Members mbengs1 Posted June 12, 2015 Members Share Posted June 12, 2015 i consider to transfer my emg 81/85 pickups to my ibanez artcore guitar which is semi hollow. will it sound good? or should i keep the stock pickups which sound a little better than mediocre. lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted June 12, 2015 Members Share Posted June 12, 2015 I tried The EMG selects which are the passive versions on my Epiphone Dot for awhile. They produce the same kind or tone as the 81/85. I found them to be a poor choice and pulled them back out. EMG's are great solid body pickups that have a specific flavor but they didn't provide the right tone or dynamic response in a hollow design. The stock pickups in an Artcore are excellent. My advice is don't mess with something that's already optimal. Changing pickups when you don't have a good amp chain is only going to lead you down a rabbit trail making your issues worse. Focus on your real problem which is your signal chain, pedals, amp and speakers. You already posted in the amp section your amp sounded like crap. Don't compound that problem by making your guitar sound like crap too or you'll never get good tone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members speakerjones Posted June 12, 2015 Members Share Posted June 12, 2015 A good friend and bandmate of mine played a Dot loaded with 81/85's for years. He got some great tones with it. Maybe not what you're looking for, but he definitely made it work for him. Let me see if I can dig up a clip. I'll PM you. I had an Artcore for a while. Had I kept it, I definitely would have swapped the pickups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members thatsbunk Posted June 12, 2015 Members Share Posted June 12, 2015 i'm guessing you'd have to cut the guitar up somewhere to install the battery so I wouldn't do it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members billybilly Posted June 12, 2015 Members Share Posted June 12, 2015 Sterile, regardless of 18v mod and the like. Don't like active pickups but that's me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members WRGKMC Posted June 12, 2015 Members Share Posted June 12, 2015 If you did do it, I suggest you run phantom power through the cord and not cut the guitar up to add a battery. That instrument will loose all its value once you start hacking on it. If I did change pups on a guitar like that I'd go with something like TV Jones. They aren't cheap but they make guitars like that sound killer and give them all the output you'd ever need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members badpenguin Posted June 12, 2015 Members Share Posted June 12, 2015 No, if you are creative, no need to cut the guitar up to add the battery. Glue a piece of Velcro to the inside of the guitar. and make a pocket of the opposite Velcro and place the battery in it. There, simple. NOW as to should you use the 81/85... That's up to you, but I say no. I don't like the EMG's in general, and would rather have a decent set of passives in it. Depending on your style of playing, I suggest DiMarrizos. Go classic with the PAF, and maybe something a little hotter in the bridge. And I have to disagree with WRG on the Ibanez stock pickups. I am an Ibanez fan for decades, worked for Ibanez, have 7 of them, and think their pickups sound better in other brands of guitars. I personally think the ARTCORE pickups are garbage, and think just about anything would sound better in the guitar.Spend some money, and replace them with a quality pickup. (my two artcores, one has a set of Duncan P-Rails, the other, a DiMarrzio Dual Sound from the 80's and a Unknown Duncan in the bridge) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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