What do EMG pickups do that others don't?

theyre just a difference choice...i like them because the low end is tight (81s) and it just has the EQ voicing that i like. and they do sound different in every guitar...my Jacksons sound totally different than my Schecter, and my PRS sounded different them all of them (all with EMGs).

its all personal preference. i have a duncan distortion in my EBMM, and i like it, but its a lot more open and has a looser low end. i prefer the tightness and slightly compressed sound of the EMGs.

as for output...the distortion is just as hot as the EMGs. back when EMGs were introduced (20+ years ago!!!) they were the hottest thing on the market pretty much. now there are passive pickups that are much hotter than they are.

just a different flavor IMO...most of the time nothing is good or bad...just different. thats why we have variety :)
 
Yeah I really don't think they're different enough in output from other typical metal/high output pickups of today for it to matter. They'd definitely sound different than any "passive equivalent" out there, though. Seems like people want to match the output to get that particular compression character, but that's not what it is at all.
 
well, most of the time i see people talk about EMGs and its like "oh man, theyre SOOOO hot! theyre BROOTAL!!!" and i laugh...hell, a Duncan Invader is probably hotter than an EMG...and a JB or Distortion are about the same output as an EMG, at least to my ears theyre not that far off.

some people just equate active with "very high output" which isnt totally true these days IMO. except for the Duncan LiveWire metal...those have stupid outputs LOL
 
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soc_monki":eeda4 said:
some people just equate active with "very high output" which isnt totally true these days IMO. except for the Duncan LiveWire metal...those have stupid outputs LOL
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Man those things are just crazy!!!! I love high output, but those have way too much for me :eek:
 
I have one guitar with EMGs in it that works great as the "heavy" guitar. Not really metal as much as hard rock. I don't even try to roll back on the volume knob to clean it up, because it doesn't work as well (hence the lower dynamics). While I like them in that guitar, I don't think I would go exclusively as EMG... That would be like have 5 of the same model guitar!
 
i don't know what it is exactly but i just like the sound of EMGs over all the passives i've tried.

and for cleans and pushed blues, etc i think they work fine. "sterile" maybe. but like it...and that's all that matters :D
 
I just prefer the voicings. I hated the JB and the 81 crushes the 85. But I used the 85 in the neck for nice lead tones.
 
They make you realize 5 minutes before your show, that you forgot to unplug your guitar, and you don't have any 9v batteries.
 
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ihave27frets":6ae04 said:
I used EMGs for over 15 years, then one of my back up guitars on tour had passives and I had to use for a few nights....and there it was....could it be?....TONE! Never went back.
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What kind of pickups did that guitar have in it?
 
i like EMG's because they have a nice strong/clear tone, they're not my favorite pickups but i tend to keep a few around
 
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Marshall Freak":e3d0b said:
Sound sterile and lifeless for anything other than extremely high gain. :thumbsdown:
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The thing about EMGs that was the turn off for me is the fizz that I couldn't get rid of no matter what I did (707's).

I use passive relatively low output pickups for high gain now. More clarity and no fizz.
 
it probably depends on what amp, also. my randalls only go about as far as a jcm800, gain-wise. even with a boost, it doesn't have as much on tap as an engl, 5150, or a boogie. so, it gives me that extra little push, to get into metal territory. i'm sure with a more modern amp, thats not really neccesary, and some people probably like passives better, with true high-gain amps. having said that, i do like dimarzio evo's, with the same rig, so i'm guessing the output is close.
 
I played passives for the first 15 years or so I played guitar. Tried EMG's and haven't gone back since. I still try new passives that I haven't before and wouldn't rule out using them in the future, but nothing has displaced EMG's for me.

I really like the clarity they bring to the mix and the fact that they are very quiet.

I do want to try out Bare Knuckle pickups at some point though.


Bottom line...use whatever works for ya :thumbsup:
 
I use EMG 85s in my bridge of my main guitar. It's a bit warmer to me than the 81. The S and SA pickups are awesome for clean and soloing, No Hum! I have an SV but I still haven't tried it out yet.
If you have multiple guitars I say have as many different pickups combos as possible. try to get the full spectrum.
 
i think i finally pinpointed what gets to me after a while about the 81...it's got a pretty bright overall tone, but it doesn't haver a very bright/biting attack when you first pick the notes

with good passives you get a nice biting attack and then it mellows out a bit whereas you don't get much of this with EMG's as the note rings out (atleast in my experience)

this is a good thing for some people/situations and not for others
 
The new EMG active pickups sound great to me. They redesigned them a few years ago according to my guitar tech. I use the 81/85 combo in my LP's & PRS c24 and 81/SA combo in my Hamer Californians. My Ibanez 7-stings have standard 707's in the neck positions and the 81 voiced 707's in the bridge postions. They are very clean pickups due to the active electronics. If you hear distortion when playing clean I seriously doubt the pickups are the problem. They also work really well at handling long cord routing since they are low impedence.

I have not tried the 18v mod on the EMGs to know if it is worth it or not.

For those who think the EMGs kill harmonics, listen to the solo in "This Rage is On" in my signature.
 
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cobrahead1030":97d93 said:
i think i finally pinpointed what gets to me after a while about the 81...it's got a pretty bright overall tone, but it doesn't haver a very bright/biting attack when you first pick the notes

with good passives you get a nice biting attack and then it mellows out a bit whereas you don't get much of this with EMG's as the note rings out (atleast in my experience)

this is a good thing for some people/situations and not for others
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Exactly. The compression shaves off the peak, and you get a smoothed over "attack" to the wave form when you pick. That combined with the "thin" sound could work great for extreme metal stuff, but, well, not really much else haha.
 
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