I never really AB'ed pickups to see just how ridiculously hot EMGs are

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Matt300ZXT

Matt300ZXT

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The only guitar I've had up here with me for months has been my Chubtone, with an 85 in the bridge and 2 SAs, and anything besides position 1 or 2, the output is far weaker. Anywho, I've gotten used to playing it, and how easy it is to make any note sound out on this hotrodded Marshall patch on my practice amp. Harmonics, pinch harmonics, etc just jump out effortlessly.

Yesterday, I brought the rest of my guitars up here with me and played the Epiphone Les Paul first and was like wow these pickups are fairly weak. But, they're Epiphone pickups. Then I plugged in one of my Warriors with a JB/59 combo and it's really not much hotter than the Epiphone. This morning, I hooked up my other Warrior with dual X2N pickups and it's a wee bit hotter, but still no where near as much as the Chubtone. I'm having to relearn how to play to hit each note harder to make them sound out as much as others and having to work a lot more to make stuff sound right. EMG humbuckers are apparently like the Konami cheat code, but for guitar.
 
Are you running them all through the same buffer to eliminate the differences in impedance? Cable capacitance matter a whole lot more for passive pickups.
 
EMGs aren't hotter than most high output pickups but they are a bit compressed and their output impedance is much lower, which means their signal carries over cables much better, and less treble detail is lost to long cable runs. And on that note, EMGs have a very extended almost hi-fi sounding presency high end anyway. All of this translates to what feels like much higher touch sensitivity and articulation, which makes them easier to play and so they seem hotter.

To me, the EMG 81 has always felt like it has the mid punch of a humbucker with the articulation of a single coil. I love the things.
 
My 85-7x is about the same as my Pegasus 7.. Moderate output.
 
I have a couple guitars with EMG’s and don’t notice too much difference in volume, but I always run through a buffer first, then an EQ then OD, so that probably brings everything up as I’m boosting each guitar.
 
I’m going to state something that I’m sure will be very polarizing; EMGs are great through Mesa Boogies and similar amps that homogenize the tone somewhat. Marshalls, even high gain modded ones and the like tend to reveal the sterile flatness of EMGs much more IMO
 
thegame said:
I’m going to state something that I’m sure will be very polarizing; EMGs are great through Mesa Boogies and similar amps that homogenize the tone somewhat. Marshalls, even high gain modded ones and the like tend to reveal the sterile flatness of EMGs much more IMO
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Hah yep that would be polarizing. I don't agree! :) Here's my "in defense of people saying EMGs are lifeless and sterile" clip I post from time to time. I think it also works as an answer for people who say "5150's have LITERALLY UNCONTROLLABLE amounts of gain all the time!"



EMG 89 in the neck position, first in single coil mode (basically equivalent to an SA) then in humbucking mode (equivalent to an 85), then I swapped to an 81 in the bridge. Guitar volume is on 10 the whole time. Amp is an EVH 5150 III 100w EL34 on the Blue channel. Amp is stock. Amp gain is set maybe around 0.6 or 0.7 out of 10.
 
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I have to use a preamp to get an 81 to equivalent ouput with my ahb2 blackouts, and that's on "moderate" output mode. 81s are pretty weak IMO, just very mid forward.
 
I only use the tan bottom 81 and don’t hear anything as described. They are hot, but not compressed or sterile like the newer ones.
 
thegame said:
I’m going to state something that I’m sure will be very polarizing; EMGs are great through Mesa Boogies and similar amps that homogenize the tone somewhat. Marshalls, even high gain modded ones and the like tend to reveal the sterile flatness of EMGs much more IMO
Click to expand...
Divine Homegenization.
 
TheGreatGreen said:
Hah yep that would be polarizing. I don't agree! :) Here's my "in defense of people saying EMGs are lifeless and sterile" clip I post from time to time. I think it also works as an answer for people who say "5150's have LITERALLY UNCONTROLLABLE amounts of gain all the time!"



EMG 89 in the neck position, first in single coil mode (basically equivalent to an SA) then in humbucking mode (equivalent to an 85), then I swapped to an 81 in the bridge. Guitar volume is on 10 the whole time. Amp is an EVH 5150 III 100w EL34 on the Blue channel. Amp is stock. Amp gain is set maybe around 0.6 or 0.7 out of 10.
Click to expand...


I agree with gary on this. I actually like emgs, but they are sterile. That's part of the charm.

Playing boomer bends softly doesn't change their tonal properties, it just confuses people who can't tell the difference between "tone" and "playing style"
 
TheGreatGreen said:
Hah yep that would be polarizing. I don't agree! :) Here's my "in defense of people saying EMGs are lifeless and sterile" clip I post from time to time. I think it also works as an answer for people who say "5150's have LITERALLY UNCONTROLLABLE amounts of gain all the time!"



EMG 89 in the neck position, first in single coil mode (basically equivalent to an SA) then in humbucking mode (equivalent to an 85), then I swapped to an 81 in the bridge. Guitar volume is on 10 the whole time. Amp is an EVH 5150 III 100w EL34 on the Blue channel. Amp is stock. Amp gain is set maybe around 0.6 or 0.7 out of 10.
Click to expand...

I enjoyed that and it sounds good but this clip is kind of proving my point in that the 5150 series of amps, all of them, are not exactly the most revealing amps around. And by revealing I mean an amp’s ability to achieve different tones merely by changing guitars/pickups/players without touching its settings.
 
DanTravis62 said:
I agree with gary on this. I actually like emgs, but they are sterile. That's part of the charm.

Playing boomer bends softly doesn't change their tonal properties, it just confuses people who can't tell the difference between "tone" and "playing style"
Click to expand...

Hah fair enough. But I also think it's fair to say that "sterile" doesn't automatically mean "bad" or undesirable like is often heavily implied.

thegame said:
I enjoyed that and it sounds good but this clip is kind of proving my point in that the 5150 series of amps, all of them, are not exactly the most revealing amps around. And by revealing I mean an amp’s ability to achieve different tones merely by changing guitars/pickups/players without touching its settings.
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Thanks!

However I did think there was a pretty notable difference in tone between playing softly vs digging in though.

psychodave said:
I only use the tan bottom 81 and don’t hear anything as described. They are hot, but not compressed or sterile like the newer ones.
Click to expand...

You know, I wonder if this could be part of it. The 81 and 89 I used in my clip were installed in my guitar in the late 90's so they might very well be different from the newer ones.
 
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TheGreatGreen said:
Hah fair enough. But I also think it's fair to say that "sterile" doesn't automatically mean "bad" or undesirable.



Thanks!

However I did think there was a pretty notable difference in tone between playing softly vs digging in though.



You know, I wonder if this could be part of it. The 81 and 89 I used in my clip were installed in my guitar in the late 90's so they might very well be different from the newer ones.
Click to expand...

I prefer the 85 and 89 to the 81, but they all have similar tonal properties IMO, just slight variations

I personally think that extra sizzle, output, and top end (that also helps with cable runs) is actually WHY they tend to be a bit sterile - like you can't have that list of benefits without the drawbacks.

Honestly emgs are a great option for a ton of different situations. Just not every situation.
 
When you’re getting ready to track with EMGs.
IMG_8754.jpeg
 
TheGreatGreen said:
Thanks!

However I did think there was a pretty notable difference in tone between playing softly vs digging in though.
Click to expand...
There was, sure. But I’m saying you’d have even more contrast if going through a more revealing amp.
 
Check pickup height - I don’t think my EMG-loaded guitars are quite as hot as a SD distortion, or my Lundgren (M7 or black heaven) guitars. But if you crank them real close like was the style in the 2000’s then maybe they’re hotter (and mushier).

I bought a set of blackouts on eBay last year in a fit of nostalgia, since I remember them being the hotness for like 6 months in 2008, but I never used them before. My god what a high output pickup. Way hotter than anything else I’ve ever used. Usable with a fixed voltage divider to half the output but nothing more than usable.
 
I didn’t read the thread but my takeaway with emg’s is that they are not necessarily hotter than regular pups just different. Compression can be a factor. To have them at their best you really need the emg 25k pots imo. Most people just wire them on to their existing pots. Also the 24 v mod changed the game for me with emg’s. Totally opens them up and the articulation is next level. Turned me from a emg blah person into a fuck yeah emg’s rock 🤘 guy. And my 85 seems to have a lot more output than my 81….
 
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