Put EMG's in my CE24 and...

[mboogman]

Wow! I started out having the 81 in the bridge, and the 85 in the neck, and it just felt very unbalanced to my ears. The 81 sounded a little weak and thin, and the 85 was almost overpowering the 81. I took some of you guys' advice and swapped them around. All I can say is wow. I've heard a lot of you guys say that EMG's sound really compressed, but I think that's what I'm really liking about them in this guitar. The cleans are very clean, and the overdriven and distorted tones maintain definition very well. I don't see myself putting these in all of my guitars by any means, but for this one, I've found the winning combination!

 

[glassjaw7]

Wow! I started out having the 81 in the bridge, and the 85 in the neck, and it just felt very unbalanced to my ears. The 81 sounded a little weak and thin, and the 85 was almost overpowering the 81. I took some of you guys' advice and swapped them around. All I can say is wow. I've heard a lot of you guys say that EMG's sound really compressed, but I think that's what I'm really liking about them in this guitar. The cleans are very clean, and the overdriven and distorted tones maintain definition very well. I don't see myself putting these in all of my guitars by any means, but for this one, I've found the winning combination!

Glad you're liking it! Yeah, an 85 in the bridge is good stuff. I just traded a Screamin Demon for an 81. I'll have to buy an 85 and throw em in something. I wish I would've tried my 60A in the bridge position when I had it.

 

[ejecta]

I've actually been eying this guitar and wasn't sure I'd like the EMG's. If I get it I may try that swap trick. I'm like you... I have several guitars and none of them have active's in them so I may just leave them in there for a different flavor.

 

[mboogman]

Yeah. I've been running the guitar through my Gerlitz Revelator. Pushed fender cleans, and nice Marshall Plexi kind of tones. My other guitars all sound good through that amp, but the EMG's really give it that added clarity that I was missing.

 

[VH4_BigRig]

I have an explorer with an 81/85 combo that I haven't used in ages, but I swapped them back and forth just for kicks at one point and liked them both in the bridge and disliked them both in the neck. In the neck I found the 81 great for screaming leads but not much else, while the 85 had nicer cleans but could get boomy and muddy quick the more gain was added. If given the choice again I probably would have taken a 60 or 89 in the neck instead, and I'd say take an 85 for a brighter guitar and an 81 for a darker guitar in the bridge. YMMV. Cheers,

bigrig

 

[Les Zombie]

I have emgs in my mccarty trem and it sounds great, I'm happy with the tone.