wwwdotcomdotnet Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 I am putting together a beater guitar and I have been looking into an EMG passive pickup for the bridge but I am pretty lost about which model to get. I run my guitars through a Marshall DSL50 with 1960a cab and I am looking for something that gets a really heavy sound similar to something like As I Lay Dying. Any advice? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 stay away from the passive emg. either go and get the active 81/85 or get duncan jb/59(they are passives) those would be my choices for what you seem to want Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwwdotcomdotnet Posted December 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 whats wrong with passive emgs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drak Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Because They SUCK! Wes has it right. Follow his advice, it won't cost you much difference, and you'll get what you asked for. Please stay away from the passive EMG's or you'll be the one that lay dying. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwwdotcomdotnet Posted December 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Please stay away from the passive EMG's or you'll be the one that lay dying. haha well said Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 hehe...the passive emgs are harsh,noisy,sound bad...whatelse you want to know? i have active emgs on about 7 of my guitars...they are the best pickups around imo...but they are expensive. want to know who uses the 81 at the bridge?metallica,slayer,zakk wylde,alex laiho,ill nino,rammstein,atreyu,along with many,many other metal bands. the duncan jb at the bridge?dave mustaine,stephen carpenter,arch enemy,queensryche(yeah i know),and many others. who uses passive emg?nobody...except people who don't know how much worse they are than the real thing. passive pickups are fine...aslong as they are not emg...duncan jb is great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Isn't Duncan or Lace building the HZ pickups for EMG? While I didn't exactly care for the Select pickups, I really would be hesitant to say that the HZs are total crap... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 We still think the Active pickup is the best, from the emg website itself...in the passive q and a section..emg themselves admit the passives are not as good Isn't Duncan or Lace building the HZ pickups for EMG? While I didn't exactly care for the Select pickups, I really would be hesitant to say that the HZs are total crap... that is probably because you have not played them...especially for high gain applications. for a while,every guitar i wanted came with the hz...the 81/85 weren't even offered in most guitar lines,you had to buy and install them yourself or buy a custom. so i bought ALOT of guitars with the hz pickups...they are,in fact,total crap in high gain metal applications. listen to these clips...they are emg active. http://westhemann.com/my%20music/new%20mus...version%202.mp3 http://westhemann.com/my%20music/new%20mus...pr%20redone.mp3 (same ones from that other post) this is what an 81 sounds like...and when you stop playing there is no feedback,no hissing,no shrieking...only the sound of a pure noise free pickup... crafty..i know you like to go against the general consensus...and that is all well and good,i am glad you don't believe everything you hear...but if you ever listen to ANYTHING anyone ever tells you,let this be that time. drak and i have extensive experience with emg pickups...and it does not take long to hear the difference in that passive line. as a matter of fact,i wager emg will no longer offer the passives in another 10 years at the most. have you noticed manufacturers are no longer offering nearly as many guitars with the hz line as they were just 3 years ago?why is that? i will tell you why so you don;'t haveto wonder... it's because the hz line is the bad "generic equivalent"... hz to emg active is like "puffed oats" in a bag are to "cocoa puffs" it aint the same...no matter what your mom tells you..hehe oh..by the way...i still have one hz pickup...i use it for a paper weight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwwdotcomdotnet Posted December 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 thanks everyone for the input by the way, can anyone point me in the right direction of a wiring diagram for an active emg? id have to route my guitar to put one in right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 thanks everyone for the input by the way, can anyone point me in the right direction of a wiring diagram for an active emg? id have to route my guitar to put one in right? The best diagrams are available for free right on EMG's website, and you haven't told us what kind of guitar you have so it's a little hard for us to tell you if you need to do any routing. The EMG humbuckers should fit fine in any full-size humbucker route. Hey Wes, I wasn't trying to say that the HZs sounded like the active line, but I have a hard time believing that they're crap just because they're passive. There's a lot of people who think the active lineup is crap just because they're active. My thoughts are that if the pickups are really being ghostbuilt by a good manufacturer, how bad can they really be? Since there's quite a few models in the HZ line, have you had an opportunity to sample all of them? FWIW, I've noodled around with a few cheap LTDs that had some HZs in them and I thought that 90% of what I didn't like about the guitar had to do with the construction and feel of the guitar. I felt like they sounded decent, but I'm more of a DiMarzio PAF fan these days so I'd prolly throw a set of those in anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wwwdotcomdotnet Posted December 7, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 its going in an Epiphone LP jr (i know i know, POS, but wait until you see whats happening with it), and i was wondering if i needed to route a channel for the extra stuff for the active pickup? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crafty Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 Nah. As long as the battery fits in the old control cavity, you shouldn't need to do any extra routing. Even if it doesn't fit, you have that nice big pickguard that can cover up a route for a battery cavity on the front, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
westhemann Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 but I have a hard time believing that they're crap just because they're passive. not just because they are passive.they are crap because they are crap.there is alot of high frequency noise those pickups producce that muddies up the sound you get in high gain applications...and all that background noise will give you a headache it's so bad. the main hz4 or whatever they call it is the one we are talking about.it is the bridge pickup that is meant to emulate the 81... i like passive pickups just fine.but not those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Posted December 7, 2006 Report Share Posted December 7, 2006 but I have a hard time believing that they're crap just because they're passive. not just because they are passive.they are crap because they are crap.there is alot of high frequency noise those pickups producce that muddies up the sound you get in high gain applications...and all that background noise will give you a headache it's so bad. the main hz4 or whatever they call it is the one we are talking about.it is the bridge pickup that is meant to emulate the 81... i like passive pickups just fine.but not those. I have played on tons of basses and guitars with EMG and EMG HZ's. The one and only instrument I have ever liked with HZ pickups are the Spector legend line of basses - around 00' - 04', as they're different pickups now. I have owned two other basses with EMG HZ pickups and got rid of them quickly, I really hate the "tone" they produce. Every guitar and bass with active EMG's sound deadly in every aspect. For bass - Slap, finger, tapping, harmonic techniques, all perfect! For guitars, great clean tone and great shred tone, can't top that! I'll be excited to finish up my Beast project someday, as I have a set of EMG 81/85 pickups ready for it. Click to enlarge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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