Gimme your go to active pickups !

Sorry to hi-jack here, but: have any of you guys ever tried to "shave down" the casing on an EMG to fit inside of a tradition PAF style pickup cover the way that Hetfield has on some of his Les Pauls (and others have rumored to do as well)?
 
Sorry to hi-jack here, but: have any of you guys ever tried to "shave down" the casing on an EMG to fit inside of a tradition PAF style pickup cover the way that Hetfield has on some of his Les Pauls (and others have rumored to do as well)?
Yep, had to do it for my Ibanez RGA. Worked out.
 
Yep, had to do it for my Ibanez RGA. Worked out.
Is it difficult? had any impact on the sound? I can PM you if that is easier. There's a guy I know that needs to "hide" an EMG in the bridge position for endorsement / sponsorship reasons...Long story. Any help that I can pass along would be appreciated.
 
Is it difficult? had any impact on the sound? I can PM you if that is easier. There's a guy I know that needs to "hide" an EMG in the bridge position for endorsement / sponsorship reasons...Long story. Any help that I can pass along would be appreciated.
It works, but it needs to not be very much, otherwise you’ll cut into the components.
 
I know I'm done with the 81/85 set. I confirmed it yesterday when someone was asking about going from EMG to Fishman. I have the Devin Townsend Fishman's in an Ibanez SZ and the 81/85 set in an Edwards LPC, both are mahogany bodied guitars, same scale length, just different builds and the Edwards has a maple top, close enough for horseshoes, IMO.

Excuse the slop, I was just going for the pickup sounds. Same AxeFX preset (IIC++/Recto) -
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/g9cs...o-17.wav?rlkey=2y1e8lu3y2d6xjigrmzqynbjs&dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/k5w9...o-01.wav?rlkey=cssgefi7tns1ktyv6we6ob58s&dl=0

I dunno if all the Fishman's sound like that or if it's just the Devin set, but the exact shit I hate about the EMG's are not present in the Fishmans. I don't think I'm going to get more FIshmans as I'm not big on actives in general, but that confirmed for me I'm getting rid of those fucking EMG's. I've been fighting with them for nearly a year now trying to convince myself it's not them.
 
All my main Ibanez RGD guitars have EMG 81-x bridge pickups.
My 7 stings have EMG 81-7x bridge pickups.

The X series blows away the older 81.
Way more headroom, crystal clear, not sterile,
If you haven't tried the 81-x, you are missing out on EMG's best pickup. IMHO
 
81 or 85 at the bridge and 85 or 60 at the neck. 9v sounds best to me in most cases, the exception being in basswood bodies or guitars with mahogany necks.
This. It’s been several years since I’ve gone down the active path, but my favorite was always 81 or 85 in the bridge and 60 in the neck.
 
I know I'm done with the 81/85 set. I confirmed it yesterday when someone was asking about going from EMG to Fishman. I have the Devin Townsend Fishman's in an Ibanez SZ and the 81/85 set in an Edwards LPC, both are mahogany bodied guitars, same scale length, just different builds and the Edwards has a maple top, close enough for horseshoes, IMO.

Excuse the slop, I was just going for the pickup sounds. Same AxeFX preset (IIC++/Recto) -
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/g9cs...o-17.wav?rlkey=2y1e8lu3y2d6xjigrmzqynbjs&dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/k5w9...o-01.wav?rlkey=cssgefi7tns1ktyv6we6ob58s&dl=0

I dunno if all the Fishman's sound like that or if it's just the Devin set, but the exact shit I hate about the EMG's are not present in the Fishmans. I don't think I'm going to get more FIshmans as I'm not big on actives in general, but that confirmed for me I'm getting rid of those fucking EMG's. I've been fighting with them for nearly a year now trying to convince myself it's not them.
I don't hear what you mean? I mean, they both sound different, but I don't hear anything that jumps out as blatantly wrong about either? TBH, it's not the tone that I would go for, but I don't hear anything that jumps out as "shit"? Other than maybe the pinchies not coming out great, maybe?
 
BTW, tip for y'all EMG users:

If you completely remove the tone knob from the circuit, the pickups become less lossy, and you actually gain 3dB output. I've measured it.
Agreed. The only guitars I have left with them all are volume-only, and in those I still really enjoy them, plus they are all the trusty old-logos.
 
I don't hear what you mean? I mean, they both sound different, but I don't hear anything that jumps out as blatantly wrong about either? TBH, it's not the tone that I would go for, but I don't hear anything that jumps out as "shit"? Other than maybe the pinchies not coming out great, maybe?

The pinchies are just my shitty playing in the morning 😉

There's like a bloated midrange and lack of overall top enddefinition with the EMG's. The Fishmans basically sound exactly like I want the EMG's to sound. Small differences, just in the exact areas my preferences fall in. That and I have the perspective of sitting there dialing in that preset to work specifically with the EMG's, only got about 90% there, just to realize the Fishmans pretty much get the last 10%, especially if I dialed it in with the Fishmans originally.
 
I know I'm done with the 81/85 set. I confirmed it yesterday when someone was asking about going from EMG to Fishman. I have the Devin Townsend Fishman's in an Ibanez SZ and the 81/85 set in an Edwards LPC, both are mahogany bodied guitars, same scale length, just different builds and the Edwards has a maple top, close enough for horseshoes, IMO.

Excuse the slop, I was just going for the pickup sounds. Same AxeFX preset (IIC++/Recto) -
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/g9cs...o-17.wav?rlkey=2y1e8lu3y2d6xjigrmzqynbjs&dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/k5w9...o-01.wav?rlkey=cssgefi7tns1ktyv6we6ob58s&dl=0

I dunno if all the Fishman's sound like that or if it's just the Devin set, but the exact shit I hate about the EMG's are not present in the Fishmans. I don't think I'm going to get more FIshmans as I'm not big on actives in general, but that confirmed for me I'm getting rid of those fucking EMG's. I've been fighting with them for nearly a year now trying to convince myself it's not them.
I have the 81/85 set in an Edwards LPC as well, and my findings are the same as yours - very thick and a little dull.

The Blackout/Blackout Metal set in my Epiphone LPC just has the exact right EQ curve for what I want, still thick but crispier on top and tighter on the bottom. The Edwards is relegated to thick and greasy Sonic Brew kinda stuff.
 
All I can say is going from a set of Fluence KSE's back to the stock EMG's in my '86 Schecter I was amazed how much better is sounded back with the EMG's. Much more raw, gritty and just more interesting sounding. It was much smoother, tamer, bland and more polite with the Fluence's and I remember the KSE's being more aggressive than some others Fluence sets I had
 
The pinchies are just my shitty playing in the morning 😉

There's like a bloated midrange and lack of overall top enddefinition with the EMG's. The Fishmans basically sound exactly like I want the EMG's to sound. Small differences, just in the exact areas my preferences fall in. That and I have the perspective of sitting there dialing in that preset to work specifically with the EMG's, only got about 90% there, just to realize the Fishmans pretty much get the last 10%, especially if I dialed it in with the Fishmans originally.
Ah, yeah, kinda. But that's the EMG thing. They're not mid-forward. They're basically all mids and nothing else.

The 57 does have a slightly more detailed top-end than the 81. And you can run them at 24V to help that too. But they'll never be as detailed as a passive.
 
🤣 is so true. I like them alright, but I really wonder how they became THE metal pickup.
Because of the low-end rolloff, they're tight. I can think of nothing tighter except the Fluence Modern Ceramic.

If it had the low-end rolloff, but not the high-end rolloff, then it would be mega harsh twangy scratchy.
 
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