Anyone Keep Going Back To EMG?

[S4M4R1N]

I have the 85-7X in the bridge and it's quite balanced for extreme gain. Highs are rounder compared to 81-7 and even 60-7 that I tried in the bridge. Mids are quite pronounced and the full bottom is there. Overall the output is tame due to the X-series preamp. And 85-7X is not "vacuum void" sounding as 81-7 or "dry" as 60-7. Negible difference with a good gain and EQ section, if not for the bassy side of 85. You can tweak out the bass nicely, but cannot add it back to 81 or 60 as easily.

I'm tempted to swap out my Fluence Modern soapbars for 707TW's. A lot of djent stuff that I listen to is recorded with neck single coil together with humbucker in the bridge. So perhaps 707 will cover that in one pickup?

 

[Nightside]

I keep going back and forth. I love the distortion type passives. Comparing to my go to 81, the passives have this kind of more raw gritty sizzle on top where the EMGs feel more tame and refined. Like comparing a band's first album vs their most recent. The EMG feels like a carefully produced and cleaned up sound while the passives feel like raw energy.

The ease of wiring the EMGs can't be beat though. And the noise reduction is nice too. I recently was doing an a/b of EMG 81/60a vs V7/V8 with swapped magnets and noticed a big reduction of hum and background noise.

 

[Crungy]

I have the 85-7X in the bridge and it's quite balanced for extreme gain. Highs are rounder compared to 81-7 and even 60-7 that I tried in the bridge. Mids are quite pronounced and the full bottom is there. Overall the output is tame due to the X-series preamp. And 85-7X is not "vacuum void" sounding as 81-7 or "dry" as 60-7. Negible difference with a good gain and EQ section, if not for the bassy side of 85. You can tweak out the bass nicely, but cannot add it back to 81 or 60 as easily.

I'm tempted to swap out my Fluence Modern soapbars for 707TW's. A lot of djent stuff that I listen to is recorded with neck single coil together with humbucker in the bridge. So perhaps 707 will cover that in one pickup?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on that! It's sounding more and more like an 85 in the bridge could be a good match for me. Good point on reducing bass vs putting it back in.

I really like the 707TWXR in either mode. I've seen comments about the single coil mode being too quiet and while I think it's fine I have not used it in a band/loud context, just recording or playing at home.

That said, I'd think either mode could be decent for djenty boi tones. Might be worth a shot for you?

Edit to add:
As I stated before, I really like the 707TWXR but the guitar I'm using it in is just too bright sounding. I think it could be helpful in a darker sounding guitar, which is why I'm hanging on to it but trying something else.

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Lol love how both the Het Sets I ordered are either stuck in USPS limbo because one is being shipped from a naval base in the west Pacific and the other is a victim of USPS' shit-tier IT departments.