Why are EMG Pickups so HIGHLY UNDERRATED? Sound Clip Inside

[Mickey666]

I've got Geezers on my #2 (passive), and it is thunderous...
Yes it sounds different than the 74 fender pups in my #1... just different not worse

 

[Keith Guitars]

I recently put an EMG Les Claypool P-pickup in a Mexi P-bass and I was absolutely blown away by it.
Prior to that, I made a bass for a local client a few years ago, and he wanted EMGs just because they were the only white 5-string J pickups on the market
(the bass was completely white). It seemed like a silly reason to choose a pickup, but in the end they also sounded killer.

As others have noted, there are real "fashions" in aftermarket pickups, and EMG are not the current trend. But every time I use them, I remember how good they are.

 

[MCF]

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?

Yes.

 

[Thegreatzambini]

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?

I can easily speak to this… Whats popular right now is literally the most common denominator of instrument, passive P bass everybody’s so anti-modern about everything it’s all about retro it’s pretty lame IMO Im more for the modern stuff, EMGs, Barts, Delano, etc.

 

[micguy]

EMG's do what they are supposed to do, and they do it very well. The reason I don't use them in my builds is that I like to be able to tweak the sound of pickups with electrical loading - the preamp inside an EMG active pickup means it won't do what I want it to - it's buffered to prevent electrical loading.

I'm not giving EMG pickups a poor rating - they're very good tools, they're just the wrong tools for the job I want to do.

 

[micahwc]

2 of my 3 basses have EMGs. One with the EMG matching preamp and the other with a tone pump jr. I get lots of compliments their sound through my helix. I like them.

 

[Tim Skaggs]

What is their rating & on what scale?

 

[LowendG]

I’m not a big fan of EMG because I play songs from the 70's and 80's and they don’t seem to fit IMO.
I tried an active set on a Schecter bass and they were pretty noisy.
Give me some Lindy Fralins, Nordstrand and pure vintage Fender and I’m more than happy !

Signed :

Grumpy old fart

I liked this post because I'm cut from the same cloth as you (Lindys or Pure Vintage 74 J's all the way, baby!), but......think about it, Lee Sklar's famous Franken-P has those old EMGs in it and, well, just sayin'!

 

[BGroovy]

I was never into EMG pickups, an old bias from trying them in a guitar, until I got a Spector. Definitely not underrated in the Spector bass corners of TB.

 

[mellowgerman]

I love this 40+ year old set of EMG pickups. They have some excellent growl and clarity, that really brought this homebrew t-bird to life. I tried them on a bit of a whim when a friend gifted them to me but now sure am glad I did!

 

[Geogio]

Are you seeing a lot of basses being modded with EMG's?

I use EMG if I'm modding or rescuing a bass, the offshore guts especially. Mostly passives, but I have outfitted my 6 with actives and the BQS. I love the connecters. Easy upgrade.

 

[Chrisk-K]

This is the first time in my life I hear someone saying EMGs are highly underrated…

 

[moon-bass]

I had a nice 74 Jazz Bass that was loaded with EMGs, and it sounded great. It was lovely, dead silent, and very dynamic. Killer crisp highs and really punchy lows. That bass was a funk machine.

Both of my Foderas and one of my Sterlings have EMGs as well. All are great sounding basses. Coincidentally, all are also great funk machines.

 

[faulknersj]

EMG's do what they are supposed to do, and they do it very well. The reason I don't use them in my builds is that I like to be able to tweak the sound of pickups with electrical loading - the preamp inside an EMG active pickup means it won't do what I want it to - it's buffered to prevent electrical loading.

I'm not giving EMG pickups a poor rating - they're very good tools, they're just the wrong tools for the job I want to do.

Have you tried passive EMG pickups? Thats’s what I’ve always used…

 

[Freekmagnet]

I think they came into their own with the GK 800rb. That was a killer combination.

Yup. I remember in the mid-eighties every other guy had a bass loaded with EMG's running through a GK800 RB and a Hartke 410. I had that rig for a while.

 

[Hiroi Kikuri]

that tone is sick!

 

[Element Zero]

A lot of old fogies here are stuck in their ways and are afraid of 9V batteries dying on them mid gig.

 

[Gianni "Orlandez" Orlati]

With regard to the OP, I don’t think EMGs are underrated but nowadays, as many have said, there are multiple options available for dressing up a FSO or other kinds of basses.
I personally am one of the three persons who left a review of the PAX pickup on the EMG official website in 2019.
I just had a old P-bass clone (Hondo II) to re-dress and I put the above pickup on it.
The result was .. WOW .. not exactly vintage sounding but WOW !
I have to find out where I put it

 

[r_bnks]

I very rarely see them recommended on this forum when folks are asking about pickup options.

Because there are a lot of people on this forum who don't know what they're talking about.

 

[LiptonJigglers]

What issues did you have? I've owned tons of EMG pickups over the years and they've had stellar reliability and performance.

Cutting it short: original set and two sets of the same system, replaced under warranty, each new system developed a constant clacking sound on every note after just a couple of hours use.
The bass became unusable whilst EMG gear resided within. It was not something I'd call reliable and the lousy tone quality is not what I'd call stellar.

Thanks to EMG, all my bases are passive with DiMarzio P or PJ.