EMG vs Duncan vs Dimarzio

[BigJoe77]

Sorry to have started a thread that spun so wildly off course.

I get the general arguments pro and con in regards to EMG's. I really enjoy the tone that Keith Urban had coming from his Tele with an EMG. It's not vintage, period accurate, very twangy or much of anything else that people instantly recognize. He doesn't even play it anymore. That's fine. I still enjoy the tone enough to try to re-create a facsimile of it. On most passives, I can tell pretty quickly the difference between ash and alder and didn't want to whiff on chasing the tone if it made that much difference.

(I realize that his BadCats, pedals and fingers play a huge part in his tone. I don't want to be him, I just enjoy the tone.)

[ParameterMan]

I say go for it. It's a cool sound and a lot of fun to play. And the guys who think EMGs are for amateurs can kiss my hairy little backside.

[scottish]

as lew mentioned...david gilmour.

not an amatuer, not a super high gain player, plenty of good tone, used emgs for a long time.

[ParameterMan]

"Eye rolling", geez. Yeah, all the stuff I already know. The point I was trying to make was that to me EMG's sound stripped clean of tone and flavor. From a technical point the tone was never added in the mix in the first place (thru a normal amount of windings). No they don't 'kill' tone, something I meant figuratively, they never have it to begin with: they're "pure, bereft of colorings". That's the reason they contribute less of their own character. Relax man, & give those eyes a rest.

Aaaaand, the point was he never asked you if you like EMGs, he asked a question about a specific EMG pickup that you don't seem to have any experience with. I guess I'm not very mature, but it starts to annoy me when you insist on imposing your personal preferences on every question and will not be denied.

[Abyssous]

should there be a "versus" between these pickup manufacturers?
every player has his own "likes" and "dislikes" and if there was only one pickup brand 'the best', there would be just one brand right?

i tried some different pickups, for example, my first good pickup was a 300$ set of double blade custom humbuckers called the 'hawkbucker'
http://www.seymourduncan.com/product...dex.php?page=2 (above)
I've put these in a jackson rhoads fully customised (drilled through the cavity and put a pickguard on top, electronics still reachable from the back)
at first, they sounded quite crappy, earstunning actually, but then i learned that, with high output, you've to reduce little gain from the amp.
now they sound ok, pretty good actually, but still i just bought them for the looks (instead of these dimebuckers with that stupid signature on it)
my next set was dimarzio pafpro. one normal and one f-spaced.
they made a crappy cort sound quite good, yet little to less output and too much disturbing highs. i like as much output from a pickup as i can get, so you don't have to rape the amp too much. that guitar became a backup eversince.
so, for my next one (esp ltd mh53) i was looking for a really good hot output pickup, wich led me to: emg, invader, LW metal and an x2n.
friend of me played an invader, cracked too much, i loved it, but nothig for me.
2 other friends both switched to emg ad it sounded a little too buzzing for me. i also had quite bad reviews on the x2n and so i bought the livewire. i liked the sound of christopher ammot a lot, so that helped a lot making the choice. that's when i found my pickup for my style.
yet for soloing i'd still recommend pafpro's at the bridge..

[Benjy_26]

PROTIP: If you really want all the advantages of EMGS (lo impedance), they sell a circuit called a PA-1, which converts signal to lo impedance (no loss on long cable runs) and lets you boost output to the 81 range, and can be added to a passive setup for $30 bucks or so. Buying the active pickups is a waste of cash.

One caveat, if you're interested in playing in an environment where ultra low noise is desired (like in a PRO recording session), the PA-1 added to passives will raise the noise floor.

[pinto79]

Zakk Wylde (lol), a B-list rocker who benefits from the 81. OK, the 81 has a place in metal, but we're not talking about tone so much, just compressed, focused gain.

A guy who has been Ozzy's main choice for guitar work for the last 20 years is hardly B-List.



The Tele EMG Set with Ceramic magnets is a beautiful pair of pickups.

I choose pickups based on the instrument. As a result, I have Duncans, DiMarzios, EMGs, Various stock ones and even GFS pickups in guitars because they are right for the guitar.

[Karmadog777]

Only guy on this list who is "A list" player is Steve Lukather and he hit in the 80s when noise-free EMGs were the only game in town.

those were only a few and if you dont think Gilmore is " A list "
well ,, I just cant take your post seriously

[Fikealox]

In light of ParameterMan's first post, I should clarify my comments about actives sounding relatively opaque with regard to woods. That comment was based on my experience with 81s, 85s, and the different fullsized BO humbuckers (rather than SAs, 60s, etc). All of the actives I've tried have, to my ears, sounded good and relatively similar regardless of the wood of the guitar. My impression was that they were "opaque", but on reflection it's maybe more logical to say that the more idiosyncratic nature of passives actually accentuates and cancels the effects of tonewoods (like constructive/destructive interference in sinewaves). There's no objective "better" though, of course.

And on a side note, I think it's insane to say EMGs are "for amateurs". Looking at the full list of EMG artists, I saw innumerable amazing guitarists. There wasn't anyone I really listen to (apart from Gilmour), but I don't think anyone sane could accuse Reb Beach, Peter Wichers, Michael Angelo Batio, Jeff Loomis, and Rusty Cooley of being amateurs.

[Lewguitar]

I've seen the notion on here several times recently that Dimarzios will sound more or less the same regardless of whether they are on a hubcap or a 59 LP, while SD's are more organic and will take on more of the characteristics of the wood.

Where do EMG's fit on this scale? How sensitive are they to, say, ash vs. alder on a tele?

Just thinking out loud...

I have one set of EMG's in a Strat with a rosewood fingerboard and one set in a Strat with a maple fingerboard. Both of those guitars still sound like they "should". I don't hear the EMG's imposing any particular tone on those guitars.

The guitar with the rosewood fingerboard still sounds like a rosewood fingerboard Strat (ie: a little warmer and a little fuller) and the Strat with the one piece maple neck/fingrboard still sounds like a maple fingerboard Strat (ie: slightly brighter and maybe a little less fullness to the tone).

You know, the only major pickup manufacturer I've never hit it off with Dimarzio. I've owned some guitars with Dimarzio humbuckers and also a Strat with their vintage Strat pickups. Just didn't connect with them.

I grew up with Fender and Gibson pickups that are now vintage, and that's the tone I hear in my head. To my ears, Duncans tend to have the vintage tones I grew up with.

Lew

[Bludave]

I have an assortment of PU's in my guitars, different brands & models (Duncan, DiMarzio, Gibson, Carvin, and Schaller). Like Lew said, I only keep what sounds good. I have more Duncans than any other brand.

I bought a guitar with EMG's (81/85) and couldn't sell it fast enough. Thin, bright, puny, and sterile. They're designed for huge amounts of distortion and effects, to keep from sounding muddy, but outside of that, I don't see any use for them. Don't work for the music I play.

For hard trash stuff they seem to be OK, but for blues ...... way to bright for me. Although a few years back I had played a friends guitar that had active EMg singles (3 ) in a Tele & they sounded real nice. But for the most part I agree with you.

[WyrmCracker]

One caveat, if you're interested in playing in an environment where ultra low noise is desired (like in a PRO recording session), the PA-1 added to passives will raise the noise floor.

I dont remember any noise without using the gain boost, but that was 10 years ago. I think the things primary advantage is just lo impedance, without using gain boost.

[WyrmCracker]

those were only a few and if you dont think Gilmore is " A list "
well ,, I just cant take your post seriously

Well, I need to be open minded. Point me to one of Gilmour's instrtumental albums and we'll see if his guitar can hold the album together.

I always viewed him as one of the MOST overrated players. A guy who can do tasteful pentatonic breaks, backed up by a really good sounding production. Not the stuff (real) guitar heroes are made of.

[WyrmCracker]

A guy who has been Ozzy's main choice for guitar work for the last 20 years is hardly B-List.



The Tele EMG Set with Ceramic magnets is a beautiful pair of pickups.

I choose pickups based on the instrument. As a result, I have Duncans, DiMarzios, EMGs, Various stock ones and even GFS pickups in guitars because they are right for the guitar.

Rawk on Zaak!!

[Lewguitar]

For hard trash stuff they seem to be OK, but for blues ...... way to bright for me. Although a few years back I had played a friends guitar that had active EMg singles (3 ) in a Tele & they sounded real nice. But for the most part I agree with you.

My direct experience with EMG's in my own guitars is limited to single coil Strat pickups. I've never owned a set of EMG humbucker size pickups.

And again, the only reason I started using EMG's at all is because my Strat with Antiquitys had so much buzz in one particular studio that I felt I should have a Strat that didn't buzz - and, I guess, I wanted to try something I'd never tried before.

I had the Duncan Classic Stack Plus pickups in one of my Strats for a while. Those are humbucking and excellent too. I still can't figure out why they haven't caught on. I thought they'd take the Strat world by storm - but, at least for me, they haven't been good sellers.

But I wanted to try the EMG Gilmour set because I'd heard I'd be able to get paf humbucker tones out of that set as well as Strat single coil tones. I wound up really liking them.

Lew

[Benjy_26]

I dont remember any noise without using the gain boost, but that was 10 years ago. I think the things primary advantage is just lo impedance, without using gain boost.

What exactly is the advantage of lo z in the studio?

In any professional environment, effects are added post recording.

Long cable runs?

The longest cable I've ever used when recording has been 10ft.


If you don't like EMG's or other actives, that's more than good. It's great, really. To each their own.

[Luke Duke]

I just want to interject that just because a pro uses something doesn't make it good. I mean look at some of Jack White's gear! I can think of plenty of "pros" that pull down tons of money doing what they do that have bad tone or technique or are where they are just because they were in the right place at the right time.

So please let's not just use the gold/platinum earning guitarists as tonal oracles.

Luke

[Lewguitar]

I just want to interject that just because a pro uses something doesn't make it good. I mean look at some of Jack White's gear! I can think of plenty of "pros" that pull down tons of money doing what they do that have bad tone or technique or are where they are just because they were in the right place at the right time.

So please let's not just use the gold/platinum earning guitarists as tonal oracles.

Luke

Depends on the pro. The pros I mentioned are real pros and terrific guitarists: Vince Gill, Zakk Wilde, David Gilmour, Steve Lukather, SRV...

I didn't mention Jack White.

[JohnnyGuitar]

I had the Duncan Classic Stack Plus pickups in one of my Strats for a while. Those are humbucking and excellent too. I still can't figure out why they haven't caught on. I thought they'd take the Strat world by storm - but, at least for me, they haven't been good sellers.

I know this is a little off topic but I think that they didn't caught on because SD doesn't market them well (sorry Evan).

Sound samples are hard to get... while Dimarzio/Kinman/Lace offer variation, info and explanations about their vintage noiseless models, it almost looks like the SD team is not really excited about their own product.

I've been checking options for a noiseless set for my Strat since I've bought it. The SD Classic Stacks and Classic Livewires were the first options I've checked. Hardly found any samples, explanations, etc... If I would order today it would probably be the Dimarzio Area 67 pups.

[blueman335]

I say go for it. It's a cool sound and a lot of fun to play. And the guys who think EMGs are for amateurs can kiss my hairy little backside.

The original question was what we thought about "EMG vs Duncan vs DiMarzio" (sound familiar?). That would seem to invite opinions, as there doesn't seem to be an abundance of laboratory data available on this. As I said in an earlier post, I've tried EMG's and they don't work for my style of music, so the experience factor is there (you must have missed that as you got yourself worked up). As far as injecting my "personal preferences", how about walking the talk yourself? We all certainly benefited from the wisdom & insight expressed in your post (above).

Look, you're an intelligent guy, if you could tone down the emotion, you'd have more credibility. No need to get in people's faces and pick fights. No one's right all the time, and 95% of this forum is opinion. Take the opinons and preferences away, and there's no forum. It's all about what we like, and most of the time there's no way to quantify that. Usually comes down to taste, and no one is right or wrong.