EMGs or Evolutions?

axisus

I want to kit a guitar with Humbuckers that give massive singing sustain. I'm thinking either EMGs or Evolutions. Any thoughts on either of them, or indeed other candidates?

John_P

I've had evo's and foudn they sound great in the right guitar but could be cutting,  I'd go for emg's if sustain is needed.   I like the 57/66 set - a little closer to a regular hb than the typical emg sound. 

mike_l

I chopped EMG's out of my ESP, couldn't get a great sound from them.

I'd go with a high(ish) output alnico5 magnet for the bridge pickup, and the same with either alnico5 or ceramic magnets for the neck.

I have ceramics in the neck of a couple of guitars, they sound awesomes.

Clarky

Evo's are great for riffing but can get shrill when you solo.. this seems to be a pretty common thing for pups with ceramic magnets..

I'd go for a Breed.. it's not quite as hot or bright as the Evo so it's better for soloing, but will still riff like a beast...

personally thought... go for a Bulldog Extremist.. it's similarly voiced to the Breed, but a little hotter, brighter and a lot tighter.. my V6's have the Extremist fitted with AlNiCo5 magnets.. which for me covers all bases.. Bulldog can fit the Extremist with a ceramic magnet, but as with the Evo, I personally found the soloing to be a little shrill.. but if you're a riff only man... an ceramic fitted Extremist will kick the Evo's ass... cos it's so much tighter..

Dave_Mc

^ Yeah I was gonna say the evos are maybe a bit scooped, and I'd have said something middier might be more useful for sustain, plus as you said ceramic often (not always) can result in a bit of a shrill type of sound.

Bucket

Super 3 + Super 2.

Or D-Activators?

Hertz32

EMG 57/66 set as already mentioned.
I really rather like the 60 in the neck of my Mockingbird though, excellent for shreddy stuff  

Maynehead

My vote goes to Seymour Duncan Blackouts (AHB-1). I have owned EMG 81, 85, 60s and Het Sets, and the Blackouts sound bigger and better than all of them.

Hertz32

I've not tried the full blackouts, but I played an 8 string set of DUncan Designed actives. 
Now they WERE killer for the price. Really liked them compared to the EMG 808's. 

MikeB

Had a Jem 70v with Evos in. Neck was great but found the bridge needed careful eq to avoid it becoming too harsh. Cut well in a mix though.

I nearly swapped the bridge for a gravity storm but sold the guitar before I got around to it.

Fuzzdog

MikeB said:

Had a Jem 70v with Evos in. Neck was great but found the bridge needed careful eq to avoid it becoming too harsh. Cut well in a mix though.

I nearly swapped the bridge for a gravity storm but sold the guitar before I got around to it.

Yeah, my feelings exactly about the Jem I had - Neck Evo was awesome, absolutely loved it, but the bridge could be rather on the harsh side.  Certainly cut through the mix, though.

hubobulous

I'm a fan of the Evos. They do their thing very well IMO