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What type of EMG would be best for basswood body?

William Ragamuffin

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Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 3:13 am

I wanna change the stock pickups from my vintage 1986 RG420(The guitar in my signature) and I WANT ACTIVE EMG's...just don't what which ones to get D:

I know that kirk hammet plays with Dual 81's...like in one of his Esp signature guitars...i played one at guitar center and i really like the sound...but i've also heard that a 81 and 85 combo is better......
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I want something really HEAVY..But also has a good clean sound xp....

I know that it depends on what i want but i would like some other opinions....0=

help?

Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 4:23 pm

i have 81/60 set up which was nice...but now i use dave mustaine livewires and will never go back to emg again. I get everything from those livewires... High rev distortion, Crunch, great blues, amazing clean tones. These are amazing and I doubt I will EVER use anything else again. That guitar I have with the EMG's just sits in the corner collecting dust. I don't even give it a pitty play anymore..

also the black chrome covers on the livewires look better than the black plastic.[/color]

Raider83
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PunkRockFaces

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Posted: Thu May 29, 2008 6:37 pm

Isn't the point of a vintage guitar... the vintage gear?

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 2:30 am

It almost sounds like you need a new amp more than pickups. If you want a heavy sound the pickups are not going to give you that. They'll enhance your current setup if you get the right ones.

But, if you want to go with some new pickups, at least consider in the back of your mind that dimarzio now makes a passive pickup built to mimic and enhance the qualities of an active pickup. They're called D-Activators.

If you have your heart set on actives it probably won't matter what ones you choose. Zack Wylde uses the 81 and 85 EMGS and gets a pretty rockin sound too. Check out one of his sig models if you get the chance.

hylianhero27
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hylianhero27
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Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 2:32 am

PunkRockFaces

Isn't the point of a vintage guitar... the vintage gear?

You're forgetting that we're talking about 1986 vintage.....the metal sound was in. xd

Posted: Fri May 30, 2008 9:30 pm

hylianhero27

PunkRockFaces

Isn't the point of a vintage guitar... the vintage gear?

You're forgetting that we're talking about 1986 vintage.....the metal sound was in. xd

Then... why spend the coin on vintage if you're just going to change it?
It just dosn't make sense to me, but to each their own.

PunkRockFaces

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akira_hate

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Posted: Sat Jun 14, 2008 12:54 am

PunkRockFaces

Isn't the point of a vintage guitar... the vintage gear?

my thoughts exactly

Posted: Wed Jun 18, 2008 10:11 pm

PunkRockFaces

hylianhero27

PunkRockFaces

Isn't the point of a vintage guitar... the vintage gear?

You're forgetting that we're talking about 1986 vintage.....the metal sound was in. xd

Then... why spend the coin on vintage if you're just going to change it?
It just dosn't make sense to me, but to each their own.

Aside from Jems, Universes, and other rarer models, most Ibanez 80s guitars dont cost a lot of coin. You can snag old early 90s RG770s for around 7-800$, if not cheaper.

As far as the question at hand, i'm not a fan of basswood at all, but i'd stick with passives in it, since its a flat response wood, and your choice of pickup would ehance those qualities of the wood. That said, both of my electrics have EMG707s.

KyrieEleison
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MetalMaster2004

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Posted: Mon Jun 23, 2008 5:06 am

First off. Instead of ruining such an awesome vintage guitar how about selling it who appreciates the vintage Ibanez stuff. Second, 7-800 dollars isn't cheap for any guitar. Thirdly, I'd buy those pickups off of you if you really to change them that bad. EMG-81/85, 81/60 81/81 are good combos if that's what you want. In some guitars though it doesn't really affect that well. Though they may be active they aren't any different than other pickups as far as they operate the same way. There are other options than EMG's. Seymour Duncan make active pickups as well as DiMarzio. Guitar Fetish makes some awesome alternatives for a third party company as well as some killer electronics mods.

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