Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

anyone have an EMG H4 installled and like it?

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • anyone have an EMG H4 installled and like it?

    I've always had an EMG 81 installed in my main guitar and planned on putting it in my Jackson, but I heard a demo of the H4 and liked it better. But is this the same as the HZ? I'm confused at all of the different models that exist? I think there is a H4A as well, that i'm not quite as impressed with..
    Please visit my all metal youtube channel:

    https://www.youtube.com/user/helmoftheantilemon/videos

  • #2
    "HZ" is what EMG calls (maybe called? not sure if they still use it) their line of passive pickups (no batteries required). there's a line of four of them and their alnico magnet ("A" designator) variants. they all sound pretty different. I don't have a whole lot of experience with any of them, though I've at times considered getting an H2 to put in one of my guitars. older ones will have "EMG HZ" on the front cover, newer ones don't. they're the same pickup. either should have the actual model (H4, etc.) labeled on the back.
    Last edited by metalhobo; 12-06-2020, 01:23 AM.

    Comment


    • #3
      They don't, the EMG-HZ branding was kinda associated with shit so they took that off, its just the EMG H-3/H-4 now. The HZ line ranges from H-1 to H-4, with A standing for Alnico version (also applies to active EMG. 60A is 60 with an Alnico instead of Ceramic magnet). I can't remember if it was the H-3 or H-4 that was voiced similarly to the 81 though. EMG were kinda pushing for the EMG HZ + Afterburner combo in the early 2000, probably with the idea that with the gain boost off, it'd give you the passive sound and dynamic, and the gain boost on, similarly to a clean boost pedal, it'd give you the active 81 sound. Didn't really work though, people hated the HZ, and ESP/Jackson got rid of it and replaced them with regular 81/85 on the more expensive models.

      I was noting down the spec sheet of the early 2000s Jackson Stars for Mechayoshi , and that combo was an option on a lot of upper-mid end models, including the Piranha inlays. Regular EMG version of things had sharkfins, so it was something they actively tried to push and not just a cost saving thing.

      Comment


      • #4
        After listening to a bunch of different videos, this is the one that made me want the H4.
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2o5Ak36S6A
        But on some other videos, the differences are negligible.
        Please visit my all metal youtube channel:

        https://www.youtube.com/user/helmoftheantilemon/videos

        Comment


        • #5
          The EMG-H4 is the passive equivalent of the EMG-81, according to EMG themselves: https://www.emgpickups.com/h4.html

          I have a pair of them in a 2002 WRXT. Got the guitar like that. A previous owner must have replaced the stock Duncan Designed Detonators with EMG-H4s.

          I have too little experience with the EMG-HZ Series to be able to judge them fairly, but for American-made pickups (yes, USA-made like the active EMGs) they sure are divisive as far as opinions go. I have zero experience with the old EMG Select Series (remember those?) but part of me thinks that people couldn't get the bad taste of the Selects out of their mouths and felt like the HZs were just the next generation of Selects.
          Last edited by Number Of The Priest; 12-07-2020, 07:20 PM.

          Comment


          • #6
            thanks, but in general, what do you think of them? Do you ever think about swapping them out for something else, or keep as is?
            Please visit my all metal youtube channel:

            https://www.youtube.com/user/helmoftheantilemon/videos

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Number Of The Priest View Post
              The EMG-H4 is the passive equivalent of the EMG-81, according to EMG themselves: https://www.emgpickups.com/h4.html

              I have a pair of them in a 2002 WRXT. Got the guitar like that. A previous owner must have replaced the stock Duncan Designed Detonators with EMG-H4s.

              I have too little experience with the EMG-HZ Series to be able to judge them fairly, but for American-made pickups (yes, USA-made like the active EMGs) they sure are divisive as far as opinions go. I have zero experience with the old EMG Select Series (remember those?) but part of me thinks that people couldn't get the bad taste of the Selects out of their mouths and felt like the HZs were just the next generation of Selects.
              since I don't have a lot of play experience with them, I can't say one way or another if they're all that, but I will say that emg really shot themselves in the foot by:
              1. saying the H4 is the "passive equivalent" to the 81. that might be true from a design standpoint, but a passive pickup is never going to sound just like the 81, because of, well, the preamp. by making a direct comparison they don't let the H4 stand on its own accord
              2. allowing manufacturers (Jackson, LTD) in the 2000s to put the the HZs in all their mid-low end instruments, with the active EMGs (and passive Duncans) in the more expensive ones. this automatically associates the HZs with lower quality.

              I will say that the loudest opinions against the HZs back in the day were always those who probably had no business having an opinion about anything. OP, I say just go for the H4. they're cheap as hell on the used market. worst case, you don't like it, then can come back here and explain in intelligent and unbiased terms why you don't like it.

              Comment


              • #8
                @metalhobo you make a good point, I just may have to buy one and come back here to talk about it
                Please visit my all metal youtube channel:

                https://www.youtube.com/user/helmoftheantilemon/videos

                Comment


                • #9
                  I literally started a thread in the Imports section on a similar topic today.

                  I have a 2002 DKMG with HZ (H3) with Afterburner.

                  I've never heard any problems with it. I don't get all the hate and I get a lot of versatility out of it.

                  To echo what crumbling said... Crunch without the AB, and then turn on the AB for more gain. I have a feeling that the HZ's were designed to be used with the afterburner. Soft of taking the preamp out of the active pickup and moving it off-board, to give the player some choice. I think that over time companies just decided to cut out the Afterburner, which made wiring easier and cost lower, and that's why all the hate for HZ equipped guitars without the AB. I get the vibe that EMG never intended for the HZ to be used without the AB, but eventually just went along with it because they didn't want to turn away all the bulk orders.

                  I think that some of the hate may also be because people were expecting the exact equivalent of an EMG active pickup, which it just isn't, those who used the afterburner used it way to aggressively (if you dime it there *is* a lot of buzz, as would be expected), and many of the people who used this combo at the time were likely going into the era's modelers rather than real tube amps. Overdriving the input of the modeler (bad) vs. overdriving tubes (good.)

                  Once in a while I get a bug to throw some Duncans or Fishmans into my DKMG because I feel like I'm being "judged" for my HZ's, or that I just have bad hearing because I don't hear how bad they are. but I just can't bring myself to replace pickups that I don't hate.

                  At the end of the day they're higher-output ceramic pickups from a pretty reputable manufacturer. In the case of H3 the pole pieces are slugs. In the case of H4 there are rails. I'd expect that if you were to get a similar pickup from a similar manufacturer in the same market segment, you'd get fairly similar results, no different than the variances that those manufacturers have in their own product lines. At the same time, if you buy into the idea that the design principle behind these was to be paired with an afterburner, then I'd say stay away unless you're also wiring in an AB.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    EMG HZ in the first place popped up to replace the Chinese/Korean made EMG Select pickups which were hot garbage, so that's already a strike from them. Originally they were definitely pushed with the Afterburner (both Jackson and ESP were shipping guitars with that combo) as an alternative to the classic 81/85 combo, but at the same time EMG was also providing them as a replacement for the shit EMG Select. They didn't care that much about it either, if an anecdote over in the ESP forum is to be believed (the first few batches shipped to ESP didn't even have labels on them, no one knows if its a H3 or H4, or even H1/H2).

                    I think the problem ultimately came from the bad name the EMG Select predecessor gave them, the state of early 2000s internet (misinformation out the ass, bandwagoning, etc...), and ultimately people just didn't like the sound. The EMG 81 tone for all intents and purposes is THE EMG sound, and there's a fair population of people that just doesn't like it and chose to play passives. Take away the preamp gain, and you still have the EQ. Duncan similarly had the Firestorm boost on the DK2, and that has the reverse problem. A lot of people play passive because they don't like the compressed nature of actives, why would they bother with the preamp that shove 20db of gain up their signal's rear end and compress the hell out of it?

                    Ultimately both companies gave up on it. By 04 after the Jackson Stars product line revamp, nearly all of the "MG" models with EMG HZ, Afterburner and Piranha were cut, since Jackson Japan already offers EMG/Duncan as an option on all the higher end guitars, leaving only the DKMG equivalent, and by 06 the import follow suit, replacing the combo with regular 81/85. The firestorm was gone even earlier
                    Last edited by Crumbling; 12-09-2020, 04:28 PM.

                    Comment

                    Working...
                    X