New here, Considering a WAR PIG, Help me out please!!

[Iron Lotus]

Well I play a 5150 with ruby 6l6gcmstr power tubes. pre amp tubes are ecc83's, penta labs 12ax7, and Sovtek 12ax7 LPS in the Phase Inverter.
Power tubes are running at 32 mA. Ibanez Ts-9 modded to 808 specs as a clean boost between the guitar and the amp.

Marshall Jcm900 cab with g12T-75's. Gonna get some V-30's
in an X pattern some time I hope I hear it sounds really great
plus V30's seem to give better recorded tone for heavy music.

Currently I mostly play on my white mahogany body LTD with EMG 81/60 set. Tuned to A, With 70g strings. I play a style somewhat similar
to Black Dahlia Murder, and some Parkway Drive influence. I like
a thick meaty tone with big harmonics and also a nice open note
sound is good too, That bubbly sound when you hit a 1 note
open and the meaty palmed riffs.

I have always played EMG's, I have an 85 in my Ibanez tuned
to A with 70's as well and have been considering trying something
new as I hear these pickups just sound better for what im looking
for.

So would a CERAMIC warpig do the trick?

And how much trouble is it to wire it in place
of the active emg-81? What all is required,
Would I be able to keep the emg 60 in the neck?

Thanks for the info in advance!

[hhcave]

The most obvious replacement for an EMG 81/85 set is a calibrated Miracle Man set as this was the idea (designed to have that Zakk Wylde sound ie. EMG 81/85s).

They are very tight, tightest out of the BKP range, great for down tuning and also they are known to be great for harmonics (Zakk...), these pickups were designed for all out metal so playing with high gain is amazing with these! One thing that some might criticize is the clean sound... there are better BKPs for a clean sound however i think these definately make up for it on heavy settings!

You will have to change out your 'active' electronics i think when switching to passive pickups and i have no idea how to do that...


People say the MMs sound best in darker, mahogany bodied guitars so i think they will definitely suit you! Think an EMG 81/85 set but more dynamic... and better for pinch harmonics...

[badgermark]

Can't help much with the Warpig suggestion- I'm not a metal player and only have the relatively weedy Holydiver... BUT!

Your active EMGs use low impedence circutry- 50k pots if i remember rightly. Normal humbuckers use 500k pots, so you will have to replace the pots for the Warpig. I'm pretty sure you can mix and match in a LP style guitar though, the pickups are wired to the pot then to the switch, so easy enough to have two different types of pot. Seems to make sense to me- wait on the brootlz loving members to arrive, sure some of them switched from EMGs at some point.

[Ratrod]

When playing down tuned metal riffing there's no substitute for the Warpig. The C-pig is a little tighter and better at the harmonics than the normal one.

Unfortunately you'll have to swap out all the electronics except for the switch. New pots, caps and even the jack. You could leave the jack but make shure you wire it up properly.

[HairyChris]

AFAIK you'll not be able to leave the other EMG in, you'll need to swap out all of the electronics and go either fully active or passive.

The MM is monster tight, a real precision pickup but not the best clean unless your amp has a stellar clean channel. It's best to pair it with a warmer neck pickup. If you're boosting with a TS-808 (I have an modded TS-9 in my chain too) then the harmonics get really lairy.

The Warpig drives the amp even harder, but cleans up very well indeed because it isn't as tight. Great for downtuning. I like the Warpig but haven't got around to getting one yet. :( There's a lot of Painkiller love around here too but I haven't had a play on a PK loaded guitar yet!

[MDV]

The C-Pig, MM or painkiller will get you where youre going, in different ways.

The MM is not a drop-in sub for an 81. Thats the C-pig. The MM was made to capture the vibe of Zakk Wylde with Ozzy. That was EMGs, but it wasnt the flamethrower tone that EMGs are normally used for (or that the black dhalia have - I dont know about the other guys). The MM is more scooped, less compressed, less powerfull and has both more lows and more highs, with a higher resonant peak. The C-Pig is closer. So is the PK (cos of the 81s high-mids).

All 3 pickups have much more low end than the 81.

All of them handle detuning very well.

Compared to an 81, what sort of eqing to you want? If an 81 is 5/5/5 (B/M/T) then what are you after here?

Will you be OK with a drop in output? (I'd say the MM is about  20% less powerfull than an 81, a PK 15% less and a C-Pig a tiny shade more powerfull).

[Jonny]

I play a lot of Parkway Drive with my Cold Sweat & Warpig set. Definately recommend it.

[BigK]

Will you be OK with a drop in output? (I'd say the MM is about  20% less powerfull than an 81, a PK 15% less and a C-Pig a tiny shade more powerfull).

If thats the case Why do I have to have more gain on my amp when I use my emg equipped guitars to my MM equipped guitars? and Im not just talking a little Im talking 1-2 o'clock for the bkp's and 3-4 o'clock for the EMG's.

+1 on either the MM PK or C-pig there all awesome. I will eventually get around to replacing all the emg's in my guitar collection for BKP's (apart from  my SC-607 which is getting a set of duncan blackouts (stupid EMG seven-string casing!!!))

[ilÿti]

I will eventually get around to replacing all the emg's in my guitar collection for BKP's (apart from  my SC-607 which is getting a set of duncan blackouts (stupid EMG seven-string casing!!!))

Cover the big hole with a mounting ring, then you can put BKs in emg routs.

[MDV]

Will you be OK with a drop in output? (I'd say the MM is about  20% less powerfull than an 81, a PK 15% less and a C-Pig a tiny shade more powerfull).

If thats the case Why do I have to have more gain on my amp when I use my emg equipped guitars to my MM equipped guitars? and Im not just talking a little Im talking 1-2 o'clock for the bkp's and 3-4 o'clock for the EMG's.

+1 on either the MM PK or C-pig there all awesome. I will eventually get around to replacing all the emg's in my guitar collection for BKP's (apart from  my SC-607 which is getting a set of duncan blackouts (stupid EMG seven-string casing!!!))

Interesting question. Through the same amp with the same guitar I found an 81 to be more gainy than an MM. Same with the pig and another guitar. Same again with the MM and 81 and yet another guitar. Same amps all along.

Pass.

Teh sensitivity of the MM? Its increased high end? I dunno. I'd have to play your gear to really have the discussion, but the 81 being more powerfull than an MM is something I've seen repeatedly.

[ericsabbath]

The MM is not a drop-in sub for an 81. Thats the C-pig. The MM was made to capture the vibe of Zakk Wylde with Ozzy. That was EMGs, but it wasnt the flamethrower tone that EMGs are normally used for (or that the black dhalia have - I dont know about the other guys). The MM is more scooped, less compressed, less powerfull and has both more lows and more highs, with a higher resonant peak. The C-Pig is closer. So is the PK (cos of the 81s high-mids).

All 3 pickups have much more low end than the 81.

All of them handle detuning very well.

Compared to an 81, what sort of eqing to you want? If an 81 is 5/5/5 (B/M/T) then what are you after here?

Will you be OK with a drop in output? (I'd say the MM is about  20% less powerfull than an 81, a PK 15% less and a C-Pig a tiny shade more powerfull).

i had the emg 81 in the same guitar (and a lot other high output pups)
and didn't notice perceptible difference in output
it has a huge output, just don't have that in-your-face active (artificial) tone
and i wouldn't say it's more scooped
it has the same amount of mids of a duncan custom (sh-5), for example, and it definitely has more low mids than the emg 81
the thing is that the miracle man seems to boost the stronger frequency of each guitar and strings
so in bright guitars, it will probably make it sound brighter
in my two les pauls it sounded VERY dark on the low strings (darker and bassier than the holy diver, than the 81 and most pickups i had) and very bright on the first strings (like a bill lawrence with more attack)

the painkiller and the pig sound nothing like an EMG, imo
i'd compare the painkiller with a gibson 500t or duncan distortion, but definitely tighter, more middy and totally clear, unlike these pickups, that have a huge amount of mud

i think this is a matter of taste, but if he wanted a 81 replacement, the miracle is definitely the closest

i tuned the lowest string to A this week (just for test) and it retained all the tightness
i like the throaty low mid sound the miracle man gets in very low tunings, specially with peavey distortion
but the painkiller works great for that too

anyway, i'm getting my holy diver back today and saying goodbye to the miracle man (which i love too)
think i'll order a cold sweat set for my other guitar

[MDV]

The MM is not a drop-in sub for an 81. Thats the C-pig. The MM was made to capture the vibe of Zakk Wylde with Ozzy. That was EMGs, but it wasnt the flamethrower tone that EMGs are normally used for (or that the black dhalia have - I dont know about the other guys). The MM is more scooped, less compressed, less powerfull and has both more lows and more highs, with a higher resonant peak. The C-Pig is closer. So is the PK (cos of the 81s high-mids).

All 3 pickups have much more low end than the 81.

All of them handle detuning very well.

Compared to an 81, what sort of eqing to you want? If an 81 is 5/5/5 (B/M/T) then what are you after here?

Will you be OK with a drop in output? (I'd say the MM is about  20% less powerfull than an 81, a PK 15% less and a C-Pig a tiny shade more powerfull).

i had the emg 81 in the same guitar (and a lot other high output pups)
and didn't notice perceptible difference in output
it has a huge output, just don't have that in-your-face active (artificial) tone
and i wouldn't say it's more scooped
it has the same amount of mids of a duncan custom (sh-5), for example, and it definitely has more low mids than the emg 81
the thing is that the miracle man seems to boost the stronger frequency of each guitar and strings
so in bright guitars, it will probably make it sound brighter
in my two les pauls it sounded VERY dark on the low strings (darker and bassier than the holy diver, than the 81 and most pickups i had) and very bright on the first strings (like a bill lawrence with more attack)

the painkiller and the pig sound nothing like an EMG, imo
i'd compare the painkiller with a gibson 500t or duncan distortion, but definitely tighter, more middy and totally clear, unlike these pickups, that have a huge amount of mud

i think this is a matter of taste, but if he wanted a 81 replacement, the miracle is definitely the closest

i tuned the lowest string to A this week (just for test) and it retained all the tightness
i like the throaty low mid sound the miracle man gets in very low tunings, specially with peavey distortion
but the painkiller works great for that too

anyway, i'm getting my holy diver back today and saying goodbye to the miracle man (which i love too)
think i'll order a cold sweat set for my other guitar

I know you keep insisting that the MM is dark, but, dude, you had it in les pauls. What was the acoustic tone like?

I've had it in gtuitars that I've also had an 81 in. Two of them. I've A/Bd it against the 81, pig, c-pig, painkiller and nailbomb. This is a standard MM, btw, not my Uber-MM. What I say is what I heard.

That said, I stick by my orginal statement (that I think I made, and if I didnt, I intended to): there isnt a BK that 'sounds like an EMG'. Theres 'more like' and 'less like', but not 'alike'.

[ericsabbath]

I know you keep insisting that the MM is dark, but, dude, you had it in

yes, i had it in dark les pauls (one is DARK, the other one is not that dark)
the same les pauls i had 12 other pickups
so if it sounded darker (on the low strings!) than all the other pickups, i can say it is a dark pickup on dark guitars
as i said, i don't believe it would make a bright guitar sound darker, as it priorizes the stronger frequency extremity
different from a painkiller that is bright by nature and tend to brighten anything

[MDV]

I know you keep insisting that the MM is dark, but, dude, you had it in

yes, i had it in dark les pauls
the same les pauls i had 12 other pickups
so if it sounded darker (on the low strings!) than all the other pickups, i can say it is a dark pickup on dark guitars
as i said, i don't believe it would make a bright guitar sound darker, as it priorizes the stronger frequency extremity
different from a painkiller that is bright by nature and tend to brighten anything

I had one in a dark guitar -  it was darkish. It certainly didnt lack any highs (it still had tonnes oof them), but its low mids came though quite strongly. I had it in a pretty neutral guitar, it was neutral with a big low and and fat, bright crunch and it sang on the high frets. A lot brighter than the 81 in there which stays more constant from guitar to guitar).

MMs to like to pick up low mids. If the guitar had lots of that and not much high end I can see how it would be dark on the bass strings and its high resonant peak keep it brighter and cutting high up.

But it aint a dark pickup.

The PK is a bright pickup, but lets not forget its ultra-tight, heavy low end.

[Iron Lotus]

Thanks for the responses... Some great reading so far.
Lots of good information.

Let me say a couple things... Im not looking for a
pickup to "sound like" my 81, If I wanted that Id
keep it. Its a good pickup especially for low tuning.

I just want something that will kick its balls off
and be more organic. I can turn the amp up
if theres an output difference. Ive been kicking
around the idea that a Ceramic Warpig sounds
like it just might be something that can do
it for me, I want to be a little different than the rest
but not at the expense of tone loss.

So it would be a big swap from active to passive,
I LOVE the emg 60 for cleans too so that sucks
id have to take it out. I want bigger, Meatier,
Bigger harmonics.... Without sounding like a blanket
is over the speakers. They dont sound like that now
but Im just saying I want to make a step up, not down.

Thanks again guys!