Emg Pickup Recommendation: Slv's & ?

[Dave I]

I had this great idea (to me at least) for a guitar. Basically a set-neck 24.75" scale SuperStrat. I am thinking an RG-shaped (or inspired-by) body, Mahogany with Maple Cap, Bubinga w/ Maple Striped neck, and Les Paul body thickness (and maybe similar body width). Not really a hybrid, just a LP shaped for better fret access and to kind of reflect my growing fondness for the shape of the RG and offering me the ability to do a pseudo warmer Strat thing and have the LP-on-Steroids in the bridge position for higher-gain stuff, with the obvious stronger attack and whatnot the EMGs would bring to the table.

On to the pickups, and the point of this thread . . . I would like to make this an HSS pickup-configuration for use with a set of actives. I really want to try a set of EMG SLV's in the neck & mid position and some humbucker in the bridge. Essentially go from crystal clear w/ Strat-like quack for the neck a/o bridge pickups, then a nice sort of full rock/metal thing in the bridge. However, for the bridge I am not sure if I should give the EMG 85 a whirl (which would be a standard EMG Lukather pickup set), the EMG 81 (which seems to be their most popular bridge pickup), or do something like an 89/SLV/81TW HSH-setup (the 89 is an 85 with a coil-tap option for an SL and the 81TW is a coil-tappable 81). The last option seems the most diverse, however I just want to make sure the pickups (89 and 81TW) sound great in both modes, or if they are a compromise that sound alright in both modes but not spectacular. I am also curious if any of them are a better match for the rounder sound of a Gibsonesque scale than another. Any thoughts are welcome, and thanks in advance!

-Cheers

[GregP]

I'm going with a pair of 89's, and according to the research, it's a true SA (the single coil mode), but an 85-alike (not a true 85). When you make a humbucker in a single-coil sized space, there's always going to be a BIT of a difference. That was a compromise that seemed worthwhile to me. I haven't heard much about the 81TW yet.

[djhollowman]

Was gonna suggest the EMG89 for the bridge because you can coil-tap it into a single for that Strat-ness.

I'd never heard of the EMG81TW before! Just looked it up on EMG's site. No idea what it'd sound like in single coil mode.

I have an 89 in the bridge of a BC Rich STIII I have (very SuperStrat-y!), and it's great: only thing I have is that it doesn't do quiet very well, or at least not with the supplied pots anyway! You go from silence to reasonable output, it doesn't really "dial-in" quietly and smoothly. I'm sure this could be improved however, maybe a cap on the vol pot or something???

I would certainly recommend the 89 for high gain metal stuff, but if you're into playing that then the fact it can coil-tap too is fairly irrelevant anyway. It's nice and silent in tapped mode, which is a great improvement over the other two (not EMG) active single coils in this guitar! The 89 is definately worth considering I would say.

DJ

[Dave I]

I am definitely considering the EMG89 and the EMG81TW. Just one addendum:

Which style of pickup (EMG 85 or 81) will make a better transition from rhythm to lead/solo? In other words, is the 85 (and by default the 89) going to be smoother yet still o.k. for transitioning to lead? Will the 81 in an LP-style sound brighter but still smooth enough for switching from rhythm to being able to stand out with riffing/soloing?

Thanks for the input/review so far. I greatly appreciate it!

-Cheers