The pickups sound terrific but what really stands out is Bobby Howe’s playing-my goodness, that’s just beautiful.

Crystal clear, great twang and brightness and completely silent. Its a trend to hate on active pickups at the moment but I would say go out and try them for yourself.

Wonderful playing! This reminds me of the late Les Paul, a bit jazzy, laid back, smooth lounge music ... phantastic. So listen up, all you young dudes, imposters and wanna-be guitar heroes: NEVER underestimate the power of musical experience and playing skills gained in decades, and the relaxed wisdom of age! God bless you, Bobby!

Great review,thanks. I had EMGs in a Stratocaster for years and the battery would last a year. It was totally silent and I used it primarily in a recording studio where noise can be a issue. Worth mentioning that EMGs are low impedance output so you can run long cable lengths with no signal loss and also the strings don't need to be grounded so there is no risk of electric shock.Also the volume control doesn't kill the treble reponse when it is turned down.

Holy fucking balls, your playing and phrasing is just insane. I can't stop watching your videos. I don't even care for most of the gear, just want to hear more top notch playing, really. Keep up the amazing work!

I've got this EMG T-Set - it's brilliant. It was easy to install & has the classic Telecaster *twang* with a modern twist. The sound is *wider* and *fuller* and gets even better the more you crank it up. Thank you Bobby for the time & effort you put into this video!

Emg are secret. A ton of mostly bedroom warriors and some know it alls say all kinds things and misconceptions. But you can use EMGs for classic rock, jazz and country. im using the 57/66 in a les paul. That's some serious twang

The pickups sound great! I like how you are not afraid of walking unusual paths for the sound you need: a telly with active pups for jazz...

They sound like they have almost acoustic overtones which makes them pretty unique sounding. Great video thanks

So musical so surprisingly jazzy on the Telecaster and how Bobby plays the Tele so tasteful his base notes chords interchanging with the high D,B and E strings leads just giving it so much balance for Bobby is a master of the 6 strings Tele , rock on Bobby with EMG's.

Great video and wonderful playing! I've been using EMG pickups before they were EMG. For those wondering, yes this exactly the way they will sound. Whatever your amp is these pickups will do the trick. As demoed here, Bobby plays a variety of styles and they sound great for everything. They're absolutely noiseless and if you get noise using them it's something else in your signal chain. One thing that I love about EMG's is that they have a much better frequency response throughout the guitar range and have a very even response meaning that there are no soft or dead spots anywhere on the guitar. You don't have to pick one string harder than the other to get the same volume. Because they are active and use a battery there is an alternate method rather than put the battery in the guitar. EMG makes a battery box that uses either a battery or a 9V adapter with center pin negative which is what almost all pedals use. One thing I have noticed is that not all adapters will fit in the hole so if you go to a music store to get one make sure you bring the box to make sure it fits. I don't know if EMG now makes a power supply for them. You have to use a stereo cable from the guitar to the box but they also sell those as does a lot of electronic stores. Use a high quality cable and there is no loss of tone. I use the battery box exclusively because it's a lot easier to change the battery on the gig because there's a spring loaded tray that slides out to put in the battery. At home I use the 9V adapter because I like to keep the guitar plugged in because I'm too lazy to take the cable out of the guitar every time I stop playing. All this said, I highly recommended these pickups and I'm sure you'll love them.

Thanks for the review! I was mulling over replacing my Seymours with EMGs cause of all the noise I'd get from playing right in front of two computer monitors. I'll likely buy a set once I've got money to spend on my hobbies again.

Put these in my 87 Mij Tele. I couldnt be happier. Very articulate and dead quiet both clean and overdriven. Thanks Bobby...Great playing

I have watched your video many times. I used to watch it wanting to get a telecaster, now that I own a telecaster I watch and admire the emgs and hear you talking about them. The tone is phenomenal... 🤩

You have reminded me that EMGs sound great in a Tele! Thanks....nice playing on your part too!

Damn some modern EMGs have blown my mind with non metallica classic emg like cleans ahaha. Nice playing too.

Bobby plays us out to the end of the video with the sweetest chording ever. There is plenty music left in that guitar.

He’s so wholesome I love it

Thanks for the nice demo of the EMGs. Sounds better than the EMG 60X demo IMO.

Perfect information for the not so courageous 👌 I love EMG..

Hi Bobby, what a great review....perfect! Everything covered clearly, concisely and in a highly informative manner. Your extra tips were extremelt helpful and easy to follow. They will save a huge amount of timw and frustration. Many thanks! Superb playing too!

As always an informative video, Bobby. And really nice playing!

dude can play! sounds great. love the jazz tones

I have never heard of you but you play awsome,i just got a set and was looking for how to and came across you

I have the same set and I can honestly say they are the best sounding Tele pickups I've ever played. And in 35 years I tried a lot of Tele pickups....

What a nice info video! I love the sound you are getting and the playing is great too! Thanks!

I go an eye on these pickups for a long time now and want to finally make a move to get them. But till now never really found a good review but this one is great! Thank you so much!

My brother in law just got one one these I told him he should get better pickups I showed him these exact ones lol Cool video I can't wait to show him

EMGs will always be my favorite pickups. I use EMG 40DC pickups in my 5 string bass. Really clear and articulate and noise free! I use to be a hater of EMG pickups, but now I can't see myself using anything other than EMG pickups.

I've been using the EMG RetroActive T-52 sets in all my Teles. Rob Turner (CEO of EMG) who is a friend, offered to put the prototype set he developed with Vince Gill (but didn't tell me that) into my latest Tele build. I resisted at first, thinking (as most folks do) that all active pickups were for high-gain distorted stuff, but finally let the guys at EMG put them in my guitar. They really blew my mind!!! They were super clean, with wonderful note definition! They had ALL the Tele tone, and no noise! Sort of like Tele pickups on steroids. I'm now using the T-52 set in all my builds!! I LOVE them!!!

Excellent playing and tone.

Bought these pups on the Strength of this video.Delighted with them.Thanks Bobby.

Came to see the review, stay for the playing! Awesome!

Great detailed piece and also fantastic playing... thank goodness you like the pickups after all that!

Great review and nice picking...thank you sir!! I'm going to finally try these out

Magnificent playing

I never thought of that way of taking off a top mount bridge but lifting it up with the screw head lol. But I play with a Schaller top mount and you can’t even fit a screwdriver onto 2 of the 3 screw heads so it’s pretty much necessary to take off the saddles.

Thanks for your demo and beautiful playing! Love EMG single coils. But I prefer models with separate poles. They sound amazing, although the output is very low, especially compared to DiMarzio Areas.

Great video! Decided to update my old Squier Affinity Tele with these, much better pickups and the controls in the set should be much better too, playing jazz and some alternative/heavy rock so your demo was perfect for me. Also a note for anyone else looking, my Squier Affinity telecaster's pick guard comes off, no need to take the neck off first.

Sounds great and I thought it will smell of EMG but it’s not! And your play is make my feel so happy thank you so much ❣️ I’ve been looking for nice Telly pickups for long years but EMG Is the best pickup ever 😊

Reminds me a bit of a miced up nylon string guitar.

Great to hear jazz on an opened up tele. So many use a treble-muted tone like the days of buzzy pickups, mics and amps. Good info on the pickups/install. Thx. Ever tried the flatwound Thomastik-Infeld Swing strings? They sound and feel great on a tele. Sorta old school. I like the 10-44 on a tele, but also use "Be-Bop" 12s on my big ol hollow-body. Swing is flatwound, Be-bop, round.

DAMN you can play those strings.. Your a BAD ASS and don't even know it Bobby! You got me convinced Im getting a set... AWESOME Playing.

Great playing and thanks for the review! Now i know which pickups to get for a nice clean sound!

Sounds great! What amp are you running through? Sounds very crisp and hifi, almost like an acoustic guitar.

Thanks! Very useful guide and review - and some great playing / sounds to ice it off. I guess you saved me some time and hassle doing my change-over, so thanks again.

extremely clear tone. i will look into this for my telecaster

Thank you for the great video. The hum and the chrome cap of the neck pickup always bothered me on my Telecaster. With the EMG solution I get rid of both and get a sound improvement and modern optics for free.

Excellent playing and demo on install of the pickups!

NO, you don't have to use a sponge. I just cut the springs in half then stretch them back out. when compressed, they will only take up half the space.

Thank you Mr. Howe! You took the time to make an excellent instructive video, much appreciated! Great job!

Nice video and great playing! I've been using SAs in my Strat for over 20 years of performances completely trouble free and will probably add them to a Tele soon. Thanks for the install tips and the music!

Excellent excellent video, thank you for this valuable info and may God bless you.

I’m so glad I found this video these are going in my custom tele build great playing and thanks for sharing

These are great! I will be Putting these in a G&L ASAT Classic soon!

Thank you sir, excellent no nonsense video, straight to the point. I purchased SD Hot Rails two days ago and they must go back. SWEET playing to demonstrate the sound and the installation advise will make the upgrade much easier. I am guessing the tape keeps the pickups perpendicular to pickguard better. I will be checking your other videos. Cheers

I subscribed !!!! You’re sound is awesome . That’s what I want !!!

Very nice! I’m almost sold

Wonderful playing 👍 Nice Pickups

Great review sir,and some mighty fine picking. I like these pickups. I want to put a set of these in my guitar. I have a 1994 Us made Peavy Reactor AX. It's Peaveys' version of the telecaster. I think these will liven it up.

been looking for some kind of set that would spice up my Squier Affinity Telecaster, think I just found one, thanks for the information, also enjoyed your playing!

Thanks for the great info and great playing too... holy smokes...

Lovely tone and tasteful playing.

Thank's a lot for sharing and for your time. I'm thinking of getting these pickups.

Great sounds and wonderful playing.

Thanks Bobby for the great review! I know that you mentioned it in the video, but I have the problem with the OEM Tele pick us, they are too noisy and I wanna move to EMG T, but I want to be 200% sure that they will be noiseless . Thanks

Damn Bobby, you can really play!!!

Thankyou, nice pick ups and great playing.

thanks for the upload i will definitely be doing this as my off brand single coils are the noisiest things in the entire world

Could you please do a video demonstrating the neck pickup clean with the tone rolled down? And just the tone knob in general?

Very nice chops! And great review

Great video!

Beautiful Bobby, thank you

Beautiful Playing, sir! BTW, I hve active EMGs in 3 guitars, one setup in my Mexican Strat for the Gilmour setup, another in a Mex Strat for blues ( straight up Strat) and a setup in a Mex Tele. The Best part is they sound so clean, sparkly, and NO HUM!! No worries, ever. Though I recently had a battery box installed in each guitar for quick access instead of having to disassemble the pick guard each time, which was a BITCH! Still worth it though because with average playing, the batteries usually lasted 6 mo. to a year.

Great phrasing and picking. You are top notch

I'll stick with my Fishman-Fluence; all the sounds I need from my Charvel T-Style.....nice playing btw :)

Great review. Helps me greatly to decide whether to update my crummy Squier. Love it, but so noisy!

Killer tone!!!

Dang it Bobby, whyd you go and have to make me rethink my pickup choice fir my tele

thinking about a Seymour Duncan SH2N jazz humbucker pickup for my strat in the neck saw a few on you tube and liked the sound, I'm playing through a Boss Katana 100 with a lot of features for adjusting the tone Your use of a humbucker in your strat at the neck sounds great

Thanks for the review. I definitely don't like the sound of these pick ups despite your nice playing. I will stick with my fender 51 nocaster set for sure. I love their vintage tone much better than this modern EMG set.

I've been playing country on a Strat with an EMG 81 for years.

I love my Tele with EMG's.

Hi like your videos I’m doing a Emg set in my diy Nashville strat wanted a tele bridge pickup in my guitar and s s s

Just trim the springs with side cutters to get them closer. Most guitarist should have side cutters/string cutters anyway!

I wish they had chromed plastic on the neck pickup for a more vintage look.

Thanks for demoing these. Looks like im going to end up with noisy pickups when I upgrade. Though these are nice and clear sounding and worth considering for that reason down the road. Cheers

Very intelligent presentation sir, thank you

would be cool if someone made an active guitar that you could power with an XLR and phantom power

sounds good! nice player there too!

I hear a bit of Jimmy Olander. So I check out your SD hot rails review and it’s eerily similar. Can you explain your amplification that helped you get the bright crisp sound please? Btw great playing

Beautiful tone and nice pickin’ too......

Thank you for posting ! Sounds Great !

To be fair, this guy could play a tupperware box with elastic bands stretched over it and still sound better than most guitarists

Those sound so good but I’m sure it’s a lot of your talented hand

THANKS, BOBBY!

Very nice review and excellent playing! Way to go Bobby! Are those jazz chords?

Nice review, thanks! I recently bought a great Fender Stratocaster. Now, what to do about my trusted 1995 Yamaha Pacifica 102s (tele style in terms of pickups and bodyshape, but with some strat elements such as the pickup selector, headstock and contour on backside of body). It plays great but has mwoah sounding pickups, all the more obvious compared to the strat (muffled and noisy). Got it 2nd hand for nearly nothing in 1998, so maybe it’s time for an upgrade to give it another 20+ years as it plays so much better than you’d expect from a cheap guitar. Was thinking seymour duncans, but seriously considering these EMGs as they sound great and I like the noiselessness. If I get half the sound as with a the tele in this review I’d be very happy. :)

I installed the Seymour Duncan Lil59 and Vintage Stack set. They sound too dark to me. Maybe it’s just the 250k pots. These sound twangy. Just what I’m looking for.

Well done Sir great info an great playin !!!!