I still love EMG's, anyone else feel the same?

[VESmedic]

For years, I, like alot of you, have been on the bare knuckle bandwagon. And yes, to me, they are THAT good. I have an aftermath, a set of miracle mans, a cold sweat, and 2 warpigs, all in various guitars, in various combinations. I absolutely love the way they sound, do not get me wrong...However....

Plugged my schecter 7 string with an 81-7 in the bridge in the other night, in B flat standard: and LOVED IT! For "that" specific tone, I still really love EMG's, and I never thought I'd say that. The clarity and midrange grind that the 81 produces in DOWN TUNED/ 7 string guitars, is hard to beat, atleast in my opinion. Keynote: I am speaking only in downtuned/7s, not in standard tuning. I have no desire really to use EMG's in anything close to standard tuning.

The clarity especially that EMG's produce, with that much gain, and how tight they stay in low tunings, is great. I actually STILL think they are tighter than everything I have heard (the aftermath is RIGHT there though, that is for sure), or at the very least, they seem to NOT have the extended bass response of other passives, making them "seem" tighter, which again, is great at low tunings.

Just food for thought I guess, I have been around quite awhile, and have an ear for what I like, but your ear changes, and so does your taste, make no mistake about it. On that note, my main live guitars are all BKP equipped. Do I feel that the BKP's offer more "tone" (for lack of a better term) than EMG's, and alot more going on and alot more harmonic complexity? Absolutely. Is that necessarily better always? Absolutely not..No absolutes in this business that is for sure. I can guarentee you though, my EMG equipped 7 will get alot more play time now though from now on Just thought I would share, and see if anyone feels the same.

Chris

 

[loktide]

i fell the same way about EMGs. they're awesome at what they do, but really a one-trick pony

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

i fell the same way about EMGs. they're awesome at what they do, but really a one-trick pony

But instead of doing multiple things decently, they do their one thing magnificently. And honestly, theyre probably my favorite pickup for clean tones. I dont see why people hate on them for being bad with cleans. My Emg 85 loves to run on the clean channel. No breakup at all.

Ive also seen people make excuses about the battery dying in the middle of a show. 1) You obiously never used Emgs. And 2) Emgs can last several months on a set of batteries if left unplugged.

Im a big fan of Emgs, and if I had the routing skills, id waste no time in modifying my Ibby Rg7321 to fit an 81-7 and a 707.

 

[Konfyouzd]

Ive also seen people make excuses about the battery dying in the middle of a show. 1) You obiously never used Emgs. And 2) Emgs can last several months on a set of batteries if left unplugged.

3. What battery operated deviced have you EVER owned where you couldn't tell the battery was dying WELL before it completely died on you?

Clearly all those ppl have never used a remote control...

 

[MetalDaze]

I have the EMG love, but then again I grew up listening to a lot of music in the late 80's, early 90's

 

[Blue1970Cutlass]

Yup!

Having the luxury of multiple guitars for other pickups/sounds is a factor though... If I only had ONE guitar I dunno if it would have EMG's

 

[HeHasTheJazzHands]

Also, when an Emg battery is close to dying, its very noticable. It sounds like youre stacking fuzz pedals. They dont just cut out.

 

[Rick]

I love EMGs.

 

[primerib]

But instead of doing multiple things decently, they do their one thing magnificently.

That's how I feel about them. I've tried so many other PU's and I always come back to EMGs

 

[BabUShka]

I love them too. Last 3-4 years I've only had guitars with EMG's. The 81/60 combo in a mahogany guitar is sweeeet as hell.
But I do agree with you, they sound best with detuned guitars. In standard tuning i think they sound a little bit cold, but once I dro ptune my guitar in drop D, og my Hellraiser C7 to drop G#, it sounds brutal as fuck. Punchy and crystal clear sound.

Im swapping the EMGs in my ATX for SD SH5 soon because i need a more versatile guitar with passives. Im very excited if I'll miss the EMG's or not =p

But for me, EMG 81 in live situations is a winner. Tight sound, low noise and good cut.
There is one downside with actives though.. They tend to sound a little bit harsh through DI-recordig devices suck as POD's, thats my experience.

 

[Shask]

I love them also, and I think I always will....

That doesn't mean that I don't like playing passives sometimes, but I think EMG's are always an awesome choice...

 

[DslDwg]

I like 'em - have an 81/60 set in maple and an 81X/60X set in Mahogany. Haven't taken over as my favorite yet but I think they are a great pick-up.

The battery is a non-issue - I've been running on board pre-amps for so long it's just part of my normal guitar maintenance to deal with the batteries.

 

[danger5oh]

I almost posted basically the same thread lol. I've never hated on EMG's, but there def was a period of time where I jumped on the boutique passive bandwagon. Strangely enough, while awaiting a new set of BKP's for one of my Jackson's, I decided to throw some EMG's that I had laying around in it temporarily... and wow...it was such a breath of fresh air. Needless to say, the EMG's are staying and the BKP's will be put into something else.

 

[wlfers]

They are my favorite pickup, never felt otherwise.

I've played them so much that both my picking technique and the way I eq amps subconsciously assumes I'm playing emgs.

 

[Kristianx510]

Am I the only one who loves passive EMG's?

 

[setsuna7]

Love'em. Use 'em on my 8. Nuff said.

 

[xCaptainx]

I've been using emg 81s for a decade. I've had blackouts, dimarzo PAF pros, X2Ns and various other high gain pickups and I've always gone back to the 81. I've built my entire setup around EMGs so anything else would require me to start from scratch haha.

Made the switch to 81x last year and they are even better!

 

[Mprinsje]

love my 81, sounds very good for cleans also, people who say they don't can't eq for shit.

 

[MikeSweeney]

i love my emg in my les paul but i wana see how the black out emty are

 

[Key_Maker]

My favorite combo is what i have in my RGA, 89R and 89R-X. Sweet, tight, full, growl and versatile.

I think that depends a lot of the guitar, but the 85/89 are my favorite.