Guitar Blog
Feedback and questions are always welcome, you can always email us via the Contact Us page.
:: EMG goes Vintage ::
So for my first article, I wanted to tell you about a recent epiphany
(Epiphone? – sorry music retailer joke) I have had regarding EMG
pickups…
I’ve always thought the EMG Humbuckers such as the 81 and 85 are great for particular styles of music (mostly heavier styles which require TIGHT guitar sounds at high gain), but I’d always personally given their single-coil pickups a wide berth – mostly because I’m a Stratocaster nut and have never been one to let a bit of 50-Hz hum* get in the way of great tone (dammit a good Strat should hum). OK OK, I’m an unreasonable purist and I don’t trust those shifty flat pickup covers..
So anyway – in my office I have an amp in the corner and always have a couple of guitars kicking around for trying out various equipment as it passes through the warehouse (they actually pay me to do this – I have a GREAT job.) It’s a revolving cast of guitars, but my constant go-to guitar in the office is a Squier Classic Vibe 50’s Strat. (http://www.squierguitars.com/products/search.php?partno=0303000503) I happen to think that these guitars are one of the best value guitars in the market today – outstanding fit and finish and they play GREAT. The only problem is that my office has a particularly high level of magnetic interference and anything I ever try out is permeated by a loud BUZZ due to the single-coil pickups in this guitar.
Not fun.
Obviously the solution is noiseless pickups, although this is not a prospect I am thrilled about. I am WELL familiar with almost all noiseless Strat pickups on the market, and although many of them sound very good indeed, I’ve never played any that delivered the same single-coil feel when your pick hits the strings. Then I had a moment of inspiration to try out a set of EMG SAV pickups.
Now I have been well familiar with the EMG S pickups for years – they are the standard “bright” EMG Strat pickup. They have a bright, cutting tone which is very distinctive and is what comes to most people’s minds when they think of EMG Strat pickups. You know the sound – it cuts through the mix like a knife and sounds sort of overly Strat-y – much like Lace Sensors. I’d been a much bigger fan of the EMG SA pickup which is the “warm” Strat pickup – made famous by David Gilmour. As mentioned earlier however, I shuddered at the thought of flat pickup covers on my guitars….
So EMG have now made the SV and SAV pickups for those people like me who still think that 6 magnets sticking out of a Strat pickup looks hot. They are loaded with Alnico V magnets (my favourite for Strats) and voiced to sound like early vintage Strat pickups. Throwing these things into my Classic Vibe Strat was a cinch thanks to EMG’s fantastic “Quik-Connect” wiring. No soldering required!!!! So I got them installed quick smart and fired up the Marshall Jubilee combo in the corner….
WOW these things sound good.
I mean really good. All the Strat-ty ness is there, without being overly cutting. These pickups sound both warm yet articulate and I even get a great “growl” from the bridge position. Dare I say it, these pickups are damn good competition for my very expensive hand-wound pickups in my gigging Strat.
And they’re quiet…..
And my Strat still looks “Vintage”….
Colour me surprised, these things sound great and (I would have to say) they have elevated them selves to my favourite-sounding Noiseless Strat pickups on the market. My office guitar has had a ton of vintage-voiced life breathed into it and it may even end up turning up to a gig one of these days. So if (like me) it’s been a while since you gave EMG pickups a think…..perhaps it’s time to think about them again.
Catch you next time….
Gear:
EMG SAV pickup set (includes new pots, 5-way switch, output jack and all
cabling) - $529
Squier Classic Vibe 50’s Strat - $899
Marshall 2558 25th Jubilee 2x12 Combo – It’s mine and you
can’t have it.
Footnote:
* You’ll mostly hear people refer to “60-cycle hum”
on the internet – that’s because the USA power grid supplies
power at an Alternating Frequency of 60-Hz – ours runs at 50-Hz
– hence the hum we hear from our Strats and Teles is at 50Hz and
sounds slightly different to the hum that the Americans hear.