Just go for an 81 in the bridge.

Yup, then an 85 or 6? to complmentit for mid and bass tone.

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Alright. How do I remove the old pots? No screws hold it in place... I appreciate the help, thanks.

or... how about you save up because the wiring wouldbe difficult and unless you know what you are doing, or give it to a guitar tech, it will be vey difficult and you are not guaranteed success.

My bro is an engineer so he's comfortable with wiring and shit, but I'm just worried about the pots. How are the old ones removed? I noticed there's a flat screw on the side of the knobs, is this what holds the pots in place?

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That takes the knob off and then there is a nut under the knob that will take the pot off.

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Alright thanks. The wiring for a single pickup is very comprehensive so I don't think I'll have trouble doing it, I'll just leave the soldering up to my brother. I hear you're supposed to tape the battery if you're going to stick it in the pots cavity, I assume that gooey black electric tape is the best choice right?

Edit: One more thing: it's possible to do the change without removing strings right? Maybe raising the action a bit to get it them out of the way will be enough?

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Yup, but I use the foam that comes with the EMG in the box. Works better because the battery doesn't rattle around. It is an easy wire to. Remind your brother not to over heat the solder joints though. Enjoy

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Question:

Is it dangerous to my amp to use active picups if my amp isn´t active???
a FRIEND TOLD ME HE NEVER WILL PUT ACTIVE puS IN HIS GUITAR BECAUSE HE COULD BROKE THE AMP.

tHANKS

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WHAT YOUR FRIEND SAYS IS BULLSHIT.

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Agreed

I don't think so. How is the amp not active? He got a passive, no power, amp? He just doesn't want you to play is what I think.

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I have und question. If I get a guitar w/ 2 EMG 81's, and I decide to change the neck to an 85, can I put the neck 81 I took out, in the bridge position of another guitar?

Sure, if you still kept the extra wiring and pots that come with the EMG-85 it should be no problem. You won't need the wiring that came with the 85 in your 81-81 guitar cuz all you have to do is replace the PU and snap-on the quik-connect cable.

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Yeah, cuz I was thinking if I got a guitar w/ 2 81's , I'd wanna put an 85 in the neck instead, then I dunno, I could like give the 81 to my friend so he could put it in the bridge pos. for his guitar.

Sell it to him, they go for 100$ new.

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Ok, Well I'm planning on buying EMG-KFK Kerry King Guitar Pickup Set. EMG-81 and EMG-85 but I know nothing about pickups and think its a good idea to ask if it would be possible to install them into my Jackson RR(not sure which model anymore) Flying V? I ask because I have no idea if all types of humbuckers fit into any guitar since some pickups come with 3-4 knob switches and others only 2. I have a tone knob, Volume knob and a three way switch and this set comes with two 25k split shaft volume/tone (standard) controls.

(I currently have a Seymor Duncan Screamin' Demon and I don't like it at all)

What do you mean with dime? Yeah i know i'm an idiot but my ZW set is coming soon and i don't want to have a bad sound.

"Dime" as in turn all the way up.

I think the 85 is a great thick neck-lead pickup. It really gives sweep arpeggios that "gloss".

That is a very terrible, terrible thing, that he would think that.


That's seriously beyond stupid.

Fuck Sweeps and arpeggios, it's all about lightning-fast pentatonic runs.

Damn fuckin right.

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I've got a question. I'm going to my local music store this week to buy my new emg;s (81/85) and I was wondering, when i've installed the pickups, can i switch the positions any time without having to solder?

Yes, EMG have quick connections at the base of their pickups. That means you don't have the leads hard wired to the pickup. They connect to the wire leads kinda like how you plug you amp in the wall, so you will be able to switch them around or with other EMGs via the quick connections and with no soldering.

Tip: With the 81/85, by what I meant by don't "dime" the 85 was don't turn it all the way up while playing with the 81 in the bridge position at the same time. The 85 can compliment the 81 nicely but you must resist diming the 85 to notice this.

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Ok thanks for the help.

I'm very ill right now, so forgive me for making this as brief as possible.

I would like to put some EMG's in my cheapo Ibanez RG to save it as an "EMG guitar". I'm pretty much convinced about the 81/60 setup, since I use the neck pu mostly for cleans - even for some strumming. But what about the middle single coil? Should I go with the S or the SA? Note that it will be used for cleans.

Also I'm hearing the term "F-Spaced". Should I order this type for my licensed floyd guitar?

Thanks in advance.

I only have a few hours left to decide, so if anyone who can help is reading this please respond.

Ha,

I was just coming to this thread to ask just about the same thing.

I have a Ibanez RG I wanna beef up with EMGs, but it's a H-S-H config. I want the traditional 81/85 set. WTF do I do with the single coil in the middle? Leave the original unplugged? Just leave the space there? Maybe just put the cover of a single coil pu there? What have you others done with the single coil in the middle of 2 EMG humbucks? I guess I could get a active PU to go there, but shit... I don't want to spend extra money just to get it to look concise.

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hey I've heard that actives sound genarally the same in all types of wood, so would that make it okay to put in my bc rich even though basswood sucks horrobly, or should I put it in my ibanez ex? (if anyone knows what type of wood that has that wood be great) and what emgs and where should I put them.

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I have had two singles above by bridge humbucker (where I now have an 85) and when they got unplugged (i had someone install them for me, i know big mistake) they just pushed them down a little bit, they're still their though, emg doe make single coil too, don't now much about em though just sen em on the website

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Dont need F-Spaced with EMG's.

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EMG SA single col

and by the way slabbe he posted that like 4 days ago.

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Hurray! My ZW set is now in my guitar....and of course it's trouble. The guy that did the work for me screwed up so now when the switch is at rhythm it's on the bridge and when the switch is at treble it's on the neck. Is it possible to just flip the switch upside down or do i have to learn to live with it?

Damn dude. That's fucked up. You can live with your current situation, but man!.. Otherwise, you would have to have it fixed again. I don't know if you feel like paying the price..

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well i found out something. It was possible to flip the switch upside down(almost) so it worked out in the end. BTW the EMG;s rule.

Fuck, if he did a bad job then go back and ask him to do it right free of charge, after all it's not what he promised.

I will probably put EMG's in my 2nd guitar... I'm going for Dimarzio's on mine right now.

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I am looking for a single bridge EMG pickup. I play a Marshall 8100 and it gives out LOTS of highs but not a terrible amount of lows. Should I get a 85 to compinsate for it? Im thinking that the 81 will be just to much for the highs. Any thoughts?

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Yes. xdislexicx once stated that a single 85 in the bridge is the best for Marshall amps. It has more bass and the 85 has better cleans too, so you can't go wrong with it. Maybe you should get an 89 for $15 more just to have the option of coil-splitting.

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just wondering has anyone mixed a passive with an active?
would it sound right?

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because the amp wasnt active? did he mean it wasnt turned on. that could be the problem

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It can be done. Kreator used to do it(think Mille still does it), Abbath from Immortal also had an 81 and two Seymour Duncan single coils in his RR... For it to sound right(ie: so the passive won't be overdriven to hell by the active circuit's battery) you need to use a special thingy in the wiring. I'm not sure what it's called nor what it does, but it makes the two pickups' blend together like if they were both the same type. You can read about it at the EMG site.

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thanks. ill check it out. is that thing ur talking about F-space?

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Uh no, F-Spacing has to do with how the pickups are layed out with respect to the bridge. F-Spaced means you have a Floyd-Rose style bridge, hence why there's "F-Spaced" versions of most pickups. EMG's work with regular and floyd rose bridges.

The thingy is some electrical gizmo in the guitar's circuit, cuts the voltage down or some shit like that, it's a switch of some sort, not sure how it works but it prevents the EMG's from overpowering the passives because of the battery.

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ive read this thread 3 time before, and im not gona do it again

how is a 81 in the neck compared to a 85??

brighter?? or what.

ive owned a 85 @ neck, but it got too dark for me

also, that thingy soeru mentioned for havind a bridge 81emg and a passive neck pu sounds great imo, id love to try that out
its for my custom and i just cant decide wich pu's to get

i know i want a 81 at the bridge, but id like a passive tone for solos/cleans etc

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could u post a link? ive loked al over the site but couldnt find it, i probaly overlooked it

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EMG 81 are bright and clean. I have never used one in the neck cause I actually like the 85 there, but turned down a bit. The 85 is very dark but that compliments the 81 perfectly. You just have to turn the volume on the 85 down a bit to find the sweet spot. Other wise it just sounds like ass.

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You'll probably want a Seymour Duncan Jazz in the neck for those cleans, classic cleans and bright lively leads. Megadeth anyone? The Dimarzio PAF Pro is also good if you want a little more balls, and a Dimarzio FRED is a PAF Pro with slightly more balls in the mid-range. The AirZone and Evolution neck are probably good choices as well.

Read this:

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It can be done, yes. I have done it, but unless you, at all cost, must have passive and active pups then do avoid this configuration. Unless you're an electronics geek like most techs then it seems simple, but don't fuck with it until you know what is actualy happening. Every musician has a different setup and buy breeding passive and active pups in a guitar you can kill them.

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hmmm, hard choices

i know for sure i want a 81 @ bridge (cuz ive had that before)
pafpro for neck isnt enough output for me, fusslshred ahs enough, but get muddy

im gonna start my own pu factory and then build the pu's i want

ill guess ill just get a 81/85 combo again then.
how is a 81 in the neck position btw? anyone know?

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81 in the neck is still bright. But sounds good imo. metallica use the have an 81 in the neck I believe and their solo's sound good tonewise

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thing is, how do u know they uses an 81 in the guitar they recorded with , i think ill get some live vid of metallica and see how it sounds

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Hetfield uses 81/60
Hammett 81/81
Now they are downtuning using Gibsons and Baritone type guitars .
but the ESP KH series is like I said 81/81 the Hetfield ESPs are 81/60s\
their very old shit kill em all They used Gibsons .

ok but who knows if they used that in the studios, so for live they probaly did, but if they have a nice solo sound on the album, its simply ungettable due to all the eqing, guitars pu's used, efects and what more.

actualy, i think metallica's tone suck ass (for as far as ive heard that is), awell nvm, ill go ask a guitarbuilder to help me out with the pickup choice

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I was wonder what I would do to wire my guitar. I just got an EMG 85. My guitar is set up to have just a single volume knob, with no tone, also I wont need a selector since their is only one pickup. With the 85 the tone and volume are prewired together. What would I have to do to only have the volume? Just not connect the tone knob and keep it under the panel or just take all of the wires off of it, leaving only the volume and then using that? Thanks

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when on the emg website i saw that they had p81 p85 p60 and shit like that, so are the single coil pickups supposed be similar to the humbucking ones, for example is a p81 have the same charecteristics of a humbucking 81?

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The p-series? Probably. The single coils like the S and SA? I don't think so, those are true single coils, while the p-series just have a different casing.

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so the p pickups are humbuckers that look different? But i want to get some actives that are single coil are any of em good for metal?

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No, they're a different size, a different style of pickup. This style of pickup is called a "P90", also reffered to as "soap bar style" pickups. P90's smaller than humbuckers, but not as small as a single-coil. P90's can have both one(single coil) or two coils(humbucker). In this case, the EMG P series is basically their humbuckers in P90 style for people who have guitars with p90-sized pickup cavities.

Single coil pickups are also called Strat pickups, cause the Fender Stratocaster was the first guitar to use single coil pickups I think. So if your guitar has a single coil pickup cavity(or more), see this:

http://www.emginc.com/displayproduc...ar&categoryid=7

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are they any good though?

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Emg singles? Probably. I know Obituary and Cryptopsy use them. They probably have very good cleans too, and are most likely nowhere near as noisy as passive single coils, but I've never used one so I can't say.

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Bump?

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Do that. Use the original wiring as a guide, just wire it up exactly the same (plus wire up the battery as shown in the instructions).
Remember to disconnect the grounding wire

I got some noise from my EMG 81 (both of them). But when I put my hand/finger on the volume or tone knob it stops. It´s like some kinda buzz noise. What seems to be the problem? I took it to a guitar tech and he looked over the wireing but it didn´t help. It´s just one guitar, the other 2 don´t got any noise. They got active EMGs aswell.

okay, you know how emg sets come with volume pots... does this mean that i have to switch them again when i get some passives? the reason is that i bought my guitar used... with a KFK set in it... and i hate the pups and want some duncans in there...

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Try rewiring whole guitar again.Try soldering with silver enhanced solder.Try also whith cleaning circuitry ends(than solder). Before all of that check if there is any source of radiation near by while you are playing.

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http://www.musiciansfriend.com/srs7...ase_pid/300420/
check this out. it is ausome sounding. well just watch the video
http://img3.musiciansfriend.com/dba...ideo/300420.mpg

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Hey, I was thinkin about puttin some EMG's in my JEM, will it make a significant difference in tone? It's like, dimarzio's have way too much feedback. any suggestions?

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Yes it will make a difference, im assuming that you have either the Dimarzio Blaze or Evolution in your JEM & adding active EMGs will make it much more balanced, brighter & quiet, Not to mention a killer sound

not sure about having a brighter tone... my ibanez infinities are WAY brighter than my emg's, and i have my emg's on a preamp too =/

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If you already have the pickups try them out in your JEM, if you dont like it then swap them out.

actually, i don't have the pickups. I was debating whether or not to go out and buy them. I have dimarzio breed in my JEM, so i was thinking about either getting better dimarzios, or getting the Emg's....i'm not really sure, is it just a matter of preference? because in that case i don't really know all that much about pickups, so maybe i should just read up on them?

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www.harmony-central.com is good for customer reviews on all guitar stuff. It not company review trying to sell something.

reading up and listening to internet clips is NOTHING like playing the real thing.... and the worst part is that not every guitar shop has EMG's installed for playing...

i'd say go to a jackson or ESP distributor and look for emg equipped guitars and try em out. Remember to mess with the amp settings so you can figure out the tonal limits of the pickups though.

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hey that's a really good idea, thanks man. i'll go do that.

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alright, now i have another question...i picked up some emg's, but i only got the neck and the bridge, should i go buy a middle pickup, or should i jus leave my dimarzios in the middle, or will it even matter?

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To avoid a major pain in the ass when connecting actives & passives i would get the middle pickup.

i was wondering, which pickup in the bridge position would make pinch harmonics more effective the 81 or 85?

Your fingers will make them effective.

Great reply dude!

ive mastered it but i was just curious if it would make a difference.
Another thing is, im going to order the ZW set and i was wondering where do i get the Black wire on the EMG diagram which supplies the battery's power to the tone and volumes.

Buy the EMG's secondhand and their requisite parts secondhand if you can, it'll save you a load.

but doesnt that wire come with the ZW set?

is the 81 the best u can buy for soloing pick-ups??

Yeap from what i've heard, check it's sound on the EMG website

also wats better the 60 or 89??

It's all personal preference.

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then i want a damn personal preference! which is better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have an EMG-81 (for lead) and EMG-60 (for Rhyme). Anyone here used the EMG-60? My guitar has one battery compartment and I can only fit one (obviously). But I heard if you connect two batteries in series you get 18 volt which gives your pickups more power but drains the batteries faster and if you connect them in parallel you get the same power but extended battery life. My question is how am I supposed to do this when my guitar has one battery compartment? Are you supposed to make another battery component manually and has anyone ever tried it?

Sometimes you can fit 2 batteries in the control panel of a guitar. Sometimes you can't. If the guitar only has one built-in battery compartment then put the other battery in the control panel. Run the leads in series/parallel to the battery compartment but just make sure you wrap the battery in something to prevert the casing from moving and shorting the pots.

If you are going to do this I would wire them in parallel btw. EMG don't really need any extra boost.

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hay ive got a question, since i have an ibanez and i has 2 dual pick-ups and 1 single coil and im gonna change the pick-ups over to emgs how would i fit 3 batteries in??

you only need one 9V battery to supply them, you dont need 3 batteries because u solder each red wire of each pickups together onto the battery

MUHAHAHHAHA i ordered my ZW set today for 115 cypriot pounds. 1 pound = 2 US dollars. in england they sell them for 180 pounds wtf?!?!

wouldnt that drain the battery faster but?

Whats ZW's setup? A 81 & 85? Probably would have been cheaper just to buy them seperate.

Yes it is an 81 and 85 with 2 long shaft volume & tone controls and 2 normal volume and tone. Buying an 81 and 85 separately costs the same price as the ZW set, and it would be stupid to buy them separately as the ZW set will come with whatever you will need.

Well yes it would but how are you going to fit 3 batteries in there? Anyway changing the battery is easy. once i install my set im thinking of buying a rechargable 9V battery so i dont have to keep buying new ones... except if it drains faster

yeah but if you solder them to the battery..wouldnt you have to do something to get them off the battery??

No because there is a certain connector to the battery which is removable check the pictures at www.emginc.com

I just wired an EMG 81 and 85 along with a PA2 booster into my Jackson and the shit's dead
I attached a 9V battery to the circuit, plugged the guitar into an amp then tapped on the pickups with a screwdriver and nothing came out, big disappointment because i took my time with this and the soldering looked real good. Now i'm pretty sure the 25K volume pot is fine and i didn't fry it or anything, the 3 way switch was fine before, I'm thinking it might be the stereo jack. The original wires were too damn short to go through the RR body, so i extended them myself. I couldn't find a switchcraft 152B anywhere in stores here and ordering it would make me wait for a few weeks. So the black battery wire has been cut in 2 places and soldered together again with different wire in between the original short one, the other 2 wires (another ground wire and a white one) have been extended too. I don't know maybe that's why the signal doesn't go through? The quick connect cables are correctly inserted with the arrow up. And i doubt the battery is dead. If it's the switch, how would i know?
Even though the instructions said not to connect the bridge pickup ground wire i still soldered it on the volume pot because ESP guitars actually have it that way, and because the diagrams were showing it that way and i've been following them carefully since the beginning. The setup i'm trying to get to work is simple 1 Volume + PA2 + 3 Way Switch.

Can anyone help me out here and tell me where the problem might be? Should i order the stereo jack they wrote about on the website or will resoldering this one with maybe better results help? Thanks a lot

What pickups did ur Jackson come with? if they were passive then you had to change the jack with the one that came with your EMGs