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Messages - greekdude

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31
The Pickup Place / Re: NPD fit EMG85/81 in my Kramer 210
« on: February 02, 2017, 05:02:13 PM »
I wouldn't take their word as gospel. Anyway, I do own several guitars loaded with EMGs. I never had a hum issue myself. If it ever hummed with a certain setup, regular magnetic pickups would hum louder with the same rig setup

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SEYMOUR-DUNCAN-ORIGINAL-BLACKOUTS-ACTIVE-HUMBUCKER-BLACK-NECK-AHB-1n-/370629566330?hash=item564b3e5f7a:m:mCbRzLtv95qRWh-km08Mmsw

Quote
Description

The "other" USA-made active humbuckers use unbalanced inputs in a differential preamp. The problem is, an unbalanced differential preamp is not very effective at cancelling hum.

This is not just taking anyone's word. This is SD's ad which is 100% aligned with my experience with both my 81s and my 60. 85 is noiseless indeed.
Both 81 and 60 have imbalanced coils. Also there is an article out there explaining this : http://www.electrosmash.com/emg81

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The numbers show that the EMG design will not reject the hum as good as the classic balanced design. This will not make much difference if any to the noise cancelling efficiency, 14.8 dB of hum rejection is still a nice number.

in this specific room that I play both my 81s hum like a cow. 60 a little better. 85 even better. Blaze bridge is almost perfect. Blaze neck is 100% noiseless.

Now, which sound do I like clean the most? Mahogany arz800 with 81/60.

32
The Pickup Place / Re: NPD fit EMG85/81 in my Kramer 210
« on: February 02, 2017, 09:45:46 AM »
early SD ad :

https://www.amazon.com/Seymour-Duncan-Blackouts-Humbucker-Pickups/dp/B00113HVPW

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Have less hum than the competition
They also have more lows, more highs, and more output
Simply put, the Blackouts have more tone than other active pickups

so i guess this isn't only me

33
The Pickup Place / Re: NPD fit EMG85/81 in my Kramer 210
« on: February 02, 2017, 05:46:18 AM »
Hmm. Shouldn't be humming. In fact, EMGs are very quiet pickups. Might be the wiring or pickup is having issues

in my flat both EMG81 hum. Most of the ppl in my country also say the same. Must be the 220V mains EMI.

34
The Pickup Place / Re: NPD fit EMG85/81 in my Kramer 210
« on: January 24, 2017, 03:41:24 PM »
Just swapped to 81b/85n . Awful, the 81 in the bridge is weak, empty, hollow, humming at 50Hz noise, no meat at all, no thickness, 85 in the neck, is very loud but indifferent. It might be the guitar, which (is said to) have plywood body, 3-piece maple neck, rosewood fretboard, floyd rose ii. The difference in tone quality between this and the 85b/81n is chaotic. And I doubt smth went wrong with wiring cause I used the quick connect cables.
I don't know, is there smth I miss? Is it the particular guitar? How come and the whole world praises the 81b/85n but it does not work at all in this guitar? Also, in contrast, is it possible the swapped setup (85b/81n) to work so well? I know ppl had good experiences with 85 in the bridge and 81 in the neck but I could expect *such* a difference.

Also I came up with smth else. EMGs don't work well with F-spaced guitars. Plucking the high E up sounds good. Plucking down sounds very week unless I move the whole pup about 1-2 mm down, but then it is the low E that starts to suffer from the equivalent effect. I plan to plug and re-drill the pup ring holes about 1.5mm down.

35
The Pickup Place / Re: NPD fit EMG85/81 in my Kramer 210
« on: January 22, 2017, 12:32:07 AM »
update : I kept the 9V mod. Harmonics are poor with the 18V wiring.

36
The Pickup Place / NPD fit EMG85/81 in my Kramer 210
« on: January 19, 2017, 04:24:42 AM »
Hi,
I just finished replacing my old SD livewire/livewire metal set in my old Kramer 210 (which run at 18v and 100KOhm pots), with the EMG 85b/81n set. Originally I intended this to be the classic 81b/85n setup but as many ppl have experienced this does not balance well. I tested both with the stock 18v wiring as well as with bridging one of the clips (9V). here are my impressions, also with regards to another 81b/60n set that I have in my mahogany single-cut ARZ800 :
- I find the cleans of 85 in the bridge good. Better than livewire metal, for sure, but still nothing extraordinary. The 81 in the neck is somewhat darker than the livewire neck
- I kept the 9V mod, with 18V I didn't get the squealies I get with the 9V mod. Now it squeals easier almost all over the board, even in high E
- I concluded once again that wood/construction/scale is VERY important. The guitar surely sounds different than with the livewires but the basic character is unchanged. The natural harmonics that used to ring very loud with the livewires are still the same harmonics that want to ring loud with the EMGs. Next strings change I will try with swapping to 81b/85n or by replacing the 81/60 I have an the ARZ800. In short I feel that what I hear in the ARZ800 is not EMG sound but mahogany 25", 24 frets, fixed bridge sound, and in the Kramer not EMG sound but 80s super strat, 22 frets, floyd-rose sound.
- So when I dreamed of getting the cleans of 81/60 in the ARZ800 with the Kramer I was wrong. The cleans in neck are nice (livewire neck was nice as well but with more treble), bridge are good, mid works nice, but not mind blowing.
- 85 output-wise, destroys the 81. 85b/81n balances very good at the same height.
- 85 is very quiet. 81 not so much.
- Distorted sounds great in bridge and neck. Plenty of shredding tones. Nice riffs.

37
The Pickup Place / Re: Murky sounding but great playing basswood squire
« on: December 04, 2016, 01:26:23 AM »
No experience but they are used by Gilbert, so ....  :madness:

38
The Pickup Place / Re: pickup choice to replace emg 81-7
« on: December 02, 2016, 11:33:14 PM »
Glad you solved it! And also saved your money :)

39
The Pickup Place / Re: pickup choice to replace emg 81-7
« on: December 02, 2016, 02:44:44 PM »
Sorry to hear that about the Halo. My Ibanez 7-string (UV70p) sits almost flush with the body. Got used to it in just a week. But I had some issues with it having to do neck bolts stability. All turned up good. Still the neck-though design (or set-in when done well) can give the maximum access.

40
The Pickup Place / Re: pickup choice to replace emg 81-7
« on: November 24, 2016, 12:36:42 AM »
Hi,

I'm currently running the following rig...

- Peavey Triple X with jj 12ax7's and jj kt77s
- Maxon OD 808 overdrive pedal
- marshall 1960b cab with combination of v30s and t75s
- Halo pt7 with baritone 27" scale, alder body, maple neck, ebony fingerboard Tune-o-matic bridge, with an emg 81-7 pickup in the bridge position.

So I love the highs, upper mids, saturation  and articulation that I can get with the current rig, but it needs more beef in the lower end. I suspect the problem might be the pickup combined with the alder body of the guitar. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Is there a dimarzio pickup (for 7 string) that will reproduce the qualities of the emg 81-7 described above but with more balls in the lower end?

Hello,

I think EMG-81 is tight and great for Djent type of music. About DMZ, apart from other ppl's suggestion, how about the obvious choice : D-activator 7 ?

Also I am deeply interested in the Halo 7-string. Are you satisfied with it? Any pics/reviews? Construction method? Maybe you could open up a thread in Guitar section to present this?

Thanx

41
Guitar Lounge / New 26.5" 7-string neck-through project
« on: October 02, 2016, 10:31:08 AM »
Hello,
a friend of mine offered to make a guitar with the above specs for me, for free, but I'd have to provide materials and the template(s).
So the question is, is there any source I could get a template for 26.5" 7-string neck-through ?

The way I imagine the final product :

- 7 string, RG or (RGA or RGD) shaped
- 26.5" neck-trough, 5-piece maple/wenge (or equivalent) neck with titanium rods, double-action truss rod, very thin neck RG-type
- Ash body or alder
- Floyd Rose (or equivalent)
- white body (parchment, cream-like)
- maple fretboard
- chrome hardware

42
The Pickup Place / Re: Yngwie Malmsteen
« on: September 28, 2016, 10:33:21 AM »
The DiMarzio YJM signature pickup is now called HS-4.

In the Alcatrazz days he used to use the FS-1 which is slightly hotter than the HS-series/YJM but its not humcancelling.
Then he played the HS-3´s for a long time, like 10-12 years or something. HS-3 in the bridge and neck, stock strat pickup lowered flush with the pickguard in the middle. Then in 1995 he got the YJM which he used in the neck and middle, and an HS-3 still in the bridge. The YJM is very, very close to an HS-3. Only difference according to DiMarzio is the vintage stagger which affects string balance which, in turn, gives you a slightly clearer tone on the unwound strings higher up the neck.

The thing to remember about these pickups is that they are very low output. Yngwie of course uses the DOD250/308 overdrive cranked into his Marshalls and that creates the distortion. He's quoted in an old Guitar Player issue saying that he believes that in order to get the best, clearest tone the signal from the guitar should be totally clean without a hint of distortion and then you overdrive it severely with an OD hitting the amp. It obviously worked as his tone, and playing, back then was out of this world. In the same interview he also stated that a single note shouldnt sound distorted, it should just sound sweet and sing, and when you hit a power chord, then you hear the crunch and distortion.

When he switched to the much hotter SD Furys IMO his tone went from a clear, bell-like tone to something over-compressed and way too distorted. Mud and mush.

+1. Early yngwie was out of this world. His tone was absolutely STUNNING!

43
The Pickup Place / Re: Who Makes Pots for DiMarzio?
« on: September 28, 2016, 10:30:33 AM »
Dimarzio. I got 3 push/pull 500K DMZ pots. Work good if you don't mess with them.

44
The Pickup Place / Re: 6 string version of Blaze?
« on: September 28, 2016, 10:29:42 AM »
IMHO blazes work with well with woods which pronounce mids, such as basswood. With alder you'd want a pup with louder mids.

45
The Pickup Place / Re: Anyone have experience with Ibanez Super 70s?
« on: June 02, 2016, 10:06:49 AM »
use your vol pot?

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