ChrisDee Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Hey dudes, I'm caught in pup conundrum, im gona buy a new humbucker this week and i cant for the life of me decide whether to get the EMG 81 (Active) or the Dimarzio Evolution. I basically want a pickups that is ultra-sensitive to light touch, perfect for hammer on pulls offs. Ive been hearing how awsum the EMG is and im sorta leaning towards that but its $239AUS and thats alotta money for a humbucker for a 17 yr old with no job. I basically listen to blokes like Petrucci, SAtriani and Vai (yes i noe the evolution is his sig pickup), but i really want a pickup with a really really saturated distortion that is sensitive and shred friendly. thanks dudes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cloud Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Heh you sound a bit like me (17yr with no job lol) I make my side cash through ebaying lol. Anyhow I went with a set of EMG's I get used on ebay so I will let you know how they turn out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 i will give you a few samples of my different guitars,all with emg 81 at the bridge hope it helps http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/carved...op%20guitar.mp3 http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/impov%20lead.mp3 http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/lead,skolnick.mp3 http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/lead-01.mp3 http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/music/...high%20gain.mp3 http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/new%20part.mp3 http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/pucker...uppy%20dogs.mp3 http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/up%20tempo%20dropped.mp3 http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/music/instrumental.mp3 http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/music/...0black-test.mp3 http://fullservesite.com/westhemann/music/seven%20string.mp3 anyway,i am no shredder,but that should give you an idea of what you can expect from the emg 81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 ...i really want a pickup with a really really saturated distortion... From the sound of it, you'd probably be happiest with EMGs, but keep in mind that even they don't actually generate any deliberate distortion themselves - in fact, if anything, they're the clearest thing available. EMGs pumped into a rubbish amp setup are only going to sound like very clear rubbish. Saturated distortion has to come from your signal processing and your amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisDee Posted December 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 so the emg's produce pristine sounding notes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Another thing to consider is an FET preamp in conjunction with a high output pup. I have one Ibanez with a DiMarzio FRED on the bridge and the Tillman FET preamp, and it rocks! You can blast the preamp section of your amp with it and get lots of boost, creating a thicker sounding distortion, etc. Because EMGs are active, they alsp kinda blast the preamp, too, that accounts for part of their sound. They do clean really nicely as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisDee Posted December 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 EMG's all the way ill take a lamo pci wen i get them installed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 EMG's all the way Agreed. But a preamp circuit can work well, too, IME. The one thing that you can't change is the differences in impedance between an EMG and passive pickup. That's really the key here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Cavanaugh Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 The one thing that you can't change is the differences in impedance between an EMG and passive pickup. That's really the key here. When you're running your pickup(s) through the preamp, you're converting it to low impedance. I do believe that EMG's are actually High-z pups going into a preamp that outputs it as low-z. This really helps the pups be able to have low noise because the preamp is so close to the pup (it's sealed in cover with it). Personally, I'm working on devoloping a unique active pup involving 2 coils for each string, utilising Neodymium magnets and a unique magnetic design to allow differentiation amongst strings. Each string will have their own preamp intially, then be mixed down. All this, before leaving the pickup enclosure! Maybe after I turn out a couple of prototypes, maybe someone would be willing to be the guinea pig? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slabbefusk Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 You could take EMG's and power them with two batteries, so you get 18 volts, it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 You could take EMG's and power them with two batteries, so you get 18 volts, it works. this is true,and is even suggested on the emg site.(forextra headroom,if memory serves) i am glad you mention it because i have never personally tried it but i have always wanted to,and i think my current beast is the perfect candidate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slabbefusk Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 Your welcome . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 When you're running your pickup(s) through the preamp, you're converting it to low impedance. I do believe that EMG's are actually High-z pups going into a preamp that outputs it as low-z. This really helps the pups be able to have low noise because the preamp is so close to the pup (it's sealed in cover with it). Yeah, that's a good point. To me, the end result is somewhat the same - you get a pretty hot output going into your amp either way. Of course, EMGs are better suited for what they do - they are cleaner sounding overall. A preamp circuit is its own thing, too. I like the built-in Tillman FET preamp, but I am not suggesting that it is a replacement for EMGs, just an alternative. I should probably try running it at 12 or 18 volts and see how that works. As installed in my guitar, it's a very quiet circuit on 9V - no hiss or anything at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 When you're running your pickup(s) through the preamp, you're converting it to low impedance. I do believe that EMG's are actually High-z pups going into a preamp that outputs it as low-z. This really helps the pups be able to have low noise because the preamp is so close to the pup (it's sealed in cover with it). actually i believe it is quite the opposite...low output pickups which the preamp boosts,so that you have less hum and a cleaner signal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisDee Posted December 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 wait i forget wat preamp is i have an ok amp, a Roland Cube 30 i got ages ago in leymans terms i just wanna pump it to 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 5, 2004 Report Share Posted December 5, 2004 wait i forget wat preamp is i have an ok amp, a Roland Cube 30 i got ages ago in leymans terms i just wanna pump it to 11 it doesn't matter...the preamp we are talking about is inside the pickup...you never even have to see it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Cavanaugh Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 actually i believe it is quite the opposite...low output pickups which the preamp boosts,so that you have less hum and a cleaner signal That, too, I'm sure. My design involves fairly low-ouput, but still high impedance coils, with voltage being boosted by one type of preamp, then converted to low-z by another type. Impedance is not really a means of saying what power is. After it's converted to low-Z, it's has a slight decrease in voltage, but a big boost in current, it will sound signifigantly louder. A little something called Ohm's Law will tell you why this works. As resistance decreases and voltage remains constant, current increases. The lower impedance along the length of the cable (and in the electronics cavity) allows for spare capatitance to not as much treble loss from the cable (it really can't be noticed at all with it unless it's really long!). Anyways, I have experiment with low-Z pickups running into a preamp converting them to High-Z, and yes, they are low noise, and very clean sounding, but not too trebly or thin, they're great for Jazz!!!!! This was at a time when I didn't have access to enameled wire smaller than 28 AWG. I think I'll go back to the drawing board with that one, now that I think about it! I got so much more knowledge, now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 Low-impedance magnetic pickups?!?? What did you do, wind a 150 ohm single coil? I can see why you needed a preamp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 Low-impedance magnetic pickups?!?? Say, didn't the Gibson "Les Paul Professional" model use some special, low impedance pickups? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 Yes, the LP Professional, Personal, Signature and Recording models, along with the L5S, the acoustic flattop LP Jumbo and the LP Triumph bass all used balanced output low impedance pickups made by the Dirty Works company - the idea was to make a guitar designed to plug directly into the board in the studio. They actually worked fairly well in that role, but playing them through your Marshall stack involved a cumbersome transformer cable, and the control layout was somewhat arcane, so they never became popular. They were a much better product than the later RD Artist models with active electronics, but suffered from the same buyer perception problems - the market simply wasn't ready for them, and the average guitar player didn't see any advantages, only some over-complicated controls and a strange, unwieldy cable hookup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted December 6, 2004 Report Share Posted December 6, 2004 the idea was to make a guitar designed to plug directly into the board in the studio. They actually worked fairly well in that role, but playing them through your Marshall stack involved a cumbersome transformer cable, and the control layout was somewhat arcane, so they never became popular Hmm... very interesting. Thanks for the insight on that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle Cavanaugh Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 The coil (the bobbin came from a dead humbucker) actually ended out having about 600 winds and a resistance of only 8 Ohms! I think I could improve upon this design with laminated steel rails... Anyways, yes, there was a Les Paul model that featured low Z pups on it that I recall as being the Les Paul Recording, might have also been called the professional at one point. Anyways, I believe they were converted to hi-Z by means of a transformer normally meant to lower the impedance of a tube amps out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lovekraft Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 ...I believe they were converted to hi-Z by means of a transformer normally meant to lower the impedance of a tube amps out... The transformer was a standard line impedance matching transformer - Shure still makes a similar unit for converting their balanced loZ mics for use with a high impedance single-ended input amplifier. Beyond both being matching transformers, it had very little in common with tube output transformers, in particular the fact that it was small enough to be attached to the end of the cable. Here's a picture of the Shure version: A95UF Line Matching Transformer The Gibson transformer looks almost identical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Marossy Posted December 7, 2004 Report Share Posted December 7, 2004 I saw a Les Paul Professional on ebay a while back. I considered buying it because of its collector value, but I decided against it. The guy never got one bid on it. Kind of a shame because it was pretty much in mint condition. The cable thing isn't that big a deal to me personally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.