Author Topic: bareknuckle vs emg? (Read 24311 times)

Adam Tree · « **on:** February 08, 2007, 01:57:35 PM »

i have just bought a esp ltd mh-400, and while the guitar itself feels nice, the pickups arent what i was hoping for. i have a cort mgm with the bareknuckle nailbomb in the bridge, and to me this is far better than the emg 81 ( active ) im wondering if anyone has any advice as to whether or not replacing this pickup will get any results as all the reviews say emg 81's are amazing ( i beg to differ ) im looking for a pickup that can handle massive amounts of distortion and makes pinched harmonics ring out nicely. Thanks in advance to anyone that replies.

TwilightOdyssey · « **Reply #1 on:** February 08, 2007, 01:59:39 PM »

I think that, in the right guitar, the EMG sounds fine. I would rather use a passive pup myself, however.

I think the Miracle Man blows the EMG81 out of the water.

TonyGibson · « **Reply #2 on:** February 08, 2007, 02:27:12 PM »

Quote from: TwilightOdyssey

I think the Miracle Man blows the EMG81 out of the water.

Agreed, and the Ceramic Warpig destroys and EMG 81 running on two batteries. I currently own the Miracle Man, Ceramic Warpig and a guitar that has an EMG 81/60A running on 18V. While the Miracle Man was just plain better than the EMG 81 on 1 battery, the EMG 81 on two batteries was pretty devestating...then the Ceramic Warpig came along and whooped it's a$$! :D

Seriously, you get sooooooo much more with either of the two models I mention than an EMG 81...better tone, dynamics, etc.

Antag · « **Reply #3 on:** February 08, 2007, 03:03:15 PM »

Quote from: TonyGibson

Quote from: TwilightOdyssey
I think the Miracle Man blows the EMG81 out of the water.

Seriously, you get sooooooo much more with either of the two models I mention than an EMG 81...better tone, dynamics, etc.

+1

While having plenty of output, the EMG81 seems very trebly & a little sterile to me. It seems to impose its sound on any guitar - to my ears one guitar with an EMG81 sounds like pretty much any other.

I'd prefer a passive pickup where the woods & the character of the individual guitar come through in the sound.

The Miracle Man is indeed an EMG-killer - comparable output but tonally vastly superior, particularly the low frequencies. Palm muted riffage just leaps out of the speakers when you have a MM.

If you like that hard trebly EMG sound & want less low end in your guitar signal, the Painkiller does it so much better with more mids than the EMG to drive the amp harder.

JMO, YMMV etc...

Dakine · « **Reply #4 on:** February 08, 2007, 06:13:31 PM »

Again, horses for courses I dare say.
My newest guitar has EMG's (my first active guitar pups) and I am really rather enjoying them.
However, I also have BKP's sets in WP,CWP and PK and would'nt replace any of them.
To me it adds another 'tool' to the sonic arsenal.
When plugged in to the amp and left on exact same setting a different tone is produced by each, and none are unuseable.

MDV · « **Reply #5 on:** February 08, 2007, 09:41:29 PM »

Well I love EMGs. But I prefer BKs.

Its not a gain contest, people! Yes, the CWP is at least as powerfull as an 81, and the WP is in similar ballpark (I dont think the miracle man is) but the more organic tone, richer sound, better responsivness, far superior lower gain and clean sounds (bar the 60, the clean of which I love) and greater benefit you get from parinng with woods all put BKs ahead.

I still like them, but I no long have any EMGs in any guitars after using nothing but for about 5 years. That really tells you all you need to know about what I think

Tim · « **Reply #6 on:** February 08, 2007, 10:25:17 PM »

I must admit that out of all the other hi output humbuckers out there, I find EMGs really good. Their tone, love it or hate it, is always consistent.You could fit a set to a baseball bat, string it up and there'd be that EMG tone. The very nature of active pickups means they're very hi-fi in their delivery and their high output means they're very compressed. Maybe not dynamically the most adventurous, they definately fulfill an important role in the field of guitar tone and as far as active p/ups go, no one makes them better IMHO.
I do still have a guitar with EMGs on which I use for reference-the tone is so radically different to handwound passive p/ups that neither steps on each others toes. When I compare EMGs to my own handwounds I really couldn't say one or other is better 'pickup'............they both do the job of transferring the tone from the strings to the amp very well. What my passives give me is more dynamic control and personally, I prefer that................especially the older I get :lol: There's also a very organic feel that comes with a handwound pickup which I love and an active doesn't recreate that-but that's not where they're coming from.
As a pickup maker I'm really pleased that players find BKPs a good alternative to actives, especially EMGs and it shows that players are keying into the same things that I am when I'm designing the pickups.

Adam Tree · « **Reply #7 on:** February 09, 2007, 12:02:35 AM »

jesus! cheers for all the replies! im gonna have to go and check out a load of the clips on this server of the different pickups, i have effectively decided i want to get sum more bareknuckle's though, Long live Tim!!!!

OD-Black_Fire · « **Reply #8 on:** February 09, 2007, 01:14:40 AM »

Cheers Tim, good post. I like the compressed growl from the EMG's that I have too. I need a BKP to compare though. I need a job :( [/depressed]

hermz · « **Reply #9 on:** February 09, 2007, 07:22:54 AM »

I actually like EMGs. I have a guitar with a set of 81s and they do the job they're designed for. I just find them a bit too sterile, too compressed, and too consistent in a way. I like how tight and responsive they are, but they just seem to lack anything to make them stand out.

I find my ceramic Warpig has all the things I like about EMGs without being too compressed. They give you far more control over your tone, and they allow more of the guitar's natural tone to shine through.

To conclude; the ceramic Warpig really is everything I had been hoping for. :D

Adam Tree · « **Reply #10 on:** February 09, 2007, 01:21:04 PM »

whats the difference between the warpig and the ceramic warpig? cheers

Philly Q · « **Reply #11 on:** February 09, 2007, 01:42:54 PM »

EMGs produce some amazing and quite unique sounds, but when I had a set I got so p!ssed off with the lack of dynamics I sold the guitar. Why I didn't just change the pickups I'll never know. Biggest (guitar-related) mistake I ever made.

I agree that it's a good option to have in the "arsenal", but I can never decide on a guitar to put them in. If I like the guitar, I'd rather have passives in it.

hermz · « **Reply #12 on:** February 09, 2007, 02:26:42 PM »

Quote from: Adam Tree

whats the difference between the warpig and the ceramic warpig? cheers

The ceramic Warpig obviously has a ceramic magnet, which gives it even more output and tightens up the bass. Ceramic magnets are used in EMGs as well as a lot of the really high output, 'metal' pickups.

noodleplugerine · « **Reply #13 on:** February 09, 2007, 06:12:31 PM »

The EMGs are great.

But aren't they really shielded? I've heard that you get very little tone from the wood from them, making them ideal for cheap guitars (like the LTDs with the Agathis bodies) but in more expensive guitars you wanna hear the wood.

When I play them I don't mind them, but in all honesty, I don't have an amazingly good ear for tone.

MDV · « **Reply #14 on:** February 09, 2007, 06:19:00 PM »

Oh, and as to wanting a recommendation, rather than just a general EMG Vs BK:

Ceramic Warpig.

Its a real 81-killer. Its got about the same, maybe a little more gain (I got mine after I sold my EMGs on, so I cant directly compare, just compare via other pickups), its got a huge, tight low end, mids are pretty smooth, but growlier and more biting than an 81 (or miracle man), plenty of highs, crystal clarity and more note definition and responsiveness and less compression than an 81, by a fair way.