To EMG or NOT to EMG...

[Jan]

Get PAFs. Or PAF-style 7-string pickups. EMG 57 nails this but nothing beats a nice PAF pickup for that style and the sound you are looking for. They have low mids but they also have chime and that wide-sounding bright tone to make your guitar come alive. High-gain pickups tend to darken the tone.

Jeez man, it's like you've read my mind... This is exactly what I am looking for, but having tried 3 sets of passive pups in this guitar (SD Pegasus, SD SH6, BKP Holy Diver), I am worried that passives may not make enough difference to compensate for the tonal qualities (or lack thereof, lol) of this particular guitar. I will try EMG 57 (that's the one I have) hoping the active preamp will override some of the tonal characteristics of the wood...

 

[Mathemagician]

Just put in EMG’s. I’m sure it’s all been said before but if you’re looking for anything close to what an EMG does then nothing does it better. It’s about our ears not our brain.

 

[cindarkness]

I swear for Fishman Moderns. All the EMG goodness but with more variety to it. Many hate em, but I'm a big fan. Besides, there is nothing a EQ tweak on amp can't fix.

After all, the tone is in the hands. Or as I have learned from this forum, tone is stored in the balls..

 

[lewis]

I swear for Fishman Moderns. All the EMG goodness but with more variety to it. Many hate em, but I'm a big fan. Besides, there is nothing a EQ tweak on amp can't fix.

After all, the tone is in the hands. Or as I have learned from this forum, tone is stored in the balls..

Ive heard this many times over in the last 10 years and Ive never personally been able to prove it.

I toured with a custom Ibanez RG that had full EMG solderless pots etc. I only like active voice modern bridge and passive voice neck so I used jumper clips to permantly have those selections. Then I could quickly swap the modern set out for dual 81s for whatever show I wanted on the tour.
The rig was exactly the same every time (my former Kemper) and despite eq'ing the profile repeatedly I could never get that guitar to sound the same regardless of the pickups.

When EMGs were in, it sounded like an EMG guitar and when Fishmans were in it sounded like a Fishman guitar - and no amount of EQ'ing balanced the pickups out etc.

A/Bing like this on a tour proved to me NOTHING cuts and sounds as powerful live, as EMGs do.
I had continuous issues with the FIshman Moderns getting lost in the live mix. The upper end quacky frequencies and "super focused Hifi" of those pups, was constantly fighting against the cymbals.

Plus they sound more scooped live, or thinner/brittle? its weird. Everyone goes on about the FIshmans mids but they seem almost non exsistent live when compared to EMGs

 

[MASS DEFECT]

Jeez man, it's like you've read my mind... This is exactly what I am looking for, but having tried 3 sets of passive pups in this guitar (SD Pegasus, SD SH6, BKP Holy Diver), I am worried that passives may not make enough difference to compensate for the tonal qualities (or lack thereof, lol) of this particular guitar. I will try EMG 57 (that's the one I have) hoping the active preamp will override some of the tonal characteristics of the wood...

I was in the same boat. I had a really dark-sounding guitar. It sounded MASSIVE but bloated and bassy. There wasn't this openess that you hear when you play through an SG or a Les Paul. It lacked that clean low mid palm mute and bell-like highs.

I put EMG 81, 57, HetSet (which are really bright, btw), Fluence Classics (the brightest), and all that preamp gain further congested and compressed the signal. Sure it gave me tons of tight attack, but I just was looking for that uncompressed, wide open, breathing tone. Gibson and DiMarzio Paf style pups gave me that. I'm sure you can find a 7 string equivalent.

The EMG 57 is good, though. Just pull it far from the strings.

 

[Jan]

I was in the same boat. I had a really dark-sounding guitar. It sounded MASSIVE but bloated and bassy. There wasn't this openess that you hear when you play through an SG or a Les Paul. It lacked that clean low mid palm mute and bell-like highs.

I put EMG 81, 57, HetSet (which are really bright, btw), Fluence Classics (the brightest), and all that preamp gain further congested and compressed the signal. Sure it gave me tons of tight attack, but I just was looking for that uncompressed, wide open, breathing tone. Gibson and DiMarzio Paf style pups gave me that. I'm sure you can find a 7 string equivalent.

The EMG 57 is good, though. Just pull it far from the strings.

Seriously mate, it fecking is like you are reading my mind. "Uncompressed, wide open, breathing tone" with grinding, open mids and low-mid thump is all I am after. My seven-string ESP is like your guitar, super resonant, massive low end, but no low mids and not much mids at all. I once played an Ibanez K7 with Dimarzio PAFs and it was exactly the tone I wanted, open and crisp. But having tried 3 sets of passives, which all made VERY little difference, I thought EMGs were the only solution. Still, having just played a bit with the 57-7 I must say:

- the difference is subtle but it's there and for the better. While the sound might be a wee bit more "congested"/less open, it is a surprisingly small difference, which the guitar now makes up for in overall warmth.
- the guitar sounds fuller and thicker, but the bass is more controlled, tracks better, faster. There are now some low mids (yes!!! At last!) and a similar amount of high mids as before. There might be less top end, but I am honestly not sure. If if there is less top end, it is still enough.
- the SH6 made me crank up the mids/treble on my EVH 5150 EL 34, which brought out an unpleasant frequency in the high miss/top end. Using a boost made it even worse. Now that frequency is gone and I can use my boosts without getting that harshness.


Overall, would I like the kind of PAF sound you are describing? Yes. Did the 57-7 get me there? Not exactly, as I would like more openness. BUT it added the missing low mids, evened out the frequencies and tightened up/ improved bass response, while still retaining SOME openness compared to Duncan Distortion which it replaced. I am pleased.

Oh, in case anyone is wondering, the pickup fit the cavities, no widening was necessary.

@MASS DEFECT
Why do I need to move it away from the strings? I mean, how does this impact the sound? And how far is far away? Thanks

 

[olejason]

I'm a pickup moron. Are there any passive pickups that sound similar to the 81/85 combo? Looking to put something in my Kiesel 7 string.

 

[MASS DEFECT]

Great to hear that the 57 worked out. I loved the 57 when I had one, but I'm just a HetSet kinda guy.

I always back off from the strings when using the 57 and Hetset. I prefer them about flush to my pickup rings. It just improves the clarity and the attack is not as compressed. You get that satisfying twang back on mid gain tones.

 

[Choop]

Could always check out the Duncan SH-5. It's relatively similar to a PAF, just a bit hotter. DiMarzio also has the PAF 7.

 

[Crash Dandicoot]

@Jan There's always the aftermarket options with EMGs to better tailor the 57-7 to your liking - 18/24v mod, SPC/RPC controls, etc. I understand the modern EMG offerings typically run the X-series preamp and thus shouldn't require the 18/24v mod to open them up but I've noticed a difference, regardless.

I have a 7 string ESP with the 57/66-7 set coupled with an SPC - I wouldn't go back to stock. You can go full tilt, blend in just a bit or if you don't need any you just roll it to zero. Great system.