Anyone Keep Going Back To EMG?

[Spicypickles]

Are the het’s available without the pole pieces?

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Are the het’s available without the pole pieces?

Nah polepiece only. Probably one of the reasons why the pickups sound the way they do, vs standard EMG bars.

 

[Paulo Marques]

I cannot find that tight, big sounding, punchy chug that i find on the EMG 81, on any other pickup

 

[Rev2010]

I dunno guys, i just feel that once the initial hype of a new product/brand dies down, i want to go back to EMG again.

3 years late, but I'll reply. EMG's have become my favorite pickup - primarily 707 for 7-string and 85 for 6-string bridge. I'm an Alnico guy so I'm not an EMG 81 fan. Ceramics are too cold and harsh and shrill IMO. The Fishman Fluence Modern Alnico are indeed awesome but really not much different from EMG so I stick with my EMG's.

 

[Choop]

I still like the 707 fo sho. My Schecter has the 81-7 which is also cool sounding, but I kinda miss that bigger sound that the 707 had.

 

[lewis]

I cannot find that tight, big sounding, punchy chug that i find on the EMG 81, on any other pickup

Truth!

Nothing comes close.
I remember being recommended a Duncan Distortion as a "better passive version" and when I got one I laughed at how rubbish it was in comparison to the 81. Decent enough in its own right but nowhere near what the 81 is capable of.

 

[Hoss632]

Big sounding and emg 81 don't go together. It's not a "big" sounding pick up. It's tight, compressed and focused. Comes through nice in a mix though. I've learned to appreciate it and the 85 more over the past year after finally getting a decent amp.

 

[lewis]

Big sounding and emg 81 don't go together. It's not a "big" sounding pick up. It's tight, compressed and focused. Comes through nice in a mix though. I've learned to appreciate it and the 85 more over the past year after finally getting a decent amp.

Effortlessly cutting in a mix better than 99% other high gain pickups, is probably what people are talking about when they say "it's massive sounding" tbf.

I would say the bolded better describes the Fishman Modern

 

[Hoss632]

Effortlessly cutting in a mix better than 99% other high gain pickups, is probably what people are talking about when they say "it's massive sounding" tbf.

I would say the bolded better describes the Fishman Modern

Makes sense. I know I've listened to myself play an Avenged Sevenfold song back on audio. Zacky V uses a JB. And to me my 85 cuts through more with more balls than the JB. I almost feel like the 85 is a JB with a tube screamer already on.

 

[Paulo Marques]

Big sounding and emg 81 don't go together. It's not a "big" sounding pick up. It's tight, compressed and focused. Comes through nice in a mix though. I've learned to appreciate it and the 85 more over the past year after finally getting a decent amp.

When you down stroke a palm mute the EMG is way bigger than any pickup, not as thinn, at least to my ears.

The 85 is even more full, cause it has more bass i think.

 

[Hoss632]

When you down stroke a palm mute the EMG is way bigger than any pickup, not as thinn, at least to my ears.

The 85 is even more full, cause it has more bass i think.

Eh actives are a bit thinner sounding by nature since they are so compressed to my ears. The 81 and 85s do really punch through though which is what I've begun to appreciate about them. And yea the 85 being alnico it has a little more rounded to it than the 81. I am thinking of trying the 24v mod to open it up a bit more.

 

[Zhysick]

There' something in the compressed saturation of an 81 with high gain that you can undeniably say it's an 81 but the 85 is growing on me and I like it even more... except on dark sounding guitars... the 85 in my Solar and the 81 in my EX-100 are a perfect match since the shorter scale EX100 has the "darkness" the Solar with evertune and longer scale lacks so it compensates with the 85

Yeah, I'm missing the special brutallity of the 81 but that's something you can easily fix if you push a bit the high-mids with the 85... it just needs a bit of tweaking while the 81 is just straight forward brutallity

And still waiting to get a 60 for the neck of my guitars... kinda tired of the 81 on the neck.. it just does the job but... nah, I need a 60 or 60A

 

[gunch]

"We want a guitar with a built-in tube screamer"

81: *is that*

People: wtf

I dumpstered my NK but I still have my 57, still want to get a chinaberg and a VMC and make a redneck masvidalien

 

[Flappydoodle]

Question about the Bonebreakers.

Did we ever figure out whether the bridge pickup is actually just an 81 with a green logo? Or is it a new voicing? I've seen YouTube reviews and comparisons - some where they sound identical, some where they sound different.

EMG website says "By making slight pre-amp adjustments and combining Alnico 5 and Ceramic magnets the perfect tone-beast was created. The Bone Breaker set consist of the BB-B Ceramic bridge and the BB-N Alnico 5 neck pickups."

Somewhat vague, as to whether the bridge pickup is the hybrid ceramic/alnico.

 

[slavboi_delight]

Question about the Bonebreakers.

Did we ever figure out whether the bridge pickup is actually just an 81 with a green logo? Or is it a new voicing? I've seen YouTube reviews and comparisons - some where they sound identical, some where they sound different.

EMG website says "By making slight pre-amp adjustments and combining Alnico 5 and Ceramic magnets the perfect tone-beast was created. The Bone Breaker set consist of the BB-B Ceramic bridge and the BB-N Alnico 5 neck pickups."

Somewhat vague, as to whether the bridge pickup is the hybrid ceramic/alnico.

I think the adjustement is just the 60A in the neck. And the green logo of course.
Pretty sure the bridge is straight up an 81.
If they changed anything on the bridge they should have advertised that differently.

 

[Zhysick]

Well, the "slight pre-amp adjustments" should mean there is something different so it could be the same structure of an 81 and a 60A or even 81A (???? you know, he used to use the 81 so maybe that with alnico) with some pre-amp adjustments that could be more output, less output, different headroom...

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

I've seen some people talk to EMG themselves and had reps straight up say they're rebadged 81/60as.

 

[Zhysick]

Then... where is the preamp adjustment? Just marketing bullshit? Oh, yeah, I can see that...

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Then... where is the preamp adjustment? Just marketing bullshit? Oh, yeah, I can see that...

Hard to tell if the difference is the pickups or the guitars theyre in.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Trying to decide between the 57/66 or Het Set for an upcoming guitar, gonna be kept in standard or half-step down.

Before anyone tells me to check something out, I specifically am looking at those two pickups, nothing else.