the truth about emgs

[mastershake]

thanks for the input. i know i have a rg with an x2n in it and it sound amazing, screaming highs and very bright, my lp has stock pickups and they are really warm but still are driver quite well. i have a joe satriani model with a mojoe and a paf joe and its is so bright and clear! i just wanted to know what the emgs would bring to the table because i have alot of choices as far as tone goes

[Cuthbert]

thanks for the input. i know i have a rg with an x2n in it and it sound amazing, screaming highs and very bright, my lp has stock pickups and they are really warm but still are driver quite well. i have a joe satriani model with a mojoe and a paf joe and its is so bright and clear! i just wanted to know what the emgs would bring to the table because i have alot of choices as far as tone goes

The EMGs are none of the above. The best thing to decide is to try a guitar with EMGs in order to understand if they are for you or they aren't.

P.S.Personally I prefer the EMGs to all the pickups you cited...:O

[jdr94]

When did Duncan make an X2N? That's made by DiMarzio.

hey i was doin some quick typin. i fixed it.

[Newc]

GOOD THINGS IVE HEARD ABOUT EMGS-Wonderful harmonic response, good sustain, high output, no noise.

Are you talking pinch harmonics or natural harmonics (where the tone goes harmonic without the player's interference)?

Any decent guitarist can get excellent pinch harmonics out of any pickup.
For natural harmonics as described above (i.e. not open-string-over-the-fret harmonics), that can be tweaked by the setup of the bridge.

BAD THINGS IVE HEARD ABOUT EMGS-Horrible tone, no dynamics, no clean tone, really muddy, batteries dont last long.

Batteries last longer if you unplug the guitar when not being played.

EMGs get great clean tones, even the 81. The 89 is two SAs crammed into one housing, and the cleans are just as sparkly as the singles. The 85 gets great cleans as well.
However, if you put a Duncan Custom Custom in a mahogany guitar it's going to sound different than it would in an alder guitar, and the tone will change slightly according to the proximity of the strings, and you can tweak the response curve by fiddling with the screwpoles.
With EMGs, they have to be evenly spaced from the outer strings and as close as possible.

In that sense, they're more like piezos that demand the signal source be in their face more than in their magnetic field like passives.

The magnetic field of a passive pickup is similar to a hurricane: the inner bands closest to the core (magnet) are the strongest, yet have a tighter pattern.
The outer bands farthest away from the magnet are weaker and have a more loose pattern.
The center bands are the most consistent in both pattern and power, and thus will produce a steady tone with less dropout than the outer bands, or overloading than the inner bands.

As for mud and dynamics, because they have such a distinctive tone of their own, you need to tailoer your EQ to suit the pickups. If you had to add bass for a passive pickup, you have to cut it back down for the EMG.

However, due to their required proximity to the strings, you're right, they don't offer as much dynamic versatility.
But since most people use them for Metal, they're using high-gain rigs where you're not using as much variation in pick attack or nuance. For the Jazz guys that use them, they've got everything compressed to bring quiet notes up and send louder notes down, so there again the whole dynamics issue goes right out the window.

They're best for bass, since you get even output across all strings without having to muscle the highs and baby-stroke the lows.

[demeyes]

I've got EMG's in a few of my guitars and they all sound pretty different, they have different woods and constructions and you can definately tell the difference.
Also, I realy like the clean tones I get from my EMG's. I've never found them as sterile as people say.
The battery issue is not a big deal. They take ages and ages to run down. I've only changed batteries in 1 of my EMG equipped guitars in the last 2 years. Even then changing battery is a 2 min job that only requires a screwdriver. Unless it's in under a pickguard then it's really no problem. All you have to do is plug your cable out after your done playing and it won't be an issue.
I've got a few guitars with and without actives and I keep coming back to using the EMG ones for my main 6 and 7 string use.

[Spivonious]

I just got my first EMG-loaded guitar after using only passives for 12 years. Here are my impressions:

It's not as hot as I thought it would be. You can still get a clean if you roll back on the volume a bit. The sound does become more compressed and loses the dynamics you can get with a passive pickup. Of course, if you're playing with heavy distortion it really doesn't matter anyway. Can't comment on the batteries, although it is annoying to have to think about it.

Overall, they sound like slightly boosted passives. Just like putting an OD pedal in front of the amp. Definitely try them out.

[Venomboy]

I find that my EMG guitars sound clearer than my DiMarzio equipped guitars.

The EMG guitars also sound a little quieter and almost as if they have a little less gain.

My DiMarzio equipped guitars sound a little more natural. There's more variance in the tone, more responsivness to pick attack. For really intricately picked high gain rhythm stuff like Megadeth's Holy Wars, the EMGs sound clearer. For Maiden they can sound a little sterile.

[Evil Homer]

Passiv PUs do produce more mud. ( distorted of course) FACT

The stronge magnet of passiv PUs make the string swing uneven. Thus it produces frequences that are slightly off the desired tone.
These "wrong" tones is what we hear as mud.

Edit: of course you cant generalize it. But that magnetic stuff is one aspect.
Bass tones are not got for no mud as well.

[savage]

I love EMG's and use the 89's
you may really like em or hate em?
a safer bet for your jackson is the duncan blackouts
these offer both the best of passive and actives in one pu
http://www.stevesmusiccenter.com/SDAHB-1.html

[wilkinsi]

If you want to make your V a metal beast EMG's will definatly do it,although there's others that will do it as well too.Like the others have said it's a matter of opinion.I've tried all kinds of Duncans,Bill Lawrence,Gibson,Dimarzio.I've put them all in different guitars and just didn't think they sounded as good as EMG's.All my guitars have EMG's and they don't all sound the same.As far as battery life,use a good battery(I use Duracell)and remember to unplug it and the battery will last a long time.

When did you get that RR24M? Pix?

[Grandturk]

I think every guitar needs a certain pickup and will not sound its best until you've found it. I usually go through a bunch of pickups for my guitars until you find the one that works the best. Maybe you can use the tone charts to help with this quest, but I usually just keep swapping till the guitar sounds right.

For instance, for my Les Paul, I went from stock to Dimarzio PAFs to Dimarzio PAF Pros to Duncans to EMGs back to Duncans until I found what I was looking for in a set of Fralins.

In my Model 4, I went JB to Screamin Demon to EVH but when I tried the EMG 81 - it just sang.