EMG SA Set

The EMG SA Strat set is basically EMG's standard set of pickups to replace the typical passive S-S-S pickups found in a Stratocaster type guitar. I purchased a Japanese made Phoenix/Tokai Strat that had originally been loaded with a set of DiMarzio pickups and later had been replaced with these EMG SA pickups in a set. This particular set was also wired with the 18 volt mod (using 2 9V batteries) which provides a thicker and clearer tone overall. It's very common for metal players to do this with their humbuckers, but I definitely think it's a decent thing for the single coils as well. The guitar in question had an ash body and a maple neck/fretboard, so it was a fairly bright guitar. The EMGs had a surpringly good sound to them that I was not expecting in the slightest. I'm not normally one to stray from my favoured vintage style single coils when I'm playing a Strat, but these pickups had a wicked tone that was awesome.

They have a very cool chime/top end sparkle that is really hi-fi sounding. It's not nearly as forgiving as a set of vintage passives, but they have a perfect polished eighties sort of LA Studio sound. Applying some compression and various spatial effects brought forth the ultimate in pristine cleans. Sure it didn't sound vintage, but it did sound good. The drive tones were very controlled and smooth. They handle gain like a champ and never feel like they're being overloaded. The split coil modes sounded awesome too, very Dire Straits esque or like a modern take on the classic Little Wing tone.

All in all I think the EMG SA pickup set is a great alternative for those players who want something that's more polished and pristine than a typical set of passive Strat pickups. Sure they buck tradition, but for that crystal clear sound I haven't heard better. I do prefer them wired 18V, but standard 9V wiring sounds fine too.

Kit replaces little'59 duncan on my Godin Artisan ST Signature.

At first I liked '59 duncan well but over time I realized that they had a sound very close to a humbucker, not suitable for "stratabound" guitar. I do not know why but I'm not a fan of duncan pickups ... everyone's tastes ...

EMG SA kit has literally transformed my guitar, I find the strato grain, plus I added the SPC control is really fabulous adding the "presence" to the already excellent sound of SA.

big point worth mentioning: the length of the cables provided in the "solderless" kit is very poor when we pass on something other than a stratovolcano with a plate ...
Indeed, this kit also want seamless son have cards that connect to pin ... Hopefully if you have enough length to connect everything ... which was not the case for my instrument!
I had to tweak a max to install the kit! (I reused an old pin internal IDE hard disk to extend cables) luckily I had the SPC kit plus a few cables with solderless rab! honestly, I wondered if I would succeed to install the kit.

the knob pos 5 is very large once the connections made ... I have to reverse it enters the cavity at the back of the guitar. finally there is the "classic" config provided to reverse the connection of the bridge pickup with the neck pickup ...

Overall I do not regret for what the sound is stunning: large output level, single coil sound of the "thought suhr!" ... but what a pain to install on non strat guitars! pity Mr EMG, let us longer cables!

So for 10 and 0 for its ease of installation related to son too short!