What emg for the neck position?

[Simon Dorn]

To go with an old school 81 my brother from another mother hooked me up with… 85 or something different?

Like many said: 60 or 81

 

[JackBootedThug]

Sounds like an 89 might be in my future. I might do something weird and do 85 bridge and 81 in the neck. anyone ever try that? I actually like the 85 better than the 81….

 

[heath]

Sounds like an 89 might be in my future. I might do something weird and do 85 bridge and 81 in the neck. anyone ever try that? I actually like the 85 better than the 81….

I tried this a few times with my EMG guitar when I was trying to get the 81/85 combo to balance. There was still an imbalance. Whatever pickup was in the neck position was always considerably louder regardless how low I set it. The 85 in the bridge is a good sound though.

 

[JackBootedThug]

I tried this a few times with my EMG guitar when I was trying to get the 81/85 combo to balance. There was still an imbalance. Whatever pickup was in the neck position was always considerably louder regardless how low I set it. The 85 in the bridge is a good sound though.

Wonder why that is? I just assumed the 85 had more output… that’s very interesting you said that. Think it’s the frequencies being accentuated in the neck position? More boomy bassy ones?

 

[Mike Oxhuge]

I've never had problem balancing the volumes between neck and bridge with 81/85 sets. I just adjust pickup height by ear. Also I have one guitar with an 85 in the bridge 81 neck and it balanced out fine too. I like either pickup in either position depending on what each guitar sounds like and I usually start with 81 in bridge and if it's too bright just swap positions.

 

[JackBootedThug]

My curiosity is peaked by the 89…. Might have to start hunting….

 

[heath]

Wonder why that is? I just assumed the 85 had more output… that’s very interesting you said that. Think it’s the frequencies being accentuated in the neck position? More boomy bassy ones?

This was in my old Epi Les Paul Custom. I am not sure if the 85 has more output or just that both were too similar in output to be a neck pickup. Didn't have as much issues with my other guitars with EMGs (washburn and an ESP). Overall the 60 in the neck fixed my issue with the 81 or the 85 in the bridge and balanced beautifully, and the HA I discovered later was exactly what I was looking for. Those EMGs now live in an old Dean and my LPC has a set of Suhr thornbuckers.

I just adjust pickup height by ear.

With the LPC I just couldn't get the neck pickup low enough or the bridge high enough to get them to balance. Maybe if the screws were longer in the neck I could have sank it lower than the pickup ring. It really could have just been that particular guitar though, I guess.

 

[TheBiggestJerk]

Are you wanting active or passive?

 

[Detroit1973]

The 60A is awesome.

 

[JackBootedThug]

Are you wanting active or passive?

Active…. I have a mid boost unit I’m going to install with it.

 

[JackBootedThug]

I had the Ltd ec1000ctm with an 81 and 60 that was nice. At the time it didn’t really seem like an improvement to the 81/85 combo but I did not have anything to compare it to at the time. And I had just come off about a 4 year hiatus on playing.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

Wonder why that is? I just assumed the 85 had more output… that’s very interesting you said that. Think it’s the frequencies being accentuated in the neck position? More boomy bassy ones?

My theory is that the Alnico magnets in the 85 have a lower resonant peak than the ceramic magnets in the 81, which means the 85 is more even across the spectrum overall compared to the more treble / high treble emphasized 81. The 85 has additional low end output compared to the 81 which translates to more output overall.

 

[vultures]

Very cool setup. EMG's use way less current than Fishmans so I'd imagine the battery life is pretty good. How long does a charge generally last you?

Never had it die on me, but I would just plug it in the night before a jam or something. I'd go a few weeks before charging. It's nice being able to plug it in real quick or attach a portable charger to it rather than open a cavity and buy a pack of 9vs for $14.

 

[TheGreatGreen]

Never had it die on me, but I would just plug it in the night before a jam or something. I'd go a few weeks before charging. It's nice being able to plug it in real quick or attach a portable charger to it rather than open a cavity and buy a pack of 9vs for $14.

Gotcha. All the pairs of EMG's I've used take a year or two, sometimes longer than that to drain. The website mentions the capacity on those rechargable Fishman packs being about the same as a 9v. Fishman actives will go through a 9v in a couple hundred hours but a set of EMG's should last like 1,500 hours on a 9v charge. For reference that's about the same number of hours you'd put into a full time job, 8 hours a day, for about 8 months.

 

[jeff5]

I've always loved the 60 in the neck.

 

[Uzi Nein Millimetah]

81 in the neck is awesome. No bloated lows and subdued highs like the 85 in the neck.
The 81 can almost get a chimney spanky single coil sound if you lower it really far down and then raise the treble side a bit.
I mostly use 85 in the bridge but I have a ceramic 60 in the bridge of one guitar and it KILLS. It's like a blend of both the 81 and 85 when in the bridge.

You can get passable cleans with the 85 at the neck if you reduce the volume, but the 60 can do it better, and still does it at or near full volume.

The only clean sound I ever use for HH guitars is the middle position (inside coils of both if that's an option), so for old school, 81/60 takes it for me.

 

[Juggernaut]

Sounds like an 89 might be in my future. I might do something weird and do 85 bridge and 81 in the neck. anyone ever try that? I actually like the 85 better than the 81….

My main Juggernaut has had the 85 bridge 81 neck, wouldn't have it any other way.