# EMG 18 Volt Mod



## juice_74 (Sep 13, 2011)

Hey people, was wondering what the main differences are between running EMGs on 9v and 18v.

Does anyone prefer one over the other, or is there no point?


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## MetalBuddah (Sep 13, 2011)

It definitely makes a difference in the amount of headroom. I did this back when I had EMGs in my Hellraiser and it was definitely worth it. To me, the pickups sounded bigger and more organic. Definitely worth it


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## motomoto (Sep 13, 2011)

^this

and at the end of the day, if you don't like you can always switch it back to 9v


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## narad (Sep 13, 2011)

You can get some cheap harnesses on ebay for a few bucks. Makes the experiment extremely simple to try out - I was very happy with the results, though my LED sidemarkers are left powerless.


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## theo (Sep 13, 2011)

narad said:


> You can get some cheap harnesses on ebay for a few bucks. Makes the experiment extremely simple to try out - I was very happy with the results, though my LED sidemarkers are left powerless.



why are they left powerless?


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## AdAstra2025 (Sep 13, 2011)

The amount of headroom gained with the 18v mod isn't THAT noticeable. On a fatter (cough...cough...muddier) pickup like a 60, you'll notice a little more upper midrange and highs, but nothing that will change your life. I just did an 18v mod (seriously, the harness was like 2 bucks on ebay) on an 89R, which is a TOTALLY awesome, underappreciated pickup. It gave it a more organic single coil sound in that mode, and made the humbucker mode sound even more like an 85...which as we all know, is the finest pickup EMG makes...short of the Tele bridge model


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## Ironbird (Sep 13, 2011)

I used EMGs for about a year or so, and was trying to get a more 'airy' tone out of them. The 18V mod certainly helps. The pickup in question was the 81, and it really improved the tone, IMHO. It sounded less compressed, but it's a subjective thing, really.

I would think that the 85 with the 18V mod would sound the tits! Too bad I never got to try that.


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## TheBloodstained (Sep 14, 2011)

I did it to the 707's in my Loomis sig. Cleaned op the bottom end and made the overall sound tighter and more defined. I not totally happy with the sound though, so I've been thinking about replacing the 707's with Blackouts.
I think some "darker"/more organic pickups would suit the harshness of the ash body nicely!


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## Dayn (Sep 14, 2011)

As others have said... I noticed increased headroom and less compression on my 808s.

I think my 85X I got for my six-string, however, is better... so I may have to invest in 808Xs.  I haven't tried my 85X with the 18V mod, but it sounds great as-is in the bridge and the extra voltage wouldn't be as noticeable as standard EMGs.


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## TRENCHLORD (Sep 14, 2011)

I vote for 9v operation because I want the full compression.
I also agree that the 18v opens up the tonal spectrum noticably.
Buy or construct one harness to try out the difference for yourself. It depends alot on your music style and pick attack as to which one you'd like best. I play mostly old school melodic death metal with sometimes constant speed picking flutter, so the increased sensetivity of 81 at normal 9v really helps even out my pick attack, which in effect allows me to relax my right hand better.

On 18v the oppisite is true. The tone opens up and allows for greater picking dynamics. This is considered more expressive because you can control attack volume by how hard you play.


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## narad (Sep 14, 2011)

theo said:


> why are they left powerless?



Just not enough room in the cavity to cleanly place 3 batteries, so 2 for the mod instead of 1 for the EMGs and 1 for the LEDs.


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## theo (Sep 14, 2011)

Im sure you could run the LEDs off the same batteries used for your pickups, although seeing as you are running 18V now you'd need to swap a resistor or two


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## kyo126 (Sep 14, 2011)

Usually Bass needs 18v, it require more power for low freq and headroom.


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## juice_74 (Sep 14, 2011)

Cheers for the replies, I reckon ill try em out, I play metal and I'll be putting them in an Ec-1000, which will be annoying as they dont have a lot of space in it.

Thanks again for the replies!


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## Ironbird (Sep 14, 2011)

Thebloodstained - I failed to mention that I made the Blackouts switch myself (Blackouts neck in bridge and Blackouts neck single in neck) and there's no turning back! It's a better (again, subjective) active pickup, in my humble opinion. 

It has more low-end chunk, is clear and basically behaves like a high-gain passive but with the quietness and predictability of an active pickup.

Sorry to derail the thread!


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## orakle (Sep 14, 2011)

i used to have lots of fun with a 85-85 (love the 85 for leads and the 85 for rhytmn haha) set with a variable gain booster and 18v mod, I could plug my AKG headphones directly into my guitar and it sounded pretty damn good

sorry if its not totally on topic, had to share that !


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## Cheesebuiscut (Sep 14, 2011)

Sorry for attempting to hi-jack this but uh... 

Since the questions been pretty much answered and I don't wanna make a whole second thread, has anyone tried the 18v mod with the active cepheus pups?

I'm curious if its worth the effort, I'm not really an active fan but I've put up with the one in my pendulum for a while now because its pretty workable for high gain stuff but I'm curious if a cheap reversible solution like the 18v mod would help any.


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## AdAstra2025 (Sep 20, 2011)

Cheesebuiscut said:


> Sorry for attempting to hi-jack this but uh...
> 
> Since the questions been pretty much answered and I don't wanna make a whole second thread, has anyone tried the 18v mod with the active cepheus pups?
> 
> I'm curious if its worth the effort, I'm not really an active fan but I've put up with the one in my pendulum for a while now because its pretty workable for high gain stuff but I'm curious if a cheap reversible solution like the 18v mod would help any.


 
I think the best thing you can do is give it a try and let us all know how it turns out. The key words you used were "cheap" and "reversable." I recommend grabbing one of those 18v harnesses and an extra battery so you can give us all a heads up on it. Good luck to you. I hear the Pendulums are pretty legit.


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## Cheesebuiscut (Sep 20, 2011)

Yeah I figured that all out when no one responded


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## computersplus (Sep 23, 2011)

hey guys this may be off some help... 

http://www.sevenstring.org/forum/lu...tomizations/170786-active-battery-system.html


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## AdAstra2025 (Sep 24, 2011)

Shameless self promotion?


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## pearl_07 (Sep 25, 2011)

I really like the 18v mod on my 707TW's. I wasn't too hot on them with 9v's, but they're definitely my new favorite active 7 pup with 18v's. They have the thicker sound of a 707, but with the ceramic bite of an 81-7 plus the added dynamic capabilities the extra voltage adds. Although I find the coil tap somewhat useless, these are awesome pickups. I have yet to truly sit down with a set of Blackouts and play them through my rig, but it's on my to do list


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## MetalGuitarGuy (Nov 7, 2013)

Hi, just recently resoldered my Hellraiser C-7 to run the 18 volt mod and I´m really pleased with the results  I did it to the coil-splittable 707´s (707TW) and they sound more open, organic and fuller, but they still retain the tightness of the 9v  Less compression as well wich allows the EMG´s to be more sensitive to pick attack, wich I like a lot, really lika to hear when the EMG´s "feels" my pick attack  Also don´t break up as easely on clean sounds  
PS: It was my very first encounter with soldering and it worked out very well, all you need, except tools, is a steady hand and some patience


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