Bare Knuckle Pickups Forum
Forum Ringside => Pickups => Topic started by: GuitarIv on July 13, 2013, 01:28:18 AM
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Hey folks,
lately I've gone a bit crazy on pickups and did all kinds of thinking and experimenting. Right now I have another set of BKPs on their way to me, being previously owned by fellow forum member Slartibartfast. However those are not the only purchase I made this week. I actually got myself a used EMG 81/85 combo from a friend.
So I installed those today in my cheap Ibanez RG 350MZ (being the only reason I got them in the first place as the guitar sounds horrible with passives and BKPs would be a waste in it) to make it my generic Drop C Metalcore August Burns Red Cover instrument. The result is good, at least considering the purpose I wanted to achieve.
Now I guess all I'm about to say has been said about EMGs before, but now I really have a first hand impression. I'll list pros and cons:
On the pro side:
- EMGs are known for imposing their own sound on your instrument. Not saying they always sound the same in every guitar but you know what to expect and they deliver.
- They turn a cheap guitar made out of really bad wood into a way better one.
- Tightness. Holy Smokes I thought my Painkiller was tight already.
- Compression and fluidity. You achieve pinch harmonics without any effort, your playing sounds cleaner, you need less effort and the massive output makes everything hearable on a constant volume level. Sweeping and Tapping work like a charm. However...
On the con side:
- ...this is also their biggest weakness imho. You might play like a beginner and you wouldn't notice your flaws. So you won't improve your technique. I'd rather have someone honest tell me I suck so I can change something instead of someone pretending everything's good. Just like with people this pickups are kinda lying to you. I was surprised at how much better I suddenly sounded whilst playing.
- No difference or response to picking changes and attack whatsoever. Compared to passives, especially BKPs you can't alter the sound by changing the amount and way you hit the strings.
- The 81 sounds almost annoyingly honky.
- The Battery. Just like I hate it when my remote dies I hate the thought of having I guitar I need to change a certain part of to keep it playable. Who said once Batteries are for flashlights, not for guitars?
Anyway, at the end of the day I won't hate on EMGs. They certainly are the best at what they do, and that is having the ultimate and immediate answer for most things metal. They deliver the sound they are known and famous for and they certainly can save your horrible sounding axe. I would rather use them on things like recordings to save time and money and make your playing sound godly (taken into consideration you practiced your ass off on passives) but at the end of the day I still like my passives more. Going from Seymour Duncan to BKP was one of the best decisions I made as a guitar player. Still I like having the EMGs and who knows when they might come in handy. Decide for yourself, I have made my decision that an open mind keeps all options available and doesn't limit you. :)
Maybe this little review helps someone somehow, cheers!
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BKPs certainly make you lift your playing.
That's the first thing I noticed when I went back to those cheapo Mighty Mites. It's the compression in the sound that allows you to get away with murder in terms of both right and left hand technique. BKPs pick up all of that slop.
I definitely feel like playing some EMGs sometime! I'm sure my playing would sound fantastic through them :lol:
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I put an EMG 81 into a BC Rich Warbeast 1. It's got a thin bass wood body (42mm) or something, maple neck and rose wood fret board. Put 12 gauge strings on it and tuned it to C and it's now living up to it's name of Warbeast. They are good at what they do but have their limit's. As for batteries, I haven't changed mine in over two years now in the four guitars that have actives. They last a long time if you unplug your lead. I got EMG's 81/85, 81x/60x, Hetfields and SD Blackout 1's and I like them all. I also like the Gibson 57's in my Les Paul and I hope soon I'll love the BKP's going into my Strat.
As for hiding your flaws, well to me it's opposite as they pick up on everything. They've made me play more precise as mistakes and flaws stand out more especially when the volume is full.
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Very good and balanced review. I've never owned any EMG pups but I have played them a few times. There's always a part of me that says 'Wow!' but ultimately, they're something I tire of very quickly. The sound is just too generic and never seems to have any soul to me. The Miracle Man I had was just so much more alive and dynamic. It had a real character with more warmth and was thicker and smoother sounding. Pinched harmonics were easier with EMG but it's not like I ever struggled with them on the Miracle Man. EMG always seemed rather two-dimensional compared to the Miracle Man; more like a machine than a living entity. I can't see you not liking the Miracle Man when it arrives :D
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the things I still like about emgs are the lack of noise and also the... huh...
I guess that's all
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I put an EMG 81 into a BC Rich Warbeast 1. It's got a thin bass wood body (42mm) or something, maple neck and rose wood fret board. Put 12 gauge strings on it and tuned it to C and it's now living up to it's name of Warbeast. They are good at what they do but have their limit's. As for batteries, I haven't changed mine in over two years now in the four guitars that have actives. They last a long time if you unplug your lead. I got EMG's 81/85, 81x/60x, Hetfields and SD Blackout 1's and I like them all. I also like the Gibson 57's in my Les Paul and I hope soon I'll love the BKP's going into my Strat.
As for hiding your flaws, well to me it's opposite as they pick up on everything. They've made me play more precise as mistakes and flaws stand out more especially when the volume is full.
I agree about the batteries lasting really long and that it does not hide your flaws like some people think. Also, I don't find the mids in the emg 81 to be honky at all. They're very aggressive and prominent (which I love), but not honky (I found the painkiller to be honky sometimes). I do agree though about it not being sensitive to nuances in picking.
The emg 81 is one of my favorite high gain pickups out there and it has such a distinctive sound. They're definitely not organic in the traditional sense, but I certainly would not describe them as sounding artificial or processed either. Again, unique and awesome sound.
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When I had 81/85 in one of my ESP Ltd's I swapped them around and used the 85 in the bridge. It worked really well but it was best suited to rhythm than lead work. It's thicker and gave the bottom end some help but some may find it won't cut through well for their leads.
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EMGs are one of my go tos. It used to be the miracle man but i got tired of having to use an overdrive or EQ to remove all of the excess low end and flubbiness.
I do still love the miracle man however.
My second favourite pickup would have to be the black label as its a nice middle ground between emgs and bkps. Tighter than the MM with less flube but more dynamic than the emg 81.
THen theres the EMG JH-B which has taken the crown as my favourite bridge pickup.
Edit: Actually flub isnt the right word for the BKP low end issue that i have as it isn't flubby. I think bloated is a better description
Also. GuitarIV basswood is the worst wood for EMGS. THey really sound quite cr@ppy in basswood imho honky as you described and a bit bloated and dry in the lows. They excel in mahogany/maple however.
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I don't think EMGs mask playing mistakes, in fact in fact I find they're quite accurate, because they sound quite dry. Of course with their output they will result in a more gainy sound and probably that is what masks the mistakes (i.e. you need to adjust the gain down).
Overall, I think they are a quality pickup, and give a good sound. The problem is that most guitar players look for an excellent sound, and EMGs are then only second choice, really.
I'm surprised Toe-Knee finds the MM is too bloated in the low end. It tightened up the low end on my baritone quite a lot. Maybe a different amp would change your view?
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I don't think EMGs mask playing mistakes, in fact in fact I find they're quite accurate, because they sound quite dry. Of course with their output they will result in a more gainy sound and probably that is what masks the mistakes (i.e. you need to adjust the gain down).
Overall, I think they are a quality pickup, and give a good sound. The problem is that most guitar players look for an excellent sound, and EMGs are then only second choice, really.
I'm surprised Toe-Knee finds the MM is too bloated in the low end. It tightened up the low end on my baritone quite a lot. Maybe a different amp would change your view?
I've tried it across many amps and my current amp (SLO) isnt exactly bass heavy. It's something i've found with all BKP though and it's not neccesarily a bad thing as i said the MM is my favourite BKP its just a tad bloaty in comparison to a few other pickups i use.
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Had 'em once in a Musicman Luke and they did not work for me :( Rarely see them used for anything other than the br00tz, though. Devin Townsend sure gets some sick tones from EMG.
I used to put Duncans in all my guitars religiously but then I got my first BKP, a Piledriver. Must've been nearly ten years ago! Used 'em ever since. Never been super impressed by Dimarzio except the Anniversary PAF which is a great pickup. Only pickups I've played that have been on the same level were Fibenare's own pickups. I'm sure there are loads of great pickups I haven't tried like VIK for example that sound bitching but I'm not fussed to try 'em.
However, in my experience BKP are VERY particular about the guitar that they go into. For example, I had a Crawler in a Hamer (lespaulalike) that sounded so 3D, complex and downright beastly but the same pickup in a Caparison sounded like a bag of dicks and that's not the first time that's happened. I've learned to email Tim and take his advice on what pickups for what guitar rather than rushing in and ordering what I think is what I want.
Been using a RY/VH2 set-up for a couple years now and it's near perfect, because of the nature of the RY the VH2(neck) can sound a little boomy and loud depending how the amp's set. I've considered swapping it out for a RY/RY but really can't be arsed :-p
Fancy a Blackhawk set too just to see what all the fuss is about. I need more guitars to BKP!
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I used to put Duncans in all my guitars religiously but then I got my first BKP, a Piledriver. Must've been nearly ten years ago! Used 'em ever since.
Can you give us your impressions of the Piledriver (set?)? I haven't read a review of it here and would love to see some opinions. I heard one playing black metal stuff online somewhere and to me it sounded like the best black metal sound ever. In general I feel that single coil Fenders are great for that sound. They might also be good in a two-guitar Swedish style crust band together with a humbucker SG, so I'm curious as to your views on the sonic palette of the Piledrivers.
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Had it a lifetime ago, sorry 8)
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After having toyed around with them for some time now I can report that the 81 shares quite some similarities with my Painkiller, both are dry, precise and grinding with a cutting in your face tone. Still the Painkiller feels better to play and sounds a tad nicer, but that's purely rhythm. I realized for lead work both the 81 and the 85 really shine. Can't remember when I spent the last time soloing so much and both Neck and Bridge :o
Toe-Knee: I realize Basswood may not be the best choice for them (or a guitar anyway) but they do exactly what I wanted them to, they made a cr@ppy sounding instrument better. The Ibanez was a GAS purchase and I realized too late that although I love the neckshape and the instrument plays well, it sounded really bad. SD Invaders made it better compared to the stock pickups, a Jeff Beck fixed the excess low end but was still flubby and I could spend loads of money again on a BKP I'm sure it still wouldn't have that "wow" effect I had when I put the Holydiver into my custom Strat for the first time. Now even though EMGs are said to mask a guitars natural voice (which is good in this particular case) I'm sure they sound better in a better guitar :)
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They do and they sound best in mahogany to me. I have them in mahogany, agathis and bass wood. Agathis gives a brighter tone and I get Slayer like tones from it. They use alder bodied guitars. My 7 string is a maple neck through V and the blackout's I have in that are very aggressive sounding. Which is good as I wanted that guitar to be a tad mental. They seem louder than an 81 too. My bass has actives but I have control over the eq via tone controls, which is pretty cool. I'd like to have that on a guitar as it would be interesting to play with.
All my guitars at one point were all active pick up's but I found myself wanting something passive and my Les Paul and Strat are a really nice change from being balls to the wall all the time.
One thing to try with an 81 is pull the battery out and play.
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EMG's are awful. Thats why Zakk Wylde, Jeff Loomis, Tosin Abasi, Metallica, Killswitch Enagage and Slayer use them...... :?
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EMG's are awful. Thats why Zakk Wylde, Jeff Loomis, Tosin Abasi, Metallica, Killswitch Enagage and Slayer use them...... :?
Yep the kinda tones people that own emgs want yet they search for it in other pickups. Guitarist logic.
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They're good at what they do. They're not for me but then I don't play that kind of music.
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In the end tone is always in your fingers :P
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In the end tone is always in your fingers :P
and batteries
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In the end tone is always in your fingers :P
and batteries
:lol:
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Meh, EMG's are fine. I swear at least half of the "sterile and artificial" parrots are probably 13 year olds in Mom & Dad's basement playing John Mayer covers. Batteries are no problem, don't leave the cord plugged in. Dead quiet. Great metal tones. 81 in the neck is ridiculous for shreddy dudes. With the 85 in the bridge and the 81 in the neck and with a little extra volume knob massage the clean sounds are pretty nice too.
That said, I really only logged in because the 350M comments. OP is gonna scare people off them with comments like that, they're actually pretty damn good guitars. They do well with brighter pickups as they can have a kinda thuddy sound naturally, even with the maple board. Maybe OP got a really bad one, but I'd wager with a good setup and some brighter passives (Painkiller or Cold Sweat maybe) it would sound just fine.
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Never understood EMG-hate. Even at the peak of my love for BKs.
It doesnt make any sense, aside from anything else. If you like hard/modern rock and heavier, as jimmy says (more or less) half of the bands you like use EMGs.
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Never understood EMG-hate. Even at the peak of my love for BKs.
It doesnt make any sense, aside from anything else. If you like hard/modern rock and heavier, as jimmy says (more or less) half of the bands you like use EMGs.
For real G.
Also to be fair you can add Dave Gilmour, Prince and Steve Luckather to the EMG list too. Not metal players or hard rockers by any means and all are great player with great tone.
Of Course Tosian Abasi is now with Di Marzio... but any way I can understand preference and not liking some thing but not the hate as you say. I think it's just down to what suits your personal needs and nothing more that's why I made the switch. If Tim from Bare Knuckle didnt like EMG in the first place he wouldnt try to make similar/improved pickups would he?!
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It always ends in personal taste. I don't like EMGs because I can'y feel any dynamics and I'm not a modern metal player.
Tonewise, I think they are too "polished" or "well behaved" to my tastes, with no sharp edges or what so ever if you know what I mean. The sound is too processed at the source, what can be good for some and bad for others. MAtter of taste.
I don't like compressed processed sounds, I like organic and vivid tones, where you can hear every nuance... and of course, you can hear your GUITAR, the whole thing, wood, hardware, string gauge.. Maybe people say EMgs are sterile because they process the tone in the very beggining and they put their own stuff over the sound, but it can also be good to make a bad guitar sound at least decent. Depends in what you want.
I can defenitely say that I will never use EMGs, actually, I can't use other pups after putting my hands on my first BK. The damn 500T /496R set in my Les Paul is Killing me, but I have no funds now to aford a BK set for her :(
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Maybe people say EMgs are sterile because they process the tone in the very beggining and they put their own stuff over the sound,
This is so false. I hate this with a passion.
I have two guitars with emgs in. One is an alder jackson the other is a mahogany ibanez. They sound completely different. I will knock some clips out whenever i get some spare time. Heck just for comparisons sake i'll use the exact same pickup and swap it into the other guitar and measure the string height too.
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My opinion is there's nothing wrong with any pickup, every manufacturer and brand has it's strengths and weaknesses. BKP just shines with their clarity, EMG are tight as a virgins rectum, Seymour Duncans have that great classic sound... it's all just a matter of taste and use. I would feel bad hating on anything, because as your signature says MDV, if it sounds good, it is good. And that's the point. Although I love BKPs and use them in 3 guitars right now, I wouldn't want to have anything else in the Ibanez than the EMG set right now. As well as one can't go wrong with Duncans, especially the JB if you wanna place a safe bet. I'm also very tempted by the Entwistle HDNs and I'm gonna order a set as soon as I can. People tend to be narrow minded and it's always gonna be like that, nothing one can really do about it.
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My opinion is there's nothing wrong with any pickup, every manufacturer and brand has it's strengths and weaknesses. BKP just shines with their clarity, EMG are tight as a virgins rectum, Seymour Duncans have that great classic sound... it's all just a matter of taste and use. I would feel bad hating on anything, because as your signature says MDV, if it sounds good, it is good. And that's the point. Although I love BKPs and use them in 3 guitars right now, I wouldn't want to have anything else in the Ibanez than the EMG set right now. As well as one can't go wrong with Duncans, especially the JB if you wanna place a safe bet. I'm also very tempted by the Entwistle HDNs and I'm gonna order a set as soon as I can. People tend to be narrow minded and it's always gonna be like that, nothing one can really do about it.
Very well said.If you come to ordering HDNs and there is no supplier in your country get in touch i should be able to hook you up with a good price
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EMG's to be tend to be a bit monotonous, by this I mean that they have just one pretty solid tone. The way I describe it is Chuggy, bouncy, and tight. Great for metal core and if you're going for a very specific tone. But once you start recording your guitar work and hearing your tone on a good set of monitors and headphones, you kind of get sick of the tone because it's only good at it's one "signature tone"
They're great for beginners though, I remember when I first started playing I was just playing drop tuned power chords and thought it sounded beastly. Then when I started to refine my playing I needed something a bit less artifical and mainstream sounding.
They seem to be good for beginners who just want a metal tone, and once you figure out what tone route you want to go about, in my case i like that nice 80's tone. You start looking for more focused pickups.
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EMG's to be tend to be a bit monotonous, by this I mean that they have just one pretty solid tone. The way I describe it is Chuggy, bouncy, and tight. Great for metal core and if you're going for a very specific tone. But once you start recording your guitar work and hearing your tone on a good set of monitors and headphones, you kind of get sick of the tone because it's only good at it's one "signature tone"
They're great for beginners though, I remember when I first started playing I was just playing drop tuned power chords and thought it sounded beastly. Then when I started to refine my playing I needed something a bit less artifical and mainstream sounding.
They seem to be good for beginners who just want a metal tone, and once you figure out what tone route you want to go about, in my case i like that nice 80's tone. You start looking for more focused pickups.
Hmm so all those varied legendary EMG tones from the 80s were beginner like?
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No, Tony, hes right.
These sound the same
Sultans Of Swing (multicam) - dIRE sTRATS - Fulda 27.08.2011 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MraTa69qa2I#ws)
Origin - The Aftermath (music video) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-sQw3J7Pu2Y#ws)
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EMG are tight as a virgins rectum
:lol: :lol: :lol:
I'm just about to practice on my EMG James Hetfield set-loaded Les Paul, and it'll be hard not to feel like a paedophile now...
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I have an Ibanez RG with a through neck and mahogany wings and a Floyd , which needles to say sounded pretty cr@ppy with the supplied Ibanez pups , so I fitted it with a set of A Bombs . Much , much better , but I could never dial out a certain murkiness in the tone regardless of how much I played with the tone controls , changed capacitor values , adjusted pup heights etc etc , and there was none of the organic "breathiness" to the sound that A bombs are renowned for , so Tim made me a set of C Bombs with 3 ceramic magnets per pup as in the Painkillers , and nickel allan bolts poles which Tim said had more of a focusing effect as apposed to iron screw poles , more top end but still murky and none of the singing sustain I was hoping for , so , tried a set of Painkillers which sound like the proverbial dogs bollocks in another RG with a hardtail bridge , this time more crunch but still a lingering deadness to the tone , so , with thoughts of putting my dead plank on ebay I decided to have one last attempt at wrestling some tone from it with a set of actives and as I didn't fancy forking out for EMG's I turned to another British pup maker , IronGear , and bought a calibrated set of their Volt active pickups . Two pickups , 4 pots , two capacitors and battery connecter , a stereo output jack plus hookup wire , all delivered to my door for a grand total of just over 70 quid .
Seemed too good to be true until I installed them and what a revelation , bags of tone and power and finally the RG was sounding pretty flippin amazing , even with the gain rolled off and played clean . I agree that they suit certain styles , but they do those styles real justice and on this particular guitar there are dynamics too and my EMG loving mate says they sound just like EMG's for a 3rd of the price.
A big thumbs up from me for IronGear Volt actives ... 8)
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I have an Ibanez RG with a through neck and mahogany wings and a Floyd , which needles to say sounded pretty cr@ppy with the supplied Ibanez pups , so I fitted it with a set of A Bombs . Much , much better , but I could never dial out a certain murkiness in the tone regardless of how much I played with the tone controls , changed capacitor values , adjusted pup heights etc etc , and there was none of the organic "breathiness" to the sound that A bombs are renowned for , so Tim made me a set of C Bombs with 3 ceramic magnets per pup as in the Painkillers , and nickel allan bolts poles which Tim said had more of a focusing effect as apposed to iron screw poles , more top end but still murky and none of the singing sustain I was hoping for , so , tried a set of Painkillers which sound like the proverbial dogs bollocks in another RG with a hardtail bridge , this time more crunch but still a lingering deadness to the tone , so , with thoughts of putting my dead plank on ebay I decided to have one last attempt at wrestling some tone from it with a set of actives and as I didn't fancy forking out for EMG's I turned to another British pup maker , IronGear , and bought a calibrated set of their Volt active pickups . Two pickups , 4 pots , two capacitors and battery connecter , a stereo output jack plus hookup wire , all delivered to my door for a grand total of just over 70 quid .
Seemed too good to be true until I installed them and what a revelation , bags of tone and power and finally the RG was sounding pretty flippin amazing , even with the gain rolled off and played clean . I agree that they suit certain styles , but they do those styles real justice and on this particular guitar there are dynamics too and my EMG loving mate says they sound just like EMG's for a 3rd of the price.
A big thumbs up from me for IronGear Volt actives ... 8)
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I have looked at the volt pickups a few times but always waited a little longe watching ebay and got an 81/60 set for £60-80. I've never paid more than that for standard EMGs.
Please could you post up some clips of the volt pickups? The ones on irongears site are uninspiring to say the least
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The EMG Hetfields are a really good set of pick up's.
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The EMG Hetfields are a really good set of pick up's.
I agree entirely. They're hands down my favourite pickup
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The EMG Hetfields are a really good set of pick up's.
I agree entirely. They're hands down my favourite pickup
Totally agree with you guys; they have all the positive characteristics of the 81/85 set, but with a more organic sound. The lows also sound more meaty and the cleans are a massive improvement. Their output's so high that when I use a tubescreamer I need to roll back the gain in my amp to 3 lol. PDT_003
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I'd love to try out the HetSet but buying a used 81/85 combo was a way cheaper option than spending over 200 quid on a new set of pickups :lol:
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EMG are tight as a virgins rectum
:lol: :lol: :lol:
I'm just about to practice on my EMG James Hetfield set-loaded Les Paul, and it'll be hard not to feel like a paedophile now...
Sorry mate :lol:
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I'd love to try out the HetSet but buying a used 81/85 combo was a way cheaper option than spending over 200 quid on a new set of pickups :lol:
They are worth it though. The neck pick up has a really fat warm sound to it with out being sterile. The bridge pick up has loads of out put and use the volume right, there's not much it can't do. I play AC/DC, Iron Maiden and thrash metal on the one guitar and it does it all well. I put my Vypyr amp on the 6505 legend pre set and run the P-90 phaser and it sounds good for that too. I can't play like EVH but the tone is there.
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EMG's to be tend to be a bit monotonous, by this I mean that they have just one pretty solid tone. The way I describe it is Chuggy, bouncy, and tight. Great for metal core and if you're going for a very specific tone. But once you start recording your guitar work and hearing your tone on a good set of monitors and headphones, you kind of get sick of the tone because it's only good at it's one "signature tone"
They're great for beginners though, I remember when I first started playing I was just playing drop tuned power chords and thought it sounded beastly. Then when I started to refine my playing I needed something a bit less artifical and mainstream sounding.
They seem to be good for beginners who just want a metal tone, and once you figure out what tone route you want to go about, in my case i like that nice 80's tone. You start looking for more focused pickups.
Hmm so all those varied legendary EMG tones from the 80s were beginner like?
Oh no, those legendary 80's tone's are beautiful in my opinion. I didn't mean to generalize that every one who uses an EMG has a beginner like tone (because those 80's legends had great gear, and god like fingers 8) ) I guess I meant that they tend to be very touchy to the point where they can cover for poor technique. Speaking from experience when I was first starting off I thought I was hot shite because I could get "omg brootalz" sounding power chords and they would sound pretty decent. But they just lack that dynamic variation that other pickups do.
Beginner like would be a bad way to word it, perhaps beginner friendly would be a better way to put it.
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Personally I hate EMGs with a passion...and I like them.
Thing is to me there is a difference between hearing them and playing them.
Hearing EMGs is no problem, there are a lot of people getting nice sounds out of them, often I really dig them. In Flames alone make EMGs sound so nice. Ok the Bullet for my Valentine tone got a lot worse after they dropped their passive PUs, but in general I have no issue with how they sound.
Thing is every EMG I have tried so far I hated playing. It felt processed, unarticulate, dead, sterile and the way the output and agression played out just felt overdone. Really I had all the complaints that are so legendary about EMGs. However when I listened to an impromtu recording I did while playing them (using a Zoom H2) I did not notice those nearly as much. Sounded more like a generic EMG sound, which was not a bad thing, just that modern metalcore sound. In a way it still sounded bad, but that was down to me hating to play them.
Also before someone chimes in with the imagination thing: I did try EMGs and passive guitars side by side in a blind test. Thus far I always hated the EMGs. Ok most stock passives too, but for different reasons, mostly mushy low end, which could be mostly fixed with a quick PU setup.
So yeah, that is my experience with EMGs thus far. I can see why people use them and I like hearing them, but god do I hate playing them.
I am however interrested in trying the Het set, maybe that will work better for me.
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EMG's to be tend to be a bit monotonous, by this I mean that they have just one pretty solid tone. The way I describe it is Chuggy, bouncy, and tight. Great for metal core and if you're going for a very specific tone. But once you start recording your guitar work and hearing your tone on a good set of monitors and headphones, you kind of get sick of the tone because it's only good at it's one "signature tone"
They're great for beginners though, I remember when I first started playing I was just playing drop tuned power chords and thought it sounded beastly. Then when I started to refine my playing I needed something a bit less artifical and mainstream sounding.
They seem to be good for beginners who just want a metal tone, and once you figure out what tone route you want to go about, in my case i like that nice 80's tone. You start looking for more focused pickups.
Hmm so all those varied legendary EMG tones from the 80s were beginner like?
Oh no, those legendary 80's tone's are beautiful in my opinion. I didn't mean to generalize that every one who uses an EMG has a beginner like tone (because those 80's legends had great gear, and god like fingers 8) ) I guess I meant that they tend to be very touchy to the point where they can cover for poor technique. Speaking from experience when I was first starting off I thought I was hot shitee because I could get "omg brootalz" sounding power chords and they would sound pretty decent. But they just lack that dynamic variation that other pickups do.
Beginner like would be a bad way to word it, perhaps beginner friendly would be a better way to put it.
This is nonsense imo. EMGs are clearer, tighter and more conducive to articulate playing (through top end clarity and massive dynamic range) than...anything, basically. All of those properties are very beginner-hostile.
Also, how exactly do they allow a great players technique to shine if they supposedly mask differences between players?
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I guess I meant that they tend to be very touchy to the point where they can cover for poor technique.
OK now you have me confused :?
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I can see why EMGs (especially the 81/85 combo) can be so controversial, as they have a very distinct sound which tends to be less dependant on the guitar than most passives. I disagree though, that they tend to cover technique mistakes, as I actually find them quite sensitive to string touch; that's why they're so tight and easy to get pinch harmonics. If you're playing on a high gain amp like the 5150, you'd better have good chops or distortion will eat your playing lol.
I really recommend everyone to try the Hetfield set, as they have a warmer and more organic tone than the 81/85. I've also heard great things about the '57/66 combo. :mrgreen:
EDIT: Here's a short clip of the 57/66, surely EMG have achieved a great tone there:
http://youtu.be/-N7_oLASj14 (http://youtu.be/-N7_oLASj14)
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Anyone have any experience with EMG bass pickups? I was thinking of buying a set (BKP do not make a pickup that will work in bass.)
EDIT: of course, I meant to say BKP do not make a pickup that will work in my bass (a 5-string J-type.)
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Anyone have any experience with EMG bass pickups? I was thinking of buying a set (BKP do not make a pickup that will work in bass.)
I have EMG's and Bartolinis in three basses (I also have BK's in 3 basses). I have had the EMG & Bartolinis in the same bass (a Modulus Graphite 5 String). I really prefer the Bartolinis in terms of the tone and versatility (they have a really nice active EQ package), but the EMG's are the sound of the 80's basses in many cases. I currently have them in an 8-string bass where they give me a nice sound and let the octave strings cut through.
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Whatever people say, at the end of the day I know the EMGs I own fulfill their destiny by being THE metal pickups I was missing in my RG. I don't think BKPs would sound as good (or as bad, matter of perspective and what you expect from your gear really) as they do. And in the end I'm just another happy BKP/EMG/SD pickup user :P
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Whatever people say, at the end of the day I know the EMGs I own fulfill their destiny by being THE metal pickups I was missing in my RG. I don't think BKPs would sound as good (or as bad, matter of perspective and what you expect from your gear really) as they do. And in the end I'm just another happy BKP/EMG/SD pickup user :P
Out of curiosity, which Seymour Duncans do you use? None of of the Duncans I tried impressed me that much.
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Whatever people say, at the end of the day I know the EMGs I own fulfill their destiny by being THE metal pickups I was missing in my RG. I don't think BKPs would sound as good (or as bad, matter of perspective and what you expect from your gear really) as they do. And in the end I'm just another happy BKP/EMG/SD pickup user :P
PDT_003
They're pickups, not marriages, and you use what works for you, according to your ears, not received wisdom from the internet. Says the EMG/Bare Knuckle/Entwistle/Kent Armstrong user whos thinking about duncan and bulldog :lol:
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Whatever people say, at the end of the day I know the EMGs I own fulfill their destiny by being THE metal pickups I was missing in my RG. I don't think BKPs would sound as good (or as bad, matter of perspective and what you expect from your gear really) as they do. And in the end I'm just another happy BKP/EMG/SD pickup user :P
PDT_003
They're pickups, not marriages, and you use what works for you, according to your ears, not received wisdom from the internet. Says the EMG/Bare Knuckle/Entwistle/Kent Armstrong user whos thinking about duncan and bulldog :lol:
I don't think you will be dissapointed with either of those latter choices. I Still have the DD kicking about.
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Out of curiosity, which Seymour Duncans do you use? None of of the Duncans I tried impressed me that much.
Jeff Beck, the Jazz, the SH-1 and I have the Invaders. I still like BKPs more, at least when it comes down to passive pickups but Duncans give you the compression you sometimes miss with BKPs. I'd still like to try the Duncan Distortion as everyone in the metal scene seems to like it and judging from the soundclips it should be somewhere in the ballpark of the Painkiller.
Right now I'm loving the shiteee out of my Holydiver that I moved into a Jackson Dinky DK2M. It's my favourite pickup at the moment and just has everything I want in that Axe. Much like a better version of the Duncan JB :D
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The EMG Hetfields are a really good set of pick up's.
I agree entirely. They're hands down my favourite pickup
After fitting these yesterday, I'm of the same opinion. I know I'm in the honeymoon period, but they really are fantastic.
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The EMG Hetfields are a really good set of pick up's.
I agree entirely. They're hands down my favourite pickup
After fitting these yesterday, I'm of the same opinion. I know I'm in the honeymoon period, but they really are fantastic.
I'm well out of the honeymoon period and I still love them. It helps that they look awesome as well as sounding it.
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The EMG Hetfields are a really good set of pick up's.
I agree entirely. They're hands down my favourite pickup
After fitting these yesterday, I'm of the same opinion. I know I'm in the honeymoon period, but they really are fantastic.
I'm well out of the honeymoon period and I still love them. It helps that they look awesome as well as sounding it.
Please enlighten me a bit, what makes them so much better than the normal EMGs? I'm curious.
I've been interested in the SD Dave Mustaine pickups for a long time, but there's not a lot of feedback on how they are. It seems there's much more on the Hetfield models already.
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The EMG Hetfields are a really good set of pick up's.
I agree entirely. They're hands down my favourite pickup
After fitting these yesterday, I'm of the same opinion. I know I'm in the honeymoon period, but they really are fantastic.
I'm well out of the honeymoon period and I still love them. It helps that they look awesome as well as sounding it.
Please enlighten me a bit, what makes them so much better than the normal EMGs? I'm curious.
I've been interested in the SD Dave Mustaine pickups for a long time, but there's not a lot of feedback on how they are. It seems there's much more on the Hetfield models already.
Firstly they're a tiny bit hotter but not quite as compressed if that makes any sense?
The low end is a bit thicker and they have a nice helping of upper mids as well as the standard EMG low mid aggresion.
The clean tones are quite exceptional especially on the neck pickup which also delivers really fluid lead tones too.
The thing that stands out for me the most is that the top end is very present but not in a harsh way and the lows whilst chunkier still retain that trademark EMG tightness and you will never need an overdrive with these pickups.
With regards to the Mustaines. They're also rather nice they're very similar to the JB/Jazz set but tighter and more focused. These too are quiet hot pickups and have a lot of upper mids like the BKP aftermath but aren't as honky. One thing to keep in mind with these though is that they're very upper mid/high focused so they can be a bit much in brighter guitars.
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I still like BKPs more, at least when it comes down to passive pickups but Duncans give you the compression you sometimes miss with BKPs. I'd still like to try the Duncan Distortion as everyone in the metal scene seems to like it and judging from the soundclips it should be somewhere in the ballpark of the Painkiller.
On my LP-alike I have the classic set of a super distortion in the bridge and an air norton in the neck and I have to say they work really well together and nail quite a variety of "sounds" , but in comparison to a Painkiller the super distortion has more fizz and compression but it's also quite tweakable
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I still like BKPs more, at least when it comes down to passive pickups but Duncans give you the compression you sometimes miss with BKPs. I'd still like to try the Duncan Distortion as everyone in the metal scene seems to like it and judging from the soundclips it should be somewhere in the ballpark of the Painkiller.
On my LP-alike I have the classic set of a super distortion in the bridge and an air norton in the neck and I have to say they work really well together and nail quite a variety of "sounds" , but in comparison to a Painkiller the super distortion has more fizz and compression but it's also quite tweakable
Nah man, I was talking about the Seymour Duncan SH-6 Distortion, never actually tried any pickup by DiMarzio, or at least I don't remember :P
Tony, you're making my mouth water to try out a set...
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I still like BKPs more, at least when it comes down to passive pickups but Duncans give you the compression you sometimes miss with BKPs. I'd still like to try the Duncan Distortion as everyone in the metal scene seems to like it and judging from the soundclips it should be somewhere in the ballpark of the Painkiller.
On my LP-alike I have the classic set of a super distortion in the bridge and an air norton in the neck and I have to say they work really well together and nail quite a variety of "sounds" , but in comparison to a Painkiller the super distortion has more fizz and compression but it's also quite tweakable
Nah man, I was talking about the Seymour Duncan SH-6 Distortion, never actually tried any pickup by DiMarzio, or at least I don't remember :P
Tony, you're making my mouth water to try out a set...
I was vey sceptical for a long time thinking they'd just be an 81/60 in shiny new covers but when some came up cheap i couldn't resist and i'm so glad that i didnt.
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Will certainly keep my eyes on them!