at the moment in my guitar i have an emg 81 in the bridge and a 60 in the neck. i dont like the 60 that much and i was thinking of getting an active seymour duncan livewire for the bridge for rhythm and putting the 81 in the neck for leads. would this be possible and if so, how would it sound? has anyone got any experience with either of these pickups in these positions? i play kind of technical death metal. would this be good?


thanks in advance.

I can tell you that there may be problems. If I remember right Live Wires use 18volts and 100k pots while EMG can use 18volts but normally use 9volts and 25k pots. They are close to each other in spec but it might take some additional components to make them happy playing together. I have never mixed the two but I might try it sometime if I get the extra cash. It might be a great mix or a Greek tragedy.

As for EMG, I like using them and maybe I can give you a few tips. The 60/81 set isn't a bad setup, but the trick is to use the 60 in the neck to compliment the 81 in the bridge. Keep the volume on the 60 lower than the 81. Use just enough volume to sound good. Sometimes this can mean more volume and other times less volume from the neck. Maxing the volume on the 60 will sound like pure shit with the 81 through a high gain setup, while the 81 alone can sound to crisp and thin if not complimented with a neck pickup set at a lower volume. Balance is the key to EMG tone.

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ok thanks for that. i am thinking of either getting an 85 for my neck, a pair of livewires or a pair of blackouts. which do you think i should get for a chuggy but clear death metal tone?

I like the 85 better than the 60, but with the same instructions as the 60. Keep it low enough to sound great. To much will kill tone.

Chuggy and clear.... that's kinda nondescript. My chug and clear my not be yours but I can get chug and clear out of an EMG 85/81 set by just making sure everything is dialed in correctly. If everything is maxed then you will get chuggy but never clear. Playing technique has a great deal to do with your sound to; more than the pickups or amps used in most cases.

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