What, exactly, don't you like about EMG preamp?

[Means2nEnd]

The only thing I don’t like about them is the tone potentiometers are direct mounted onto the pc boards and I can’t rewire them for left handed operation. Despite that I love them and there have been many great descriptions of them already. I always use the BQC because I love the mid control and the variable eq point.

The treble is musical and the bump not set too high like Bartolini and the Aguilar OBP3 which to me are hiss machines. The EMG is true and not colored just pure eq adjustment and ran at 18 volts super quiet and no break up or mud. Excellent customer service like was mentioned already. Just fantastically made not over boosted clean eq what’s not to like.

If you like color then an Aguilar would be more the call to order IMO. Big beef low end but 18-+ on a half turn of a knob is way too much for me on the OBP3 I like the OBP1 the most for control.

I have used so many and do work on a lot of basses and some basses like certain preamps and pickups where other sound their best with different set ups it really depends on the bass.

If you like the EMG preamps the next closest type preamps IMO are Seymour Duncan and Nordstrand. I find the John East, Bart, Audere, Aguilar are for sure excellent preamps but finicky and noisy at times but in the right instruments paired with the right pickups completely awesome as well but they may add something that was missing or over season the soup so to speak.

The buckeye burl bass in my avatar I built with EMG BQC and EMG P and MMTWX absolute tone machine and although some would perceive as "modern" I get huge round warm beef lows and clean sweet mids and treble. It's actually my most "vintage" sounding set up and bass then the same exact preamp with DC40's in my Spector will peel your face off and well I like that too

 

[Hopkins]

I just find no warmth or musicality to EMG circuits on a bass,, my opinion and if you don't like it IDGAF honestly

I am not a fan of their pickups with a few exceptions, but the preamps are very nice. They do not color the sound of the pickups that are feeding them the signal, so If your pickups sound good they preamp will sound just as good.

 

[Hopkins]

If you like color then an Aguilar would be more the call to order IMO. Big beef low end but 18-+ on a half turn of a knob is way too much for me on the OBP3 I like the OBP1 the most for control.

I like the way you think, the OPB-1 with a passive tone control is the best pre that Aggie makes

 

[Scott C.]

If anyone has a set of those nasty EMG pickups or preamps that they're looking for an excuse to get rid of........

 

[wmhill]

I have used EMG stuff for some time, and always had great luck with it. I do like the Barts better, but I wouldn't take out EMGs to replace em with barts (if I had a bass set up that way).

 

[woodyng2]

I'm Just not a fan of (the sound of) most active systems in general,but especially the lower priced ones. (Like emg....)
I suppose EMG's are so widely used they're considered the standard-bearer for active systems,sort of like "Fender bass" was synonymous with any bass guitar in the early years.
I can appreciate that a lot of great bassists use them,i just prefer passive pickups,and no onboard circuitry to get the sounds i'm after.

 

[REV]

I tend to think of preamps as the spice in food. Used sparingly they can enhance the flavor. I have my own idea about how preamps sound and I look to them to enhance the quality of whatever bass I'm installing them in. I recently had a Yamaha Attitude bass that needed a little extra something. Unamplified the bass sounded great but I wasn't hearing it when the bass was plugged in. I first replaced the stock P pickup with an EMG. The bass was better but I still wanted more. The control cavity in this bass was quite small and the EMG BTC preamp seemed like a perfect fit. The preamp made a great deal of difference. Most of my basses are passive but sometimes an active system will get you that little extra something.

 

[GeneralElectric]

Currently have EMG Geezer Butlers in a bass. They sound pretty good. In the past I've had some jazz basses equipped with their pickups and preamps and have liked all of them. I also like Bartolinis even if they're a little dark sounding.

I do see a lot of hate on EMGs by guitarists, probably because they're used on cheap import guitars which negatively effects perception of the brand. I'm not really in the low end market for active basses, but I assume its the same thing. Pretty sure Spector's cheapo line uses EMGs and I'm sure that there are others. Can't really comment on quality or sound but I'm guessing its the same thing.

 

[Xandrell]

My Kramer with a MMCS active pup and BTS pre is my favorite sounding bass.

 

[PeaveyPlayer]

if it's to sterile put some flats on and EQ it


I use EMG in most of my basses and I find it anything but sterile

 

[bigtone23]

I have been using EMG in guitars since 87 and basses since 91. I really like the pickups and the preamps.
The SPC is required equipment on my main guitars.
I have a BTS with an 80s P pickup on my Ibanez RB630. It sounds great. Like how you can micro switch the treble response. My only wish is a way to gain the output down a touch. It has significantly more output relative to my other basses, active and passive.

 

[Nephilymbass]

Sorry if the title suggests a flame type thread - that isn't what I want here. I just don't have experience with other preamps - and I have two basses that already had EMG preamps at the time I bought the basses. I like them both just fine - but I notice whenever searching TB forum about preamps, I see a lot of hate for the EMG preamps and a lot of love for nearly everything else.

My gut sense is that the EMG preamp is just neutral (doesn't add color) and just gives bass/treble boost/cut with some minimal ability to adjust the behavior via dip switches. In fact, I cannot hear a difference (compared to passive) when I switch the preamp in with tone controls centered - so that's why I say it seems neutral to me.

And when I read discussions of other preamps, the Audere is described as not colored (so what is so much better about it than the EMG? It gets a lot of love and the EMG gets a lot of hate). Sadowsky preamp is described as having a unique color that you either love or hate - that it does just exactly what is needed to sit perfectly in the mix. And so on

One of my basses is a P-J with EMG active pickups and the BTC with volume, stacked bass/treble and blend ... no ability to bypass since the pickups are active. I'm running it 24volts just because I can. I'm using two A23 batteries so the battery pack is smaller than a single 9v and the specs say it can handle 24v fine. Can I hear a difference? No but I run it that way anyway.

The second bass is a P-P with passive pickups and the BTC with separate Bass/Treble knobs. It has 3 position switch instead of blend and active/passive true bypass (so you can still play even with a dead battery) and a passive tone control that works in both active and passive mode. I'm just running this one 9v at the moment.

Anyway --- I'm happy with both of them (and of course, if it ain't broke ...) but I am still very curious what it is that people don't like about EMG and what I might get by trying an Aguilar or Audere or some other preamp.

thanks in advance!

My ESP ltd f-415fm has EMG 40dc pickups and what I believe to be more of an EMG licensed pre because emg doesn't actually sell it as an aftermarket part. I personally think the pickups are awesome. The pre amp can be a little noisy when boosting but I always keep the EQ on my basses flat anyways and when it's flat it's dead silent so whatever. I think anyone who dramatically boosts or cuts onboard EQ on any bass probably doesn't have a tone that I would be into anyways.

 

[AndyPanda]

OP, are you talking about the preamp circuit built into active EMG pickups (of which there are now two varieties, the original and the X series), or are you asking about their onboard tone circuits (BTC, BQS, etc.)?

I was only asking about the onboard tone circuits (BTC, BQS etc). My question was essentially that I have two basses with BTC (one with the EMG blend too) and I'm happy with them. I'm going to be building up another bass and wondering if there is something special I'd be getting if I went with Audere or Aguilar (or ??).

And the few posts here in this thread that have said "sterile" "unmusical" "meh - I'm not a fan of EMG" are the types of comments I've read A LOT of when searching through the archives here to learn about onboard EQ/preamps. So I was just trying to get a feel for whether or not there actually would be something worthwhile in me shopping for some other onboard preamp to use with passive (non EMG) pickups in my next bass.

 

[Worldeeeter]

I love EMG electronics. The only complaint I've heard from people is that they are extremely hi-fi. You are going to have a difficult time pulling a classic P-bass sound out of an EMG preamp, especially the active ones.
However, I would wager that the correct response to "What is the best bass for metal?" is "One that is equipped with EMG active pickups and a BQC".

 

[I am Soma]

I just find no warmth or musicality to EMG circuits on a bass,, my opinion and if you don't like it IDGAF honestly

you sound fun.

 

[tekhedd]

I have an OLP with a Nordstrand pickup and a BTC, and I really like the BTC.

The bass cuts and boosts without making a honky resonance at the crossover frequency. The default treble crossover frequency is IMO a bit high, but not so high that I've bothered to open it up and change it.

 

[AndyPanda]

I love EMG electronics. The only complaint I've heard from people is that they are extremely hi-fi. You are going to have a difficult time pulling a classic P-bass sound out of an EMG preamp, especially the active ones.

This is the exact sentiment that I want to understand please. I mean this is exactly why I created this thread. Can you please help me understand why I wouldn't be able to get a classic P-Bass sound if I started with a P-bass with a classic pickup that gets that "classic sound" passively and then I add an EMG tone circuit?

Is it because going through the onboard pre would then prevent the passive pickup from interacting with the pre in my bass amp? (and if so - wouldn't any brand of onboard pre also prevent me from getting the classic sound?)

What I'm trying to understand here - EMG preamp (BTS/BQS etc) are described as "transparent", "neutral", "sterile", "hifi", "uncolored" etc. So I would expect the classic sound of the p-bass to get through the onboard pre to my bass amp --- but being active and low impedance now (I am low impedance aren't I once I go through the onboard pre?), my pickup shouldn't be as affected by my guitar cable run to the amp. So is that what people mean when they say I can't get a classic tone? That I've lost the interaction between the pickup and cable and amp?

 

[Honch]

Nothing, I find the EMG stuff sterile, non-musical and just to in your face volume wise.

"non musical"? I've never ever tried or heard of any instrument, preamp, or active pickup, or passive pickups sounding musical. No instrument or gear is musical or non-musical. Just the person (human being) who plays it. Period. Find it very annoying all this polarizing, either something is non-musical or musical. How about something in between? Should that rub you the wrong way?

 

[Antisyzygy]

EMG does nothing for me ... not a fan of their pickups or preamps ...

The Geezers made me a convert. Best sounding and performing pickup I've ever tried. Very low noise, shielded well without needing the cavity shielded, easy to install, etc.

The only way I can describe the Geezer P is that it's punchier with a little less highs than a vintage P pickup. It's like a properly EQ'd P pickup for rock without needing to EQ it first.

 

[rojo412]

In my experience, EMG preamps are really nice... with EMG pickups. It seems like they are designed to work very well together. A couple of Modulus basses I once owned drove that point home very well. The BQC is insanely capable with that mid control. Some day, I'll likely get that setup again. The price can't be beat for what you get.

On the other side of the coin, my first bass was a P bass with Lace Sensors. I added a BTC to it to get more control. It boosted the levels mildly, but never really did a ton for the bass.
I had the same BTC in another bass with EMGs and there was a lot more function to it.

EMGs are clean and clear, there's no doubt about it. And they won't please everyone. NOTHING WILL! But as far as their pickups and preamps together, I think it's a match made in heaven.