SeriesEMG Humbucking

The EMG 89 is one of EMG’s more versatile pickups that they offer. Modeling itself after the EMG 85 and SA, it basically combines both of these into one pickup. It features the same looks as a normal EMG, but this one comes with a special push/pull pot to allow for you to select between the two different pickups inside of this. In a way, it’s similar to splitting a humbucker. EMGs are great at remaining focused sounding, and this pickup is no expception. Another benefit is that there is a preamp built into the pickup. This preamp allows you to run long cable lengths without having to worry about running a buffer. On top of that, EMGs tend to be very quiet, which is great for battling those pesky stage lights. The EMG 89 is basically an 85 and an SA combined into one, but it’s not quite the same. They’re very close, but I find the 89 to be a bit more clear in both humbucking mode and single coil mode. I find this pickup works awesome in the neck position. In the neck, the humbucker mode delivers these awesome, fat and smooth lead tones that sing for days. In single coil mode, you get that signature single coil spank, but it’s warm and powerful enough to do the fast legato stuff without having to work too hard. I like this pickup in basically any body wood I try it in, but it’s especially nice in alder. If you’re a fan of the EMG 85 and want a split coil feature, I highly recommend trying this pickup out. It combines my two favorite EMG neck pickups into one pickup. Keep in mind that you can order this with the single coil either closest to the neck or closest to the bridge. You’ll want to choose accordingly depending on if you have it in the neck or bridge.

I tried my first 81 model probably a decade ago in an ESP guitar. At the time it blew my mind. It was super aggressive and super hot. It always cut through and seems to slice through every amp I used with it. It had killer bass response too. Sure the cleans don't sound too hot with it but isn't that what the EMG 60 is for? I really think this pickup only lends itself to heavy metal type players. It's way too overdriven for light rock or anything like that. It's hard to get a sound out of it that's not blistering distortion. These are active pickups of course and so your EQ will be a bit more responsive. One problem I always had with my 81 was a lack of dynamic response. Rolling down on the volume knob never seems to do too much to clean it up (god forbid when you want a little less DISTORTION) from it. A friend of mine suggested a mod he heard about where you wire another battery in the loop to make it an effective 18 volt pickup. I figured heck why not and gave it a go. The result is a very responsive and dynamic pickup with tons of headroom. It almost turns it into a passive pickup in some ways. It makes the 81 sound more organic and less machinelike if that makes any sense at all. I don't really recommend this to anyone but hard rock and heavy metal type players. I have tried it for other genres and it's just not fit for it, even with mods. Still, for my prog metal playing it can't be beat. I love it. The clarity is just so much better than passive pickups. notes really pop. It's really a love or hate kind of pickup.

These are great custom made pickups, made by EMG. I have mixed feelings about their pickups in general, some of their stuff sounds awesome to me but a lot of it is really lifeless. These pickups are examples of the latter. I think that Steve Vai is a tremendous player, but his tone is really incredibly 80s sounding and cheesy. Unless you came of age in that era, and have never left or realized the glory that was the late 60s, 70s, and even this decade, there's a chance you might like this pedal. However, there's nothing remotely bright about this pedal. The emphasis is all in the scooped mids, which I really hate as it ruins a lot of the character. This is especially true in the neck position, good luck getting a half-decent blues sound. This wouldn't be so bad if I just needed a distorted lead sound. Considering that Vai never plays rhythm, this isn't so bad for him, but I do play rhythm and need a pickup that sounds half decent when playing clean. Forget that, it's horrible. I doubt if I've ever heard anything so lifeless. The only time I ever really get a rush from these pickups is if I crank the gain and start wailing. At that point yeah, these pickups sound great, but I need more versatility than that. A Les Paul's humbuckers will certainly give you all that and much more, so I'd say go with those types of pickups rather than these. Granted, I'm not in the demographic that would want these pickups anyway. But my advice to players is never to take one players trademark pickups, as they are custom-made to do only what that player wants. Especially since that guitar player probably has multiple guitars with multiple different settings, he probably doesn't care very much about having a pickup in his name that barely does anything more than what he wants. Trust me, go with something more diverse.

EMG is well known in the worl of active pickups but they were not always that way. They had some models that were not very successful but now they are reissuing them for the nostalgic active pickup lovers. This is an active pickup like most other EMG picksup. This means that within the pickup are a set of generally weak magnets and this weaker signal is then enhanced by the battery powered active preamp. In theory since the magnets are weaker and the amplification of the signal takes place inside the guitar this would give a quieter sound, but this did not work out on this pickup design. This is the EMG 58 not the 85 but 58. This was the original version of the 85 but it was discontinued due to the preamp being unacceptably noisy. EMG now prides themselves on having some of the quietest pickups but this pickup is nothing like the EMG's of today. Pretty much no one uses this pickup and they are pretty hard to find. They go for about 100 dollars so it costs about the same as a normal EMG its just rarer. This pickup really sounds good though apart from the noise it has. The tone kind of reminds me of an EMG 85. The pickup has a lot more low end the the traditional 81. It sound more beefy overall. It has a thicker more open sound than the 81 also. Unlike the 85 this is pretty much a bridge only pickup. It has a nice crunch to it. EMG says it was supposed to sound like a beefed up P-90 and I guess it kind of does. The P-90 is my favorite single coil design so hearing it active form is kind of weird for me. If you are a diehard EMG fan and want the true classic EMG sound this pickup was reissued for you. If you are just looking for a beefy EMG model the 85 is a great more refined version of this pickup.

For many years EMG was the only name in the active pickups department. 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. The 60 is designed to be clean alternative to the 81 and the 85. This limits the pickups use in metal where you would normally use active pickups. This pickup is pretty much a neck only pickup. This guy does not have the output of the 81 or the 85 and does not sound that great with high gain distortion. This pickup is best for cleans. Its most famous user is James Hetfield from Metallica. He used this pickup in the neck position of his guitars for many years and used it for its clean tones. Clean tones are something that Is usually not too good in active pickups so EMG made one just for cleans. So this is a good neck position pickup if you are running an active bridge pickup and dont intend on using the neck position for any high gain stuff.

In 2009, EMG released a newly revised preamp for all of their models. This preamp is what is used in the X series. The 60X still features the same basic tonality as the original 60, but thanks to the newly revised preamp, it is much more open and less compressed than before. 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 60X still sounds very much like the original EMG 60. It has this very clear and bright, almost single coil sound going on. It works great with clean tones, but like my previous 60 review, I’m not the biggest fan of it with high gain. The EMG 60X with its revised preamp sounds a lot more open and more organic sounding. Chords sound sweeter, and single coil notes sound a bit more like a passive pickup than an active pickup. Basically, it’s not clipping the signal as much as it used to. The EMG 60X 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 60 sounded more open and more like a passive pickup, check out the EMG 60X. I’m still not the biggest fan of the EMG 60 series, but it does a great job at delivering good clean tones, which EMGs are fairly infamous for (and I don’t mean that in a good way).

The EMG 60A is a revision of the original EMG 60 that they have offered for quite some time. While it looks the same, the biggest difference is the magnet inside of it. Instead of using a ceramic magnet, they swapped it out for an Alnico one. This helps change the tone to a more vintage, sweeter sounding pickup. Like all EMGs, this pickup is housed inside an epoxied cover with no pole pieces showing. The pickup has a built-in preamp inside it which runs off of a 9 volt battery. This allows the pickup to remain quiet under even the brightest stage lights, allows the ability to run long lengths of cable without needing a buffer and helps prevent any grounding dangers normal pickups may pose. The EMG 60A is physically the same winding as the original 60, but with the new Alnico magnet installed, it sounds much sweeter. It’s a bit fatter sounding than the 60, and it seems to be a bit more round as well. Output is roughly the same, and the overall tone is mostly the same. It still has that extremely clean sounding, almost single coil-ish tone going on, but the magnet seems to boost the lows a touch and help kill some of that “fakeness” that I experienced with the original 60. The EMG 60A should work in most woods, but I prefer it in darker woods like mahogany. To me, it really shines in those woods. Some people have used it in the bridge, but it’s mostly a neck pickup. The cleans are great, but the distorted tones are still not my favorite. I still prefer the EMG 85 or 89 overall as a neck pickup for both cleans and leads. If you were a fan of the EMG 60 but want a bit more warmth to it, check out the 60A. It still features the same characteristics of the 60, but it seems to be warmed up a touch and not as “clangy” sounding.