So I know this is controversial… but…
I am having a custom guitar made… kill switch, emg 81 bridge , sustainiac with emg SA’s at the neck.
Please give me your input good or bad… I’d love this hear what you guys think.
Thanks in advance.
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What’s wrong with SAs? I don’t see a problem with this.
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EMG’S were vilified (especially when Fluences were released) but they are classic pickups for a reason. I have always enjoyed the SA singles (if they were good enough for Knopfler and Gilmour who’s to argue?)
and the EMG 81 is on countless records for a reason.
Keep in mind, EMG’s do clip (well the humbuckers do) and that is part of the charm. It helps keep things tight and functions almost like a TS style boost in front of the amp.
If you’re into heavier styles, or simply like a higher output pickups you can’t go wrong 
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I think active pickups make total sense with cables, pedals, tubes, etc.
However, I think that they make little sense in the era of the digital wireless, where the signal goes two feet into an ADC.
So, what does your rig look like?
I have two guitars with 81s in the bridge now after avoiding EMGs for like a decade due to all the opinions online. The first time I played through them I was like “that’s it that’s the sound.”
EMG hate is fake news.
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I see so basically, I play neo classical style. The general consensus from you guys is that the SA’s will have no issues… I trust the opinions on this forum for than any other for obvious reasons.
Thank you guys!!!
I’ve never really been a fan of EMG humbuckers, but I know lots of people who always loved their singlecoils. Can’t see what sort of problems you’d have with either, but the SAs should give you a very classic singlecoil sound, and even if their output is vintage-appropriate (I have no clue) a modern high gain amplifier head would give you more than enough gain to play shred on damned near anything.
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Might be the most famous guitar with EMG single coil aside from Gilmour in the 80s. EMG H in the neck 85 in the bridge and Tom Morello uses the neck a lot for rhythm playing, more than you’d expect from the average hard rock/metal guitarist.
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The EMG’s themselves don’t, but the preamp inside of them can especially with larger transients or as the battery dies, which is kind of the biggest pain in the ass with them. You can also rig them up to take two batteries in series if you want more headroom out of them, essentially giving the preamp a swing potential of 9v instead of 4.5v (well almost, most opamps can’t really swing all the way to the rails). I wouldn’t really call it a ts boost though more akin to an MXR microamp. It’s not really a typical series connected humbucker sound either. They are really their own thing. FWIW, you can make any passive humbucker into an active, and you can really reshape the sound of them too if you wanted.
They will be fine for that, especially if you don’t mind the pain of changing batteries. I mean don’t expect Yngwie to endorse them anytime soon, but they will not at all hinder that style of playing,
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Right, and this makes everything that has an ADC clip! My old guitars have EMGs, but in the future I’ll just get passive pickups, as having the gain (via batteries) only to undo it for a wireless seems like unnecessary complexity.
Well yeah, depending on the generation of ADC and what it’s employing for the conversion you are not likely going get anything that will handle over 5V max, but it really depends.
Sometimes it’s the resolution of the conversion itself, and the transmission/detection that can cause the clipping. Even with passives. This was actually part of ACDC’s sound.
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I believe Tom Morello said that he used the EMG single coil on the neck exclusively for RATM songs.
In any case, if it’s good enough for Morello and Gilmour…
Personally, I’ve always liked EMG active pickups, and an opportunity to hear a blind pickup comparison confirmed that they’re more pleasing to my ears than the passive pickups and Fluance active pickups they were pit against. Surprisingly, I really preferred the EMGs clean - they had a beautiful, breathy sound to then.
The Fluance were my least favorite of the three, which just goes to show that you have to trust your ears over Internet hype.
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EMGs can be limited… but no other pickup can give you that raw power.
Fishman modern come close.
The Gus G Proteus pickup is a great sounding active pickup. it has power and a thick midrange boost. the neck pick is also very smooth. I really great set for melodic metal.
I agree you need to trust your own ears. I have both active EMG’s and Active Fluence, in different guitars. Tbh both sound great to me. Can’t judge the two against each other as they are in different guitars.
The humbucker-housed version of the SA might be one of my favorite neck pickups:
That’s the HAX, which apparently has headroom equivalent to the 18 volt mod. I also have one of the pots that adds additional gain; I could use a boost pedal, but the cool thing is that I wired it so that it’s only boosting the neck pickups, working great when switching to leads.
If you check out my videos with the LTD EC-1000, those are all EMGs. I personally love the ease of their wiring harnesses (which let me try out 4 of their pickups without too much drama), as well as the control pots that are more than just passive volume / tone.
As with passives, it’s all about finding what works for you; I tried the 81 and 85 before settling on the 60 in the bridge, and the 60 before getting the HA in the neck.
Also, as with any large change in gear, you’ll probably need to change other aspects of your rig when trying out actives compared to passives.
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