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Why are EMG Pickups so HIGHLY UNDERRATED? Sound Clip Inside

faulknersj

faulknersj

Supporting Member
Apr 4, 2008
5,437
5,897
Scottsdale Az
#1
My first bass I ever owned was a Fender parts bass that Had EMG's and that simple EMG preamp back in 1991 and I always loved the sound of those pickups.

Fast forward to 2002. I briefly had an artist deal with Fender and coaxed them into gifting me a couple of 2001 Fender FMT Jazz Basses. I had EMG pups and preamp installed on them and while the stock setup sounded great, the EMG's really took the sound to the next level.

Fast forward again to 2024 and I took my 2002 Fender FMT Jazz to a gig for the first time in long time last Friday lol. I was loving the sound I got out of the bass during the gig and when we got a little video of one of our songs from the show...I was again pretty stoked on the tone from my ex main bass and long time partner in musical crime!

Anyone else think EMG's are super underrated?

Here is the vid..it's fine through your phone but through as speaker is a way better representation of course!

 
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#3
Lo-E said:
In what universe are EMG pickups underrated?!? They’ve been a top selling brand for almost 50 years!
Click to expand...

I very rarely see them recommended on this forum when folks are asking about pickup options. Am I missing it? Do you see them being often highly recommended? Are you seeing a lot of basses being modded with EMG's?
 
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#4
faulknersj said:
I very rarely see them recommended on this forum when folks are asking about pickup options. Am I missing it? Do you see them being often highly recommended? Are you seeing a lot of basses being modded with EMG's?
Click to expand...
I think the height of their popularity was in the 1980s and 1990s when there were fewer aftermarket pickup makers to choose from but, yes, I still consider them to be a very highly regarded brand and I still see them recommended often here on the forum.

Personally, I didn’t like them in the ’80s when they were really popular but I later changed my mind about them and use them in some of my instruments now. For certain things I really like them a lot. I suspect my dislike for them back then really came down to amplification in the ‘80s just not being able to reproduce the sound of EMGs very well. Once amps caught up it was really a game-changer.
 
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#5
I could very easily live with real low-impedance active EMG's in every bass I'd own. They sound great and are typically silent.

Plus, I get a perverse thrill in watching grown men cowering as they suffer that rampant epidemic, Grown Men in Mortal Fear of a 9v Battery, and EMG is a flagrant spreader. And guys ripping them and others out to put in passive pickups, sort of like preventive surgery. Sad. Traumatic Battery Syndrome.

Duracell-Plus-9V.jpg


I'm coming for YOU.
 
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#15
years ago I was going through some recordings and I found this bass tone that was freaking incredible. It took me a while to remember what bass it was... it was an american fender pbass I had just bought second hand that day, the previous owner had put an ancient (1979 maybe) emg pickup in it, and I had played it with that pickup one night only before I returned it to stock. When I realized where the tone came from, I put that emg right back in that bass.
 
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#17
Lo-E said:
I think the height of their popularity was in the 1980s and 1990s when there were fewer aftermarket pickup makers to choose from but, yes, I still consider them to be a very highly regarded brand and I still see them recommended often here on the forum.

Personally, I didn’t like them in the ’80s when they were really popular but I later changed my mind about them and use them in some of my instruments now. For certain things I really like them a lot. I suspect my dislike for them back then really came down to amplification in the ‘80s just not being able to reproduce the sound of EMGs very well. Once amps caught up it was really a game-changer.
Click to expand...

I think they came into their own with the GK 800rb. That was a killer combination.
 
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#18
faulknersj said:
My first bass I ever owned was a Fender parts bass that Had EMG's and that simple EMG preamp back in 1991 and I always loved the sound of those pickups.

Fast forward to 2002. I briefly had an artist deal with Fender and coaxed them into gifting me a couple of 2001 Fender FMT Jazz Basses. I had EMG pups and preamp installed on them and while the stock setup sounded great, the EMG's really took the sound to the next level.

Fast forward again to 2024 and I took my 2002 Fender FMT Jazz to a gig for the first time in long time last Friday lol. I was loving the sound I got out of the bass during the gig and when we got a little video of one of our songs from the show...I was again pretty stoked on the tone from my ex main bass and long time partner in musical crime!

Anyone else think EMG's are super underrated?

Here is the vid..it's fine through your phone but through as speaker is a way better representation of course!

Click to expand...

It's just a TB thing.
Lot's O'Peeps here don't like anything active or with an active pre-amp, unless of course if it's a Stingray since Leo was involved.
Leo didn't use EMG's so the worshippers don't like 'em.
I think they're just fine.
 
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