EMG Zakk Wylde pups

[Bad Moon Guitars]

I am considering purchasing a set of the EMG Zakk Wylde pups and was wondering if anyone here is currently using this setup? If so, do you recommend them? Also, how hard is the install...or should I have the local guitar shop do it?

Thanks in advance,

Keith

[westhemann]

if you can afford it,have the guitar tech install it.it is not tough if you know what you are doing but if you don't it can cause nightmares for you.

i think about 10 people at least on this forum use them,including me.i love them and so does everyone else that has mentioned them here

[jammy]

Ive been using the 81/85 combo in my 550 for ages - there great pickups. A real harsh bite to the 81 and the 85 is smooooth. If you get the ZW set there should be no problem in installing them (provided there going in a les paul) cus the whole thing is pre-wired for it.

[westhemann]

not completely prewired...there is still some soldering to do,the toughest of which is to solder the heavy braid (ground) on the pickup wires to the back of the volume pot.

you can easily screw the pooch and burn the wires or the pot up if you aren't familiar with soldering such a joint

[Bad Moon Guitars]

My guitar is a Les Paul style (ESP EC series) but it only has 3 control pots. 2 volumes ( one for each pup) and 1 tone ( adjusts both pups). Would this prevent installing these pups in my guitar?

Keith

[Guest Litchfield Custom Gutars]

No, what I would do in that case is wire it up with both tone pots, put one inside the cavity set to where you like the sound and go. Unless you want to drill a hole and stuff.

[FajiiNako]

My only problem was soldering the heavy brade to the pot, and then getting the rest of it onto the switch. The wire was too short. What i did, was linked it together with solder, and put some shrink wire on it. That seems standard enough to work and i'm proud to say that it worked beautifully, and i couldn't be happier with my sound!

[ansil]

hmm seems there is an article on soldering to pots somewhere i will see if i can find it, but basically u just strip some off to one side.

[Sethmetal]

I recently put some in a Ibanez Iceman IC400. They sounded killer.

As far as wiring to the back of the pot. I simply wired the hot to the pot first. That helped to hold the wire in place as I soldered the ground to the pot. It was very easy and it makes for a cleaner cavity. My pickups came pre stripped. I assumed that they all came that way.

Easiest pickup install I've ever done. Aside from the fact that it's active(which isn't the most common wiring setup), I'd say it is the easiest replacement job for a beginner.

[Darki3-]

you got you 81/85 in an Ibanez RG? If so how did you go about the problem with the jack socket? The one in my RG and the one supplied with the pickups don't fit :S

[Maiden69]

No, what I would do in that case is wire it up with both tone pots, put one inside the cavity set to where you like the sound and go. Unless you want to drill a hole and stuff.

←

Great advise! NOT!! Come on Litch, you know better than that, great advise to a newbie.

The 81/85 ZWSet comes with instructions on how to wire them in any configuration you may have, I have an Epi LP, and I didn't want to have the 2 tones, also I wanted a switch down by the controls. So I did this, as you can see I'm only using 2 knobs, 2 Vol and a tone.

If you can't read wiring diagrams (see I said diagrams, not schematics) take it to somebody that can and have soldering experience. Any electronics shop can do this, if not take it to a luthier close to you.

I will advise you give it a try in the factory pots on your guitar, since you won't need them 'cause the EMGs come with their own, and don't be too worried about the braided wire, this is a shielded wire that comes pre-thinned(sp) and the pots on the EMG have solder on them also, yoiu just have to heat them enought to make both liquid and join them, you don't need to over heat the pot to get new solder on it, and here is were a lot of people mess the pots up, since they don't prep them, the solder don't stick right and guys tend to over heat to make the solder stick.

Darki3, the output jack on most Ibanez RG is a stereo jack, this is all you need, you don't need the EMG one, just solder the leads on the corect tabs and thats it. This is the style of jack that I use, since I french the jack to the back of the guitars.

[Darki3-]

thanks for the advice

[Kyle Cavanaugh]

I definetly liked what I heard playing a guitar with an 85 neck\81 bridge! Definetely Hard Rock\Metal! I've also heard of people liking the configuration in reverse better. They're supposedly the same pickups except the 81 uses a ceramic magnet and the 85 uses an AlNiCo of some sort.

Two volumes and a tone is very possible. If they didn't come with instructions for this setup I could probably help figure things for you. The installation looks to be a breeze and only requires slight soldering, but I'd recommend having someone show you how to solder and\or have an ESP certified luthier install it (if they exist) especially if you are worried about voiding the warranty. I'd honestly say that if he quotes you for anything more than half the price of those pickups, I'd say he's taking advantage of you.

[Daniel Sorbera]

The way I solder the ground to pots is I take some real rough sand paper and scrap off the back of the pot real good, than I tin the scraped area and tin the wire. Than you just need to heat up the joint and press the wire in. It works like a charm and I havent lost a pot yet!