emg 18 volt mod questions
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Big Rich
Active member
at one point i had all my guitars with the 18 volt mod, it gives more of a liquid sound to the pickup and sorta gives the illusion that the pickup isn't as compressed as it is.
i ended up switching back because it definitely takes away some of the gain of the pickup which i didn't like much. its a very easy mod that you could do yourself
try it you might like it
i ended up switching back because it definitely takes away some of the gain of the pickup which i didn't like much. its a very easy mod that you could do yourself
try it you might like it
madrigal77
Active member
I did it a while back and hated it. It killed everything I like about EMG's IMO. All that awesome tightness was gone. If you don't want that EMG tightness, you're better off just going with passives.
The 18 volt mod increases the headroom of the preamp in the EMG pickups. With he regular 9 volts, the signal from the preamp is slightly clipped causing quite a bit of compression. Some may like this, some hate it. It is a matter of taste. I prefer the 18volt mod since the amp gets me all the tightness I need.
The "X" series from EMG use the same exact preamp, they instead use a voltage divider to drop the guitar signal to the preamp to increase the headroom, this also leads to less output which the "X" series have.
The EMG preamps can handle 27 volts max input. But the 18 volt mod is plenty.
The "X" series from EMG use the same exact preamp, they instead use a voltage divider to drop the guitar signal to the preamp to increase the headroom, this also leads to less output which the "X" series have.
The EMG preamps can handle 27 volts max input. But the 18 volt mod is plenty.
Tone Monster
Well-known member
madrigal77":15s9idlg said:
I hate to disagree but I had the exact opposite experience. I thought they got tighter and took out a slight bit of mid range honk. Never looked back....cheap mod and easy and WELL WORTH IT.
stefvorcide
New member
Back in the days, I did like the 18 volts frequency response and feel better, sounded less compressed !! Like big rich said, it sounds more liquify (at least to me! ) Somebody should record a few clips to compare both...a few chords distored, chugging and leads...
But when I switched to passive it was for better
But when I switched to passive it was for better
racerevlon
Active member
Clean=more headroom
Dirty=more openness and slightly more gain, but less compressed.
Stick with passives.
Dirty=more openness and slightly more gain, but less compressed.
Stick with passives.
madrigal77
Active member
The midrange honk is what I love about themTone Monster":36uk3wg0 said:
. Also, I didn't find them tighter at all. They were much more open and less compressed. That tight compression is what I like about them. If you like them with the 18v, more power to you, but I think a nice set of passives does that kind of tone better.