[Stitch]

...and I'm a gonna get me some EMG's for my Jackson RX10DCS.

I've spent years hankering after EMG's for one of my guitars - I already own Seymour Duncans and Dimarzios and I am ordering a Bareknuckle Warpig 7 for my Ibanez but when it comes to EMG's i am slightly lost.

I won't be fitting them so that isn't an issue.

I simply can't decide on models - I'm pretty sure im going for an 81 in the bridge but I've noticed that the guys from God Forbid use 85's in the bridge and I like their tone. Neck wise im thinking its a toss up between a 60, 85 or 89. I appreciate the 89 is a dual-coil pickup, but i dont want holes in my Jackson - can the coil tap be fitted to a stacked pot? Is that a special order so I can get a 25K pot? I'm not sure i'd use the single coils but I'm really going for a Killswitch Engage type setup, without the SA's.

The guitar is tuned to CGCFAD and i'm playing ameri-metal a la Killswitch Engage and The Black Dahlia Murder through a TS-808 into a Peavey 6505 with a Boss NS-2 and a Rocktron Hush C - i'm going for EMG for noiselessness and the fact they look so damn cool.

Anyone have any suggestions/opinions/ideas?

Btw - I don't want anyone to tell me the Evo is abetter choice etc - I'm pretty much set on EMG's for this guitar.

Thanks guys!

[Prometheus]

Hey man, I've got a 85 in the bridge of my RG570. I like it alot more than the 81. My mate's got a 81 in his guitar, and when we jam, I gotta say I like my tone a helluva lot more. My tone is like his tone, just meatier and beefier. Everything, from leads to big palmmutes, just sounds way thicker with the 85. Oh, and cleans are WAY better too, full and rich. 81 just sounds anemic to me in comparison. If you're set on EMG, can't go wrong with the 85, dude!

And, Killswitch and BDM are awesome bands, killer sound!

[Michael]

I have an 85 in the bridge position of my DK2M, and an 81 in the neck. The 85 is awesome, very tight. +1 to Marc's post.

[Stitch]

Okay, i'm going for an 85 in the bridge now. What about the neck? I'm not one for blazing solos - the neck is more a pickup used for odd effects etc.

Thanks to you guys who replied already!

[Prometheus]

Ha, I've just got the bridge PU don't believe in that old-fashioned two pickup approach, I just have the one to do everything works great! Well, I've heard the 60 kicks ass in the neck, but I've never played one, so don't take my word for it or nuthin'

[metalfiend666]

Definitely avoid the 81 in the bridge for what you want. I found it really thin and gutless.

The EMG-89 comes with a push-pull pot, so that solves that problem. I'd suggest that or an EMG60 for the neck.

[Stitch]

Thanks all! Anyone else got an opinion?

[skinhead]

You have to put there some low output songles, Simon

Seriously, the 85 it's "darker" than the 81m i don't know what do you like more.

Oh, and the 81 sounds exactly like metallica

[Cool711]

I love the 81 in my bridge.
I love the cutting tone I get out of it.

But then again, it is a 7 string, and I have found that the 81 is much tighter than the 707 (which is in the neck, and is almost identical to an 85) for the low B.

Hope that helps.

[sakeido]

I tried the 85 bridge 81 neck thing. The 85 is a nice growly bridge pickup but the 81 is so absolutely terrible in the neck position I switched them back again in like two hours.

I would run either 85 bridge 85 neck or 85 bridge 89 neck, which is actually a 85-85 combo until you pull the switch and then I believe it should sound like the SA. The 60 makes a great neck pickup too, it is very very smooth for leads and really mellow. Has better cleans then any other EMG.