EMG 81/85 PUs in Basswood body???

[metal]

Hey Guys... i've heard that EMG 81/85 combo pickups would not work quite well with a guitar with basswood body.
I mostly play heavy metal and i own an ESP LTD AX-50 guitar but i feel its standard pickups are not quite good...
Any suggestions people?

[LonePhantom]

I've got 81-85 in my basswood RG and it sounds great, especially if you do the 18 volt mod. Go for it. With the 18 volt mod this pickup combo can be especially versatile.

[blackspy]

To me, and EMG equipped guitar always sounds like an EMG equipped guitar. The sounds of the EMG, which is essentially it's own little pre-amp, is more dominant than the tone of the guitar. I think you'll be fine with something like that in basswood if you like the sound of an EMG. I like them.

[metal]

thanx guys

[Defy704]

Got mine wired up and as stated above, they sound great. If it's the EMG sound you're looking for that is.

[moonlight]

IMHO when you use any gain and with the almost unlimited tone control of modern electronics, the wood, body shape are so minor in the variables is not even worth thinking about.

[Ironbird]

Originally Posted by moonlight

IMHO when you use any gain and with the almost unlimited tone control of modern electronics, the wood, body shape are so minor in the variables is not even worth thinking about.

This is absolutely true. Until I knew about tonewoods, my guitars sounded amazing. When i started reading up on different sites and seen "experts" posting about how "maple can't go will mahagony because it makes the mids muddy and treble too dull on the 15th fret ... blah blah" and all that crap, none of my guitars sounded good.I'm convinced tone wood is all in your head.My plywood bc rich ironbird sounded killer through a tube amp , but now not even my mahogany S series sounds good because reading other people's opinions on the tone of woods.Basswood with EMG's Sounds awesome. My friend has an RG loaded with them and it sounds just like a 3000 prs would with EMGs. Do er up, and make it an 18v mod!!

[shreddersymphony]

Ehh...I would not agree with that^. All my guitars have different woods, and at one time I directly compared exact same guitars that had different body woods. Same pups, tuners, bridge, neck, etc. And there was indeed a difference. It's not HUGE like some people make it out to be, but it is certainly there. And as for your friend mentioned above, that's a direct result of the fact that EMGs have a basic sound that carries over and tends to overwhelm other differences, as has been mentioned.

As for the EMGs...what everyone else said. they're the kinda pickups that have a sound in and of themselves, so I don't imagine they'd sound bad in basswood at all. Go for it.

[LonePhantom]

I've got two almost identical guitars with the differences being one has an alder body, and one a basswood body. They have EMG 81s in the bridge position, and they both have their own sound created by the timber the body is built with. It may not be hugely noticeable to most, but I can most definitely notice the difference.

[djohns74]

The main issue is the amount of gain that many people are used to using these days. Believe me, I have no issue with distortion at all, but very different guitars are going to sound almost the same through a thick wall of gain, there's no real getting around that. At the same time, I would say that anyone that thinks guitars of very different construction or electronics sound the same through a completely clean channel probably needs to get their ears examined.

[rob777vdy]

the guy who gave me lessons years ago had emg's in his basswood body guitar, sounded great.

[jaxadam]

I have EMGs in about 5 or 6 basswood guitars. With the 18 v mod, they sound great. With the amp dialed in right, you can get a plethora of great tones.

P.S. I run a pretty at pretty high gain, and there is a night and day difference between my RG's with EMGs and my Caparison Angelus HGS with EMGs.

[moonlight]

Hey djohns74, absolutely agree about completely clean tone. I just assumed that when talking EMG 81/85 some gain and effects were in the picture