what do you mean when you say EMG's are sterile???

[WICKED LESTER]

I still dont hear it in my EMG's?
they have plenty of character?

[PFDarkside]

To me they sound very "hi-fi". The set I was familar with was an 89/SA/SA set that my friend had after we found out that Gilmour used the SAs. (An 89 is a push/pull that goes from 85 to SA). It was like a perfect reproduction of what the strings sounded like. When I play my APS2, it colors the sound in a good way, the SA didn't do that. So I guess for metal and really clean sounds they are good, but they are just missing "something". I had an 81/85 set I almost put in my Paul, but I decided to keep the passives. Now if I get another Paul they are going in there for metal, but I like passives better for blues/hard rock.

[WICKED LESTER]

To me they sound very "hi-fi". The set I was familar with was an 89/SA/SA set that my friend had after we found out that Gilmour used the SAs. (An 89 is a push/pull that goes from 85 to SA). It was like a perfect reproduction of what the strings sounded like. When I play my APS2, it colors the sound in a good way, the SA didn't do that. So I guess for metal and really clean sounds they are good, but they are just missing "something". I had an 81/85 set I almost put in my Paul, but I decided to keep the passives. Now if I get another Paul they are going in there for metal, but I like passives better for blues/hard rock.

darkside my lone star strat has that set now(81/SA/SA)
it replaced the duncan custom and a dimarzio Hs-3 in the neck and a stock fender in the middle
the EMG set just made this guitar scream!
the custom was real good but did not have the FURY of the 81

[some_dude]

I still dont hear it in my EMG's?
they have plenty of character?

I've given up on worrying about it.

If they don't like 'em...f*ck 'em.

I rarely bother with anti-EMG posts unless someone's using some of the false mythology that surrounds them to justify their dislike to others.

[WICKED LESTER]

I've given up on worrying about it.

If they don't like 'em...f*ck 'em.

I rarely bother with anti-EMG posts unless someone's using some of the false mythology that surrounds them to justify their dislike to others.

I have tried many passives now and find the EMG stuff to have just as much character as any of them?
what is great about the 81 other than its plain outright fierceness is that it has a very low magnet pull and is wound only to 10K(same as a screming demon) then is boosted via preamp
this can be done with the duncan SD and a booster but will never be as tight or quiet.
I also love the LOOK!

it even looks like it is NASTY

[H8Red442]

I think the thing for me is they're a little TOO tight. A bit too rigid. I've had them installed in 5 of the guitars I've owned and only one sounded exactly as I wanted it too and another was close but not close enough. The others sounded thin and rigid. Really given the sound that comes from all Duncans, whether you like them or not, the sound is looser. It feels like it breathes more. I've recently put a Distortion in two of my guitars and they are tight without being too ridig and they bark when I chug. I'm not sayin EMGs don't but for me they seem too digital. And digital is sterile unfortunately, its the nature of digital.

I know a lot of people who like them and I know a lot guitars they sound good in. Just not in my guitars.

my two cents

[Zerberus]

The only critique I have for EMG is that they need to expand the line IMO

I have one guitar loaded with EMGs left and for that axe I´d actually like something right between the 81 and the 85 /89, (the SAs are a bit too dark as well, but there is an S and an SV)... Unfortunately, that pup doesn´t exist, so I may have zero EMG loaded guitars soon....

[Benjy_26]

EMG's aren't just for metal heads. I use my '77 strat with the Dave Gilmour set up for everything from funk to country to rock. It still sounds like a great strat should and it is dead quiet.

[usagi]

It seems they soung great with tubes. And not so hot in solid state.

[Johtosotku]

I
I also love the LOOK!

it even looks like it is NASTY

Hey, me too! I think that the EMG hums are the best looking ones on the market. They seem to suit almost every guitar.

I'm really interested in EMGs, I've never owned a set but I'd really like to. The only problem is that I already love my DMZ set!

[PFDarkside]

To me it's all just preferences. I'm glad that you guys get the tones you want with EMGs, I hope everyone can find their tone. The one thing that is a little disturbing is that it seems on some internet forums people are all for this or all for that. I can't think of many guitar related items that people are so quicker to reccomend than EMG 81/85 and Dual Rectifier. That being said, I own a Road King (Dual Recto based) and would consider some combo of EMGs for a mahogony guitar used for metal....

[ranalli]

The only critique I have for EMG is that they need to expand the line IMO

.

Definitely. I really wish they had a wider range of hums. I would like a few medium output ones or something.

[Zhangliqun]

A lot of jazz guys love them too. Ron Eschete, the 7-string king, swears by 'em. I got to play his custom-built semi-hollow once, but they just didn't do it for me. Sterile is the right word.

That said, it could be just a case of getting used to them and then you hear something in them and/or alter your playing technique to bring out their flavor. I go through something similar bouncing back and forth from Strat to LP -- After playing the LP for a while, the Strat sounds scrawny, and after the Strat, the LP sounds heavy and almost muddy. But then I realize I'm physically playing each a little different and I go back to the style that suits their tone better and all is right with the world.

So if I was put on a desert island with only EMG-loaded guitars, I might end up liking them after all.

[Reckless Abandon]

All pups have their use. I love my JB and 85

[Zhangliqun]

I have tried many passives now and find the EMG stuff to have just as much character as any of them?
what is great about the 81 other than its plain outright fierceness is that it has a very low magnet pull and is wound only to 10K(same as a screming demon) then is boosted via preamp
this can be done with the duncan SD and a booster but will never be as tight or quiet.
I also love the LOOK!

it even looks like it is NASTY

10k? That's fairly heavy bridge pickup even for a passive.

[Zhangliqun]

Adding to my other post -- I might learn to like the sound, but I'll never like the EMG look!

[WICKED LESTER]

10k? That's fairly heavy bridge pickup even for a passive.

10K is only slightly overwound from a P.A.F
the blues saraceno duncan,screamin demon,benedetto PAF are all 10K pups and have a low output
I consider 10K low not heavy

[fenderiarhs]

The only critique I have for EMG is that they need to expand the line IMO

+1000000000

[St_Genesius]

I've never quite heard "sterile" in the EMGs I've played before, but that is what I hear when I play Lace Sensors, especially the ones from the mid-90s. Even Clapton didn't seem to be able to get a good sound out of those things.

[Zhangliqun]

10K is only slightly overwound from a P.A.F
the blues saraceno duncan,screamin demon,benedetto PAF are all 10K pups and have a low output
I consider 10K low not heavy

10k is not high output but it's not low either -- it's medium. Slightly overwound from a PAF would be more like 8.6 to 8.8k.