Do you find EMG's difficult to play?

[wheelman]

I went from EMGs to BKPs in my ESP NT-II, and I have ZERO regret. Only after going back to passives, did I realize how little 'character' the active EMGs actually pronounced in their signal response. Especially going through fine rigs, I can't imagine negotiating or compromising the tone of fine axes with these otherwise sterile and stiff pups.

Just me though, opinions and assholes, we all got one

Yep no character at all.

 

[Ventura]

I went from EMGs to BKPs in my ESP NT-II, and I have ZERO regret. Only after going back to passives, did I realize how little 'character' the active EMGs actually pronounced in their signal response. Especially going through fine rigs, I can't imagine negotiating or compromising the tone of fine axes with these otherwise sterile and stiff pups.

Just me though, opinions and assholes, we all got one

Yep no character at all.

Apologies - I should have qualified my sentiments with "in my particular situation and in my opinion", and lest we forget, BIG difference between humbucker actives in a drop tuned shred machine versus SC style actives in a strat IN THE HANDS of a master.

No competition.

Mo

 

[symbolic253]

those guitars always sound like shit and i love emgs

 

[leib10]

So I picked up a Schecter Hellraiser Avenger with the standard 81/85 setup. Maybe I'm just a passive pup kind of guy, but these things make clean playing much harder. Combined with 6550's in my Twin Jet, and the slightest pressure on the strings other than the ones you want to hit makes the unwanted ones sound out. I lowered the pups really low, to no avail. Anybody else familiar with this, and does anyone have any suggestions?

Pre-Opinion Disclaimer: russellconner plays almost exclusively in standard tuning, and only occasionaly deviates by changing to Drop-D

Man, I hope you get this figured out. Ive been running my ZW Paul with EMGs through my Dual Rec and Uber Rev 2 for 9 years and 7 years, respectively. I hear you on the sensitivity thing, and yeah, it is noticeable. Once you get used to how dynamic and responsive the EMGs are through a hot rod amp (like your Uber), i think you will appreciate how it reacts to your playing. With mine, i can be running tons of gain and it still seems like my sound is open and able to get even more mean when i really dig in.

setting up the EMGs was pretty straightforward for me:
- fresh battery
- hold strings down at upper-most fret and raise pickups as high as possible without touchning the strings when plucked. From there, i adjusted the neck pickup (85) a little lower because it can be boomy at times.

good luck, man. i dont really have a lot of great things to say about the 85, except it is very warm and very clear...however its not necessarily any better than some passives ive heard in the neck position. The 81, however, is a different story. That beast is the meanest sounding pickup ive ever heard through my amps. I think part of that is because the 81 is very middy and has tons of bite, which really brings punch and definition to dark-sounding amps like mine. that being said, it still seems to provide plenty of low end punch with high gain sounds.

Good luck, and dont hesitate to ask if there's anything i can provide any input/info on. by the way, since we're both in MO, we need to come up with an excuse to get together and jam.

-russell

PM'd

 

[zuel69]

I wouldn't call the guitar tone on No Rest for the Wicked or No More Tears sterile either. Emgs didn't get sterile until nu metal came out

I went from EMGs to BKPs in my ESP NT-II, and I have ZERO regret. Only after going back to passives, did I realize how little 'character' the active EMGs actually pronounced in their signal response. Especially going through fine rigs, I can't imagine negotiating or compromising the tone of fine axes with these otherwise sterile and stiff pups.

Just me though, opinions and assholes, we all got one

Yep no character at all.

Apologies - I should have qualified my sentiments with "in my particular situation and in my opinion", and lest we forget, BIG difference between humbucker actives in a drop tuned shred machine versus SC style actives in a strat IN THE HANDS of a master.

No competition.

Mo

 

[Ventura]

Alright, okay... PUT IT THIS WAY!!! I happen to like lower output passives more with my amps (which include Diezel) than the EMG actives that I used to use. It's player specific, amp specific, axe specific, etc. But in the case of me and my Diezels, 20thA-X, Mak4, etc. I found the lower to moderate output passives sounded juicier.

 

[zuel69]

That ape has some NADS!

Alright, okay... PUT IT THIS WAY!!! I happen to like lower output passives more with my amps (which include Diezel) than the EMG actives that I used to use. It's player specific, amp specific, axe specific, etc. But in the case of me and my Diezels, 20thA-X, Mak4, etc. I found the lower to moderate output passives sounded juicier.