Recommendation: replacement for EMG 81

[RyM]

Hello!!!!

First of all, hi to everyone!! i'm new here :)
As the topic subject says, i'm here to ask for advice. I've decided to remove my "muddy" EMGs from my LTD Viper 400, and one of the suggested pickups from some people has been the Bare Knuckle ones!! so that's why i'm here.

I would like to ask you for the best BKP (hambucker) that could fit my tone: standard tuning (E), Diezel Einstein amp, LTD Viper 400 guitar (mahogany body, maple neck), and my sound goes from rock/hard rock to metal, sounding like Metallica, Nickelback, Nirvana, FooFighters, Incubus, ...

so, wich BKP could fit best my sound?? i'm looking for an open, defined, tight, crushing sound, more musical than brutal, but without loosing balls!

Thank you very much in advance!!
Kind regards,
Raul.

[gwEm]

very surprised you find the 81 muddy! despite being sterile and undynamic its one of the tightest pickups you can buy.

having said that looking at the list of bands you mention, its clear the emg isn't for that sort of thing. i'm sure you'll get many different suggestions. every bkp will be more musical than your EMG.

you seem keen tightness, which suggest a ceramic magnet, and rock/hard rock suggests a more vintagey sound - nirvana etc. ask tim, but i would go for a cold sweat or miracle man. the miracle man is a great pickup for hard rock, but its not often discussed in that context... it will be alot more crushing than the cold sweat though. but if you want a more tone more in the old skool direction, the cold sweat is the one - but you can still get very brutal with it.

[RyM]

very surprised you find the 81 muddy! despite being sterile and undynamic its one of the tightest pickups you can buy.

yes, you're right... maybe i chose a wrong adjective, yours are better :lol:

Thank you very much for the advice gwEm!!! i'll research more about the cold sweat :)

any other suggestions??

[ericsabbath]

I think a cold sweat set might be a great replacement, considering your rig and some of the stuff you wanna play
or maybe a ceramic nailbomb
if you're used to alnico pickups, a regular nailbomb or holy diver might do the job


some diezel + mahogany + BK clips:

holy diver
http://netmusicians.org/?section=id&value=895

painkiller
http://netmusicians.org/?section=id&value=3621
http://netmusicians.org/?section=id&value=3537
http://netmusicians.org/?section=id&value=3442

black dog
http://netmusicians.org/?section=id&value=316
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZytPmeQLBE

rebel yell
http://netmusicians.org/?section=id&value=311

[Dr. Vic]

That's a difficult request : maybe you are asking too much for one pickup. To me it is NOT possible to ask for Metallica and Nirvana in the same pickup, with the same guitar.

Metallica is highly achievable with your EMG81 with your guitar, as it is. 

If you are looking for a kind of compromise to go somewhere in between those tones then, in the other hand there will be toooo much options available. I know that doesn't help you either  :lol:

Anyway I'd second most of the options above :

Alnico : Regular nailbomb, as the most versatile choice (which is a good thing for what you want to do, and the best option to me if you are looking for "musical over brutalz").

Ceramic : Ceramic nailbomb (easy  :lol:) or Cold sweat. For more tightness than the regular Bomb.

Don't know if the Painkiller would be too much for your tastes. Even if it is said to be very agressive AND tight, it is also very raw / organic sounding so I wouldn't rule it out 'cause it *might* gives some good surprises (but maybe not exactely the voicing you expect  :lol:). It will be great in your guitar and also a great replacement for the EMG81.

I'd avoid the Miracle man though : Good for Metallica, but not enough versatile for the rest of the bands you mentionned, imo.

And welcome to the boards  :drink:

[RyM]

Wow, thank you very much Dr.Vic and Eric!!! awesome replies!! really appreciated... :)

I'll listen to all those clips, to get an idea of what a are we talking about... is there any "myth topic" talking about the differences between each BKP?

Thanks again, guys :)

[juansolo]

I have a pair of Viper 400's that have both been BKP'd and would suggest that you stick with a ceramic bridge. But to throw a spanner in the works, I'd recommend a Miracle Man. That thing just works so well in the Viper it's untrue. Though it might be a bit much though for what you want, in that case I'd slap a Cold Sweat set in there. Probably the best all-rounders of the higher output pups for a heavy mahogany guitar.

[RyM]

Thaks juansolo for your recommendation!!!

One question, why do you recommend me a ceramic one?
Another thing, maybe my amp (Diezel Einstein) is a "so high-gain" amp, that it does not fit very well the higher output pickups... because i think it gets "dirty", and looses his beloved tone.

A friend of mine recommended me the VHII, but nobody has talked about it... maybe it does not fit the sound i'm looking for?

Regards!

[juansolo]

You're replacing an EMG81 that's ceramic and you find it muddy. The Viper is quite a heavy/dark sounding guitar as it is so I'd personally stick with the ceramics that generally have a bit more bite. Thinking about it, that also makes me think that the CS set might be more your thing rather than the MM.
 
The VHII is a more 'vintage' sounding pup, I've no experience with the Diezel, but I'd expect that you could throw most BKPs at it and still get a decent metal tone even out of some of the lower output sets. Hell I can get the Mules to sound nasty through the Blackstar! It's really quite an open-ended question, as I've yet to come across a BKP that's a one trick pony. Which is why you'll get different recommendations from different people as quite a lot of the pups will do what you like, just differently...

[MDV]

I'm with Vic here. Nothings going to get you all those sounds; many are near opposites of each other.

So, go for a jack of all trades pickup and rely on the (considerable) versatility of the amp; try Mules.

[dheim]

I'm with Vic here. Nothings going to get you all those sounds; many are near opposites of each other.

So, go for a jack of all trades pickup and rely on the (considerable) versatility of the amp; try Mules.

uhm... i'm not sure about it. mules DO sound great but definitely not what you're looking for. they're absolutely vintage sounding, and some 3 times less powerful than the 81s!
Cold Sweats give me a perfect rock-to-metal tone on my SG, they're dynamic and clean up well... not too much powerful (definitely less than the EMGs you're replacing but modern nonetheless.

[Roobubba]

Crawlers crawlers crawlers (or Abraxas). :)

Roo

[MDV]

I'm with Vic here. Nothings going to get you all those sounds; many are near opposites of each other.

So, go for a jack of all trades pickup and rely on the (considerable) versatility of the amp; try Mules.

uhm... i'm not sure about it. mules DO sound great but definitely not what you're looking for. they're absolutely vintage sounding, and some 3 times less powerful than the 81s!
Cold Sweats give me a perfect rock-to-metal tone on my SG, they're dynamic and clean up well... not too much powerful (definitely less than the EMGs you're replacing but modern nonetheless.

But bear in mind that the einstien has lots of metal on tap, as well as lots of pretty much everything else. I think hot-vintage is the way to go here - a pickup that has a bit of poke, but is mainly as dynamic and maleable as possible, and let the amp do all the work in heavying it up when needs be, so that you still have that lower gain floor and better dynamics for backing it off.

But failing that, nailbombs.

[HairyChris]

Thaks juansolo for your recommendation!!!

One question, why do you recommend me a ceramic one?
Another thing, maybe my amp (Diezel Einstein) is a "so high-gain" amp, that it does not fit very well the higher output pickups... because i think it gets "dirty", and looses his beloved tone.

A friend of mine recommended me the VHII, but nobody has talked about it... maybe it does not fit the sound i'm looking for?

Regards!

I use an Einstein with 3 BKPed guitars - Miracle Man/Mule, Cold Sweat set, Warpig set.

The Einie loves all of these. Cold Sweats will do pretty much anything, and are very responsive to attack. Even the pigs are tighter then you'd expect and roll off very well too.

[RyM]

Thanks to everyone for your replies!!! it's a pleasure to read you all.

So Chris, you are the man i was looking for!!! an Einstein owner with BKPs!!
I'm with MDV on what's he saying, the Einstein maybe could drive a vintage pickup to get high-gain sounds, but you have the answer on this, does it remaing "too vintage" or can it reach to metal? or do you think that the Cold Sweats could be the best choice?

Thanks again guys!!!