't adapt to our ideas of 'tone' fast enough we get sick of it and denounce it using somewhat questionable statements. I've suffered from this ... I think we owe it to ourselves to spend more time tweaking new equipment until we find the spot were it works for us. There's been lots of times I've seen people regard pickups as being junk, when they never bothered with shifting their EQ around. Meh I digress

Exactly!!! I couldn't agree more. People expect some piece of gear to be magic and never even think about the rest of the things in their tone chain or how to tweak it fully. I've been guilty of this as well at times but before actually writing off a piece of gear as useless I try it with almost everything I can in almost every tweakable configuration.....then I find that it's not useless at all usually.

 

[ztevie]

Re: Your opinion about EMG's?

A battery, from the moment you use it, is loosing its charge, think of a rollercoaster....when you insert a fresh battery, your at the top of the first hill...the rest of the time you use it its all downhill from there as far as charge is concerned......Having said that...imagine if your doing tracks in the studio, not on the same consecutive days, imagine how the tracks will have a slightly different sound, even though you used the same settings.

I guess your daddy is a battery-scientist..?? :smack:
You truly believe you will have a different sound from day to day? :laugh2: :laugh2:
Yeah, I bet hammett and Wylde and those guys when recording says:
"Damn, that solo sounded sweet when the battery was at the 1296th hour of it's lifetime!! Now call Duracell and tell them I need a couple of boxes of used 1296 hour batteries!"


A good 9v-battery gives you 9 volts until it's drained. It doesn't give you 9 v the 1st day, 8,93 v the 2nd, 8,84 the 3rd and so on...
The voltage over the plus/minus poles are 9 volts, then depending on what electrical device you connect to it and how much CURRENT it uses, the lifetime of the battery is determined...
A battery for an an EMG-pickup is supposed to last 3000 hours. Now with a decent quality battery I guess you wouldn't hear any difference until maybe the last couple of hours before the battery drains totally...