Help me choose an emg loaded guitar !

riffpowers

ive been on tour in America , and ended up playing an esp/ltd m200 ( I think ) loaded with emg's.

im a long time les Paul player , but I actually enjoyed it once I got used to it .

it stayed in tune great , was light for throwing around on stage , had a fast neck , and the emg's sounded great through the orange dual terror I was using , the Palm muted stuff was especially good .

its inspired me to try something different .

can I please have you guys opinions on what a good value emg loaded stage ready guitar I could check out ?!!

Jack_

ESP EC-1000. Done.

Funkfingers

If the budget is tight, LTD EC-401. EMG-60 and -81 pickups out. EMG HET set in. (Quik Connect solderless wiring harness makes this a simple screwdriver job.)

riffpowers

Funkfingers said:

If the budget is tight, LTD EC-401. EMG-60 and -81 pickups out. EMG HET set in. (Quik Connect solderless wiring harness makes this a simple screwdriver job.)

I'm new to emg's , so what's wrong with the emg 60 and 81 ?

guitarfishbay

What tuning do you play in and how heavy is your right hand?

Jack_

Funkfingers said:

If the budget is tight, LTD EC-401. EMG-60 and -81 pickups out. EMG HET set in. (Quik Connect solderless wiring harness makes this a simple screwdriver job.)

And if money ain't so tight, get the Bill Kelliher BK-600 because it looks awesome, and put a HET set in that. (Although Lace Sensor are great, but not active like you want).

mike_l

riffpowers said:

Funkfingers said:

If the budget is tight, LTD EC-401. EMG-60 and -81 pickups out. EMG HET set in. (Quik Connect solderless wiring harness makes this a simple screwdriver job.)

I'm new to emg's , so what's wrong with the emg 60 and 81 ?

Nowt wrong with them at all. If I were putting EMG's in, I'd go with 81/85, the Het set is based around them, and is what Hetfield and Hammett both used for a long time.
The LTD I picked up today has the 81/60 set, and they're fucking awesomes.

mike_l

Have a look at the ESP/LTD, Ibanez and Jackson ranges, there's bound to be a guitar you like the look of.

Funkfingers

riffpowers said:
what's wrong with the emg 60 and 81 ?

Their dynamic range is restricted - even with an +18v modification. I prefer the -X versions.

Alegree

Many metal players like the compression for pinch harmonics and tapping. They're purposely designed that way.

Funkfingers

Each to his/her own.

guitarfishbay

Funkfingers said:

riffpowers said:
what's wrong with the emg 60 and 81 ?

Their dynamic range is restricted - even with an +18v modification. I prefer the -X versions.

This can be preferable depending on style. Also removing tone pot increases dynamic range.

I have to seriously smash the hell out of my low strings to clip my 81 with no tone pot, this is in drop B with a .064 low string. 

The Hets and 57s have less dynamic range than the 81 (all at 9v). They clip noticeably sooner. I think the reason people think they're more dynamic is the increased upper harmonics. Old style EMGs don't really have much going on in the upper harmonic range, they're very flat sounding. The Het set and 57 have more of that passive sizzle in the high end... but they do not have more dynamic range at 9v unless your guitar setup or playing style isn't clipping them. In standard tuning I could see this being the case, but a typical metal player drop tuning I reckon it'll get noticeable at 9v

18v mod increases highs which I don't like. It also lets the lows extend deeper, which defeats the point for me. I've never bought the X series for this reason. I can understand why someone who plays lead or a lot of clean would prefer them, the dynamics are more pleasing, but for straight up metal (especially drop tuned) the 81 is my favourite as far as tone goes.

Alegree

Removing the tone pot is removing a parallel load to ground - which is exactly what the EMG preamp does (reversed though). 
It's basically a set of passives ran on a 250k volume and 250k tone. Plus a high pass filter and an amplifcation IC.

carlos

I think the Iron Label range from Ibanez is tremendous value. http://www.ibanez.com/usa/news/f_products/2014/IronLabel/index.html
There's plenty to choose from: arched top, single cutaway, RG shape, telecaster shape, multi-scale, 6 to 8 strings, long scale. Most have EMGs as standard and at least the RG goes as cheap as £200 used.

nick79

Didn't Epiphone do a Les Paul with emg's? There's also an Explorer with them.
But yeah i would say look at the LTD EC1000 or as Carlos says the Ibanez Iron Label stuff.

I will add though that i much prefer the 81/85 set the 'wrong' way around. 
81 in the neck (its much too shrill other wise) and 85 in the bridge.

guitarfishbay

nick79 said:

Didn't Epiphone do a Les Paul with emg's? There's also an Explorer with them.
But yeah i would say look at the LTD EC1000 or as Carlos says the Ibanez Iron Label stuff.

I will add though that i much prefer the 81/85 set the 'wrong' way around. 
81 in the neck (its much too shrill other wise) and 85 in the bridge.

I think there's the Epi Zakk Wylde and In Flames Les Paul's.

I love an 81 neck for leads. I think the 85 neck is too hot and fat sounding in comparison to an 81 bridge but it can work for some people. The 89 splits the difference nicely (it's like a slightly brighter 85 with less output) and you get a usable single sound too.

85 bridge is super fat with a cool crunch to it and again has tighter lows than a typical passive, the only time I'm less sold on it is quite low drop tuning and heavy handed playing. Again it's way hotter than the 81 so clips sooner at 9v

Hard to give any specific info on clipping points as it depends on setup and playing style, and doing the 18v mod will help the clipping though it does change the tone. A lot of people do like 18v tone and it's cheap and quick to try. I just find the tightness of 9v to be preferable because it chops off more of the sub low woof you get from palm muting low notes. It also keeps the highs fatter (or duller, depend on your tastes) I'll accept it's less dynamic in 9v but for some styles that's preferable as it keeps the guitar confined to a particular frequency range more easily.

fretmeister

I've got an Epi Zakk Wylde and it's great fun.

if you have more of a classic rock approach then the 85 makes a far better bridge pickup than the  81.

Funkfingers

guitarfishbay said:
Old style EMGs don't really have much going on in the upper harmonic range, they're very flat sounding. 

Yeah. That, too.

Other active pickups are available from alternative manufacturers. Seymour Duncan Blackouts have their champions. One or two artistes have signature versions. I like the Live Wire Classic II neck/Rhythm position humbucker. For you Metal mofos, the Blackouts Metal humbucker is absolutely crushing.

Moltisanti

Ltd eclipse for me too, awesome guitars for under £400 used

StormshadowGuitars

Here you go, ESP (Japan) Eclipse I CTM Model in Black, for sale right now in the classifieds:

http://i592.photobucket.com/albums/tt9/StormshadowGuitars/Mobile Uploads/7CF68529-E983-4F50-A050-CF0E0306C455_zpsbtzjnyyz.jpg

http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/101590/fs-esp-japan-eclipse-i-ctm-model-in-gloss-black-with-emgs#latest

timmysoft

Doesn't really matter on the guitar so much, i've always found EMG 81,85's and 60's to make most guitars sound very similar, especially under high gain or pristine cleans. Thats not necessarily a bad thing, but if i wanted the EMG sound and benefits, i'd just go out, get a cheap but playable MIM Strat and drop a set into that.