Emg Pups (active Vs Passive), For those that have alot of experience with EMGs |
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Apr 29 2007, 11:09 PM
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hi. i currently have an Ibanez RG2EX1 guitar that has passive "Designed by EMG" pickups. (basically means, low quality EMGs that have "EMG" on them to attract people).
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Iba...itar?sku=519783 i'm considering investing in a ESP (mainly because Ibanez has a poor selection of fixed bridge electrics): http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ESP...tar-?sku=516685 the pickups on this are active (81 and 85) what i'd like to know is, are active EMGs much different sounding then passive ones? because there is also a cheaper model of the same guitar which has EMG HZs http://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/ESP...itar?sku=516687 the only other difference between the two other then pickups appears to be the quality of the tuners, the 400NT has grovers. Basically, is it worth it to pay an extra 200$ for active pickups? or should i shoot for the passives? i know, this a matter of what a person personally likes. i'm just asking your opinions. i hope to go to my local guitar store (sadly an hour and half drive, and that's if your lucky) ((it's near LA)) (((TRAFFIC))) to try the passive pickups to see if they are any better then my "DESIGNED BY EMGs". i've tried a guitar with actives. it was pretty cool. -------------------- What did you learn tonight? while shouting so loud, you barely joyous, broken thing. You are a voice that never sings, is what i say. You are freezing over hell You are bringing on that end you do so well and you can only blame yourself, is what is say. |
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Apr 29 2007, 11:51 PM
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I never tried the active EMG 81 & 85 but I've tried the passive Hr-Hz or whatever they're called. I didn't like the sound at all. And the 81/85 set is uninteresting since I avoid actives pu's at all times. And the reason is simple, I hate changing that damn battery.
-------------------- My bands homepage
All time favourites: B. Streisand - Woman in Love, M. Hopkin - Those were the days, L. Richie - Hello |
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May 2 2007, 03:36 PM
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QUOTE (Asphyxia Feeling @ May 2 2007, 02:48 PM)  thanks for the feedback. i actually would probably get a guitar with dimarzio's, but i can't seem to find a fixed bridge guitar with 24 frets loaded with those pups. my price range (or atleast how much i think i can save, haha) is 500-700 USD. let me know if you guys have seen guitars like that in that price range? What you could do is to get the Ibanez of your choice and put in the DiMarzios after. Let's say you pay 320Euro for the RG321 with a fixed bridge. It's a H-H setup. So you'd get two pu's from DiMarzio, order from eBay or something, you'd pay less than 80 Euro a piece. So 320 for the guitar and 160 for the pu's = 480 E or somewhere around $650 and you'll have the pu's of your choise. Details on the pu's are that if the center-center measure between the E-strings down by the bridge is 53 mm or more you'd get an F-spaced pu for the bridge. And if the measure is 43 mm or more you get a F-spaced neck pu for the neck. Just check these measures up before you order. One simple idea could be to just look at a guitar you like at Ibanez.com and get the same pu's for your guitar. It's all on the Ibanez FAQ. Then it's just a matter of soldering. If you get an other guitar besides Ibanez make sure the pots are at 500k Ohm for Humbuckers. Right now I'm working on an old Charvel, am going to mill holes that fit a singlecoil up to DiMarzio humbucker pu size and put a Super Distortion in the bridge position and a Breed pu in the neck position. There's actually a Singlecoil pu also in the middle but I will just leave that hole empty. Also have to get those 500kOhm pots since the ones in it were too small. If this works out well I might upgrade my Ibanez FM320 with Evolution pu's 
-------------------- My bands homepage
All time favourites: B. Streisand - Woman in Love, M. Hopkin - Those were the days, L. Richie - Hello |
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May 2 2007, 04:54 PM
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QUOTE (Mark Schiewe @ May 2 2007, 05:04 PM) I would go with the Dimarzio tonezone in the bridge and a Evo in the bridge Bridge pu's are nice and all but you can't put em all there  Cool Jem, I like the coloring. This post has been edited by MickeM: May 2 2007, 04:55 PM -------------------- My bands homepage
All time favourites: B. Streisand - Woman in Love, M. Hopkin - Those were the days, L. Richie - Hello |
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May 3 2007, 05:11 AM
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HAHAHA, whoops. I meant a tonezone in the NECK
-------------------- Just remember, the last name is pronounced she-we
 My baby :) |
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great guitar =]
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May 3 2007, 12:06 PM
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QUOTE (moles @ May 3 2007, 10:04 AM) btw EMG's battery life is something like 3000 hours plugged in. Cool! I checked it up and that's a fact. So for a set with EMG 81 and EMG 85 a 9V battery life is approx 1500 hours. I used to have active pu's in an old guitar and the battey life was a lot shorter than that. I mean, with 1500 hours if you forget to unplug the cord it will run out in 60 days. My guitar ran out in just a few days, less than a week. So never the less changing batteries is a pain in the @$$ but 1500 I could live with 
-------------------- My bands homepage
All time favourites: B. Streisand - Woman in Love, M. Hopkin - Those were the days, L. Richie - Hello |
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May 8 2007, 04:11 AM
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QUOTE (Asphyxia Feeling @ May 3 2007, 06:18 AM) wow. thank you very much for the advice! i think i may actually do that! i'm a novice on guitar tech stuff (trying to master PROPERLY setting action / inotation right now, so i won't need to pay an outrageous fee at a shop) but there are plenty of ways to learn how to solder, and if that doesn't work i'll just pay them to upgrade for me. update: just look at some dimarzio pickups online. i'm liking the EVO 2 for a bridge and a Tonezone for the neck! This is a very good page with many tips on adjusting and stuff. http://www.fretnotguitarrepair.com/default.htm This post has been edited by J.E.M: May 8 2007, 04:11 AM |
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Mar 20 2008, 10:03 PM
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I had EMG 60 and 81 pickups in one of my guitars once, and although I don't like them much now, I still think that the active EMG's are a lot better than the passives. The EMG HZ's just sound quite cheap.
+1 for the Dimarzio's also  -------------------- Gear:
-PRS Custom 22 -Edwards Les Paul -PodXT -Ibanez Acoustic Check out my lessons and my instructor profile! My Youtube channel My Last.FM |
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Mar 21 2008, 12:00 AM
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get a dimarzio d activator... way more soul and life than emgs
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Mar 21 2008, 12:08 PM
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MickeM gave you a great idea. IF you want a guitar with custom HH pickups it is better to take a good playing 400$ guitar and put in there two H pickups of your choice. It all depends on what you are playing but generally didn't heard much good thing about active EMG's on the clean channel. I think Dimarzio or SD pickups are very versatile and you can't go wrong if you follow some general guidelines in what pickups you take. They are all very good for the price. -------------------- - Ivan's Video Chat Lesson Notes HERE
- Check out my GMC Profile and Lessons - (Please subscribe to my) YouTube Official Channel - Let's be connected through ! Facebook! :) |
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