daveq Posted August 5, 2003 Report Share Posted August 5, 2003 I just wired up my first guitar tonight, checked for smoke and let it rip. It has EMG 81 / 85 's in it and it sounds mean! I can see why some people don't like EMG's but my guitar was meant to be a copy (sort of) of George Lynch's Kamikaze II so the mean streak is just fine with me. I also put the EXG circuit in it - no opinion on it yet. The problem I have is the volume / pickup switch. I couldn't find a Push/Pull 25K pot anywhere. Some site listed as having them in stock but when I placed the order they all said they were out. I did find a push/push 25K pot (the one I am using now), but it really sucks. It's tiny and makes some strange noises when operating it. I will try to clean it with contact cleaner but I'm not expecting much improvement. Does anyone know where I can find one of these things? I don't want to put a toggle switch in my guitar so I am pretty much set on a Push/Pull (or Push/Push) combo. Thanks, Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted August 5, 2003 Report Share Posted August 5, 2003 i don't have any ideas on the pot but you mighht try contacting emg.they store alot of pots that they ship with their pickups but in the interest of sharing info i thought i would let you know that emg makes pickups for every application.even though the mean tone you speak of is what they are famous for they also have single coils and jazzy type humbuckers which are also excellent.david gilmour of pink floyd plays through the single coils.they have an excellent bluesy tone which doesn't muddy up or have background noise. i know this is off the point but i just wanted to let you know.i love emg! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted August 5, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2003 Are you saying that I should contact EMG directly? I didn't think that they sold to individuals - just distributors/dealers? The EMG 81 / 85 combination was the set I was refering to when I was talking about some users not liking them. I have done quite a bit of research on them and I was aware of the other products but thanks for the info anyway. The common slam on the 81/85's seemed to be the notion of them being a "manufactured" sound. I don't agree with this idea since all they really do is filter (EQ,boost,...) the original guitars sound - they certainly don't generate the sound all on their own. I'm getting off the topic also but this seems to be a common misunderstanding about the EMG active pickups and it drives me crazy. They do sound different from passive pickups - no doubt about it but they do still use the original tone of the guitar as a base signal. I once read somewhere that someone thought an active EMG pickup would sound the same mounted on a 2x4 as a $2,500 guitar I would disagree. Sorry for the ranting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted August 5, 2003 Report Share Posted August 5, 2003 I found a 25k push/pull audio taper with nut and washer at AllParts, the part number is EP 0225-000 and it retails for $12 if you need help getting one pm/e-mail me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted August 5, 2003 Report Share Posted August 5, 2003 yeah of course they sound different.i have 81s in the bridge of all my guitars and each guitar sounds dramatically different depending on the body wood,body thickness,bolt on or neck thru,etc. there will always be some tone deaf guy claiming otherwise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted August 5, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 5, 2003 Brian, I tried AllParts and they said they were out of stock on that part (I'll call them again today and see if anything has changed). That's actually where I got the Push/Push pot from. Thanks for looking though. If anyone knows of a supplier that has one in stock I would love to know. Westhemann, Have you ever used the EXG circuit? I didn't install the pickups without it so I'm having a tough time determining how much of the great sound is comming from that or just the pickups alone. Either way, I really like the sound and I'm glad I chose EMG for this guitar. Thank you, Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted August 5, 2003 Report Share Posted August 5, 2003 i have never used the exg circuit but it looks like nothing but a built in eq to me.the pickups have great tone all by themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Posted August 6, 2003 Report Share Posted August 6, 2003 Well it was finally found in the last place I would look Stew Mac Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daveq Posted August 6, 2003 Author Report Share Posted August 6, 2003 Thanks again Brian. I just wanted to mention that Brian saved me a ton of work calling every guitar shop I could find, hassling EMG, ... I originally looked at stewmac's site a few weeks ago and noticed that they were discontinuing the 25K pots. After Brian sent me a message saying that they had them, I looked and the warning about discontinuing the 25K pots was gone. I don't know if I'm going insane or maybe they recently updated their product line / web site? Anyway, if anyone needs them stewmac has them. 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.