Since I read about this mod for EMG pickups here in the forum I have been very curious, after all I have been using EMG pickups since almost 20 years now, and today I finally had the chance to test this mod with my main guitar, a Gibson Les Paul Custom, equiped with two EMG 81 pickups. If you have never heard about this mod, here is the story: EMG pickups are active pickups, normally they are powered with a 9 volt battery, this is how I used my pickups ever since I installed the first one. Those pickups are sold with one battery clip, and the manual also only talks about this one battery, but the specifications say that the pickups can be used with 9-27 volts. So obviously one fine day somebody had the idea to run his EMG's with 18 volts and he was blown away by the result, the net is full of reviews that say the sound opens up, is not as compressed anymore, you get more high end, more low end, more overall sound... So much for the theory.
Today I put together a little adapter that can connect two 9 volt batteries to my guitar and like this I ran the EMG's with 18 volts (all reviews say that adding a third battery, blowing the voltage up to 27 volt, doesn't really do much to the sound anymore, so I only focused on the 18 volt version). I recorded two little takes with the normal 9 volt setting, and then recorded the same stuff again with 18 volts, so you can see (or hear) about the difference yourself. About my impression... well, it changes the sound, yes. The clean sound really opens up a bit and is not as compressed, for the heavy sound I can't really see this effect happening. It also adds more high end, I didn't really hear more low end though, the overall volume doesn't really change either. I have to say that I didn't really like the 18 volt version, I definitely prefer the "original" with 9 volt, in my opinion it sounds warmer, the 18 volt make the sound more sterile for my taste. But as I said, there are the 4 recorded files so you can get an idea yourself, of course the only thing that changed for the recordings is the voltage, the sound settings in my guitar rig were the same. Let me know what you think about the 18 volt version, I will go back to 9 volt now

Hmmm I would say I prefer the 18 volt on the clean. It did seem more open.

However I think this same effect is not so great on the heavy clip.

my 2

That was AWESOME, but I'll stay with the 9 volts

I agree with the heavy clip, it really doesn't make a difference. Thought the heavy clip does sound a little like "Children of the Grave" by Sabbath.

Very hard to hear the difference but I prefer the 18V for both clean and distorted after concidering the 9V sounded more defined while the 18V sounded more phat. I also thought the hanging chords (starting at 13 sec into the heavy clip) had a tad more sustain.

If I didnt know there was a difference I'd say they sound the same.

That tells me all I need to know.

Awesome that you shared this Marcus. I've been curious for some time too.

THANKS!!!!

Well I think they sound the same. In my opinion it's more an psychological effect. Like Tim Tailor you know

MORE POWER Hugh Hugh hugh:)

Edguy

Obviously I´m deaf - but the difference I hear does not make any difference at all!
I´d stay with the original voltage!

Just my 2 Cents!

PS. Err....you DID use new batteries, didn´t you?!

Like the others I didn't really notice that much of a difference. But it's definately a cool concept.

Thanks for this great review Marcus. It does sound a bit different, but there isn't a really big difference. I think with some EQing those differences can be almost eliminated.

I prefer the 18 volt mod sound.. I also added a mod to my 81/85 setup and i love it...try using pinch harmonics with the 18 volts compared to the 9 volts

I changed mine from 9 volts to 24 volts with a mod i bought off ebay

I bought the same mod as outlaw (24v) and on my 81/85 set, I must say, I prefer the 9v. I've only had a week or so to play with this mod but I'm starting to feel like going back to just the 9v battery.

I like the PH's that the mod gives but overall, just not as warm. I'm really missing the warm tone of the 85 in the neck position. Clean wise, I like the mod a bit better over the 9v but I'm not playing clean that often..

I'm going to give it another week or so before I draw my final conclusion. Thanks for the samples Marcus.

awesome review Marcus, I have the EMG 81 on my guitar now, you´ll see it when my guitar turns to black this active pickup really blows me away, it´s perfect to play extreme music. pinch harmonics are easier than before. sustain´s longer than before, really, I´m in love with the EMG 81!

The 81 is the only pickup i ever play through... I never switch to the 85
I love the way the 81 sounds in the bridge

I agree, the sound difference is not huge, but it definitely is there. I have to say though that it is easier to hear the difference here on my Pro Tools setup, the conversion into mp3 might take away a bit of the difference. I just took a screenshot from my Pro Tools session, in the clean files you can see that the 18 Volt version is not as compressed as the original 9 volts one. Anyway, I will definitely stick to 9 volts, this is the sound that I love since almost 20 years and I am perfectly happy with it, no need to change for me
@ Lian: the 81 rocks big time, there is no better pickup for high gain sounds in my opinion, at least I don't know any other pickup that gives you this punch and clearity no matter how much you blow up your amp

Awesome review Marcus! That LP custom sounds great anyway, but it was nice to learn more about this subject

Marcus have you tried the seymour duncan jb/59 setup? I was wondering what that setup sounds like and if it is anything like the emgs

yeah man, thanks once again!
after read hundreds of reviews, I found all agree in one point: "want to play METAL get the EMG-81"

Yes, I had the Jeff Beck model from Seymour Duncan in one of my Les Pauls, but I have to say that I didn' really like it. It is for sure a good pickup, but it just didn't deliver "my" sound, so it lasted only a couple of weeks. But as I said, it is definitely not a bad pickup, it is nothing like an EMG 81 though, you can't compare both pickups at all.

I've been using 81's in most of my guitars for a while now too.

The only pickups that I have considered trying since are the Jon Schaffer Ice Buckers.

Those are quite the opposite of an EMG81, Schaffer uses low output humbuckers these days but he runs them with high gain amps to get his sound

I don't know those Ice Buckers yet, but I will ask Jon about them in february when they are on tour in Germany again And you don't really need a high output humbucker to get a good highgain sound, I use Gibson Burstbuckers in many of my guitars, and they are definitely no high output pickups, still they can rock big time. Another example is the Seymour Duncan Alnico II Pro pickup, just today I put two of those in one of my Les Pauls and they are great.

It might be my 41 year old ears, or lack of clarity in my headset. I'll have to hear it through my Mackie Monitors when they come, however, I may have imagined a difference in the clean, but the heavy sounded the same to me. I'd be interested to hear it through a better system. I know this discussion is a few months old, but the information is relevant.

I'd say they are as different as they can be. I love both setups but for different moods.
I have EMG 81/85 in one and JB/Jazz in another. I was aiming for JB/59 but after trying both combos I liked JB/Jazz way better.

Thanks Marcus. I've been curious of the 18v mod for a while. Interesting to hear your opinion and the samples.

As Micke I liked 18v better on both samples, sort of a bit "more" than the 9v. As you say, maybe not as compressed.
Not a big difference, but something is different. I'd guess that on a EMG85 the difference might be more noticeable too.

Hey, everybody has a different idea about how he wants his sound to be, I am fine with the 9 Volts

Did you talk with Jon about the WCR Icebucker?

I'm not really a fan of EMG, now I use Dimarzio X2N on my BC Rich and I'd like to change the stock pickups of my Ibanez.

I'm looking at this WCR model, as well as Bareknuckles War Pig or Motor City pickups.

Remember that the Icebucker has a lot less output (I would say 1/4 of the hotness of you X2N!!!).
Jon Schaffer gets his incredible from his 7000$ custom Larry highgain amps from Germany, the lower output icebucker is to keep clarity under this heavy distortion.

If you like pickups similiar hot to your X2N then try the Seymour Duncan Sh-8 or Bareknuckle (ceramic) warpig, but be aware that those are very bass-heavy pickups!

Thanks a lot for your help!

I really thought they were high output considering he's in Iced Earth. That's interesting. Do you know how much is the output value? I can't find it.

The Cobra is really tight sounding even with the X2N. I actually really like the Dimarzio, I just want to try something else similar. The War Pig seems really interesting!

Do you know about Mortor City? I'm a bit confused between the Nuke, the Solution and the Hell Baby.



Nevermind about the resistance I just found it. About 9.8k for the bridge and 8.2k for the neck. You were right, that's not what I need.

Nope, I didn't talk to him lately, but it is correct that he mostly plays his Larry amps, that offer enough gain to fire up a low output pickup too.