# New EMG pickups: The 66 and 57



## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 16, 2012)

And they're already for sale. 

The 66
The 57

And judging by the looks, the sound, and the description, they seem like EMG's take on a PAF-style pickup.


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## SirMyghin (Oct 16, 2012)

Sounds good, but what demo doesn't 

Faulkner doesn't help it sound good I am sure (obvious sarcasm).

The description has me interested, albeit I do not have a guitar that is active. (easily fixed )


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## Angus Clark (Oct 16, 2012)

I've got an RGA42 with the stock LoZs in them, these could just be the solution...


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## bargil101 (Oct 16, 2012)

They sound awesome, and I would so get them, but there's no point as they will be worth more than GRG121EX


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (Oct 17, 2012)

AWESOME! They should have Paul Gilbert demo these (being a DiMarzio endorser doesn't help my pipe dream though), he used the PAF in his Ibanez sig for a long time.


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## Bloody_Inferno (Oct 17, 2012)

I'm gonna have to consider the 66 paired with an 81 in a future project...


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## leonardo7 (Oct 17, 2012)

Passived sized 7 and 8s at NAMM


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 17, 2012)

leonardo7 said:


> Passived sized 7 and 8s at NAMM



If they do this...

Consider my EMG fanboyism off the charts.


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## leonardo7 (Oct 17, 2012)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> If they do this...
> 
> Consider my EMG fanboyism off the charts.



Its happening


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## Ishan (Oct 18, 2012)

These sounds great! Very PAF-ish.
Is that me or did EMG really woke up these past few years? X series, TW series, then that awesome JH set and now this?
I really didn't think much of their pickups but they are slowly changing my mind


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## Jessy (Oct 18, 2012)

Pickups that are designed to sound like antiquated technology. Good one, EMG. Nobody's ever thought of that before!


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## JamesM (Oct 18, 2012)

Priest!


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 18, 2012)

Jessy said:


> Pickups that are designed to sound like antiquated technology. Good one, EMG. Nobody's ever thought of that before!



Sorry they don't sound like Q-tuners.


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## JamesM (Oct 18, 2012)

People will always talk shit, but what could possibly be wrong with another item on the market? That's always a good thing in my opinion!


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## yellowv (Oct 18, 2012)

Yeah I know. People constantly bag on EMG for sounding sterile, too compressed, the same in any wood, etc. Then EMG goes out and makes some new stuff that really do sound more dynamic, open and versatile and then guys bitch about that too. I think it's great. Personally I still prefer normal EMG's over Blackouts, but now they are really showing that they are the Kings of active technology.


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## JaeSwift (Oct 18, 2012)

yellowv said:


> Yeah I know. People constantly bag on EMG for sounding sterile, too compressed, the same in any wood, etc. Then EMG goes out and makes some new stuff that really do sound more dynamic, open and versatile and then guys bitch about that too. I think it's great. Personally I still prefer normal EMG's over Blackouts, but now they are really showing that they are the Kings of active technology.



They are, it'd just be great if they employed that in the extended range (the market they -had- the most grip on of any pickup company 3 years ago) niché. 

The HetSet sounds seriously amazing. If that was available as a 7 string set I'de buy it, but alas...


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## snowblind56 (Oct 18, 2012)

yellowv said:


> Yeah I know. People constantly bag on EMG for sounding sterile, too compressed, the same in any wood, etc. Then EMG goes out and makes some new stuff that really do sound more dynamic, open and versatile and then guys bitch about that too. I think it's great. Personally I still prefer normal EMG's over Blackouts, but now they are really showing that they are the Kings of active technology.



These pickups really intrigue me. For the most part, I'm not really an EMG/Active lover or hater. To me, they have their place, that sometimes I dig and sometimes I don't. I tend to get bored of the sound after a while. I prefer Blackouts for active humbuckers and I had an EMG DG20 set in a hardtail Strat that sounded awesome. I am not a fan of the EMG X's. 

That being said, it's good to see that EMG is actually putting out new product rather than sitting on the 81/85/60's or the signature sets that they've been pushing for 30 years.


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## vanhendrix (Oct 18, 2012)

I know it's a purely aesthetic thing, but I just cannot wrap my head around the exposed pole pieces look. It's just so completely wrong. Especially how they have them in the place of the slugs (coil nearest the bridge on the bridge pickup). 


It's just...._wrong._


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 19, 2012)

I rather have the poles than a bare cover. It just looks to plan.


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## Jessy (Oct 19, 2012)

yellowv said:


> Yeah I know. People constantly bag on EMG for sounding sterile, too compressed, the same in any wood, etc. Then EMG goes out and makes some new stuff that really do sound more dynamic, open and versatile and then guys bitch about that too.


In the 80's, they made something that sounded new. Now, they make something that sounds old. Only an electric guitarist would think this is an impressive move. :-/

When EMG makes a pickup that uses neodymium magnets, and all its preamp does is boost the signal to a configurable level, I will be pleased.


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## that short guy (Oct 19, 2012)

Not gonna lie, I really hated my 81/85 set I used to have. The 60 was ok but left me wanting a lot more in my tone... so I've kinda just gotten to the point where I really didn't like EMG.... that being said, these things sounded amazing. I don't know if I'm willing to try them but it's at least put a little bit of my faith back in EMG


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## snowblind56 (Oct 19, 2012)

Jessy said:


> In the 80's, they made something that sounded new. Now, they make something that sounds old. Only an electric guitarist would think this is an impressive move. :-/



Only an electric guitarist would be hung up on gear that was designed 60+ years ago and bag on anything that is new and innovative.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 19, 2012)

Jessy said:


> In the 80's, they made something that sounded new. Now, they make something that sounds old. Only an electric guitarist would think this is an impressive move. :-/
> 
> When EMG makes a pickup that uses neodymium magnets, and all its preamp does is boost the signal to a configurable level, I will be pleased.



They're just doing what people want. I've seen more people who wanted a more dynamic and lower gained EMG then an active Q-Tuner.

And honestly, not dissing the company, but there aren't many people who want or even heard of the real Q-Tuners. I didn't even know about them until I saw them mentioned here.


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## brynotherhino (Oct 19, 2012)

These intrigue me.


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## VBCheeseGrater (Oct 19, 2012)

Angus Clark said:


> I've got an RGA42 with the stock LoZs in them, these could just be the solution...



I had an ART model with those LZs, i thought the 6 string versions sounded pretty darn good. Still, i hear alot about the 7's sounding bad though.

either way, hard not to resist the urge to upgrade from stock pickups, these sound intiguing, look nice too.


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## Scar Symmetry (Oct 19, 2012)

More EMG options can never be a bad thing.


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## Angus Clark (Oct 19, 2012)

VBCheeseGrater said:


> I had an ART model with those LZs, i thought the 6 string versions sounded pretty darn good. Still, i hear alot about the 7's sounding bad though.
> 
> either way, hard not to resist the urge to upgrade from stock pickups, these sound intiguing, look nice too.



I'm not a fan of them at all, though I don't hate them as much as most people seem to. And it's pretty easy to resist upgrading when you literally can't afford to! 

But yeah, if EMG are taking it a step further in the direction they did with the het set, these'll be awesome.


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## 1b4n3z (Oct 19, 2012)

Great addition to the lineup. If/when they are available in gold, I'm definitely having a hard time to fight the urge to replace my Duncan's in my Gibson LP. There's a battery box routed already! 
I think it's clever to introduce a more vintage-voiced active setup dressed in a PAF-look for those, who wish to keep the look but crave for some modern vibe tone-wise. 

I believe some nod is order towards Seymour Duncan - they really stirred the hive with the Blackouts and Blackouts Modular Preamp launches. Us consumers are the winners here


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## Necky379 (Oct 19, 2012)

Somebody above mentioned that they'd be releasing passive sized 7 string versions, anybody know if they'll be releasing "old EMG 7" sized versions? I would be interested in trying these but my SC607B has the usual bass pickup sized routes. I have been considering routing my 607 for a neck hum, these would be perfect but I think it would look stupid having a different sized hum in the neck. Swaping my middle hum for one too is also not out of the question. If they're epoxy potted swaping covers would not be an option for me.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 19, 2012)

I'm pretty sure they would. They'll probably do something like Duncan did with the 7-string Blackouts.


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## Necky379 (Oct 19, 2012)

Mmmm possibly a 3 hum 607 in my future.


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## yellowv (Oct 19, 2012)

I really like my Het Set and I'm a passkve guy through and through. Its a very versatile set of pickups and sound HUGE in my EX.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 19, 2012)

Necky379 said:


> Mmmm possibly a 3 hum 607 in my future.



Well if they do stop making them, theres always the used market.


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## Necky379 (Oct 19, 2012)

Nah I've got a 607 already, I'm saying I may add a neck pup.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 19, 2012)

I'm talking about the soapbar EMGs.


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## Devyn Eclipse Nav (Oct 19, 2012)

They'll probably never stop making those. I actually like the way those look, they're just a hassle if you want to replace them with passives. Or want to put them in a guitar with passives on your own. However, there will always be someone that wants them out there, i'm sure, so we'll be seeing them around for a while yet.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 20, 2012)

Heres a bit of a clean/low gain demo of them.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 25, 2012)

For anyone that's interested, the new set is Bulb-approved.


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## danresn (Oct 25, 2012)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> For anyone that's interested, the new set is Bulb-approved.



He liked the het-set as well. I'm pretty sure he used this guitar on one of the songs from PII with a het-set in it..

http://www.jacksonguitars.com/blog/...r-of-periphery-shows-off-custom-shop-soloist/


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## 7 Strings of Hate (Oct 25, 2012)

Well if bulb likes them, then they better stock up cuz the fan boiz are gonna rape the new emg stocks


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 25, 2012)

7 Strings of Hate said:


> Well if bulb likes them, then they better stock up cuz the fan boiz are gonna rape the new emg stocks


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## danresn (Oct 26, 2012)

7 Strings of Hate said:


> Well if bulb likes them, then they better stock up cuz the fan boiz are gonna rape the new emg stocks



I laughed until I realised I own an eight string with aftermaths and I was sitting there playing my Jackson six string.


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## Decipher (Oct 26, 2012)

Very cool! I definitely wanna check these out.


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## Veritech Zero (Nov 12, 2012)

Well seeing as the dealers just got these in stock a couple of days ago I figured that it was ok to revive this post.

I really really like them. The bridge (57) sounds a lot like a Dimarzio PAF pro to my ears, but has a lot more 'bite' to it but with a honky flavor to it, also has very little buzz/hum like all actives, I haven't had any feedback issues like I have had with blackouts, and just overall look really awesome.

The Neck (66) is another beast entirely though. I can't really explain it, it has a sort of hollow crunchiness to it, great for those arpeggios and legato runs. But it also has a lot of bite to it similar to the 57 so it makes alternate picking really stand out, which I always had issues with with the traditional EMG 85, 60A or Blackout Neck pickup with those bar magnets that sort of dull it out. The biggest plus of the 66 that I've found is in any sort of clean setting it really stands out, makes my Eclipse sound almost like a steel string acoustic guitar with the right tweaking of the amp, which I have never been able to do with any other pickup.

Overall, they were fairly expensive ($125 each from Drumcityguitarland.com), but very much worth it, definitely my new favorite.


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (Nov 22, 2012)

Is Andy James using the 57/66 combo on these new videos? His tone is so much organic, alive, articulate, just awesome and I do not think it's the Het set, what do you guys think?





*EDIT:* Actually, to my ears, AJ's tone in these videos sounds A LOT like Vinnie Moore's on his latest albums, reminds me of "The Maze" CD.


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## MetalBuddah (Nov 22, 2012)

^ Andy is most definitely using the 57/66 set


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Nov 23, 2012)

MetalBuddah said:


> ^ Andy is most definitely using the 57/66 set



Yup. I think he was probably one of the first guys using them, along with Richie from Judas Priest. He was using them in some videos and promo shots before they were announced.


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## MetalBuddah (Nov 23, 2012)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> Yup. I think he was probably one of the first guys using them, along with Richie from Judas Priest. He was using them in some videos and promo shots before they were announced.



Yeah, you are definitely right about that. I really want to get my hand on a pair and see how they are.


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## Captain Butterscotch (Dec 1, 2013)

Mega super bump:

It's been a good year since these came out and I'm looking at putting them into the .strandberg* I'm building. Thoughts?


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## Veritech Zero (Dec 6, 2013)

I'd say go for it, it's been a good year since I got mine and I still love how they sound  Still pricey though haha.


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