New pickups day: emg hetfield set

[Les Zombie]

I got the new hetfield pickups and installed them in my silverburst les paul.
I only got to play them for about 45 minutes but they are cool. They sound a little bit different than the 81 and 60 i was using. I have been a emg user for many years and always liked the 81 and 60 and i wanted to try the het set and see what it was about.

They are pretty cool looking, the tone is still the same emg type sound and feel and its not a night and day difference but they are different. I can hear more lows and a fuller sound, they still have alot of highs but arent as sharp as the 81 highs, they have more mids too.
The feel is tight and they are clear sounding, the neck pickup sounded nice for leads and is fuller and warmer sounding.

I suck at describing pickups and i still need more time with them but so far i like what i hear. I was kinda expecting them to sound similar to a blackout based on the way hetfield was talking but they dont and they still sound like a emg, if you love emgs i think you will like them and if you hate emgs i think you should save your money.

 

[The Hoff]

Very nice man! Any chance of some clips? I'm very interested in picking some of these up....

Look nice for sure though

 

[Les Zombie]

unfortunately no clips, i used to make a odd clip on my iphone but they dont really do my amps and guitars justice, seems like alot of the amps sound too similar on the iphone.

 

[Les Zombie]

i been playing the neck pu clean and it sounds warmer than the 85 and has a nicer tone for cleans , neck pu is very nice and i like it better than the 85 or 60.
i also like the highs better and kinda has a passive mix to it.

 

[Code001]

How would it compare to the 85 in the neck?

 

[Les Zombie]

i was just playing the bridge clean and it also seems be louder like i mentioned earlier with the neck pu, so i guess they are more powerful, im also thinking they are less compressed too but i will judge that more tomorrow when i dont have ear fatique. the more i play bridge i think it has more lows,mids and highs and sounds better than the 81 because sometimes the 81 can sound thin or ice picky.

palm mutes and single notes sound better, right now i like them better than the 81 and 60 that i had in this guitar.

 

[thegame]

One of the guys from EMG said these have more bite and edge than the normal 81/60. Your review sounds like they are smoother with less bite/edge. What do you think ?

 

[bigdaddyd]

I think they would look better w/o the EMG logo on those covers. I think having vintage style covers covers and EMG logos sort of clash. Either EMG logo and the old style EMG look, or just go with making them look like regular covered pickups. When you get covered Duncans or Dimarzios, or any other brand..they don't label the covers.

 

[Les Zombie]

One of the guys from EMG said these have more bite and edge than the normal 81/60. Your review sounds like they are smoother with less bite/edge. What do you think ?

They have still bite but arent harsh, they are a little smoother sounding than the 81. They seem to have more character to them.

 

[Moshaholic]

Looks bad ass and I bet they sound the shizz!

I thought they looked a little more shinny on the EMG website though...???

 

[Les Zombie]

They are shiney, its just the angle.

 

[dulrich1227]

OHH glad some one has a pair of these ..

I have never been an EMG person but i picked up a soloist recently with em and love the neck but not that much into the bridge .. neck is gold and bridge is silver EMG .. which equates to an 85 in the neck and an 81 in the bridge?? I think ..

Was waiting on these to come out and pondering a swap ... with that said would you recommend these for someone who likes the 85 and not that much of fan of the 81? if i have my EMGs in the right order?

Thanks

 

[Deleted member 8761]

Thanks for sharing. I wonder how these compare to the new EMG 81-X (which I'm using at the moment).

 

[Les Zombie]

i never tried the 81-x but i seen somebody posted on another board that they was different.

 

[HeimBrent]

They sure look better than the standard EMGs, that's for sure. The only thing keeping me on the fence about these is that I'm not quite sure how they would work for a more "classic rock"-kinda sound. Would you care to share some thoughts on that? How do they do, let's say... Early Guns-stuff? Or AC/DC for that matter? Anything not Metallica-sounding, basiclly?

 

[Les Zombie]

OHH glad some one has a pair of these ..

I have never been an EMG person but i picked up a soloist recently with em and love the neck but not that much into the bridge .. neck is gold and bridge is silver EMG .. which equates to an 85 in the neck and an 81 in the bridge?? I think ..

Was waiting on these to come out and pondering a swap ... with that said would you recommend these for someone who likes the 85 and not that much of fan of the 81? if i have my EMGs in the right order?

Thanks

why dont you try the 85 in the bridge, alot of people really like it that way, i like the 81 better in the bridge but to some guys its kinda thin sounding and harsh, the 85 is bigger and warmer sounding and more powerful. try that before you spend 240 bucks for hetfields.

 

[Les Zombie]

Looks bad ass and I bet they sound the shizz!

I thought they looked a little more shinny on the EMG website though...???

heres another pic and they look shiny.

 

[Les Zombie]

They sure look better than the standard EMGs, that's for sure. The only thing keeping me on the fence about these is that I'm not quite sure how they would work for a more "classic rock"-kinda sound. Would you care to share some thoughts on that? How do they do, let's say... Early Guns-stuff? Or AC/DC for that matter? Anything not Metallica-sounding, basiclly?

i have never been a fan of emgs for the tones your asking for and i dont think they will do what you want without sounding to metallic and modern.

 

[some dude]

EMGs will do GnR or AC/DC so long as you have no interest in sounding like GnR or AC/DC.

 

[Les Zombie]

im not gonna hype the pickups, they are cool but they arent ground breaking or anything like that. they are pretty nice but still a emg and i dont want people to expect anything different.