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81/85 & HZ


Speedy McFeely

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  • 1 year later...
It would be easy to switch out a pair of HZ for 81/85, all you would have to do is solder in a place for the battery, and then just take out the HZs and put the 81/85 in its place, right?

no.you have to replace all the electronics in total.

hz pickups are passive and have a completely different set of quick connects and pots than the active line does.

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no.you have to replace all the electronics in total.

hz pickups are passive and have a completely different set of quick connects and pots than the active line does.

Yeah, I read the instructions for installing them, but it do you think it is worth it to have 81/85 instead of HZs?

as i and everyone else already said in this topic months ago...yes

the active line of emg pickups are so different from the hz pickups as to be not similar at all.

HZ pickups are very poor

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as i and everyone else already said in this topic months ago...yes

the active line of emg pickups are so different from the hz pickups as to be not similar at all.

HZ pickups are very poor

Well, I switched from HZs to 81/85 and WOW, the difference was amazing. It wasn't too hard to wire in, just i couldn't replace input jack, so i just solders the battery wire to the current one, and everything works fine.

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You realize by doing that the system IS ON ALL THE TIME even with the cord not plugged into the guitar. Have fun replacing that battery once a month.

Why on earth couldn't you replace the input jack with the FREE jack that came with your new pickups?!

Edited by crafty
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You realize by doing that the system IS ON ALL THE TIME even with the cord not plugged into the guitar. Have fun replacing that battery once a month.

Why on earth couldn't you replace the input jack with the FREE jack that came with your new pickups?!

not necessarily.all you need is a stereo jack,which most guitars already have.

some guitars ,such as ibanez,all come with a stereo jack like this

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_p...utput_Jack.html

obviously you can't replace that with the emg one,and you also don't need to.

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Yes you are sounding very confusing, because they were talking about pinch harmonics, like Zakk does, just that some peope use the tip of the finger and other their nail, And you don't need EMGs to pull them out, I could get then out of my bone stock squier. Better pups help but they won't make miracles happen if you don't know how to pull them!

and natural harmonics are the ones you play when sticking a string and barely touching the string above the fret, usualy 5,7,12. you can get them anywere but they are realy hard to pull,.

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not necessarily.all you need is a stereo jack,which most guitars already have.

some guitars ,such as ibanez,all come with a stereo jack like this

http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Electronics,_p...utput_Jack.html

That looks like the one that is in my guitar, but mine is just black. Like westhemann said, there was no easy to to replace it with the new EMG input jack, but looking at the chart that came with the pickups, they are set up the same.

Edited by Pex657
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  • 2 years later...

[quote name='krazyderek' post='21662' date='Sep 18 2003, 01:39 PM']i played one of those jacksons.. with the HZ... my immediate reaction after plugging into a familiar amp was EWWWWWWWW they sound so bland.. and dead... and just.... YUCK... definitly a far cry from the 85's i have in my strat... and i agree with wes... they are much noisier then the active line of emg's... ask the store if you can just take the pickups out, and get a discount off the price cause i see HZ on ebay all the time... people can barely give those things away... but they might be good for projects.. good "shop" pickups i guess[/quote]



Every pick up has diferent sound,we know that.The HZ are just fine,you just have to set them up diferent,can't be too close to the strings or they sound harsh.
Aharon

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[quote name='GregP' post='324662' date='Apr 15 2007, 09:22 PM']Wow, how did you dig this thread out of the archive in order to bump it? <lol> That response is only 4 years delayed. :D:D[/quote]

Well, at least he's correct. EMG-HZ's aren't bad pickups, just a little misunderstood.

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[quote name='crafty' post='324676' date='Apr 15 2007, 10:43 PM'][quote name='GregP' post='324662' date='Apr 15 2007, 09:22 PM']Wow, how did you dig this thread out of the archive in order to bump it? <lol> That response is only 4 years delayed. :DB)[/quote]

Well, at least he's correct. EMG-HZ's aren't bad pickups, just a little misunderstood.
[/quote]





I was searching other stuff and I came up with the thread,I could not resist but to give my belated answer...........gear snob-ism irks me.
:D
Aharon

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irked or not,the hz is an inferior pickup in terms of output and signal to noise....don't think just because they say emg that they are automatically good.

in my experience,most people that claim the hz line is a good line of pups have never played the actives for any length of time.after playing the actives for years,i can't stand the hz pickups.they have an underlying hiss and hum which destroys the enjoyment for me.

if i use passives,i use duncans...never emg passives.

misunderstood?that's just silly...they are not Don Imus,they are pickups.

by the way i played with hz pickups before i converted to actives years ago...at low volumes and lower gain settings it is not nearly as noticeable...but turn those puppies up and try them out.

and it iis not gear snob-ism to say that the actives are better than the passives in the emg line.it is just the plain ole simple truth

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[quote name='westhemann' post='324726' date='Apr 16 2007, 09:40 AM']irked or not,the hz is an inferior pickup in terms of output and signal to noise....don't think just because they say emg that they are automatically good.

in my experience,most people that claim the hz line is a good line of pups have never played the actives for any length of time.after playing the actives for years,i can't stand the hz pickups.they have an underlying hiss and hum which destroys the enjoyment for me.

if i use passives,i use duncans...never emg passives.

misunderstood?that's just silly...they are not Don Imus,they are pickups.

by the way i played with hz pickups before i converted to actives years ago...at low volumes and lower gain settings it is not nearly as noticeable...but turn those puppies up and try them out.

and it iis not gear snob-ism to say that the actives are better than the passives in the emg line.it is just the plain ole simple truth[/quote]



There's some truth to every statement.....................
If Im not mistaken those pups are creamic magnets,much like cramic speakers they have their own sound apart from the alnicos,maybe more trebly,maybe a little harsher,just a diferent flavour.....

Edited by Aharon
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[quote name='Maiden69' post='171953' date='Feb 18 2005, 10:29 AM']Yes you are sounding very confusing, because they were talking about pinch harmonics, like Zakk does, just that some peope use the tip of the finger and other their nail, And you don't need EMGs to pull them out, I could get then out of my bone stock squier. Better pups help but they won't make miracles happen if you don't know how to pull them!
and natural harmonics are the ones you play when sticking a string and barely touching the string above the fret, usualy 5,7,12. you can get them anywere but they are realy hard to pull,.[/quote]

+1 well said. A friend once asked me, why, when he borrowed my amp it just didnt sound the same as it did when I played it? The sound comes from the guitar, the amp, amd mostly from the player. Work on your skills, and you can make anything sound good..

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  • 2 weeks later...

I dunno about the EMG 81/85 as I've not tried the actives yet, but I plan on doing so very soon. I recently moreless had an Epi Zakk Wylde given to me and it has the EMG HZ's in it. While they may not be as good as the actives they still give me a better tone than the Pearly Gates that I've been playing with.

I plan on pulling them out and putting in an 81 and 85 and then possibly throwing the HZ's into one of my other guitars because I do like the tone that they give. If anyone knows of a good, reasonably priced site to get the EMG's please let me know.

Thanks

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Other than eBay, $100 per pickup for the EMG 81 and 85 are par for the course. Keep in mind that the pickups come with all of the other parts you'll need to completely wire up the guitar, except for the switch, so the extra coin to purchase them new is well worth it.

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