Opinions on EMG HZ (Passive) Pickups?

[giannifive]

I know EMG HZ's have a pretty bad reputation, but I was wondering if anyone here actually likes them? I get the sense that the HZ's appear to most people to be passive pickups trying to be actives and of course failing miserably. But as far as passive pickups go, are they really that bad? I've never tried them before, so I'm interested to hear what people think. Their H2 is wound to 8.something kOhm and has moderate to vintage output. The alnico version should be decent as a neck pickup, right? And any of the others (H1, H3, H4), which all appear to be pretty high output, should be decent bridge pickups, no? Unless EMG just has the recipe wrong for passives, I guess.

What got me thinking about this is the "Designed by EMG" pickups in some of Ibanez's newer guitars. I'm pretty sure they're just rebadged EMG Selects, but as far as stock pickups go they're not bad at all. They don't have the clarity or punch of Dimarzios, of course, but they sound okay. Medium to low output, with a flattish, maybe somewhat treble-weighted EQ curve. They measure 8 kOhm on my multimeter, so they've probably got ceramic magnets.

So, thoughts on EMG passives?

[bikeman]

I've got a set in my Jackson DKMG - I like 'em. Combined with an E-H Metal Muff they do a great 80s metal tone. Nice and tight with plenty of treble.

[evilkleg]

I have a buddy who had an H4 in his Alexi Laiho ESP LTD and I thought it sounded pretty good. That is until he swapped it out with an 81. Now the guitar screams. I believe Laiho is going with actives on his newer signature models.

[rty13ibz98]

the h3 doesn't sound bad, but compared to a dimarzio or duncan, is pretty blah. i don't try to look at it from the standpoint of active vs. passive emgs, but rather if they sound good. the h3's i've tried(in the neck and bridge) are just ok. imo, better than duncan designeds, but not by much.

rich

[jaxadam]

The H4's sound pretty decent, in my opinion. Not quite like an 81, but not that bad, and I've definitely heard worse.

[-Rhaab]

Originally Posted by evilkleg

I have a buddy who had an H4 in his Alexi Laiho ESP LTD and I thought it sounded pretty good. That is until he swapped it out with an 81. Now the guitar screams. I believe Laiho is going with actives on his newer signature models.

he uses duncan blackouts now, and you can hear it on his new album, his tone sounds way much better now

[Axayacatl]

random comment: I miss the tone from Hatebreeder.
Also, I was under the impression that Alexi preferred the passive EMGs?

[kotornut]

Yeah he switched to blackouts now. He did use the passive EMGs but now he uses active duncans.

[bulletbass man]

No he used a Jackson a pickup in his real guitars. Not a HZ. ESP of course didn't put jackson pickups in thier guitars so they put emg hzs instead. They're far from spectacular. I certainly would never put them in a guitar. But for stock pickups I've seen far worse.