Is the EMG hate justified?

[InAbsentia_]

On almost every guitar forum people constantly bash EMG pickups with phrases such as unplayably sterile, dead sounding and a host of other imaginative terms.

Is all this hate justified? I think that everyone is just jumping on the collective bandwagon when it comes to EMG bashing. They hear or see a couple of people doing it, and then do it again as soon another EMG pickup thread comes up.

What's the REAL deal here?

 

[dnoel86]

On almost every guitar forum people constantly bash EMG pickups with phrases such as unplayably sterile, dead sounding and a host of other imaginative terms.

Is all this hate justified? I think that everyone is just jumping on the collective bandwagon when it comes to EMG bashing. They hear or see a couple of people doing it, and then do it again as soon another EMG pickup thread comes up.

What's the REAL deal here?

You should go to your local guitar store and try them for yourself. Everyone's opinion is going to be different. I personally can't stand the tone, but that doesn't mean you won't like it.

 

[zimbloth]

On almost every guitar forum people constantly bash EMG pickups with phrases such as unplayably sterile, dead sounding and a host of other imaginative terms.

Is all this hate justified? I think that everyone is just jumping on the collective bandwagon when it comes to EMG bashing. They hear or see a couple of people doing it, and then do it again as soon another EMG pickup thread comes up.

What's the REAL deal here?

I think a lot of people such as myself and many people I know have a love/hate relationship with EMGs. Sometimes we love how they sound, sometimes we hate it.

For me, yes they are super compressed, sterile, noisy, and definitely lack in dynamics. They also have excellent clarity, tightness, harmonics, output, and aggressiveness - qualities I do like. With certain guitars/amps/situation they can definitely sound killer.

At the end of the day, as much as I rag on EMGs I do think they're very good pickups. I just find them to be kind of generic and boring, thus I grow tired of them quickly in a guitar. High-end passives have a complex, three-dimensional character and richness to the tone that EMGs just don't possess. THey also tend to sound more organic and respond to pick dynamics better. With good passives, you can roll the guitar volume down and go from massive brutality to light crunch to sweet cleans, all without touching the settings on the amp. With EMGs this is really not possible. Finally, EMGs tend to dominate your tone so much that you don't get much of the natural tone of the guitar like you do with a good passive.

So, they do not suck, they're actually better than most pickups on the market I think, but they just don't cut it for me anymore. They have a cool sound and are good for tracking due to their clarity (the 81 anyways), but I just find them to sound extremely generic and boring. Not for me.

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

The EMG's in my Loomis sound tight and compressed, which is good when I bust out the death metulz. But when I go to play anything clean they sound really..lifeless.

 

[Metal Ken]

Depends on the EMGs. Some EMGs are exactly as described above. However, other EMGs produce some amazing tone. The David Gilmour set is a great example. Most of the time you hear people complain about them, they're talking about the EMG81, the most common humbucker EMG makes, that goes stock in every guitar ESP, for example, markets for metal

 

[InAbsentia_]

Depends on the EMGs. Some EMGs are exactly as described above. However, other EMGs produce some amazing tone. The David Gilmour set is a great example. Most of the time you hear people complain about them, they're talking about the EMG81, the most common humbucker EMG makes, that goes stock in every guitar ESP, for example, markets for metal

Why would a bad pickup be so popular? I think after the SH-4, the 81 is the most commonly used pickup for metal. So, seeing that it's dead, compressed, clippy, sterile and lifeless - why is it so damn popular and used by a variety of top class metal acts?

 

[Stealthdjentstic]

Its not a bad pickup, it's fairly cheap and gets you some kickass distorted sounds..

 

[vgta]

Why would a bad pickup be so popular? I think after the SH-4, the 81 is the most commonly used pickup for metal. So, seeing that it's dead, compressed, clippy, sterile and lifeless - why is it so damn popular and used by a variety of top class metal acts?

endorsement ?

I play for about 15 years on guitars loaded with EMG (81/81-tw/85/89) and one thing you should do with is 18V mod.
Very simple to do , and every EMG sound far better , more headroom , volume pot can be used.

But , like Zimloth , I'm bored of them

 

[InAbsentia_]

endorsement ?

I play for about 15 years on guitars loaded with EMG (81/81-tw/85/89) and one thing you should do with is 18V mod.
Very simple to do , and every EMG sound far better , more headroom , volume pot can be used.

But , like Zimloth , I'm bored of them

Is the 18v mod procedure any different with a set w/ coil tapping? My Schecter has a 81TW/89 set.

Also - have zero soldering experience. Any sort of experience required for this?

 

[timbaline]

EMG's aren't terrible. They just aren't suited to many people's tastes. I think they are great for distorted metal, but not for cleans. I haven't tried their passive pickups yet though.

 

[loktide]

I think a lot of people such as myself and many people I know have a love/hate relationship with EMGs. Sometimes we love how they sound, sometimes we hate it.

For me, yes they are super compressed, sterile, noisy, and definitely lack in dynamics. They also have excellent clarity, tightness, harmonics, output, and aggressiveness - qualities I do like. With certain guitars/amps/situation they can definitely sound killer.

i absolutely agree with this.

personally, i like EMGs and think they are great pickups for the sound they produce. Heck, i even like them better than some popular bare knuckle pickups models for certain guitars!
Passive's just have different qualities so it's really like comparing apples and oranges. To be more precise: Apples being dozens of different passives models rom different manufacturers, compared to just two different oranges (EMG81 and EMG85).

 

[march]

On almost every guitar forum people constantly bash EMG pickups with phrases such as unplayably sterile, dead sounding and a host of other imaginative terms.

Is all this hate justified? I think that everyone is just jumping on the collective bandwagon when it comes to EMG bashing. They hear or see a couple of people doing it, and then do it again as soon another EMG pickup thread comes up.

What's the REAL deal here?

The collective bandwagon thing is exactly what's happening here, what's the hearsay of the day/month/year becomes everyone's expert opinion on a particular product ...

 

[Scar Symmetry]

Why would a bad pickup be so popular? I think after the SH-4, the 81 is the most commonly used pickup for metal. So, seeing that it's dead, compressed, clippy, sterile and lifeless - why is it so damn popular and used by a variety of top class metal acts?

False. If that's what you think of the 81 then you've either heard it in the wrong guitar or through the wrong amp.

As for justified? No

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/pi...l-tech/90449-the-emg-appreciation-thread.html

EMG's aren't terrible. They just aren't suited to many people's tastes.

Dude what are you smoking? Are you forgetting about the thousands of pro bands that use EMGs?

personally, i like EMGs and think they are great pickups for the sound they produce. Heck, i even like them better than some popular bare knuckle pickups models for certain guitars!

The collective bandwagon thing is exactly what's happening here, what's the hearsay of the day/month/year becomes everyone's expert opinion on a particular product ...

 

[signalgrey]

i liked the single coil ones in a strat....
and i liked the active neck pup (85?)

hated the bridge one.

its ok for some stuff. i wouldnt mind having an ax with EMGs or actives for extra flavor. but HATING on them...nah. just not for me all the time.

 

[JMP2203]

active and pasives pickups are great depending on how you use them, imo both have their place and its depend on your style and amp. if you are dino carazes you dont need a pasive pickup imo. but also other type of players like Gilmour and Lukather use them. I like my BKP`s i use C-Bomb and C-Pig but right now im looking for a new guitar with active pickups for the metal stuff and maybe get some BKP not to hot for my other guitars because i think its will work better for my rig. Still experimenting...

 

[InAbsentia_]

False. If that's what you think of the 81 then you've either heard it in the wrong guitar or through the wrong amp.

As for justified? No

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/pi...l-tech/90449-the-emg-appreciation-thread.html

That isn't what I think of the 81. That's all I've been hearing about it for the past year on every guitar forum known to man, with the odd person jumping in to defend them. I just want to get an UNBIASED opinion on these pickups.

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

The collective bandwagon thing is exactly what's happening here, what's the hearsay of the day/month/year becomes everyone's expert opinion on a particular product ...

That makes you sound like a pretentious EMG fan boy.

I have used actives, and I just don't dig them.

The only "hate" I have is for the 7 string soapbars. They could have easily made it passive sized (even if they say otherwise) as is proven by SD making Blackouts in the standard housing.

I will never hate on a pickup because I don't personally like it's sound (which I happen to not in this case) because pickups are easily changed, unless you have a big gaping hole in your guitar left by a big soapbar sized pickup

 

[Scar Symmetry]

That makes you sound like a pretentious EMG fan boy.

I have used actives, and I just don't dig them.

The only "hate" I have is for the 7 string soapbars. They could have easily made it passive sized (even if they say otherwise) as is proven by SD making Blackouts in the standard housing.

I will never hate on a pickup because I don't personally like it's sound (which I happen to not in this case) because pickups are easily changed, unless you have a big gaping hole in your guitar left by a big soapbar sized pickup

I don't think it makes him sound like a pretentious EMG fan boy at all

I agree with him, a lot of people who don't know what they're talking about see some guy say "I R H8 EMGZ, BKP FTW!!!" and they adopt the same opinion. EMGs then get bashed further and further, even though half the people bashing them haven't even used EMGs.

That's the way I see it anyway.

 

[JJ Rodriguez]

Well I don't dislike EMG's because of some internet bandwagon thing which he was implying. I've used them, AND Blackouts, and BKP's, and a bunch of SD's. Implying that by simply disliking something I've used for a couple years, and used the "improved" version (if you buy into SD's Blackout hype) for awhile in a couple guitars, is something I kind of take offense to.

 

[jymellis]

i had put an emg passive hz h3 in the neck of my peavey and liked it. it had a little noise when not being played, but a damn nice tone.