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Yay or Nay: EMG 81 in Fender Strat?


SoundCity120

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Yay or Nay: EMG 81 in Fender Strat?

 

I wonder how this would sound. The body is alder and neck is maple. Right now the guitar has 3 single coil pickups. I want to reroute it for a humbucker but I don't know which one. I want something different.

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I dont like 81's unless they're in dark or warm guitars. If that strat is in the middle range towards bright, stay away. dont believe the idiots who think EMG's always sound the same, they sound different (though distinctive) in every guitar I've put them in.

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I can't stand EMG's for anything other than metal/industrial.

 

You simply cannot get the dynamics of a passive pickup with an EMG humbucker. It's not just the huge output, but when you dial back volume on EMG's, they become anemic and thin, not just cleaner.

 

I think they're some of the better pickups out there for that really ON/OFF kind of sound as they're very very quiet pickups (stuff like Mindless Self Indulgence, etc)

 

Anyway /rant.

 

In reference to your question, the 81 is a pretty bright pickup. In an alder/maple guitar, I found that I liked the 85 quite a bit more (I tend to prefer AlNiCo pickups anyway). Warmer, clearer, not as harsh.

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Get an 85 if it's a bright guitar. Definitely. I put an 85 in my alder jackson and it really balanced out.

 

 

That's exactly what I was going to say.

I'd imagine that an 81 would sound pretty thin...I've got an 81 in an all mahogany guitar, and even in THAT, it could stand to be fatter.

 

I really like the 707s in my Loomis, and that's a maple neck with ash, so it's pretty bright. The 707s are more like 85s...it's a good balance.

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I dont like 81's unless they're in dark or warm guitars. If that strat is in the middle range towards bright, stay away. dont believe the idiots who think EMG's always sound the same, they sound different (though distinctive) in every guitar I've put them in.

 

yep, varying levels of crapiness :thu:

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I don't know about that. My 2 EMGed guitars are Alder and they while they are bright, they aren't ear piercing.

 

Really? I would think otherwise, maybe not. But then again, my idea of bright, and your idea of bright are probably very different. I hate Bright tones, so Mine are usually dark and thick, :idk:

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I'm not a big EMG fan but a buddy of mine has EMG's in his strat and it's not bad. Granted the bridge is an 85 not an 81 so the highs are tamed. For tight metal stuff it works well. Stay away from the 81 though. It'll be too shrill I think.

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Really? I would think otherwise, maybe not. But then again, my idea of bright, and your idea of bright are probably very different. I hate Bright tones, so Mine are usually dark and thick,
:idk:

 

 

This is very true. I mostly play my Recto through a Mesa oversized 4x12 so maybe that tames some of the harshness you are taking about as well.

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Do you have another strat with passives?

 

If not, I'd wait until you have another guitar that you can keep passives in.

EMGs really aren't for everyone, and you might be kicking yourself if you spend a bunch of time and money putting them in your guitar and don't like the results. If you've got multiple guitars, though, it's always good to have the option of using actives. They're DAMN good at being tight and focused.

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I have an early 90's Mexi Strat that I put an 81 in. I only use it for br3wtalz and it delivers the goods. I wouldn't suggest it for anything but metal though, I'd get a passive paf style for anything else. EMG's do take over your tone a bit but it works for metal.

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