# EMG 81 sounds muddy



## SimonEriksson (Jun 16, 2013)

Hi! I got to play all of my guitars tonight after being unable to play some of my guitars for a few weeks due to moving.

I have a Jackson Soloist SLX with EMG's, EMG 81 in the bridge position and EMG 85 in the neck position.

The thing is, the EMG's sounds so muddy, the EMG 85 aint to bad but the EMG 81 is very,very muddy.I have a chamberd Les Paul copy with mahogany neck and body that also have EMG's and it sounds a lot brighter.

The Jackson is basswood but my Ibanez RG870QMZ is also basswod but is sounds way brighter and tighter even though it's got passive pickups.

The guitar did not come stock with EMG's, I had my local guitar store install them for me last summer. 

I'm thinking of trying to do an 18volt mod on it and see if that helps, I just find it weird that it sounds so muddy. I can take a few pics tomorrow and show you the wiring, it still got some groundwires in there.


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## Yo_Wattup (Jun 16, 2013)

That sure is strange. EMGs (81 in particular) are generally not considered 'muddy'... 'compressed' or 'sterile' but never muddy... 

Are you sure you have the 81 in the bridge? The EMG logo on the 81 is always silver, 85 being gold, 60 is grey, and 89 is like a copper colour. 

Only other thing I can think of is that you got a bad (non resonant) piece of timber for the body/neck...

Good luck in any case.


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## SimonEriksson (Jun 16, 2013)

Yes it's really weird. The guitar sounded bright and ''normal'' before the pickup change. 

The thing is, I tuned the entier guitar to D when I had the EMG's installed, and I did notice when I got it that it sounded muddy but I figured that it was only because of the new tuning and thicker strings but now when I have all my guitars again and I can try them and compare them I really tell that the Jackson sounds a lot muddier than the other guitars, and I have all my guitars tuned to D.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jun 16, 2013)

Lower the pickup height.


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## Choop (Jun 16, 2013)

I really have no idea what to make of this. Are the pots 25k or whatever? Maybe the pickup is messed up, I've never really even heard of this issue anywhere else.


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## SimonEriksson (Jun 16, 2013)

I'll try lower the pickup height.

If that doesn't work, I'll take the 81 out of my Les Paul and put it in my Jackson and see if it makes a difference.

The pots are the EMG quick connect pots that came with the pups.


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## Pezshreds (Jun 16, 2013)

You've probably done this, but have you changed the 9v? I have 81-85 and 81-7 and 707 and they're all mega bright haha


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## TRENCHLORD (Jun 16, 2013)

If lowering the 81 doesn't work, then try raising it.

If the 85 isn't sounding muddy in the neck, then it should sound great for you in the bridge.


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## Floppystrings (Jun 16, 2013)

I tried a certain brand of strings once a very long time ago, and they were so horrifically muddy I removed them the same day.

Sometimes little things that don't seem like they would change tone much, can have a huge effect.


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## Choop (Jun 16, 2013)

Floppystrings said:


> I tried a certain brand of strings once a very long time ago, and they were so horrifically muddy I removed them the same day.
> 
> Sometimes little things that don't seem like they would change tone much, can have a huge effect.



Such an appropriate comment with that username!  But yeah! Sometimes little things can really affect your instrument...+1 to lowering the pickup and maybe trying new strings. Also def try swapping the pickup switch your LP just to see if it isn't the pickup that's faulty..never heard of that happening but I guess it's possible.


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## djpharoah (Jun 17, 2013)

EMGs need to be really close to the strings because they have a weak magnetic field. Get them up to the strings.. much closer than passives.


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## Yo_Wattup (Jun 17, 2013)

djpharoah said:


> EMGs need to be really close to the strings because they have a weak magnetic field. Get them up to the strings.. much closer than passives.



Errr.. no... they dont "need" to be close to the strings. On one of my 6's i have and 81 and 60 lowered to about pickup ring height, gives it a nice open, cutting tone, much more natural sounding than when they were 3mm from the strings, and on my 7 I have an 81-7 and 707TW and they're closer, which gives a warmer, more saturated tone.


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## SimonEriksson (Jun 17, 2013)

Hi! I tried to lower the pickup but sadly, no real difference.

I can't install the other 81 today either because I have'nt found my allen wrenches yet 

I tried lowering it to the same height as the LP, still muddy, then I tried to raise it higher than the LP but it still sounds muddy and dull.

I had a weird problem on my LP before when the neck pickup sounded very weak and it turned out to be a wire from the switch that wasn't connected properly to the emg ''hub'', I checked all the wires in the Jackson and they are all well connected but as I said before, there is a few ground wires left, the ground to the springclaw and a few others that are connected to the wood in the cavity via these

http://www.stratcat.biz/images/268-529-7312-l.jpg


My LP has no ground wires at all, could that be it?


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## djpharoah (Jun 17, 2013)

You don't need ground wirees for active systems. Also have you tried s new battery?


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## Phrygian (Jun 17, 2013)

Sounds like a worn out battery, try a new one and see if that works!


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## SimonEriksson (Jun 17, 2013)

Yes I've tried with a new battery, no difference.

Should I remove all the ground wires and rewire the entire guitar myself?


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## Carver (Jun 17, 2013)

if you spin the tone pot do you notice a difference? or is it the same type of out put? 

If you do notice a difference, then i would go for a full re wire. if you dont notice a difference, then the tone pot may very well be shot and "stuck" in a filtered position that is not allowing the full signal to pass.


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## Garlic Owl (Jun 17, 2013)

what amp are you playing it through? i've never heard of an EMG 81 sounding muddy.


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## SimonEriksson (Jun 17, 2013)

A Randall KH120.


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## Choop (Jun 17, 2013)

SimonEriksson said:


> Yes I've tried with a new battery, no difference.
> 
> Should I remove all the ground wires and rewire the entire guitar myself?



Probably so, EMGs don't need the ground wired up...


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## SimonEriksson (Jun 17, 2013)

Yeah, I thought it was strange when I first took the backplate of to adjust the springs when setting the guitar up for D standard and I found the ground wire there.

I'll try rewiring it, and this time remove all the grounds from the stock electronics.


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## saxman42 (Jun 23, 2013)

djpharoah said:


> EMGs need to be really close to the strings because they have a weak magnetic field. Get them up to the strings.. much closer than passives.



^^This

I had EMG 81s in my SG for a long time and they sounded muddy until I got them as close to the string as possible. I even installed an angled pickup ring to get even closer. That made a WORLD of a difference.

The 18V mod will give you a little more clarity and headroom. With the 9V mod, your sound might clip at the output of the pickup when you strum hard, but the 18V mod will double that headroom. I liked the 18V mod when I had EMGs. I thought it gave the pickup a more lifelike sound like passive pickups.


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## saxman42 (Jun 23, 2013)

djpharoah said:


> You don't need ground wirees for active systems.



EMG says not to use a ground wire to your bridge because you have a 9V battery. Theoretically, this means you could be "shocked".  Grounding the string will still help with noise, though.

Considering most people lick a 9V battery to see if it's charged, I'm not worried about being shocked by my strings.


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## TRENCHLORD (Jun 24, 2013)

saxman42 said:


> Considering most people lick a 9V battery to see if it's charged,


 
I just lick it for fun lol.


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## yellow (Jun 25, 2013)

Even better than the 18v mod is EMG RPC, but that aside, the 81 being muddy doesnt sound right to begin with....somethin must be wrong with the wiring or maybe it got damaged? the 81 is arguably the clearest pickup there is so even if its not your favorite/taste, it def shouldnt be muddy at all.


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## saxman42 (Jun 25, 2013)

Have you double checked all of the wiring. That sounds like the classic "9V battery is dead", which might mean the wiring harness came loose.


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