the truth about emgs

[callen3615]

Originally Posted by rvai

how do you do that? unless I roll the volume down the clean channel sounds dirty, I mean not like the lead channel lol, but more like you hit a chord strongly and it goes kind of distorted

the x2n is like that

[LonePhantom]

Originally Posted by rvai

how do you do that? unless I roll the volume down the clean channel sounds dirty, I mean not like the lead channel lol, but more like you hit a chord strongly and it goes kind of distorted

You've got to back the pickups away from the strings. Yes you can put EMG pickups closer to the strings than you could with passive pickups due to less magnetic interference, but that's not to say you should put them too close to the strings.

I get great clean sounds with my EMG humbuckers.

[Crazy_Guitar]

Originally Posted by CosmicDebris

What kind of gear are you playing thru? EMG's won't make low end gear sound better.

Low end is low end, period. No pickup will make low end stuff sound better. It will sound worse!

[Dino]

Originally Posted by Trfsrfr

My $.02,
I have pretty limited experience with emg's. I have an older (1984 ish) Ibanez roadstar RG440 that has a EMG looking pick-up in it, that is middle of the road.
I also have a 1989 RG570 with stock pick-ups.
And I have an Epiphone Special II with stock pick-ups.
I just very recently picked up a used Jackson, not sure of the model, probably low to mid-grade guitar, that has EMG HZ's in it, and I can tell you that I am not impressed. It has a push-pull knob that switches on the high gain part, and it sounds pretty good for what I think would be a good metal rhythm sound. But VERY VERY NOISY NOISY!!!.
When I got it, the battery was dead. So I was excited to see how it would sound when I put in a new one. It didnt come to life like I expected it to. Maybe I bought a battery that had been on the shelf awhile and was slightly de-charged, but it didnt impress me like I had hoped.
Also it is very difficult to get any good pinch harmonics out of it.
My Epiphone humbucker gets better crunch and easier pinch harmonics, although it feeds back very easily.
My 570 sound is mid to medium-high metal sound, with good crunch and sensitivity (what I would consider easier to get pinch harmonics).
Maybe the ease of getting these P.H's are what I view as being a good pick-up quality; and I could be all wrong. But I am looking for a new pick-up for my new hybrid Ibanez RG something or other, and I am pretty sure that an active pick-up (of any brand, not just emg's (I dont like batteries that go dead) will NOT be my choice.
Just my opinion.

Wait a minute- HZ are passive. You changed the batteries on what guitar?

[newbieguitarmaker]

ok I have a question, how does Reb Beach has such a cool tone? He has used emgs in so many guitars, I think some of his Suhrs even have them.

[Dino]

Originally Posted by newbieguitarmaker

ok I have a question, how does Reb Beach has such a cool tone? He has used emgs in so many guitars, I think some of his Suhrs even have them.

Because they actually sound good and people just like to talk crap about them.