I'm not sure why I didn't review this pickup earlier, I've had it in a lot of used guitars I've previously owned without consciously knowing it was the S pickup that was actually in the guitar! I can remember this pickup specifically in the neck position of an early 90's Gibson SG'90 that I had once owned and now regret ever selling. Of course, that's the circle of life. It was a great guitar, and had the diamond inlays on the fretboard like you'd see on nothing now except the overpriced Gibson supreme models.

Anyhow I remember this pickup (as being in the neck) being a really clean pickup when on clean with no possibility of breakup unless you overdrove the amp a bit. And once in the distorted mode I also remember the distortion sound to be quite clear, not thick, maybe a bit piercing but it wasn't shrill nor was it muddy. A very transparent or shall I say balanced sound? Most people compare the word sterile and lifeless with sounds like these, cause it's so transparent it doesn't seem to have any mojo of it's own. Though that may be true, the transparency part, not the lifeless part, it doesn't mean it can't be worked with! I liked my EMG S when i had it. It was an overall great pickup and noiseless too!