EMG

Originally, this pickup was on my Schecter Jeff Loomis. You can hear the sound of this pickup in the "media" section. 3 samples: - clean sound (gain = 2, treble mid & bass = 5, volume = 3) - crunch sound (gain = 8, treble, mid & bass = 5, volume = 2) - overdrive 2 (gain = 2, treble, mid & bass = 5, volume = 1) Master 1 & master 2 set at 2 ; all this was recorded on my Marshall JVM 410C. Strangely, I found it to be noise-sensitive and not as silent as it's claimed to be! The clean sound remains clean and pretty even at a respectable volume. The crunch sound is quite good, well defined, and the overdriven sound is just awesome!! The sound always remains well defined, pretty in clean and well articulated overall. Only downsides: the price (it costs a good €160), the sound that remains powerful and loud (don't forget it's an active pickup!!), so not as versatile as a diMarzio and it requires the guitar player to be very accurate, otherwise each and every mistake is to be heard!! It's more of a rock, hard rock and metal-oriented pickup. So, no jazz, heh heh!

With the EMG 89 its like EMG put two pickups in one case and let you split between them. The 89 is like an EMG 85 and a SA put together in one case some how. With most active pickups because of their design you cant really get split single coil tones from them. This pickup changes that. The EMG active pickups use a pair of rail magnets with a built in preamp. As you probably know active pickups require a battery to power them. Rail magnets are better than the normal magnets used in pickups because there is no gap in the signal. When you bend a string with normal pickups the string moves slightly away from the magnet that string is associated with, and you get a slight decrease in signal. With rail magnets there is no gap in detection of the string vibration. With EMG's they can also use weaker magnets due to the fact that the signal will be boosted in the preamp. With the weaker magnets the magnets cause less interference with the strings. The strings are very sensitive to how powerful your magnets are. High output passive pickups can reduce the sustain of your guitar with all the magnetic drag These active pickups run on a battery to power the preamp. You will need a 9v battery in your guitar to make these pickups work. With these pickups you can get your single coil tones with your EMG's. Not everyone uses EMG pickups for metal. Dave Gilmour uses EMG. People who have very large signal path's find EMG pickups great because they do not pickup interference and and they have a strong signal that can make it through a line of hundreds of pedals. If you are just playing metal you might not really need a single coil sound so the 89 would be pretty useless for you but for people with more versatile tastes the 89 is a great pickup.

The EMG HA is a single coil in a humbucker housing. It will fit in any standard humbucker mounting and looks like a typical EMG humbucker. It’s the perfect single coil sound in my opinion. The cleans are pristine and jangly, and the dirty tones are gorgeous too. The thing that really separates it from typical single coils is that it is dead quiet. There is no sixty-cycle hum or any other noises typically associated with passive single coils. This is a huge advantage in the studio were hum can be a real issue. Active humbuckers are known for being super compressed and high output. This is not the case with EMG single coils, in fact it is quite the opposite. The HA is a very open and dynamic pickup. Honestly, it sounded better than the passive single coils in my Fender Strat. It had the open, uncompressed low end I look for in a single coil. Its punchy and dynamic, perfect for single note runs on the low strings. It also has that gorgeous high-end sparkle I expect from a Strat. It sounds so good. It also isn’t harsh or ice-picky at all, which seems to be typical of a lot of single coils. With distortion all the things I mentioned before hold true. Its still clear, dynamic, and punchy. All with out any mud and no hum. If you are like me and have used single coils with gain before you know that hum can be a real issue. With active single coils it is non existent. I love it. I personally don't like EMG humbuckers at all, but after getting a guitar with an EMG 81-HA set I seriously considered dealing with the EMG81 just so I could have the HA. It’s the ideal single coil. Bright with out being harsh, warm with out being muddy, and it does it all with out any single coil hum. Because of the EMG HA I will be putting EMG single coils in my next Strat or Tele.

The EMG 89X is part of the new X series that EMG developed to help rejuvenate their active pickup line. It shares the same physical attributes as the original 89, but they revised the preamp inside of the pickup. Recently, people on forums have been experimenting with running pickups at 18V to get more headroom out of their pickups. This helps them sound more organic and less linear and compressed. The newly revised X series preamp basically takes the concept of running at 18 volts to a new level. The EMG 89X is very similar to the original 89. You still have the two pickups inside one housing. This time, it’s almost like an EMG 85X and EMG SAX combined into one pickup. When in humbucker mode, the pickup is very fat and thick sounding. It bears resemblance to the 85, but it’s a little clearer with maybe a tad more treble. In single coil mode, you have that awesome, round single coil tone going on that works absolutely amazing in the neck position. Basically, the preamp isn’t clipping as much as it used to. The EMG 85X works in any wood you throw at it, but I find that EMGs typically sound best when they’re in mahogany. Some people argue about EMGs having a signature tone that takes over the guitar, and this is true to an extent, but wood still plays a very important factor. I’m not a huge fan of EMGs in basswood, but they can work with the correct EQ. If you ever wished your EMG 85 sounded more open and more like a passive pickup, check out the EMG 85X. I love this pickup in the neck position, but it also works great in the bridge for neutral to brighter sounding woods like alder, walnut and maple.

Now don't get me wrong, this is still a great pickup but I don't find it necessary to spend the extra $10 over the regular 81, not a big enough difference. I made a few recordings comparing the regular 81 next to the 81x, both in the same guitar, same riff, same setup, everything was exactly identical. I went back and forth between bridge, neck, active tone pot, passive tone pot... There WAS a difference but it was so small that when multitracking or in a whole band setting no one would ever know. Even solo tracked it was still hard to notice. The active tone pot made the biggest difference, at 10 both pots were the same, but the active pot was more reactive than the passive. You could hear the treble roll off a lot more on the active. The 81x with the passive pot the difference was so small that I actually had to sit and listen to the recording over and over just to hear a difference. With the active pot the X sounded slightly thinner, quieter, and smaller, but not by much. With the passive pot instead the difference pretty much went away. Now I tried the 18v mod as well and it was the same thing. The X series was designed to be like the 18V but even more headroom, but without a second 9v battery. The extra headroom is what made the thinner sound, uncompressed clean tones sound weak and thin. That's why most guitarists run a compression pedal when playing clean. On high gain the difference was pretty much unnoticeable. So my review is basically on cleans, cause that showed the biggest difference. I still have my A/B recordings if anyone wants to hear them. Feel free to PM me for the link to it. I think most of the hype around this was from people hearing so much about them and wanting to hear a difference so bad that they just believe it's bigger than it is.

EMG is the market leader when it comes to active pickups. They also sell their models in the size of single coils too for people who have really long signal chains or just want the huge output and tone of an active pickup in the size of a single coil. With EMG their modern design give you a modern sound. Guitarist are pretty traditional but EMG's are starting to become tradition now with their unique approach to pickups. With EMG pickups they use a rail magnet that is pretty weak. With this weak rail magnet you get two advantages. It does not produce must magnetic drag on the strings. This drag would lower your sustain and can even pull your notes out of tune if your magnet is too powerful. With the long rail magnet there is no dead zones in the magnetic field. On some pickups if you bend the string away from the pole piece you may get a slight loss in signal because the string is farther away from the magnet. Thanks to the active preamp you do not have to load the pickup with super powerful magnets to get the tone but since the preamp is active you will need to wire it up with a at least one 9v battery to power the whole system. The SA has a much thicker tone than the EMG S does. You can say if the S is an 81 the SA is an 85. The 85 is known to be the fatter cousin of the 81 and this relationship is similar. Because this pickup has a fatter tone it sounds less of a single coil than the S does. The S has a brighter tone like the 81 but also like a single coil. The SA is much fatter in tone and has more beef to it. You can run this pickup and just about any position. In the bridge it will give you a great beefy tone and in the neck you will get super smooth high gain leads. If you are looking for a active signle coil with fat tone the EMG SA is one of the fattest.

The EMG SX is one of the pickups that is part of the newly revised EMG X series. The X series features a brand new, revised preamp to help combat some of the issues people had with active pickups. Outside, the pickup looks the same, but the new preamp helps make this pickup less compressed and more like a passive pickup. Recently, people on forums have been experimenting with running pickups at 18V to get more headroom out of their pickups. This helps them sound more organic and less linear and compressed. The newly revised X series preamp basically takes the concept of running at 18 volts to a new level. The EMG SX still sounds similar to the original EMG S. It is a very aggressive and bright sounding single coil that I find works best in the bridge position for an aggressive sound. It’s almost like an EMG 81 in single coil form at times. I was never a fan of running this in the neck position because I enjoy fat and warm lead tones, but if you’re looking for a brighter, clearer lead tone, this could be the pickup you want. The SX is more open and less compressed than the original S, so it helps it sound much more like a passive pickup. The EMG SX works in any wood you throw at it, but I find that EMGs typically sound best when they’re in mahogany. Some people argue about EMGs having a signature tone that takes over the guitar, and this is true to an extent, but wood still plays a very important factor. I’m not a huge fan of EMGs in basswood, but they can work with the correct EQ. This pickup also works nicely in the bridge of a brighter guitar. If you ever wished your EMG S sounded more open and more like a passive pickup, check out the EMG SX. If you find the EMG S to be too bright, try the EMG SA or EMG SAX instead.

The EMG SAX is part of the newly revised EMG X series. The X series features a brand new, revised preamp to help combat some of the issues people had with active pickups. Outside, the pickup looks the same, but the new preamp helps make this pickup less compressed and more like a passive pickup. Recently, people on forums have been experimenting with running pickups at 18V to get more headroom out of their pickups. This helps them sound more organic and less linear and compressed. The newly revised X series preamp basically takes the concept of running at 18 volts to a new level. The EMG SAX still sounds similar to the original EMG SA. It has that warm, fat and round single coil tone going for that works absolutely amazing for lead tones in the neck position. It has that “vowely” quality that single coils are known for, but it’s also extremely quiet thanks to it being an active pickup. The SAX is now more open and less compressed than the original SA. It seems to sound much more organic and lively than the original one does. The EMG SAX works in any wood you throw at it, but I find that EMGs typically sound best when they’re in mahogany. Some people argue about EMGs having a signature tone that takes over the guitar, and this is true to an extent, but wood still plays a very important factor. I’m not a huge fan of EMGs in basswood, but they can work with the correct EQ. This pickup also works nicely in the bridge of a brighter guitar. If you ever wished your EMG SA sounded more open and more like a passive pickup, check out the EMG SAX. The EMG SA is still my favorite single coil active pickup, but the SAX is great for those who used to run their SA at 18 volts. If you find that the SAX is too fat, check out the S or SX instead.

For years, EMG has been an instantly recognized name in heavier genres of music for their high output active pickups. And who doesn’t recognize the ‘blacked out’ look of their matte black covered pickups? Used by top acts such as Metallica, Slayer, Zakk Wylde, and MANY more modern bands, EMG has defined a sound of its own that some love, and others don’t. The 85 an alnico magnet humbucker usually found as the neck pickup in EMG’s recommended sets. As with all EMG pickups, it features a quick connect interfacing of circuitry and pickup, so that pickups can be swapped easily. In an active design, pickups usually have weak magnets, and couple with a preamp (the ‘active’ part of the circuit) to boost and mold the signal. This is why EMG pickups are usually found set very close to the strings. The preamp is also why EMG’s tend to sound a bit more similar in different guitars than your average pickup. The 85 is a very hot pickup, even more so, in my opinion, than the 81. In the neck, used under high gain application, it offers a very warm and almost ‘slurred’ sound, lending itself to more fluid legato when used in a shredding application. Cleans, if not EQed specifically for this pickup, can come off overly bass heavy and undefined. The hot response does pair well with finger picking though. Though not the ‘conventional’ EMG setup, the 85 works great in the bridge position aswell. This is my personal preference, unless I am downtuning WAY low and need to keep an obscene amount of clarity. It offers a little more warmth, and a generally more organic response than the typical 81. Chords and single note runs sound bigger, though they do lose some of the very tight initial attack of the 81. Killswitch Engage is one band well known to use EMG 85’s in the bridge positions of their guitars. Again, the quick connect cable makes trying all these EMG combinations a breeze, so break out a screwdriver, and see what works best for you.

I tried to avoid active pickups for the longest time, just didn't want to have to deal with batteries and all the negative views on them. Eventually I just bought one and was pleasantly surprised. They do have a different sound from passive pickups but it's in no way a negative difference. They are very tight sounding, low noise, and have a great crunch to them. They are pretty bright so that's all personal taste, but I like it. Hard to describe the stale sound but it's like they're so tight and clean sounding it's almost unnatural, but in a good way. There's no fizziness or any annoying spiked frequencies to these, just overall a great pickup. On cleans they really excel IMO. I like a very bright, sparkly, chimey clean tone and these just nail it. Perfect example is the clean tone off MetallicA's And Justice For All album. They used EMG 81's in the neck into a Roland JC120 for that album and the EMG 81 is a huge part of that tone. Later they switched to using the EMG 60 in the neck but that album is all 81. Anyways there’s a 18 volt mod that some people are doing, it increases the headroom. The new X series are designed to be like the 18 volt mod but more dramatic, and only run on a single 9 volt. I tried the mod and wasn’t really impressed. I didn’t notice much of a difference at all. It was slight, the overall tone was quieter and thinner, but nothing you’d ever notice in a band setting or multitracking. I’d prefer to stick with 9 volts to save batteries. I own 3 along with some of the X series and various other EMG pickups, this one is by far my favorite. Check out my 81x review for a little more in depth comparison.

Product was purchased as an upgrade from www.gak.co.uk. It cost around £71. The humbucker was packaged with everything required to solder it together and also included a very easy to understand instruction manual. Thanks to this and EMG's quick connect installation system, I had this baby up and running within 20 minutes. Without a case or clip to stabilise the required 9v battery into my instrument, additional modifications became necessary. The pickup is decorated in an attractive black case that seems quite solid and scratch resistant. Usually I end up accidentally wearing the manufacturers logo's away from my pickups during playing but since the EMG logo is imbedded into the pickup itself, I can't see that happening. In the bridge position, the EMG.60 add's more warmth, dynamic range and clarity to a distorted signal than the EMG.81 which is strange considering that it's marketed as a neck pickup. It adds much needed beef to the thin and overly bright sounding EMG.81 when used in the neck position but use it alone in the neck and you'll find that it sounds muddy and flat through distortion. Whether in the bridge or neck, the EMG.60 can simulate some wonderful 'acoustic' sounds when played clean and is also capable of producing incredible blues and jazz tones. It gives off hardly any hum or feedback and has also added more realism and depth to my amp modelling units in the studio! Bonus! I use the EMG.60 in the bridge of my guitar with the 81 in the neck. I find this set-up more adequate to my style of playing which is mostly rock and metal. This is the best humbucker I've ever used for my playing but it loses one point for being a truly lousy neck pick-up. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com

i have a generic P-bass and the stock pickups in it were terribly hollow sounding. i would usually run it through an effects box to mask the hollow sound. as of late, my effects box has lost volume output and and it doesnt have any treble in the mix. so i looked at new boxes but didnt fine a good one in my price range. then i realized that i needed new pickups, not a new box. so i looked at EMGs because im a fan of les claypool. i read a bunch of reviews for them and i went to guitar center and purchased a set for 80 bucks. i like the looks, they are very professional looking. the sound is great, they have a huge bottom end but still clear highs. very easy install, i only soldered 3 wires. when i played the low E for the first time through my bassman 25, it rattled everything in my room. i droped it down to D and it was awesome. the tone could be a little more dynamic but its not worth complaining about. the pickups themselves are really solid little things. they have plugs on the underside that connect to each other and then to the pots and make for easy installation. the wires are heavy duty. the pots are solid with smooth action and sound. the plug is solid as well, it wont come out on accident. great set of pickups. they made my bass sound like an expensive bass you see in the stores. i like them and recomend them to p-bassers who need to replace their stocks. This review was originally published on http://www.musicgearreview.com