Dimarzios or EMG's

[Purple Getar]

I'm interested in what you guys think about the pickup selections I'm thinking about for my warmoth project...here are the choices..."alder body"....EMG 81/81's or a Dimarzio TZ and X2N...Help me decide!...take care all!

[lyconxero]

It's all up to personal preference and maybe what kind of music you play. I've been checking out a lot of pickups lately (and I mean A LOT!!!) and while Dimarzios have their appeal, I'm being drawn more and more into EMGs. I have EMGs in one of my guitars and it totally rocks and then I have Dimarzios in another guitar and they're good but I find myself going to the EMG equipped guitar more often than not. And for my last guitar, I found a killer deal on a pair of EMGs that I will be buying if they aren't sold by the time I next get paid. I love the fact that with EMGs I KNOW what I'm getting everytime and I love it everytime but with Dimarzios it's sometimes a crapshoot because I'm pretty picky about what does it for me and what doesn't.

[Shredcows]

I guess, if its gain you want, EMGs. Quiet and high output without the insane magnet pull.

But if you are into subtle nuances of playing, like with Tube Amps and low/medium gain tones, totally into dynamics and stuff... EMGs often don't cut it. For some, they still do.

Its all preference..

Hate to say this but you really have to try. Oh, if you are in USA, you can just swap DImarzios like no one's business.

[ibanezcollector]

I am a fan of Dimarzio's myself.. dont have any techno info as to why they just do it for me and thats all I need to know LOL..

I have tryed EMGs, Duncans, Fralins, I just stick with what works for me.. Dimarzio's plus if I buy a pair that i never tryed out or heard and I dont like them I can send em back and swap em out for something else in 30days. Which is just a incredible thing Dimarzio does.

[buddroyce]

I dunno abotu everyone else, but I personally find EMG's to be very uhh.. one dimensional. They sound great but other than metal/shred I couldn't get any other decent tones out of it.

However, if you're trying to nail Michael Romeo's tone from Divine Wings of Tragedy or later I think you'd be happier with the EMGs. It's easier to nail his tone off the albums with the EMGs than the Dimarzio's. Albums up to Dressed to Kill were really the Dimarzio's at work and you can hear the difference (but then again I think he also changed his rig after that album as well).

[jaxadam]

EMG's are great, probably some of the best, for metal, shredding, things like that. I love them.

The TZ/AN combo sound really good, too, for metal, etc. but they also sound excellent clean, especially split. You won't get that with EMGs.

For versatility, I'd go with the TZ/AN or even some duncans. The duncan distortion is an awesome pickup, so is the jazz and 59. The name is kinda misleading, because it's not really a "distortion" pickup, it's kinda like a beefed up JB with a little more low end; it sounds really good.

It's really hard to say. For an alder body guitar, I'd go for some EMGs if you're just going to be wailing. But if you want a little versatility, go for the TZ/AN, they're great, too.

[lyconxero]

Personally, I love the clean tones that I get from my EMGs and the distorted tones KILL! But then, the styles of music that I play predominately are metal, shred, hard rock, classical, neo-classical, jazz, and a little blues. To me, the key with anything is to not expect the pickup to do the work of your amp. Once you get your amp setup where you want it and it gives you the tone that you want then you can choose your pickups simply as a way of contouring that tone. I personally just really love the high powered clarity of EMGs as well as the cut that they give you when you're playing live.

[Purple Getar]

Anyone know what he used on "Live on the Edge of Forever"...??....if it helps..this is going to be my metal guitar...I use ibanez RG's with dimarzios, and soloists with duncans and those I use for a more reserved type of sound.....what I'm really looking for here is something that is going to cut like noones business but I want to make sure it is still very musical..I tried EMG's and I found them a little bit sterile...just curious if they're all a bit like that...if they are, I'm for the dimarzios....I guess what I should of asked you guys "and sorry I didn't say this more clearly in the beginning"...is are all the EMG's a bit sterile??

[jaxadam]

No, not really.

I think you'll be really happy with EMGs if you decide to go that route.

[lyconxero]

I agree but you might want to try some DIFFERENT EMGs aside from the 81 and the 85. I hear that the 60 is a really good pickup.

[buddroyce]

I don't know which one MR used for "Live on the Edge of Forever" but the time I spoke with his guitar tech back in 2001, MR aparently tends to use his white ESP MII with the Dimarzio's live(and is almost always on the Rear pickup aparently. ie bridge pickup). None the less, it's pretty easy to tell which guitar he used for the live album though. Just look at the pictures in the album itself. If he's holding his white ESP it'll be the Dimarzio's, if he's holding the purple one it's the one with the EMG's. He doesn't have that many ESP guitars so it's a pretty easy guess.

(Unless he busts a string or really goes out of tune, I don't ever recall seeing MR switch guitars for the entire set.)

All EMG's are a bit sterile actually, MR's tone isn't exactly "warm" sounding if you know what I mean. Seriously though, if you didn't like them before you're probably better off with the Dimarzio's.

[rty13ibz98]

how many guitars do you have now? how many are active versus passive? can you deal with the output differences between the 2 setups? i am not a big fan of emgs as they are not very dynamic. i like the grit that comes with passives, too. i play really clean, but i like the organic feel that comes with passives. plus emgs are very sterile sounding, not alot of character. clean as hell, though. i just love the way passives react to sublties in dynamics and articuation. they are just better overall at translating what you do with the hands to the amp, imo.


rich