I think I now know what EMGs are for. Again.

[Iron1]

I’ll take “Door Stops” for $200 Alex!


Definitely hear others getting great tones with EMGs, for me they’re a “sound like @$$” cheat code…

 

[Jarick]

I've used multiple sets of all these: S, SA (DG), SV, 81, 85. Starting back in '95 with an S set. Only have two guitars now with EMGs installed -- an S and 85 combo, and a DG set.
There are other like the T set I'm curious about (may actually get that one), but I'm at the point that I don't want a bunch of guitars that have to rely on batteries. It was a big part of the reason I moved on from them as my default. Well that, and Dimarzio makes great stuff too.

Honestly if Dimarzio released a new and improved line of Area pickups I'd probably fully swap over to those in all my guitars. I find the current ones a bit dull and mushy especially in combined positions. They are just kind of weird tonally. The rail pickups I've tried are also hit or miss, and the new connector they have at the bottom caused serious issues with installation in my guitars.

If they could refine the pickups to get a crisper overall tone, deeper low end, more clarity up top, and then drop down from having TWELVE different stacked Strat pickups to half that or less, it would be killer. Seriously, do a low/medium/high output vintage style pickup and then a medium and high output modern style pickup and you're done.

 

[metropolis_4]

I'm halfway down the EMG rabbit hole. Installed the T set in my Tele, then an 85 in my drop C guitar, and ordered a Luke set for my Ibanez HSS. So far I'm inclined to agree with you.

The single coils are extremely quiet and with EQ seem very versatile. I was messing with EQ last night on the T set and scooping the mids and boosting the treble (probably like the EXG?) really made them sound great. I'm excited to try the SLV's as they are slightly different design (alnico pole pieces instead of bar magnets?).

The 85 though, not so sure. The noise seems as high maybe even a bit higher than standard humbuckers. The output is about on par maybe even a touch lower than passive. Tonality is different, they seem even through the mids and rolled off in the highs and lows. Which seems to be good for high gain low tunings, but I'll be interested how they work in an HSS guitar. Obviously worked for Lukather and others in the 80's but does it compete with a quality passive?

One thing I think is neat with them though, they have different humbucker sized pickups with very different construction and tones. It's not like 20 variations of a PAF with 5-10% more or less wind. It's single coils in a humbucker housing or Firebird pickups or the 89 which has basically a humbucker and single coil in one. That's neat. Also the pots so far feel good and the solderless setup is pretty slick.

I'll probably end up trying a Retroactive set at some point, maybe the Fat 55 or Hot 70 or something. I'm curious how the EMG implementation of a traditional pickup works. Also very curious about the EMG Jazzmaster set as I love playing my JM but every pickup I've tried is either crazy noisy or sounds too shrill.

I like the SLV’s. I had a set of SLVX in my Strat for a long time. They're fatter than normal Strat pickups and have a bit more midrange push than the S and SA. I tend to always like the new X series better than the old.

The only reason I switched back to passive in my Strat was because of an edge case. I was doing a lot of work in a theater with a hearing loop system. It’s like a big inductance coil that goes around the perimeter so people with hearing aids can tune in and get the audio directly in their ears. The problem is it’s like a big pickup and so any single coil guitar pickup will pick up audio from it. So I couldn’t use any single coil pickup or the FOH audio would come through my pickups! I had to switch to stacked coils.

I still haven’t tried Retroactive’s but I want to. I thought the 57/66 set was a big improvement over the older humbuckers designs.

 

[Jarick]

I like the SLV’s. I had a set of SLVX in my Strat for a long time. They're fatter than normal Strat pickups and have a bit more midrange push than the S and SA. I tend to always like the new X series better than the old.

The only reason I switched back to passive in my Strat was because of an edge case. I was doing a lot of work in a theater with a hearing loop system. It’s like a big inductance coil that goes around the perimeter so people with hearing aids can tune in and get the audio directly in their ears. The problem is it’s like a big pickup and so any single coil guitar pickup will pick up audio from it. So I couldn’t use any single coil pickup or the FOH audio would come through my pickups! I had to switch to stacked coils.

I still haven’t tried Retroactive’s but I want to. I thought the 57/66 set was a big improvement over the older humbuckers designs.

If I do end up sticking with EMG's across a few guitars, I'll still keep a couple with traditional pickups, probably my Fender Strat which is vintage style and one of my PRS humbucker guitars. Again not sure if I'll end up liking EMG humbuckers more than passives or if there's benefit there anyways.

 

[FuzzyAce]

Honestly if Dimarzio released a new and improved line of Area pickups I'd probably fully swap over to those in all my guitars. I find the current ones a bit dull and mushy especially in combined positions. They are just kind of weird tonally. The rail pickups I've tried are also hit or miss, and the new connector they have at the bottom caused serious issues with installation in my guitars.

If they could refine the pickups to get a crisper overall tone, deeper low end, more clarity up top, and then drop down from having TWELVE different stacked Strat pickups to half that or less, it would be killer. Seriously, do a low/medium/high output vintage style pickup and then a medium and high output modern style pickup and you're done.

I'm not too hung up on vintage single coil sounds, and if I had to have it really, really close -- I'd just use authentic single coils. I do like the Dimarzio stacked and rails pickups, and I've used a good variety of them. I'm glad they're different, but not too far removed from what makes singles appealing in the first place. I look at them as their own thing, and they're a viable option that is at least equal in tonal quality to their single coil counterparts, imo.

 

[JiveTurkey]

"I think I now know what EMGs are for. A(ll the) gain."​

 

[AlbertA]

Yeah I'd honestly prefer if guitars actually had bass style preamps. Having an EQ on your guitar is way more useful than passive tone controls, but guitarists are just not accepting anything in their guitars...and then run through a whole lineup of solid-state pedals.

I had that on my Carvin - and to be honest I never really used it - nor did it sound that great either. It was the whole thing, bass, treble, trim pot, etc - I ended up ripping all that out and just went with Gibson style 2 vol, 2 tone with passive pickups.

 

[AlbertA]

I wonder how the battery aspect will treat me over time as well. I also now obviously want to chisel out the back of the guitar and do the 18v mod

Is there no space in the cavity at all?

When I did mine, I had one battery in the normal cavity, the other in the 9V battery holder.

 

[JiveTurkey]

Is there no space in the cavity at all?

When I did mine, I had one battery in the normal cavity, the other in the 9V battery holder.

It has a battery cavity in the back. I am sure I could run wire between it and the control cavity but I am not that excited about the prospect.

 

[Jarick]

I'm not too hung up on vintage single coil sounds, and if I had to have it really, really close -- I'd just use authentic single coils. I do like the Dimarzio stacked and rails pickups, and I've used a good variety of them. I'm glad they're different, but not too far removed from what makes singles appealing in the first place. I look at them as their own thing, and they're a viable option that is at least equal in tonal quality to their single coil counterparts, imo.

I don't mind the noiseless being different. I don't actually like proper low output vintage single coils really. They are too thin and bright with uneven string response. But the Dimarzios give up a lot of low and high end, especially in the 2/4 positions. It's like rolling the tone controls way down.

I'll be curious if the EMG's are better here. Pretty much every stacked humbucker is underwhelming in the Strat neck/middle spot. And the EMG's are actually stacked humbuckers from what I understand. But maybe they'll be more impressive than what I've tried.

 

[metropolis_4]

I don't mind the noiseless being different. I don't actually like proper low output vintage single coils really. They are too thin and bright with uneven string response. But the Dimarzios give up a lot of low and high end, especially in the 2/4 positions. It's like rolling the tone controls way down.

I'll be curious if the EMG's are better here. Pretty much every stacked humbucker is underwhelming in the Strat neck/middle spot. And the EMG's are actually stacked humbuckers from what I understand. But maybe they'll be more impressive than what I've tried.

I don’t think any of the single coil sized EMGs are stacked humbuckers. Which ones are you referring to?

That was why I had to stop using the SAX and SLVX. If they had been stacked humbuckers they wouldn’t have picked up the hearing loop feed

 

[Jarick]

I don’t think any of the single coil sized EMGs are stacked humbuckers. Which ones are you referring to?

That was why I had to stop using the SAX and SLVX. If they had been stacked humbuckers they wouldn’t have picked up the hearing loop feed

I think all of them are. Not much detailed info out there, but here's a discussion thread and someone had taken one apart to verify:
https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/emg-single-coils-no-reverse-middle.1398280/

I personally don't care how any of the pickups are constructed if they sound good. Is there a way to eliminate hum without a RWRP coil of some kind, active or no?

Also, looking at the specs for the T set against the S pickups, I think the regular T neck (alnico) is probably the same as the SA. Both should be using an alnico bar magnet, same resonant frequency, etc. I think it sounds really good.

The SLV ad copy talks about pole pieces closer to the strings which would imply rod magnets instead of a bar. And hotter wind which gives a slightly lower resonant frequency. So yeah it will be fun to compare against the more traditional EMG pickup.