Why are EMG Pickups so HIGHLY UNDERRATED? Sound Clip Inside

[FRoss6788]

For me, my 1st aftermarket pickups were EMG Select. They were a disappointment, very lifeless at the expense of being quiet. I've never looked at EMGs after that.
This was maybe 1990 or 1989

I wouldn't consider those "real" EMG's...

 

[Wood and Wire]

This tragedy could happen to anyone playing EMG, you've been warned.

Your car could run out of petrol, on the way to the gig...

 

[Derek Kay]

I used a set of J EMGs on a prototype 5 string in 1983. Worked OK, but the bass was a dog.

I then used a reverse P EMG on a parts bass for TV sound tracks and it was plastic perfect for that. I didn't know of Lee Sklar's frankenfender, but I'm sure his reverse P config was to his advantage as well.

I didn't like the hard sound live, and gravitated to passive basses. My sound has become more complementary, filling the holes between other instruments.

However, the reverse P EMG bass became my fretless, and that has been wonderful. IMO active PUs suit fretless better than fretted. Never any issues with my EMGs.

 

[faulknersj]

I found this thread and just wanted to comment on the great performance and tone. Sounded great to me. I like EMGs. I believe the turn off for some is more related to the clarity and if you're not used to that or perhaps a heavier handed player, it may be jarring at first. Another stigma is that the EMGs are more for the "slappity, bappity" type playing which I think EMGs lend themselves well to but you're clip is a fine example of a really nice and clear fingerstyle tone and is present in the mix. I dig that.

Thank you for the kind words and I hope others who have basses outfitted with EMG's can relate to the type of tones I'm getting in that little clip…

 

[faulknersj]

I love EMG pickups! When you're used to them it's so weird playing basses without that detail in the highs or with unwanted electromagnetic noise. They're actually really good at deep mellow sounds, not just sounding like Victor Wooten.

100%. The 'deep mellow sounds' department with gobs of articulation is what I love pulling from my EMG J Bass pups on my 5 string…

 

[faulknersj]

I'd wager that there's a bunch of music recorded with EMG's that folks think is a purely passive bass.

I can get a pretty fat sounding warm tone from my EMG equipped basses, it's called knob turning.

Bingo! It's nice to find others who are getting that big articulate fat bottom out of these pickups too…

I can't quite get 'that thing' out of anything else….

 

[dkelley]

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

noisy? active emgs? something was wrong. They are literally the most silent signal chain in existence.

 

[dkelley]

I think their guitar pickups get the worst reviews recently. Some people love them but the emg 81 has just become such an overused and now considered an outdated sound for most modern music.

I have no beef their bass offerings. I had an EMG preamp in one of my modulus basses and it had a mid-sweep control. It was super sweet!

81? yes, horrible. all nasal mids, with a specific era that it sounded good in.

but their guitar pickups in general? amazing popularity. their strat pickups, and literally every other humbucker BUT the 81, are all incredible.

I mean, seriously - for tone = David Gilmour and the strat with the emg singles in it was THE height of tone for many guitarists.

 

[dkelley]

I think I remember you recommending them to you…

I think I remember you being reminded by him to remember.... oh hell. I tried. ;-)

 

[bradd]

EMGs sound the same no matter what you put them in, IMHO. If you like that sound, fine. You could put a set in a cardboard body and it wouldn't sound any different than a wood body.

 

[backin82]

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.

Not "just a TB thing"...

I don't like active for a variety of reasons; all personal preferences, which are not related to TB in any way. I couldn't care less about Leo worshiping or any other brand loyalty nonsense.

I see way more people railing on the purists than I see actual purists (in this thread and on TB in general). Why should any of us really care what other people prefer to do with this hobby/profession/interest that we all share, purist or otherwise?

Play what you like and let others do the same.

 

[brianrost]

Leo didn't use EMG's so the worshippers don't like 'em

G&L L5500. Their first 5 string, with EMG soapbars.

 

[brianrost]

For me, my 1st aftermarket pickups were EMG Select. They were a disappointment, very lifeless at the expense of being quiet.

Selects were not even made by EMG, it was a design used by numerous Asian manufacturers in cheap basses. I'm not sure who actually made them, but it wasn't here in the USA. Same story as "Duncan Designed" pickups.

 

[faulknersj]

I think I remember you being reminded by him to remember.... oh hell. I tried. ;-)

 

[faulknersj]

G&L L5500. Their first 5 string, with EMG soapbars.

View attachment 5405348

View attachment 5405350

I wanna play that beauty!

 

[KJMO]

1. EMG is not boutique or "I liked blank before anyone even knew about blank". People go from one brand to the next, each kind of becoming "ordained". You can drop a name, and people universally approve until the next thing gets ordained. There are lots of things that have nothing to do with utility. In this case, I guess it's just fashion. It's like wearing skinny jeans now that they're not cool any more. You look like you missed the memo. Nordstrands are almost skinny jeans now, and I think the new kid on the block is whatever those german sounding pickups are: Kloppman? I don't even know, that's how clueless I am.

2. Most people don't know they make such a wide variety of different pickups.

3. The active pickups are very clear. When I listen to the Precision comparison videos, the active EMGs sound like a Precision, only more clear. Maybe the "exposure" is off-putting? Or the clarity is interpreted differently.

 

[Brother Goose]

Someone mentioned EMG on fretless basses - I can concur that they sound AMAZING in terms of reproducing Jaco burp and elegant mwah sounds.

I once put a reverse P J into an ibanez GSR *starter bass* and it sounded like a Spector on a budget "slap yo mama" bass.

One of the knocks on EMG is that they tend to sound similar on both higher end and budget basses - perhaps that is the clarity of the circuit single handedly destroying the tonewood hypothesis?! (stirs the pot)

The only bad experience I had with EMG was with an 18v system in a Modulus Quantum 5 - it exposed every mistake in my playing with incredible fidelity and definition. Chalk that up to operator error.

Thanks to this thread - I am now, officially, gassing for an EMG axe.

Thanks Talkbass!!!

 

[B-Mac]

G&L L5500. Their first 5 string, with EMG soapbars.

View attachment 5405348

View attachment 5405350

Leo saw the light when he was part of G & L

then he died.

 

[r_bnks]

This tragedy could happen to anyone playing EMG, you've been warned.

Not if you change those batteries every 6 months.
If a battery dies on stage it's 100% of the players fault, not the active system's.

Tons of professional and mainstream players using them on world tours playing ever second night or so and I never heard of dying batteries... It's just nonsense.

 

[r_bnks]

For me, my 1st aftermarket pickups were EMG Select. They were a disappointment, very lifeless at the expense of being quiet. I've never looked at EMGs after that.
This was maybe 1990 or 1989

Selects were passive and were crap. Night and days from the original active set.