EMG's - yeah or nah?

I am a retired touring sound engineer after 45 years logging over 15,000 hours behind a console. I have worked with two guitar players using EMG pickups. Anyone that claims EMGs suck do not know what they are talking about.

At first I agree with those who said emg sucked. But after trying out the 81, I immediately hooked with the sound, it is what I'm looking for

I love EMG pickups, in fact I'm very close friends with the owner of the company. Some of the first pickups Rob made went in my guitars way back before EMG existed when he was living with his parents and making them in the converted garage. This was in the very early 70's. I play primarily clean, trying to make my electric as close to an acoustic as possible due to hand problems I have and can't play acoustic guitars and most other pickups can't match the crystalline clean these can produce. Many people equate this with being sterile but in reality they just aren't use to having an electric guitar be able to produce those type of cleans tones. Also I love the fact that they're totally noiseless. Another thing is that they are very even across the frequency spectrum and there are no notes that are either too loud or too soft. I've tried a lot of other pickups and always come back to EMG's. Their new SA-X pickups are the ones I have now and they're great.

I have the SA/SA/89 set in my super strat and couldn’t be happier. Also, that lead tone you closed the video with was absolutely killer as well as your playing.

EMGs are terrific, and for single coils, I'd use nothing else. I want that extra headroom, no noise, all that power and versatility.

As a kid in the 90's, all we ever wanted was EMG's for thrashing and chugging, but as I've gotten older and experienced more, every pickup or guitar has its place in different situations, I brought a Epiphone 60's standard Les Paul (2021) on Saturday and I never thought as a kid that I'd like a non shredd machine.

I love an EMG. They really rip for super clean and super distorted leads, I find. Middle ground can take some work, but it’s in there.

EMGs are really great live, they give so much more sustain than passives. But sometimes I dig the warmer tones of passives. It all depends on what I'm playing. Gilmour's tone with the boost on his SA's is almost as fat and warm as a humbucker. Really beautiful. I've got a set of EMG's in my strat- A tele reverse slant RTC in the bridge, and 2 SAV's in the middle and neck. I also have the SPC circuit that makes single coils fatten up and sound like humbuckers. It is the most versatile (and great sounding) strat I've ever heard.

I really liked them with the "plastic" clean, and with the more distorted stuff. On the crunch stuff, I guess I would prefer other pickups, not that they sounded bad! Just not exactly what I liked on mild distortion

I put the Lukather set in my Strat a couple of months back and really like them. I've avoided EMGs since I started playing 3 decades ago, and probably shouldn't have. I even put the stock AM Pro Series II pickups back in to see how much better the passives sounded, and decided I liked the EMGs better, put them back, and there they have stayed. So many tones with a tweak of the volume and tone from the SLV singles, and the 85 bridge rocks.

Leon! Loved the Coming Back To Life jam! I’m totally with you on the love for Gilmour’s EMG equipped Pulse Strat, and also for me at that time was Mark Knopfler’s Pensa-Suhr which had SA, SA and an 85 in the bridge. I ordered a custom Suhr back in January and I’ve gone for the newer EMG X Series in it - SAX, SAX and 89X (the “splittable” 85). The wait for it is killing me, but I’m sure it will be worth it when it finally arrives. I don’t understand the negativity towards EMG’s from some quarters - as you said, they’re a different tonal option, and to my ears they can still sound pretty stratty when you need them too. The clean clips are beautiful!

Sounds great, it feels like there is a resurgence of EMG bubbling under the surface, lots of channels featuring them and showing just how good they can be. Leon, I’d love to see you review the Dan Huff combo of JB/Hot Stack/Hot Stack!

5:20 is where it started sounding incredible! Always great demos.

Great test ! Just ordered a KH-20 (SSH) kit to put on my 20yo Jackson Dinky : can't wait to try it !

For single coils, actives are the only way to go. That clean, clear sound with no hum can't be beat.

That fretboard is Beautiful! I like the pickguard, too. Those pickups have a little bit of Stratty quack in them. Always enjoy your content. Thanks!

Agree that the 80’s studio clean sounded great with these. Possibly the best pickups I’ve heard for that tone. These pickups clearly have a lot more low end than standard Strat pickups which really worked with that tone. Regular Strat pickups can sound a bit harsh with it. They also clearly have more power than a regular pickup but not as much power as a humbucker. The other tone I liked was the early part of the dynamic lead where I think you had the volume turned down. It sounded like something that you couldn’t get with any other type of pickup.

EMG makes a great pickup. I have two SA's and an 89 in the bridge. No noise, long cables if you want. Good drive into the front end. Sweet pickups. You can also get tone shaping capability. My other strat has Van Zandt Rock model pickups which were my favorite for a passive pickup. I suppose I should get a third strat with a set of vintage pickups. Don't think in terms of best or worse. Pickups are a compromise with a lot of bests. It just depends on what you like. EMG yeah.

Definitely yay. My strat has an 85/SA/SA setup and I absolutely love it. The mid boost is also a fantastic piece of kit as well.

Some of the best live guitar tone i've ever heard came from fiddles with EMGs installed. David Gilmour, Mark Knopfler, Gary Moore, Lukather to name but a few. Hell, even EVH sounded great using his Steinberger with EMGs.

I use EMG Alnico Tele pickups and they are quiet, twang, clean but handle gain better than my traditional tele pickups. Sustain is great! The neck pickup is the best!

Yes EMG's are my favorites. I have a T-52 set in a Tele I built. Best pickups for the sounds I like. If you NEED clean with ZERO 60 cycle hum with zero need for shielding the cavities then these are your pickups. You can still shield the cavities if you like. Not needed, If you put the T-52 set in a tele you may want to make extra room in the control cavity for the battery and that is a tiny bit of material that needs to be removed so you can have room for the battery connector to have clearance. just a tiny notch is all it takes. I also use a set of Geezer Butler P J pickups in my P bass. These are passive and they are beasts for bass. You will be VERY happy with these pickups. YES, EMG pickups are badass. EMG covers pretty much any tone you can think of. I love EMG's

I pretty much agree with you. It’s best moments we’re the two extremes. However, I was happily surprised with how it sounded when you were doing the funky picking. It really jumped out and would probably sound great in a full mix

Excellent guitar playing dude! Loved that you played some ty tabor riffs too. I like the emg sa's. I love that they aren't very noisy, and that you hear every little nuance. I think I'm going to install them in my 91 fender Mex strat? It should be great? Thanks for the awesome review! Keep rockin and makin cool vids!

Beauty is in the ear of the beholder, I have active pickups in several guitars as well as passive ones in others. They all have their purpose, I too was annoyed with buzz and hum of single coils in an overdriven amp and ended up putting a DG20 setup in my strat and never looked back. It's one of my most versatile guitars I have and dead it's quiet. Cheers, Perry

EMG 58 is the most underrated pickup of all times IMO, cheers 🤟

Great tones. Though I was a big fan of Gilmour and what he did with emg stuff I have to say my favourite user is Ian Moss, his early solo stuff is riddled with Emg tones. I think like any other pickup they can be reliant on control of other factors to make them work, especially if you have the Dg set up with the extra preamp as you have no way to reduce highs then. I love passive pickups and am blessed to have some very nice local made ones, but I don’t think it’s one or the other they’re a thing unto themselves. I think one of the biggest issues people have is based on hearsay and rumour about batteries (which is rubbish, if you unplug when you’re done they last ages. A set of traditional sas can last 1000hrs on a good battery), and sterility…. Which was a thing more to do with the general gear and tones around when they came out. Keep fighting the fight for good tone sir, the most important thing is fingers and ears like yours. All the best from wales!

I played with some guys who were 100% vintage! One had a 93LP with Burst Buckers, and the other with an expensive Fender Strat that cost him around $1700. Their god was Gary Moore! What did I have? I had a Schecter Hellraiser V with a Floyd Rose, EMG 81 in the bridge, and a 89R in the neck position. These guys mocked at me so much until we got together and I literally blew them away in every tone. They never mocked at me again! The versatility of active pickups is a big advantage. My Japanese made 540S 91 Ibanez, I modified with HSS set up with a Seymour Duncan SH8 Invader in the bridge, Duncan Antiquity 60's Hot center, and a Duncan Antiquity 55 tele in the neck position. 😀 for that Strat/Tele tone with the ability to 🪨 with the SH8 Invader in the bridge! 🤘

The main reason why Lukather started using Active Pups was because his racks, with passive pickups the signal is easily lost when passing through all the units, cables, etc. The fact that active pickups has a preamp mantained the signal practically intact across. Personally I don't like them, they sound sterile and compressed.

Don't have any in my current lineup but loved the guitars I had them in. They if nothing else are inspiring because they make me play different.

I've been playing my emg guitars more again just because they are so silent. They are a great tool, honestly the only downside is worrying about the battery. I just built a tele with the EMG T set in it and that thing is incredible. They have their own unique sound.

I was first made aware of EMGs by a college tutor. He’d been using them in his SG since the early 80s as a session musician, after a chat with Steve Lukather. Then I started listening to Pride & Glory and saw Zakk Wylde used them. I wanted his tone, so loaded my LP with an 81 and 85. Never looked back… I’ve currently got 4 guitars, two with EMGs (one has an 81 the other has a classic 70) and two with passive pickups. For heavy riffs and solos the EMGs rule 🤘

I wasn't too fussed with the originals, but when my neck pickup died, I swapped for the X line. I felt that was quite an improvement.

Single coils with out all the noise,, sounds like winning to me. I have a set of the gilmour pickups in my red strat, those tone knobs do a lot of good as well.

I have a baritone ltd with active EMG pickups, I love the sound , they re so brutal but when it comes to recording, they are a lil more difficult to tame, you have to be more aware with your playing and your muting technique cause they capture everything, every finger movement/slide etc , not a big deal , just adjust the playing.

Totally got the King x vibe going on there😎 What I love with strats is the way you can really alter the look feel and sound. Currently building a strat with a bridge humbucker and neck hotrail. Locking tuners and aiming at a vegatrem. Blacking out all the hardware also😅 Already aiming on a next project, and those EMG's you got there might be added to the list🤟

I have 85 EMG in my Lukather VA They are the best pickups I have and I’ve got a suhr and a Tyler Studio 335. - unbelievable cleans

Hall of the Mountain King in the background - 🤘🤘🤘🤘

They don’t sound bad at all, they just have zero dynamics. Every hit sounds the same no matter how soft/hard you pick and it’s weird to hear you with no dynamics because you’re always playing with pick attacks and bends, and IMHO, it’s such a big part of your sound. I know it was for Luke and Gilmore as well and will never argue that Dave sounded bad on Pulse because he sounded as good as ever. On the other hand, we both love spanked and compressed sound, especially with a Strat. The Bluesy Grit sound is amazing and nails that Nile Rodgers disco/funk sound hands down without a compressor pedal or hardware. It’s a tool and gets the job done. Gotta know when to use it and fanatics like us will have every possible tool in the box. Sometimes I want that fake Yamaha reverb and sometimes I want/need that pure Lexicon PCM 96 or Bricasti reverb. We have the tools, we know them, and most importantly, when to use them. That’s all we need! 🙌 Great video and playing as always! 🤘

I love EMGs. As with any pickup how it sounds will vary depending on your EQ and the rest of your setup. Would anyone say Gilmour has a bad tone?

Well, I have used 81s since the late 80s, mostly for metal, of course. More recently I have been using Hot 70s and they are really versatile and super responsive, and sound awesome clean as well. They actually have lots of headroom. Also, they are very versatile and sound very much like passive pickups and you can get variety of tones out of them. Must more dynamic than what most people think of when referring back to the 81/85 type sounds. They are my new favorite pickups, to tell you the truth.

How did I miss this.. I think I was sick at the time you made this.. Great sounding pickups.. I have the same setup, but with a new maple neck with maple fretboard I'm about to install with 6100 Stainless frets.. Can't wait to hear it.. I've always loved EMG's.. I'm a huge 85 fan after seeing kip winger back in the day and he killed with them.. Of course zakk is a killer too, and so many uses for them and especially singles with no noise and they are eq'd great from the factory that you would never be able to do with a passive IMHO. Just killer pickups.. You should play this more.. Sounds killer my down under friend.. That 80's chorus clean sound is to die for with singles from EMG. Great playing sir as always.. Be safe and well sir!

Nice. Major KingsX tone there! The 2 & 4 positions have plenty of Stratocity. I just finished refurbishing an '80s California made Charvel (Strat body style) that I had installed EMGs (58 & 92) into 30 years ago and the battery had corroded inside. The Floyd had lots of ick as well. Totally disassembled to the max and scrubbed everything (where appropriate) with WD40 and DeOxIt. Once I got it going again, man is it sweet. Action with that Charvel neck is great too. So I'm considering the SA EMG set myself. I've got a Seymour/Dimarizio noiseless setup on another Strat clone and I wouldn't change it but I might put the SA kit on the Charvel or possibly stick an SA between the two hummers. One thing for sure, I'm installing a battery box. I've made a couple of custom guitars in the past so the router is my friend. Cheers!

I recently replaced my original 96' fender strat pickups with EMG SA/SA/81 (bridge) and it sounds exponentially better with the EMG's on both the clean and the dirty.

I put the white EMGs in my self-compilled start. I like the sound, it offers really authentic strat-sounds without noise

EMG's, a Phil Lynott reference and King's X all in one video! 🎸

I've got EMG active single-coils in my Strat. Uncovered, staggered pole pieces. They sound great to me. They were the pickups in it when I bought it. Sometimes I think about replacing them, but only because its a pain in the butt when you plug in and your 9V is dead.

Try the SLV's !! I have EMG's in almost all of my guitars... 89's and SLV's where there are single coils... Lukes pickups are even better than the SA's... try them in neck and middle, or a combo SLV neck and SA in middle...

Had to give these a listen - used to have an SA/SA/89 setup that I liked. These still have an applicable sound. They're definitely hotter than standard, I'm hearing a bit of fuzz in almost everything due to the gain. However, I'm liking that clang that these have.

my take is that they're not amazing but they never sound bad. they kinda lack mids but never sound muffled unlike some passive pups

7:04 that sounds so great!!!!

When I bought my first Les Paul in 1988 it had been fitted with an 81/85 set - this was before I really knew who Zakk Wylde was and didn't associate those pickups with his sound. I kept the guitar like that for a few years until the 89 set came out with the coil-tapping ability. So I bought and installed a set of those in the guitar. I actually had to route the cavity deeper to use the push-pull pots that came with the pickups - since I didn't know getting long-shaft pots might have been possible. Oops. I then moved the 81/85 set to a LP Custom I had - again - not really thinking about Wylde at the time. I also had an EMG Tele set in a guitar I assembled. Right now, the only guitar I plan to have EMGs in is my 80's era ESP Horizon.

You sir can sell me a potato pickups, it'll sound good with your playing.

Recently stuck the Gilmour set with the Expander and Presence control into my Squier I'd been modifying and at 18V they're just insanely good.

Reminds me SO MUCH of my 1979 Strat that I loaded w/ the same pickups ! DAMN ..., I miss that guitar !

I've had this set in one of my guitars. They are very good, you just have to fish around for the right kind of magic to come out of them!

I picked a used loaded pickguard in Houston 2009. I was intrigued by Alnico 5 EMGs. I was delighted. The old ASH strat I mounted them on is still in my 10 Strat rotation.

I used to have 2 EMG 85s on my caparison dellinger ii in neck and bridge positions. I eventually took them out and went with the more flexible, touch-sensitive stock ones it had (which also didn't require a battery change every 20 days) but for the time I had them the sound was huge. The harmonics were flying off the frets with no effort and they were as massive as they were controllable

Absolutely Loved Jam 1, very much a "Coming Back to Life" vibe which I think is one of their best songs.

I had a nice hss set of emg's in a strat for many years and enjoyed them. I made the mistake of selling that guitar in the early 2000's and I miss it. The cleans with emg's in a strat and some good fx are excellent.

I remember watching the pulse tour dvd and immediately noticed gilmour using emgs which made me give them a chance

Highly recomend switching the middle to EMG SAX. Much more quack in between position. SAs are quite dark pickups and need a boost in 4k~5k to sound like normal single coils

Amazing your musicianship & pickup demonstration. 😊🙏

That 80s clean sound is amazing! Thinking about getting these pickups! Would you say that they're versatile?

For the 80's clean tone, these pickups sound better than any other pickups I've heard you demo with that sound/part. I'm not sure if Queensryche or Def Leppard or Steve Lukather or Mike Landau used these pickups, but they have THAT sound more than any other pickups I've heard. It's almost as though the EMG SA's were specifically designed and tuned while playing through an Eventide H3000, TC electronic 2290 and Lexicon PCM70, or an Alesis Quadraverb, which did all that stuff for a lower price and sound quality. Dare I say these pickups are overlooked and underrated. Seymour Duncan made a set of single coil rail style pickups with ceramic magnets called the Hot Stacks that I do believe were intended to compete with EMG, when they first came out. The Hot Stacks, similar to the EMG SA's have a fuller, deeper, rounder tone with more midrange and low end compared to traditional Alnico single coils. I have a set in a Strat and they are definitely another overlooked pickup worth checking out. A lot of studio musicians used them for a while and Brett Mason still uses one as the middle pickup in his custom telecaster.

EMGs still awesome! Awesome clean sounds too.. I've bought a set from fender custom 69, since I was chasing that bell-like Hendrix tone, but man, I can't live with the hum, simply terrible.. so the EMGs SAs still has that single coil like sound but way less hum, more usable in my opinion. Cheers!

I want two sounds; An 80's clean chorus, and high gain rhythm. That's why I have EMG 81x-60x in my Ibanez. I also like that EMGs can either be as simple or as complex as you want. I have just a 3 way switch and one volume knob.

The only EMG I've used is the 81. I recently moved it from the bridge to the neck in one of my guitars to make way for an old Seymour Duncan Livewire Metal, that thing kills. Bottom line EMG or any active dont suck, they are a certain sound that works for my purposes which is thrash metal. Either full on dirt or cleanest of cleans & nothing inbetween. Saying that i do love the punch of a passive.

Played a denim blue Knopfler spec Suhr Classic with the cream EMGs. Sounded wonderful with a really sweet clean tone.

Guitar players, we are a picky bunch aren’t we. It comes down to what you want. If thats what you want they are the right choice. The end. Thats all there is to it. Whats cool about a strat is you can have other pick guard loaded and ready to go. With quick connects its a 15 min swap at most to change it. These sound like the old school lace sensors I used to love and with a jazz chorus. But great for those Siamese Dream tones. Op amp I believe and lace sensors. Or dare I say Kings X tone 😱

Are these good for Metal? Or would you recommend S4's in single coil for only metal?? When humbuckers aren't option? But yours still sound good for metal.

The ‘EMG bad’ is just a bandwagon for simpletons

I recently bought a 1988 fender hm strat hot pink and the thx knobs are messed up and I’m thinking of going a Emg HSS setup in it. Love the cleans on this Strat

And they work great with the equalizer. You can easily draw the modern humbucker curve, or vintage single coil curve, or whatever you want. The opposite doesn't work, you can not get emg sa sound from any other pickup because they just don't have the higher frequencies that SAs have

Jam 1 - Coming Back to Life? loved that.

I've got EMG's in my C-1 Schecter, it's also my first time using them and I have no complaints. In fact I really like them. I may swap out some of my other stock pickup's for EMG's. I like the tone I get when we play live. Who knows... Great video!

I personally love EMG pickups! I have a 57/66 set in my ESP Explorer and it’s the perfect marriage of the tone and dynamics of PAF’s but with the punch and consistency of actives. I’ve also got a Gary Holt signature guitar with an 81/89R set. The 89R is a essentially a splittable 85 but the coil you use when you split is closer to the neck so it sounds like a strat neck pickup :)

If you are a modulated sound addict, like chorus, reverb, delay, harmonizer user.., EMG is the best choice. If you are a dry sound addict, EMG is a dissater..

The clean is just milky goodness - take me away Calgon.

I've been checking out these EMG SA pickups on KZfaq, seriously thinking about putting a set of these in my 2014 Fender USA Strat, I came to the conclusion that stock standard Fender single coil pickups, and Noiseless pickups have too much treble in them for my tastes, I want to hear more mids from my USA Strat, and these EMG SA pickups seem to have what I want to hear in their tone.

I have 2 SA's neck and middle and an 89 in the bridge of my Strat. Push pull tone pot basically makes the 89 into an SA when it's pushed in. I've had them probably as long as you've had yours. I will sometimes kick around the idea of changing them out for something else, but I never do.

Sounds great man. Really though, the biggest impact on a guitarist's tone is the guitarist and how they play those strings. Period. People listening don't know and don't care if it's emg or sd, active is passive. If it sounds good it sounds good. I do love the Low noise floor.

I see a strat with these EMGs I jump straight to Gilmour, I figured that was why lol

I'm not gonna lie this is the best tone I've ever heard from you play in a Stratocaster-style guitar honestly I never understood all the hate EMG pickups get they're my favorite personally.

I really like how you nailed the 80s clean tone! Can you please share your fx chain?

The reason for using EMG was to have s low impedance signal to begin with. Drive cable. Stable sound and clarity, instead of high output passive that killed tone in their own way. With the increasing big rack systems, EMG made sense. Back in the 70-ties and 80-ties shielding was not that great and EMG became a great pickup for many reasons. David Gilmour used them, Lukather, Steven Rothery and many more that did not play metal for the very same reasons. It just made sense in several ways. The 85 and 89 suited other players the the 81. SA singelcoils and later versions solved that hum and feedback issues with passive singelcoils. So EMG might not suit everyone, but their pickups made very much sense in the late seventies, through the 89-ties and into the 90-ties. The metalplayers brought EMG back after that whole back to the seventies thing that plagued the world from the mid 90-ties. EMG make great pickups, but not for everyone. But what pickups are?

I REALLY dislike EMG HUMBUCKERS but man those EMG SA'S sound pretty nice. Great vid by the way Leon.

Yeah EMGs are quiet good. As long as you get Seymour Duncan Blackouts AS-1.

You were a brilliant young man with a good ear if you installed those at age 16-17. I have a guitar with EMG pu's and love them! Also, many of my basses have EMG pu's as well, and I'm getting ready to install EMG jazz bass pu's in my Warwick katana nt 5 string as soon as they arrive. Sounds good, ain't broke don't fix but make it sound better by replacing 👍

Planning to put emg on my strat , now im fully decided its a good idea

I love the EMG's on my Ernie Ball LUKE.(SLV/85) They sound and feel like slightly compressed without the side effects of compressor!? GuitarPlayer said it well: "Notes come like water from a fire hose" :)

Kirk Hammett used these in his black Fernandes Strat he used during the RTL-MOP era (I think it was called "Edna"), there's plenty of videos of him using it here on YT. Always sounded great to me!

I have a HSS setup EMG 81 SA SA in a Jackson Fusion Pro... no matter what I run it through the neck pickup will come close but never hit that "Strat" tone... but man when you want crystal clear clean, nothing even comes close to the SA EMG single.

I had the 81 /85 set in a les paul and wasn't blown away they didn't suck but they didn't shine.

I didn't like EMGs until I got used to them. They EQ differently than my Duncan JBs I was used to. Now I love them as much as my trusty JB/59 combo. The lower noise is really nice too.

I love mine. I like the sound, and I love not having to battle noise too much.

If you watch Gary Moore's live in Stockholm 1987 he plays with a Charvel with a single EMG humbucker. Listen to "Empty Rooms" and "The Loner" for lots of feeling and variety of dynamics. Everything depends on how you use it. In your case, I prefer the EMG fuller sound than a very low output vintage style strat pickup that has hollow mids and the sound feels "empty".

Cool Demo Leon, as always. I use the EMG SA's and the 89( in bridge position) in my guitars for more than 25/26 years now and i'm absolutly glad with it. By the way,the 89 humbucker can be split into an single coil and that's a really cool thing! I used to play with in the eighties and they where great too. But as most of the guitar players, we're always looking for some new stuff ,and so i tried the EMG's in 95/96 and never changed. EMG's lover should listen to Steve Lukather playing "Little Wing" with Toto live in Paris 1990!!! Fantastic mariage between EMG Warmoth Strat / Soldano XR88 preamp! Wow, Best sound ever!! Cheers Leon ! Thank you for you Videos. they re all great

EMGs have always sounded warm to me, with that chunky lower-mid "push." I guess they're perceived as "sterile" because of the lack of that icepick resonant peak that is characteristic of so many passives.