I'm kind of in a dliemma right now.
I absolutely love my RG 370 to death, but the tone really isn't doing enough for me anymore.

I'm wondering whether or not I should just pick up a Jackson guitar with EMGs already installed, or if it'd be cheaper to just replace the Dimarzio in my RG with an EMG 81 in the bridge (or 81/85 set). Only thing is that I know I'm gonna have to get them professional installed since the battery wells need to be cut into the body...

Which is also another dillemma; hack up my guitar for the sake of tone?

HELP!

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i personally love the dimarzio pup's, but all in all it would be cheaper to get the new ones and get it routed. I did that for one of mine, only cost about 150 CAD to install them, and 150 for the set, bout 300$ CAD...which is better then USD now..chyeah
Nevertheless, if you don't like the tone, it is always cheaper to change the pups, especially if you want that emg sound, doesn't matter what guitar you get, they all sound the same.

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Yeah, my buddy has a DKMG, and I love it. But I almost don't see a point in spending $300 USD when I could buy a new guitar for about $450 w/ EMGs.

I honestly don't need the set, though, and I like the neck tone that comes from the Steve's Special I have in there now. So I can probably nap an EMG 81 for about $99 USD (if not cheaper? If anyone knows somewhere cheaper, GUIDE ME). Installation is gonna be the bitch on my wallet, though...

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NO NO NO. If you want better tone, don't go wasting money on emg's. I'd suggest a Duncan of some sort if tone is what you want

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Bahahaha, duly noted. I'm pretty much looking for something with a brutal ass sound to it. Hence the EMG 81 pick...

But any suggestions for a P/U that would make my sounds br00t4l out t3h butth0l3?

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Well, if you're lookin for br00tal, I suppose an emg active set would do the trick. Definitely ups the distortion and harmonics a generous amount.

I just said that because I'm set in my ways of Duncans through an Engl

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Yeah, I'm only working with my Ampeg VH-140 Combo right now (Dad flipped a shit when I tried to get a cab...). I've got a Crate BV60 head sitting under my desk right here, collecting dust. I was close to selling the fucker, but. No point.

Needs some Mesa Tubes put in it though.

Any idea what kind of cost I should be looking at for installing an EMG 81?

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get the dimarzio D Activator it has all the characteristics of the 81 but sounds 100 times better and theres NO fucking battery

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If you get an EMG installed into your guitar alongside a Steve's Special, you might need to have your controls cavity made larger too, since you'll need a 25k volume and tone pot for the EMG and your 500k pots for the Steve's Special. Just something to bear in mind.

Motherfucker.

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that DKMG you like, are you sure it has actives? a lot of them have the passive H3's in them. if you like the sound of those, you could get one for $40 or less and you wouldn't have to do any mods. pretty you could use them with your current pots (correct me if i'm wrong).

that depends on what kinds of shops/techs you have around. if you can find a place with the pickup you want in stock, then they may be so glad to sell it that they will install it for just a few bucks over the cost of the pickup itself. for example, i called two local places about getting my RG set up in B and replacing the bridge pickup.. one shop wanted all kinds of extra loot because the guitar had a tremolo, etc, etc and they seemed baffled by the idea of tuning down.. but another shop i called did it for barely more than the cost of the parts. see if you can find a good local place that won't bullshit you.

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The guy who put in my Dimarzio ages ago doesn't charge THAT much, but the guy also took a chip out of my paint, which I didn't realize till at least a few months later when it got bigger.

I hear you though, the shop I trust with my equipment charges dickloads. they wanted $40 per pickup, and the guy I had it done by charged $40 for both, and then 10 to restring it and set it up.

And its a certain model DK that has the 81/85s, i think. My buddy bought his guitar like that from Musicians Friend, thats for sure. Its not up there anymore though.

And I will never, ever even consider HZ's.

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I m telling you get the D Activator you would be dissapointed

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Fuck paying for set ups and soldering jobs, a 30W soldering iron costs 6$ and soldering only takes a little bit to do cleanly and well(there are tons of good guides on the internet for wiring guitars with pictures and videos too).

My first attempt at soldering was wiring a guitar with no electronics(after pulling out a whole active EMG 81 85 set and its jack/pots) with a dimarzio bridge pickup and volume pot and it couldn't have been any easier, it's even easier if you're just replacing other passive pickups because all you have to do is disconnect the stock pickups and wire the new one's leads exactly where the other ones were, no need to study a diagram, just use common sense. There is really no risk of fucking up your guitar unless you go poking the iron into the wood and it's a really good skill to have.

and I'm infuriated by the fact that guitar technicians want to charge for setting up a guitar with a tremolo, let alone charge you more if you want a different tuning, it's so damned easy and takes less than 5 minutes.

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rather than looking online, i just watched and payed for a guitar tech to do it once correctly, so i don't have to worry about fucking it up when i read it online. Worked for me...except for routing holes for new pups, i never trust my own hand to do that on any of me axes, which you may need to do dissection.

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Those are my thoughts as far as my Kramer or Fender Strat go. If it was a project guitar, I might do it myself, but not on one of my good ones.

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Yeah, I used a neighbor's soldering iron before trying to fix my input jack. His iron was SHIT though, and I ended up just getting frustrated cause it overheated the solder really quick (try having solder dripping right past your fingers ).

I'll probably get it done professionally, if I get an EMG 81. If I get the D Activator, I could probably just do it myself. Learned how to soldered well in high school.

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D activator is active as well, it'd be the same process as the the EMG

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The D-Activator is a passive pickup designed to sound like actives. And they're killer... my new Ibanez has them and I have to say I'm really impressed by Dimarzio once again.

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FUCK EMG'S GET THE D ACTIVATORS THEY SOUND WAY BETTER

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I might take your word for it if you aren't currently employed by the Dimarzio Corporation...

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I'm not either and highly recommend any dimarzios over EMG's. Went from an 81/85 set to a simple modest output PAF pro in the bridge and I haven't looked back.

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no I am not employed at dimarzio just a 19 year old kid who loves to play some heavy ass metal If you like emgs you love the d activator cuz it sounds a hell of a lot better but still has all the things every body likes about the 81

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