Preventing EMG logo deterioration

  • Thread starter Samark
  • Start date
  • This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.

Marked Man

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2018
Messages
1,395
Reaction score
2,290
Location
Atlanta, GA
Sorry, but "old EMG logo mojo" isn't happening. Anyone silly enough to pay more money for a used EMG pickup because the logo is the old version deserves to get taken for whatever they're worth.

There is a certain percentage of "adult" guitarists who get hot and bothered over original "case candy", which is about as important as the "surprise" in a Happy Meal...... :lol:
 

This site may earn a commission from merchant links like Ebay, Amazon, and others.

Yul Brynner

Fabricated Background
Joined
Sep 12, 2008
Messages
7,522
Reaction score
9,130
Location
Mongolia
Sorry, but "old EMG logo mojo" isn't happening. Anyone silly enough to pay more money for a used EMG pickup because the logo is the old version deserves to get taken for whatever they're worth.
No way dude. It's totally happening. Once we hype the shit out of the old logo EMGs being so much better and they start selling for idiotic bkp money, EMG will want to start making the old logo again as a vintage reissue.
 

narad

Progressive metal and politics
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
16,701
Reaction score
30,989
Location
Tokyo
I like all the criticism like it's okay to obsess over the grain of the wood in the top or similar, but not okay to obsess over fonts. It's like that apocryphal story:

They are telling this of Lord Beaverbrook and a visiting Yankee actress. In a game of hypothetical questions, Beaverbrook asked the lady: ‘Would you live with a stranger [i.e., sleep with a stranger] if he paid you one million pounds?’ She said she would. ‘And if be paid you five pounds?’ The irate lady fumed: ‘Five pounds. What do you think I am?’ Beaverbrook replied: ‘We’ve already established that. Now we are trying to determine the degree.”

Caring about logos is a far degree, but don't pretend you're not whores also.
 

electric

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2019
Messages
6
Reaction score
6
Sorry, but "old EMG logo mojo" isn't happening. Anyone silly enough to pay more money for a used EMG pickup because the logo is the old version deserves to get taken for whatever they're worth.

Trust me, this is one of the more innocent whims out there, and the few on-topic replies are quite informative if you've into guitar electronics geekery. Take it as it is.

As long as i'm not grossly over-paying and it's in good condition, i sometimes go with the older if the current production changed it in ways i don't like. Sometimes you get to actually save money buying used AND have the better product. Not an expert on EMGs, but i know they've undergone changes over the years, and some early 90s versions are quite different to the current chinese production, if you consider they're made in the USA and have a different internal op-amp. Some of us also prefer soldered wire to the shitty molex connectors, and have the skills and knowledge to do it. In this case though, the "old logo" may or may not be purely aesthetic, seeing they introduced it around 2009.
 

Excruciator

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Messages
70
Reaction score
104
Location
UK
Whilst elements of this thread are hard to take seriously, that's pretty much the case with online discourse in general as of late. As far as the actual distinction between old and new logo EMG's, it's indeed not as superficial as it sounds. Around 2009, so likely coinciding with the logo change, EMG did change the construction of their pickups, and do use a different op-amp comparatively, as far as I understand.

Old EMG 81 specs (reported):

EMG 81 Bridge

Resonant Frequency: 2250 Hz (2.25 kHz)
Average Output Voltage: 1.25
Maximum Output Voltage: 1.75
Noise: -91 dBV
Output Impedance: 10K Ohm
Current Consumption: 80 Microamps
Battery Life: 3000 hours
Magnet: Ceramic

Current specs (reported):

EMG 81 Bridge

Resonant Frequency: 1630 Hz (1.63 kHz)
Output Voltage (string) : 3
Output Voltage (strum) : 4.5
Noise: -100 dBV
Output Impedance: 10K Ohm
Current Consumption: 400 Microamps
Battery Life: 600 hours
Magnet: Ceramic

Whether most people would perceive any difference in feel or tonality is a different point entirely; should I ever get a more recent 707 or 6 string sized 85 I'll be sure to test, but that is unlikely to happen. As far as the output figures being wildly different, I'd suspect they are just measuring that in a different way now, since such measurements are context dependent, hence the discrepancy. I don't think they got significantly hotter.
 
Last edited:

Excruciator

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Messages
70
Reaction score
104
Location
UK
Just an addendum: It seems the old op-amp went out of production around 2016/17, so it could be later than 2009. That's not to say they didn't make changes around then, it's not exactly easy or cheap to check and I have no plans to try. However, for those who care, the old logo being a reliable signifier of the old configuration still stands, assuming you can spot the fakes, of course.
 

Spaced Out Ace

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2010
Messages
11,531
Reaction score
6,692
Location
Indiana
As far as the output figures being wildly different, I'd suspect they are just measuring that in a different way now, since such measurements are context dependent, hence the discrepancy. I don't think they got significantly hotter.
Output voltage, I believe, refers more to headroom from the voltage, such as 9v vs 18v. The X series readings are about double.
 

Excruciator

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 26, 2008
Messages
70
Reaction score
104
Location
UK
Output voltage, I believe, refers more to headroom from the voltage, such as 9v vs 18v. The X series readings are about double.
The headroom and input voltage are definitely correlated, with headroom diminishing as the battery loses power past a certain point. If these measurements were purely about headroom though, it doesn't make sense then to differentiate between single string and strum in this context; the headroom is the headroom, regardless of how many strings you hit. Nor does it seem to make sense that the X series have a higher reading, since, as I understand it, they manufacture extra headroom purely by lowering the gain in the preamp quite significantly, and have a lower output in general. Even with passives, output measurements offered to the public are heavily context dependent and very limited as metrics, there's even more confounding factors with actives and unfortunately we're provided with zero context (as per).

I suspect old and new "output" fields are both some form of output metrics, as their names suggest, just performed under different circumstances. For example, the output leaving the pickup and the output of the signal that leaves the guitar are very different. You could use either as an "output" metric. The cynic in me suspects it may be listed to appeal to enjoyers of "pickup top trumps", to allow comparison to the Dimarzio numbers. In this instance, I pretty much just ignore these fields, I just thought it was worthwhile to say, so people don't think the new ones are insanely hot compared to the old, or that the current emg-81 is 9 times hotter than an x2n.

More interesting to me is the shift in resonant frequency, the improvement in noise and the huge change in current draw which all signify there are significant differences, potentially quite perceptible ones.
 

Spaced Out Ace

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 27, 2010
Messages
11,531
Reaction score
6,692
Location
Indiana
The Bogner "Sonic Fuel" 9v alkaline battery delivers wide tonal range and fast dynamic attack to your pedal. When every component in your signal chain affects your tone, you need a Bogner "Sonic Fuel" 9v battery to deliver maximum sonic character. The battery fueling your pedals can be just as critical as choosing the right pick or set of strings. That's why Bogner has decided to unleash this powerful 9v battery on the public. Once available only with Bogner pedals, now you can fuel all your pedals with Bogner "Sonic Fuel."

:lol: :rofl:
 

Yul Brynner

Fabricated Background
Joined
Sep 12, 2008
Messages
7,522
Reaction score
9,130
Location
Mongolia
The Bogner "Sonic Fuel" 9v alkaline battery delivers wide tonal range and fast dynamic attack to your pedal. When every component in your signal chain affects your tone, you need a Bogner "Sonic Fuel" 9v battery to deliver maximum sonic character. The battery fueling your pedals can be just as critical as choosing the right pick or set of strings. That's why Bogner has decided to unleash this powerful 9v battery on the public. Once available only with Bogner pedals, now you can fuel all your pedals with Bogner "Sonic Fuel."

:lol: :rofl:
I read that and in my head it was the voice of Rod on the price is right.
 

HeHasTheJazzHands

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 18, 2011
Messages
37,251
Reaction score
30,729
Location
Louisiana
The Bogner "Sonic Fuel" 9v alkaline battery delivers wide tonal range and fast dynamic attack to your pedal. When every component in your signal chain affects your tone, you need a Bogner "Sonic Fuel" 9v battery to deliver maximum sonic character. The battery fueling your pedals can be just as critical as choosing the right pick or set of strings. That's why Bogner has decided to unleash this powerful 9v battery on the public. Once available only with Bogner pedals, now you can fuel all your pedals with Bogner "Sonic Fuel."

:lol: :rofl:
This is the most Reinhold Bogner product ever
 

c7spheres

GuitArtist
Joined
Jan 13, 2017
Messages
4,758
Reaction score
4,415
Location
Arizona
You could cover the logo with black paper and tpe over it with scotch tape.
 

Marked Man

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 28, 2018
Messages
1,395
Reaction score
2,290
Location
Atlanta, GA
The Bogner "Sonic Fuel" 9v alkaline battery delivers wide tonal range and fast dynamic attack to your pedal. When every component in your signal chain affects your tone, you need a Bogner "Sonic Fuel" 9v battery to deliver maximum sonic character. The battery fueling your pedals can be just as critical as choosing the right pick or set of strings. That's why Bogner has decided to unleash this powerful 9v battery on the public. Once available only with Bogner pedals, now you can fuel all your pedals with Bogner "Sonic Fuel."

:lol: :rofl:

Interesting, but I'm gonna need a Zakk Wylde endorsement first. :donnie:
 
Top