Sevenstring.org pickups of choice...

[sevenstringj]

E-M-G! E-M-G! E-M-G! E-M-G!

I think people [who don't have endorsement deals] may grow out of EMGs because they essentially offer only 2 humbuckers for the bridge: 81 and 85. Same thing with their 7-strings. Most pickup manufacturers offer a lot more variety. So while I'm sure some people simply don't like their pickups, "EMGs suck" could often be a lazy way of saying "I'm getting tired of EMG's, I'd like some more variety, and they're not offering me anything else, so..." And their 7-string routing doesn't exactly facilitate a switch, so a bit of resentment comes into play.

If Duncan made only the JB and Custom, along with 7-string pickups in soapbar housings people would say Duncans suck too. Nah mean?

 

[BrainArt]

I know loads of people say they sound generic and I'm not a huge EMG fan by any means, they have pros and cons like all pickups do that I've tried. (I've got two sets of BKPs being installed right now, so that may well change lol)
But I play a few guitars with EMGs in and I still hear "me" in there.

The guitars I've played that have EMGs in them still had "my" tone to them, and gear must love me or my hands because I've gotten a perfectly crystal sparkling clean out of them, even with a Mesa Recto. And I'm not saying that because they're local and could be watching me while I type this. *looks over shoulders* Damn paranoia.

For me it's EMGs, and DiMarzios. I will eventually get a set of BKPs for my main 6, though.

 

[Cheesebuiscut]

emg 60 was the only other neck pup I've ever liked besides my Q-tuners though I only messed around with it for 20 minutes in a sam ash on a ec-1000. My opinion of that pup may have changed though since that was pre-Q tuners.

Nowadays I cant stand any pups besides Q-tuners (I haven't tried bkp's yet but I may in the future and that may change my mind) because they color the tone coming out of the guitar waaaay too much and just plain sound unnatural vs the Qt's.

@sevenstringj: its funny you mention the lack of options, I'm stuck on Q-tuners now and there is literally only 1 option with more or less output

and no ones ever said they suck, just stupid expensive.

 

[Konfyouzd]

i would like to actually try a bkp before i buy it. i always listen to sound clips of pickups and sometimes i really can't tell a difference until i've actually played them.

hell i like the sound clips i've heard of people using the dimarzio x2n more than the tones i can actually get out of it...

 

[Cheesebuiscut]

its been determined many times over that clips are pretty worthless in determining how things sound in person xD

 

[Werwolf999]

i would like to actually try a bkp before i buy it. i always listen to sound clips of pickups and sometimes i really can't tell a difference until i've actually played them.

hell i like the sound clips i've heard of people using the dimarzio x2n more than the tones i can actually get out of it...

I definitely hear where you're coming from!

I'd asked around prior to making my last pickup purchase and got a lot of good responses to, but nothing compares to a good sound clip.

That said, there are also a lot a really awful sounding pickup clips out there, especially on Youtube. But even a bad clip can at least give you a rough idea of where that particular pickup is going.

As for EMGs, I had a guitar with 707s once. At first I thought they sounded great, but after a year's time I found myself getting more and more frustrated with the tones I was getting, as they all seemed to have this flat condensed sound. Of course, I was limited, in terms of tonality, by my meager set-up, but no matter what settings/configurations I tried, I couldn't get rid of that flatness.

Again the aforementioned should not be misconstrued as EMG bashing. Instead, it should simply be taken as a personal opinion on an otherwise well made product.

I'm using a BKP Warpig now courtesy of Nick/Zimboth.

 

[daveycrockett]

GuitarHeads HexBuckers here, passive goodness

 

[conorreich]

i absolutely love my sd invader but i only like it in alder
in basswood its complete shit

i really want to try bkps once i can afford it

 

[Scar Symmetry]

to all those that think they are too good for EMGs, here is a list of people who are loyal EMG users:

Alexi Laiho
Alex Webster
Andy Sneap
Björn Gelotte
Brendon Small
Buz McGrath
Chris Storey
Colin Edwin
David Gilmour
Devin Townsend
Eric Peterson
Galder
James Murphy
Jeff Loomis
Jim Root
Joel Stroetzel
Kris Norris
Marc Rizzo
Patrik Jensen
Peter Wichers
Rustey Cooley
Steve Lukather
Steve Smyth
Victor Wooten
Wes Borland
Zakk Wylde

...still think you're too good for them?

 

[caughtinamosh]

That may be so, but some people just genuinely prefer other brands. I don't think that it has much to do with feeling that EMGs are beneath the player in question.

 

[Scar Symmetry]

it's only directed at those that feel 'above' EMGs and treat them as if they are pickups for 'n00bs'.

 

[Scar Symmetry]

it also begs the question: if all of those great players are able to get great tones out of EMGs, yet a lot of people who claim not to like EMGs but enjoy the tones of said artists cannot get those great tones out of the same pickups, is the problem with the pickup or with the user?

 

[caughtinamosh]

it also begs the question: if all of those great players are able to get great tones out of EMGs, yet a lot of people who claim not to like EMGs but enjoy the tones of said artists cannot get those great tones out of the same pickups, is the problem with the pickup or with the user?

...or the rest of the user's gear.

 

[Scar Symmetry]

...or the rest of the user's gear.

exactly

 

[JoshuaLogan]

it also begs the question: if all of those great players are able to get great tones out of EMGs, yet a lot of people who claim not to like EMGs but enjoy the tones of said artists cannot get those great tones out of the same pickups, is the problem with the pickup or with the user?

haha we're like twins. I've had this same discussion on here before and always get bitched out for it. it's just a trend here. emg's are badmouthed and bare knuckles obsessed over. probably has a lot to do with the meshuggah obsession here and the fact that they use passives.

I love Jeff Loomis' tone and that's what I like about EMGs.... lots of harmonics and very lively sounding... they sound better with thicker sounding amps, I think.

They can get really warm tones too... especially the EMG DC bass pickups. I have a Spector Euro 5 string bass, and it sounds really good... I think Alex Webster and Colin Edwin both use Spector Euros with EMGs... so, they're pretty versatile. James Leach from Sikth used the same EMG DCs in his custom mcntyre too... and Sikth were known for that passive sound... I don't think a lot of people realize that he used EMGs (I believe he had Bartolinis in originally but swapped them out for the EMG DCs).

I've heard plenty of different people get great tones out of EMGs as well as various passives...

 

[Harry]

to all those that think they are too good for EMGs, here is a list of people who are loyal EMG users:

Alexi Laiho
Alex Webster
Andy Sneap
Björn Gelotte
Brendon Small
Buz McGrath
Chris Storey
Colin Edwin
David Gilmour
Devin Townsend
Eric Peterson
Galder
James Murphy
Jeff Loomis
Jim Root
Joel Stroetzel
Kris Norris
Marc Rizzo
Patrik Jensen
Peter Wichers
Rustey Cooley
Steve Lukather
Steve Smyth
Victor Wooten
Wes Borland
Zakk Wylde

...still think you're too good for them?

But I hate Rusty Cooley's Alexi Laiho's tone

However, the KSE boys, particularly on End of Heartache has some of the best tone in metal EVER IMHO, and Jeff Loomis can sound quite godly with EMGs.
For me, it's just EMGs don't work for me personally (too compressed) but others it can work golden wonders.

 

[willybman]

to all those that think they are too good for EMGs, here is a list of people who are loyal EMG users:

Alexi Laiho
Alex Webster
Andy Sneap
Björn Gelotte
Brendon Small
Buz McGrath
Chris Storey
Colin Edwin
David Gilmour
Devin Townsend
Eric Peterson
Galder
James Murphy
Jeff Loomis
Jim Root
Joel Stroetzel
Kris Norris
Marc Rizzo
Patrik Jensen
Peter Wichers
Rustey Cooley
Steve Lukather
Steve Smyth
Victor Wooten
Wes Borland
Zakk Wylde

...still think you're too good for them?

Victor Wooten FTFW!!!, sorry for going off topic.

Im a jb/59 lover my self.

 

[xmetalhead69]

My main guitars,
6 - D activator's on my XPT700
7 - X2N's on my S7320,
8 - EMG 808 on my Agile