EMG Pickups, Accessories, Wiring, Info and Help thread - post it here!!!

[1b4n3z]

You did connect the string ground when trying the Blackouts, did ya?

My preference is quite the opposite: Blackouts are way ahead of EMGs technically - quieter, more responsive and higher in output. I do like the tone of a 81 (or 81X) more due to its stronger focus and that lovely grind, but the Blackouts are more hi-fi and full in tone (perhaps a bit too full for serious downtuning). The EMG X series was a big disappointment to me - the tone is there, but the tradeoff is low output, weak sustain and artificial-sounding dynamics. The traditional line of EMGs is better IMO, especially at 18v.

 

[Kamikaze7]

You did connect the string ground when trying the Blackouts, did ya?

My preference is quite the opposite: Blackouts are way ahead of EMGs technically - quieter, more responsive and higher in output. I do like the tone of a 81 (or 81X) more due to its stronger focus and that lovely grind, but the Blackouts are more hi-fi and full in tone (perhaps a bit too full for serious downtuning). The EMG X series was a big disappointment to me - the tone is there, but the tradeoff is low output, weak sustain and artificial-sounding dynamics. The traditional line of EMGs is better IMO, especially at 18v.

Yes I did attach the string ground - I used the entire EMG solderless system when I installed them. I know that some prefer the Blackouts over the EMG's, but from what I tried of them they didn't work out as everyone claimed them to be, and the EMG's are still the best thing I've used yet. I love the new X-series 808 and am dying to try the 707X's in my green Kamikaze with the SPC & EXG.

To each his own with gear and parts - that's why there's soooo many combinations and options out there because what one guy likes another won't. It's all personal preference and the EMG's are mine.

 

[Kamikaze7]

Hello everyone.

After viewing the boards and seeing how everyone always makes a new post asking for help with thier EMG systems, I've decided to make a thread SPECIFICALLY for this. Now for anyone who has questions about wiring their EMG's, questions about EMG pickups, or anything EMG related, this would be the place to post it. Plus I'm sure this would save some space on the board for other technical issues others may have and keep all the EMG/active pickups & wiring stuff in one section.

So if there's anyone who has an issue with the EMG systems they've got, or would like more info about the EMG wiring or pickup and accessory info, ask it here. Since I've been the un-official EMG tech and wizard of SS.org, why not get it all bundled up into one place???

Thanks everyone, mods included!

 

[Ricky Roro]

My first question is, since active pickups use weaker magnets that are boosted with a preamp, does that mean you can mute notes easier? I sometimes will want to cut off a note/chord, but it ends up hanging over a second afterwards (especially on higher gain).

Second, there any downside to using Lithium 9V batteries instead of Alkaline? (other than cost)

And thirdly, could you have a push/pull tone knob--if such a thing exists--with the push/pull part switching between 9v (parallel) and 18v (series)?

 

[Rook]

1. The hanging-over you describe comes from the string having momentum due to it's mass, and because you are trying to damp it from a point near the end of the string. As you move your hand further away from the middle, more force is needed to influence the string (think about trying to close a door from the hinges instead of the handle, if the door is moving, it's difficult to stop from the hinges, see 'moments of a force') because the middle moves the most and hence has the most momentum. There is therefore an amount of time after you damp the strings that your hand takes to absorb all the left over energy from the string and that is the hanging over you describe and it's nothing to do with pickups. The only ways to get rid of this are using lighter strings (less momentum means they stop quicker) or the traditional compressor-gate setup, whereby sounds quieter than a certain level are cut off altogether and don't sound through the amp.

2. Lithium batteries can draw current more quickly than your standard alkaline battery, hence why they are recommended in camera flashes. Audio equipment and amplification does not draw a constant current, every time you hit the string or made a loud noise, you effectively switch on a transistor which starts sucking all it's power out of the battery proportionally to the sound wave (louder sound, more current). In theory this would mean the pickup would have a faster response, however EMG's are so low current it probably won't make any audible difference, and it's harmless.

3. I don't know why you'd want to switch two batteries to parallel... Are you referring to 18V mods? Putting two power supplies in parallel is used as a current adder, however in this instance it won't have any effect, because the current is drawn, and V=IR. V is the same regardless of how many batteries there are and R is the same because it's fixed in the pickup. Two batteries in parallel would just mean they share the load and hence last longer than one on it's own, it won't affect the sound. As for switching the 18V mod in and out, this is very simple. There should be a red cable coming from the EMG's that connects to the battery then to a second ring on the stereo jack (so the power switches on when you put the jack in). You simply disconnect the battery from the jack and tie it to the upper of the three pins of your push pull. You connect the lower pin in parallel with your battery bypassing it and the middle pin connects to a second battery then to the jack. When the switch is down, you're running at 9V and the second battery is open circuit, when you pull the switch up, the second battery is put in series with the first doubling the voltage.

 

[Kamikaze7]

Thanks Fun111 for answering this for me. But yes Ricky he is right about the string issue and the battery issue. I am not sure about using the push/pull pot for the 9-18V switch though... Last time I did something like this, I fried the pickups and Rick Hunt (Tech @ EMG...) said he dis-approves of trying to use a 9-18V switch as well for just the same reason. If your trying to get more headroom and are bored with the normal 9V signal and sound, I would either wire your system for the 18V mod, OR look at a set of the X-series EMG's.

You can also send Rick an email and inquire with him directly about using the push/pull for the 9-18V mod and see what he says. If it can be done successfully, please post his reply up here so we can see it as I'm sure others would like to try it as well.

 

[Ricky Roro]

Heh, yeah, I do use pretty huge strings. I'll have to experiment with ways to stop it better. But thanks

I was thinking that if you could switch between series and parallel you could keep the batteries at about the same life, so you could always change them at the same time. Though, it would probably be a complicated piece of circuitry since it would require adding gates and such. I would rather have to go back and forth the old fashioned way than fry pickups that cost $100 a piece!

 

[Kamikaze7]

I agree with ya. But keep in mind that you can wire your system w/ the 18V system, and run it with a single 9V if you had to or wanted to, or didn't wanna use the 18V all the time.

I bought and tried to use a wiring mod with a 2-way mini-toggle switch for a 9-19V mod for one of my systems. And since none of the connections were labeled as to what went where, I fried both pickups as a result. This is where and why I can see why Rick don't advise doing such a thing, because it is easy to fry your pickups if it's not done right by placing wires in the wrong spots. But I would wire it for the 18V, and just pop the 2nd battery out when you want the different tone - much safer and easier.

 

[Ricky Roro]

Wouldn't this work? Since the only real difference between series and parallel is you 'reverse' the current from one battery?

 

[Kamikaze7]

It might... But remeber that we're dealing with voltage and current here unlike a normal signal voltage and current from after the pickups... As we're dealing with the actual voltage source, you may wanna contact Rick @ EMG about this. The last thing you wanna do is wire the Push/Pull wrong and fry the pickups like I did...

I still think the safer and easier bet would be to wire the 18V mod like previously mentioned and add in/take out the 2nd battery when you want or need to. Again, I'm NOT saying that the push/pull for the series/parallel for the batteries won't work, but I don't want you to go ahead with it and wind up frying your pickups like I did because it was wired backwards or something that shouldn't have been...

Better safe than sorry...

 

[Ricky Roro]

Sorry, I'll stop asking dumb questions now

 

[Rook]

Wouldn't this work? Since the only real difference between series and parallel is you 'reverse' the current from one battery?

The difference between series and parallel has nothing to do with reversing anything.

Imagine current as water flowing in a pipe. Voltage is how fast it flows, Current is how fat the pipe is (more like an amount of weight per unit length of pipe, but the two are mutually exclusive).

In series, you add voltages, so a battery is an accelerator. Current going through one battery comes out at speed x, then if it goes through another it'll come out at 2x - provided the batteries are the same.

In parallel you add currents. A current is drawn from either battery when you apply a voltage to a resistance. In this case, if the pipe taking the water from each battery is y cm wide, then when you add them you end up with a pipe twice as wide.

Reversing one battery results in zero voltage which results in zero current (v = ir, 0 = ir, so either i and/or r is zero, r is fixed by design). If you want to stop a battery from having in impact you have to leave it open circuit.

 

[Ricky Roro]

I was talking about the battery itself. In parallel all of the same terminals are chained together, but in series you wire the middle positive and negative together and use the ends.

 

[Hemi-Powered Drone]

I don't use EMGs, but here's a little about batteries I know. Different batteries create a tonal difference when used in effects, at least that's what Eric Johnson says, and he is OCD about tone, so he probably knows his shit. I assume that the same would be true of active pickups.

 

[Kamikaze7]

Sorry, I'll stop asking dumb questions now

No such thing as a stupid question... The only stupid question is the one that don't get asked (and you fry electronics in the process...).

The difference between series and parallel has nothing to do with reversing anything.

Imagine current as water flowing in a pipe. Voltage is how fast it flows, Current is how fat the pipe is (more like an amount of weight per unit length of pipe, but the two are mutually exclusive).

In series, you add voltages, so a battery is an accelerator. Current going through one battery comes out at speed x, then if it goes through another it'll come out at 2x - provided the batteries are the same.

In parallel you add currents. A current is drawn from either battery when you apply a voltage to a resistance. In this case, if the pipe taking the water from each battery is y cm wide, then when you add them you end up with a pipe twice as wide.

Reversing one battery results in zero voltage which results in zero current (v = ir, 0 = ir, so either i and/or r is zero, r is fixed by design). If you want to stop a battery from having in impact you have to leave it open circuit.

Very well put again!!! Good to see someone else took electronics and retained it for future use!!!

I was talking about the battery itself. In parallel all of the same terminals are chained together, but in series you wire the middle positive and negative together and use the ends.

Yes, because what your looking to do is wire in the 2nd 9V differently than a normal 18V mod which would be in series. What Fun111 described above is right, as it's how electricity and electronics work.

I don't use EMGs, but here's a little about batteries I know. Different batteries create a tonal difference when used in effects, at least that's what Eric Johnson says, and he is OCD about tone, so he probably knows his shit. I assume that the same would be true of active pickups.

Yes it would. That is why it's ideal to use 2 of the same battery in a system if your running an 18V mod. For example, use either 2 alkaline or 2 lithium batteries at the same time. By using one of each (1 alkaline and 1 lithium) will cause it to react differently which in turn causes the difference in tone.

 

[Rook]

Very well put again!!! Good to see someone else took electronics and retained it for future use!!!

Thanks, check my signature

 

[MistaSnowman]

I'm impressed with the 707X, thus I'm looking into upgrade my RGA7 pickups to the 707X's. However, I'm wondering how easy (or difficult) installing these pickups would be, given that a) the battery compartment on the RGA7 are designed for AA's, and b) my desire to keep the EQ switch (I'm probably one of the very few that does not care for the standard tone knob.).

 

[Kamikaze7]

I'm impressed with the 707X, thus I'm looking into upgrade my RGA7 pickups to the 707X's. However, I'm wondering how easy (or difficult) installing these pickups would be, given that a) the battery compartment on the RGA7 are designed for AA's, and b) my desire to keep the EQ switch (I'm probably one of the very few that does not care for the standard tone knob.).

The pickup swap should be fairly easy, as the pickups themselves are the same size. As for wiring and the battery, you may wind up putting the 9V in the normal control cavity or you could make the AA cavity a little bigger to put the 9V in there.

The factory EQ switch you may not be able to wire to the EMG's. So if you were looking to have an EQ circuit in there, you may wanna consider something like the PA-2 Preamp booster or the PI-2 Phase inverter if you wanna keep the same size switch, or for an actual tone EQ circuit, you can run the EXG, SPC or RPC controls, but you'd need to make the 2nd hole bigger to fit a normal sized pot in there.

 

[Kamikaze7]

Just a reminder to everyone to use this thread for any questions about anything EMG related... This is also a bump to push this thread to the top of the list...

If any of the mods are viewing this, can someone please move this thread to the very top of the list with the EMG 7-string pickup thread please??? Thanks in advanced!

 

[Kamikaze7]

Thanks DJ!!!