EMGs in Les Pauls.

[Springer]

Honestly in my opinion replacing les paul pickups with EMG's is like defacing the guitar. But thats just me, mainly bc i dont like the heavier sound. However, i do believe it is possible to achieve a heavy sound without using EMG's. Also just like a few other people said taking out good gibson quality pickups and replacing them with pickups that are of lesser value doesnt seem logical but if you like the sound then go for it. I would just recommend keeping the original pickups just in case you want to change back or resell your guitar

[Les Paul Fanatic]

I put Emg's in my Vintage Mahogany and I got to be honest it sounds almost the same as before when I had the BB Pros in it the only real difference is in the pinch harmonics but other than that yeah. If you want to then hey by all means go ahead and put them in.

[Basshole]

to be really honest, just buy a plank of wood, put the emgs on it put some stings over and play, because its going to sound the same no matter what guitar you have.

[Dynadude]

to be really honest' date=' just buy a plank of wood, put the emgs on it put some stings over and play, because its going to sound the same no matter what guitar you have.[/quote']

 

I hope you can back up that lame *** claim.

 

Some people think they know EVERYTHING. Well I'm here to burst your bubble. You don't, and you are just making yourself appear to be a fool.

[rmngretsch14]

 

I hope you can back up that lame *** claim.

 

Some people think they know EVERYTHING. Well I'm here to burst your bubble. You don't' date=' and you are just making yourself appear to be a fool.[/quote']

 

Cool down man, this is a place of peace, and I'm sure it was just a joke

[Dynadude]

 

Cool down man' date=' this is a place of peace, and I'm sure it was just a joke[/quote']

 

I'm cool.

 

But I will challenge people when I know they are wrong.

[clance]

If you want the heavier sound just buy a Line 6 amp. You don't get so much of the tone of your guitar (which is why i now want a tube amp) but if youre into processed sounds and that artificial distortion sound then you might like it.

[Bram]

I've used EMG 85 pickups for years, in a Les Paul Standard with maple cap and ebony fretboard. I think they were great for what they did...hardrock and metal.

 

I LOVED, LOVED the EMG 85 in the bridge position; it was fat, cutting, biting, thick and crisp...it did everything from metal to classic hardrock. It also cutted through the mix beautifully!! The EMG 85 in the neck position was also thick and fluid (less cutting) and great for metallica kinda leads. The ONLY things I disliked were the cleans in the middle position (pretty useless) and the EMG looks...I hated the looks of the pickups.

 

Anyway, I don't think EMG's make every guitar sound the same. Woods still play a big part in the tone, no matter what the pickups are.

[Thundergod]

Well, I do have experiencec with EMGs... as Oilpit, I went through a "active-high output-hot" pickup phase... an I had some guitars with EMGs (currently only one remains with me), none of them came with EMGs but I moded them with ZW set (81/85) for 2 of them and 81/81 for one.

 

I also played some guitars that were the same (my stock Peavey EVH Wolfgang custom vs one that had EMGs installed on them, for example) and a fender MIM strat stock vs one with one of those strat sets. The strat later got vintage noiseless pickups and it was tried against the emg loaded strat again.

 

 

In my experience (and it's not just my opinion, as the guy with the emg loaded wolfgang returned to the original pickups after this) EMGs are not for every guitar, they can kill a guitar's tone easily.

 

The wolfgang: it just died with those pickups, you could get nicer pinch armonics with the stock pickups.

The strat was a good test... with those stock things, it sounded kind of weird, with no life at all... the one with EMGs sounded twice as good. When vintage noiseless pickups were installed, that guitar really came to life, testing it against the EMG loaded strat was a joke, those VN blew the EMGs to hell. Really. I dont think I can explain it, but you could tell those pickups were not made for that guitar.

 

In my guitars... well one is very cheap... and it one had gibson pickups installed and it sounded like crap. Now it has EMGs and they will remain there forever because there's no way that guitar could sound better than it does with EMGs... BUT, it does not compare to any of my other guitars. The main reason it sounds better with EMGs is because its made of of plywood. EMGs kind of take the wood quality out of the equation.

I had other guitars with EMGs over the years... I have to say it, all of them (but the cheap epi I still keep) sounded better or at least the same, with the stock pickups than they did with EMG actives.

 

 

 

I am no bashing EMGs, they must be good or the company would be broke. They sell. They are used worldwide by professional musicians, there must be a reason for that.

 

I think they dont sound "as good" on some guitars (specially "higher end" guitars) because those guitar have been built with pickups designed for them specifically, taking in consideration the amount of time and money guitar makers put into some models there shouldnt be much you could do to improve a given model.

 

Ok, some people mod very expensive guitars... I think they do because they either got tired of the same tone and find the guitar very confortable to play so they dont want to go hunting for another guitar with the tone they want. Others might not have budget for a new guitar every month, so they swap things to see how it ends up.

 

At the end, the real pros and experts are the people makinng guitars, if they put BB pros on my guitar there must be a good reason for it. Ok there are guituars with the same build, same shape, same materials, that come with 490s, 57s and others... then there must be a reason I pikced up mine. If I wanted 57s sound, I would have picked up pa guitar I liked that came with them. There's when the importance of doing your homework and trying before buying shows.

[Basshole]

 

I hope you can back up that lame *** claim.

 

Some people think they know EVERYTHING. Well I'm here to burst your bubble. You don't' date=' and you are just making yourself appear to be a fool.[/quote']

 

first off it was lame joke, sorry

 

im sorry to have affended you dude but i have played diffrent style, body shapes, and wood compostion of basses with emgs.

 

to me they all sound the same.

 

now, granted you can change the knobs around, put a affects pedal on, and of course the amp you is key.

 

and also there have been alot of people on here trying to stir up the water in the gibson fourms, im sorry if you thought i was one of them.

 

but i have to agree with oilpit,

emgs in les paul is death in some countries

[Guitar slinger]

I've had that dark period of higher output pickups too. At that time my family was not in the best financial situation of all times so I would never be able to afford a pickup swap for my showmaster (my only axe at that time) but the EMGs sounded like a great idea and tonewise it was very good for me, because getting that "heavily processed signal" that would "standard" my tone was almost the point. So I would wander around town testing guitars with the hottest pickups avaiable and distorting the sound as much as I could. It felt GOOD.

 

Then, as most guys here, I got acquainted with all the wonders that low output pickups could provide me. And at the same time I was getting involved with different kinds of music too. But the most important thing was that my ear was getting much more accurate. I started to hear things like I never heard before. And I started to play much better too. So, as you can tell, the times they were a-changing.

 

I think that it was back there when I started to become a incurable tone-fiend.

 

But I never gave up on trying as much guitars as I possibly could so I could both improve my ear and test my firepower LOL and it's been some good years since any EMG sounded good to me. But still today I get in touch with some nice sounding high output pickups - dirty thingers is one of them - but most of them are not what I'm looking to put in front of a good tube amp and get my beloved tones.

 

 

 

And TG... it was very nice of you to share all that with us =)

Very enlightening.

[damian1122]

in my opinion les paul SDs in it look through see which may suit you best marshall amp totally all you will need of course its all your choice SD just has many great pickups and a good marshall amp and your heavy bro

[deepblue]

EMG's take you ( the player ) out of the equation. Cookie cutter sound.

[Dynadude]

Well' date=' I do have experiencec with EMGs... as Oilpit, I went through a "active-high output-hot" pickup phase... an I had some guitars with EMGs (currently only one remains with me), none of them came with EMGs but I moded them with ZW set (81/85) for 2 of them and 81/81 for one.

 

I also played some guitars that were the same (my stock Peavey EVH Wolfgang custom vs one that had EMGs installed on them, for example) and a fender MIM strat stock vs one with one of those strat sets. The strat later got vintage noiseless pickups and it was tried against the emg loaded strat again.

 

 

In my experience (and it's not just my opinion, as the guy with the emg loaded wolfgang returned to the original pickups after this) EMGs are not for every guitar, they can kill a guitar's tone easily.

 

The wolfgang: it just died with those pickups, you could get nicer pinch armonics with the stock pickups.

The strat was a good test... with those stock things, it sounded kind of weird, with no life at all... the one with EMGs sounded twice as good. When vintage noiseless pickups were installed, that guitar really came to life, testing it against the EMG loaded strat was a joke, those VN blew the EMGs to hell. Really. I dont think I can explain it, but you could tell those pickups were not made for that guitar.

 

In my guitars... well one is very cheap... and it one had gibson pickups installed and it sounded like crap. Now it has EMGs and they will remain there forever because there's no way that guitar could sound better than it does with EMGs... BUT, it does not compare to any of my other guitars. The main reason it sounds better with EMGs is because its made of of plywood. EMGs kind of take the wood quality out of the equation.

I had other guitars with EMGs over the years... I have to say it, all of them (but the cheap epi I still keep) sounded better or at least the same, with the stock pickups than they did with EMG actives.

 

 

 

I am no bashing EMGs, they must be good or the company would be broke. They sell. They are used worldwide by professional musicians, there must be a reason for that.

 

I think they dont sound "as good" on some guitars (specially "higher end" guitars) because those guitar have been built with pickups designed for them specifically, taking in consideration the amount of time and money guitar makers put into some models there shouldnt be much you could do to improve a given model.

 

Ok, some people mod very expensive guitars... I think they do because they either got tired of the same tone and find the guitar very confortable to play so they dont want to go hunting for another guitar with the tone they want. Others might not have budget for a new guitar every month, so they swap things to see how it ends up.

 

At the end, the real pros and experts are the people makinng guitars, if they put BB pros on my guitar there must be a good reason for it. Ok there are guituars with the same build, same shape, same materials, that come with 490s, 57s and others... then there must be a reason I pikced up mine. If I wanted 57s sound, I would have picked up pa guitar I liked that came with them. There's when the importance of doing your homework and trying before buying shows.[/quote']

 

Now see, that's as well worded and thought out as it gets, and is just a classic example of how posters can get their point across respectfully.

 

I agree with everything you pointed out here TG, and I appreciate your response.

 

Nope. EMGs don't work in every guitar for every player, and they don't satisfy the needs of some players at all, but neither does any other pickup ever made.

 

I know that EMGs are very polar in their popularity. Some people can't get past the fact that some are active. It's a kind of prejudice actually, and it's a shame that some people will not get past that prejudice long enough to actually give them a chance.

 

I'm not really defending them, as much as I am defending different tastes and styles. If you get hung up on what you think is best, you will become stagnant, and your versatility will suffer, but that's your loss. I only take offense to it when people try to get others to share their prejudice for no other reason than to falsely justify their own.

[Thundergod]

in my opinion les paul SDs in it look through see which may suit you best marshall amp totally all you will need of course its all your choice SD just has many great pickups and a good marshall amp and your heavy bro

 

 

...say what?

 

 

 

Nope. EMGs don't work in every guitar for every player' date=' and they don't satisfy the needs of some players at all, but neither does any other pickup ever made.

[/quote']

 

That is the sad truth... there is no "perfect" pickup that will make everybody happy and make even jessenoah sound like he knows how to play

[Basshole]

 

Now see' date=' that's as well worded and thought out as it gets, and is just a classic example of how posters can get their point across respectfully.

 

I agree with everything you pointed out here TG, and I appreciate your response.

 

Nope. EMGs don't work in every guitar for every player, and they don't satisfy the needs of some players at all, but neither does any other pickup ever made.

 

I know that EMGs are very polar in their popularity. Some people can't get past the fact that some are active. It's a kind of prejudice actually, and it's a shame that some people will not get past that prejudice long enough to actually give them a chance.

 

I'm not really defending them, as much as I am defending different tastes and styles. If you get hung up on what you think is best, you will become stagnant, and your versatility will suffer, but that's your loss. I only take offense to it when people try to get others to share their prejudice for no other reason than to falsely justify their own.[/quote']

 

 

Prejudice?

 

OMG

 

im being sarcastic,

 

and since you are a smart person who is respectable in everyway, then respect my right to disagree.

[myspace.com/jessenoah]

 

That is the sad truth... there is no "perfect" pickup that will make everybody happy and make even jessenoah sound like he knows how to play

you may question my sexuality all you want' date=' but rag on the tone, and we are gonna have problems

[img']http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc42/Jbaseball_2004/biggrin.gif[/img]

 

big boy

lol

[Guitar slinger]

in my opinion les paul SDs in it look through see which may suit you best marshall amp totally all you will need of course its all your choice SD just has many great pickups and a good marshall amp and your heavy bro

 

I see there are some good joints being crafted in mississipi!

[Thundergod]

you may question my sexuality all you want' date=' but rag on the tone, and we are gonna have problems

[img']http://i219.photobucket.com/albums/cc42/Jbaseball_2004/biggrin.gif[/img]

 

big boy

lol

 

[myspace.com/jessenoah]

that is a cool picture of a red x

[AXE®]

[myspace.com/jessenoah]

so was that

[Les Paul Fanatic]

Honestly EMG's are okay, just not my bottle of vodka anymore. There is a touch more clarity with them but not enough to justify spending $150.00

[tango martin]

My only experience with EMG's is when i decided to sort out my old epiphone as the pots were scratchy an the pickups were the old microphonic pickups.

I was really getting into Coheed an Cambria at the time and the stock p/u's were just not up to it, so decided to chuck them in if only to see what they were like an how hard it would be to fit them (not very) it was also to stop me from buying any more guitars!

They do sound great compared to the old pickups and the clean tone and the total lack of hum made playing quite an odd experience, especially compared to my new epiphone les paul that i got just before, it tended to make my picking much more careful and precise as a result of the tone, as opposed to my usual tendancy to lazily pick with my right hand ( im left-handed but play right handed) so i found it be a benefit and really did enjoy the squeals you could get (zakk wylde set, thought if any would be the ones...) and the monster lead sound you could get, gain on 11 etc didnt sound better than the other epi with the new epiphone classic p/u's in them, just different and bit more precise, an louder but after about a month i was looking for strats on ebay! It was only when i got my Gibson Faded studio an faded standard that i kinda decided i prefer them compared to the EMG's for everything (except low tunings for stuff like parabola etc then its the EMG's hands down) i think i missed the feel of playing a guitar when using the EMG's, they took away some of the effort that makes you play the way you do, make it sound/seem more clinical than organic, as soon as i played the fadeds it almost felt like they were the complete opposite, very resonant and open and kinda felt alive it your hands, make you play it instead of listening to what your playing. My own experience via an essay!