Anyone use EMG actives?

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Quagmire02

Quagmire02

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I'm thinking about slapping two EMG 85 pickups in a flying V I have. Anyone use these?
 
I've got EMGs in my new Airscreamer, but I'm not a big fan of actives. You wanna trade?

Oops, I actually just noticed that I have passive EMG HZs. If my amp wasn't broken, I might have already realized that :o
 
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I have. I didn't like them, but they didn't fit my playing style.
They are kind of thin and glassy sounding (the 81's are worse) but they are very linear. The tone stays the same no matter what you are playing or how you pick.

If you are one of those players that needs consistancy, these are good. If you need to be able change the tone of the instrument by changing the way you attack the strings, you will hate them.
 
I concur...I used to have an 81 and I hated it.

I'm sure someone who swears by them will come in and post soon....
 
My sound is geared more towards metal/rock type stuff. Lots of distortion and saturation. The 81's are perfect for that. But like farview mentioned, if you play stuff that is more dynamic, like blues for example, you don't get a whole lot difference in tone color. I don't know how other EMG's would compare, I've only used the 81. But I love it.
 
Farview said:
I have. I didn't like them, but they didn't fit my playing style.
They are kind of thin and glassy sounding (the 81's are worse) but they are very linear. The tone stays the same no matter what you are playing or how you pick.

If you are one of those players that needs consistancy, these are good. If you need to be able change the tone of the instrument by changing the way you attack the strings, you will hate them.
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Well, I play some heavy metal. Well, I aplay a lot of it. But, I'm also a guitar hero appreciator. I like the EMG tone for heavy music that guys like Slayer, Zakk, and Judas Priest get with EMG but no, I'm not keen on their lead playing dynamics.

I like the lead tones of Paul Gilbert, Yngwie, and other distinguishable players who don't have a "flat" tone. But how much of that is in the fingers?

I have really wide vibrato like Yngwie and I definitely attack the strings with different approaches.

I have 4 guitars, so I might just try two 85's in one and tone zone's in the other.

I play through a Laney GH100L head....all tube balls and amazing natural distortion.
 
flamin-gitaur said:
My sound is geared more towards metal/rock type stuff. Lots of distortion and saturation. The 81's are perfect for that. But like farview mentioned, if you play stuff that is more dynamic, like blues for example, you don't get a whole lot difference in tone color. I don't know how other EMG's would compare, I've only used the 81. But I love it.
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Well when i play blues I use an strat with single coil hs3's in them. I wouldn't even use the guitar for powerful heavy metal.
 
Quagmire02 said:
Well when i play blues I use an strat with single coil hs3's in them. I wouldn't even use the guitar for powerful heavy metal.
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That is sorta what my point was.



BTW, when I play blues I use a Les Paul with 496R and 500T ceramic humbuckers.
 
Well, I can't get a pickup for one guitar that let's me do everything, so I will try slapping some 85's in one of them and see how it goes. Thanks for the advice guys.
 
Another thing that is nice about Actives is that you get alot more output gain, no hum, and no groundloop problems,like you do with passives, which is particularly nice if sing and play at the same time, cus you don't get shocked when you touch mic's.
 
If your lead playing style is like Yngwie, you won't like them. If you are trying to out-Yngwie Yngwie, you might need them to smooth out your picking.

The 81's have more high end than the 85's. To me, this is a bad thing because the 85's are thin enough. That's just me, Duncan JB's are really popular and I think they are thin as well.

I am plagued by guitar-hero types, the guys that use EMGs are the ones that want the guitar to sound the same no matter how they play it. It's like they want the guitar to have no feel at all. It's kind of strange because when I pick up those guitars, I can't play them. I get lost because I don't feel the guitar, it's very strange.
 
Farview said:
If your lead playing style is like Yngwie, you won't like them. If you are trying to out-Yngwie Yngwie, you might need them to smooth out your picking.

The 81's have more high end than the 85's. To me, this is a bad thing because the 85's are thin enough. That's just me, Duncan JB's are really popular and I think they are thin as well.

I am plagued by guitar-hero types, the guys that use EMGs are the ones that want the guitar to sound the same no matter how they play it. It's like they want the guitar to have no feel at all. It's kind of strange because when I pick up those guitars, I can't play them. I get lost because I don't feel the guitar, it's very strange.
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Not trying to out-yngwie yngwie. I don't need to play faster, I just like to have a good heavy metal sound. In thrashier heavy metal the lead tone isn't really the focus. And you know, in the studio I can use whatever guitar I want for recording solos.

I'll try em out.
 
One thing to consider about EMG's is that most of the "guitar hero" guys who use them have some pretty heavy duty EQ's in their racks to get the sound they want out of them. Personally, I'd rather get my tone out of the guitar and the amp, but if you like buying gear, they will give you a good reason to buy it.


My own signal path? String-pickup-volume control-tone control-cable-amp. My pickups vary with the guitar, but my main guitars are a two humbucker guitar (which I made, of course) with an Alnico II in the neck and a Pearly Gates in the bridge, and a Warmoth Strat I made when I was 13 (my first electric, and the first guitar I ever made) with three Duncan Hot Rails, though I'm seriously thinking of getting myself some Joe Bardens. Neither is a metal guitar though. My "metal" guitar (not really, but that is what I was trying to do when I made it) has a Duncan Jazz in the neck and a JB in the bridge. I actually kind of like the Jazz distorted, because while it doesn't have huge balls, it has a lot of articulation.


Also, if you are a fan of the way your guitar interacts with your amp, it won't happen with an active system. The output impedence of the active system is too low to really load the amp properly.

In the end, though, the only way you will know if you like them is to try them, so give `em a try.


Light

"Cowards can never be moral."
M.K. Gandhi
 
I'm suprised nobody mentioned the DiMarzio X2N. It's pretty much the highest output pickup you can get and it's really fucking mean. I have one in my strat and it will keep right up with the EMGs but I still have the ability to alter the tone with the volume knob. It will go from almost clean at 1-2, meaty from 3-5 and rip yer face off from there up. I currently have EMG 81 and 85 in other guitars and I don't like them nearly as much. They are definately the one trick pony pickup.
 
I have an EMG 85 in the bridge of a 80's Charvel RR V, and I dig it. I don't find it to be "flat" or lifeless at all. All it does is provide tons of clean, crystal clear gain, and it will sound only as lifeless as your playing....or as soulful as your playing, however the case may be. It's just a pickup after all, it doesn't play the guitar..lol. You can make all the strings ring, or make it give a heavy evil "chunk", the volume knob really makes a different on these actives, and playing style too.
 
amra said:
I have an EMG 85 in the bridge of a 80's Charvel RR V, and I dig it. I don't find it to be "flat" or lifeless at all. All it does is provide tons of clean, crystal clear gain, and it will sound only as lifeless as your playing....or as soulful as your playing, however the case may be. It's just a pickup after all, it doesn't play the guitar..lol. You can make all the strings ring, or make it give a heavy evil "chunk", the volume knob really makes a different on these actives, and playing style too.
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It's not so much that they are lifeless, it's just that all the energy is concentrated in the high end. This comes in handy when you are using high gain amps because the transient can sneak through the amp before it mushes out. That is where the articulation comes from.

However, most of the overtones that change when you attack the strings differently are lower in frequency, where the pickup isn't as sensitive.

EMG's don't push the front end of an amp the same way as most passive humbuckers because of the way the pickup is voices and the impedance.
 
amra said:
I have an EMG 85 in the bridge of a 80's Charvel RR V, and I dig it. I don't find it to be "flat" or lifeless at all. All it does is provide tons of clean, crystal clear gain, and it will sound only as lifeless as your playing....or as soulful as your playing, however the case may be. It's just a pickup after all, it doesn't play the guitar..lol. You can make all the strings ring, or make it give a heavy evil "chunk", the volume knob really makes a different on these actives, and playing style too.
Click to expand...

Every guitar I've played with EMGs in it won't respond to changes in the volume knob like a passive pickup will. It acts just like a POD does when you try to change your tone with volume. It just sort of craps out. All three of mine do it and every other one I've used do it. Maybe you've never played a guitar with a really good passive in it.
 
I don't know about the EMG humbuckers, but I have EMG SA single coils in my Strings and Things strat and have been playing them for almost 20 years. I like the hot-ass punch they pack and the ability to roll the volume back for a full rhythm sound and then just roll it on for sweltering lead. I do a lot of blues/blues rock stuff these days and sometimes don't even bother to hook up an overdrive pedal, just play guitar and amp.

They have served me well through rock, country and blues phases I've gone through.
 
I just had a pair of Duncan Antiquities installed in my 82 LP. The tech also said he replaced the caps so that the tone controls would now actually do something and the volume pots would roll off more smoothly. Can't wait to try it out. :D Unfortunately I'm leaving town tomorrow for a meeting and won't be able to pick it up until Monday. :(
 
I have an 81 in my old Ibanez...it does ok, but I suck. I just got a new Jackson with Duncans in it...I really don't notice a ton of difference sound wise. But again...I suck.
 
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