# EMG 81/85 Without Tone Pots



## slayer6699 (Feb 15, 2018)

Hi guys!
Few months earlier i bought my first epi lp prophecy ex with the classic emg 81/85 combination,3 way switch,2 volumes,2 tones...
All my tone pots are in 10 and i don't want all these knobs in my way,never use them!Same as in my previous guitars with only one volume knob!
If i remove the tone pots and one volume will it be a big difference in my sound?
I googled and saw small differences about active pups...


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## lewis (Feb 15, 2018)

Angel0fshreD said:


> Hi guys!
> Few months earlier i bought my first epi lp prophecy ex with the classic emg 81/85 combination,3 way switch,2 volumes,2 tones...
> All my tone pots are in 10 and i don't want all these knobs in my way,never use them!Same as in my previous guitars with only one volume knob!
> If i remove the tone pots and one volume will it be a big difference in my sound?
> I googled and saw small differences about active pups...


yeah it sounds better. A purer signal so more output and slightly brighter.

I hate tone pots. My 81 sounds fantastic without it


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## slayer6699 (Feb 15, 2018)

lewis said:


> yeah it sounds better. A purer signal so more output and slightly brighter.
> 
> I hate tone pots. My 81 sounds fantastic without it


Thank you for your fast answer!
Mahogany is better wood for that trick?
Also i can cut them off or solder the cables to jack?


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Feb 15, 2018)

I don't use tone pots. I have the 57/66 set going to toggle, then vol, then jack.

EMG makes it easy with the solderless, just replace the output from the volume pot that would go to the tone pot normally by hooking the output jack up to it.
Easy Peasy!


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## Mprinsje (Feb 15, 2018)

i run all my emg pickups without tone pots. It's a tiny change in sound, just a little bit brighter.


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## slayer6699 (Feb 15, 2018)

TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> I don't use tone pots. I have the 57/66 set going to toggle, then vol, then jack.
> 
> EMG makes it easy with the solderless, just replace the output from the volume pot that would go to the tone pot normally by hooking the output jack up to it.
> Easy Peasy!


Thanks but i want to have only one volume knob for the two pups and the 3 switch!
How can i do this?


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Feb 15, 2018)

Same way, all you are doing is omitting hooking up the tone pot.
The toggle, volume pot, & jack do not change.
Look at this page, diagram 6B.
Hook the jack up to where the tone pot is hooked up to the volume pot & "Bob's your uncle".

http://www.emgpickups.com/media/productfile/5/7/57_0230-0257rb.pdf


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## oversteve (Feb 15, 2018)

find 2 volume pots, lets say they have lugs 1-3 going from right to left, for each pot lug #1 is soldered to pot body, the other lugs #2 and #3 have wires soldered to them (wires from pickups and from switch), unsolder #2 and #3 wires and solder them together ommiting the pots (there might be some extra wires or capacitors connecting the volume pots to tone pots, unsolder that stuff, also the shielding of the pickup wire should stay grounded) 
Find the wire going to the output jack, solder it to the lug #3 of the pot and then solder #2 lug of the pot to the jack where the first wire was


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## slayer6699 (Feb 15, 2018)

TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> Same way, all you are doing is omitting hooking up the tone pot.
> The toggle, volume pot, & jack do not change.
> Look at this page, diagram 6B.
> Hook the jack up to where the tone pot is hooked up to the volume pot & "Bob's your uncle".
> ...


Ok this is a piece of cake haha but i want only one volume for my pups(not 2)


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## oversteve (Feb 15, 2018)

essentially it will be like this
https://docs.google.com/gview?embed...n.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/2H_3G_1V.pdf
except that black wire on diagram is your white wire from the pups, green+bare on diagram is your pickup wire shielding
oh, and you have and extra red wire for battery but it should stay as it is


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Feb 15, 2018)

Diagram 6b on page 3 is only one master volume. You may be looking at the wrong diagram if you're seeing two.


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## slayer6699 (Feb 15, 2018)

TonyFlyingSquirrel said:


> Diagram 6b on page 3 is only one master volume. You may be looking at the wrong diagram if you're seeing two.


Yeah i was watching page 4!


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Feb 15, 2018)

Try to take out tone pots when I can. Not because of the change in sound, but because I always knock against it and fuck with my tone. So I either re-wire it as a 2nd volume pot for my neck pickup and make the master volume a bridge volume, or get rid of it completely.


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## MYGFH (Feb 15, 2018)

Tone pots: no!

I play EMG 707 & 81. I wanna change my tone, I roll off the volume or change amps/channels. My $0.02, good luck.


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## Decipher (Feb 16, 2018)

I've been running my guitars without tone pots for many, many years. Never used them and prefer the tone without them in the circuit.


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## lewis (Feb 16, 2018)

Decipher said:


> I've been running my guitars without tone pots for many, many years. Never used them and prefer the tone without them in the circuit.


damn that Dino Sig is stunning!


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Feb 16, 2018)

Decipher said:


> I've been running my guitars without tone pots for many, many years. Never used them and prefer the tone without them in the circuit.


Same here, 30+ years now.


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## Edika (Feb 17, 2018)

I think that with active pickups it doesn't make as big a difference as with passive but I did not have a guitar with actives with only a single volume pot. 

Two guitars with passives I've played with a single vol pot they were a bit too much on the treble/mid side. In one I replaced the JB with a Dimebucker and seemed to fix the issue. The other I've added a resistor and a cap to emulate the tone pot plus changed the pup as the treble/mid response was overbearing. So it's not always the best solution for all guitars. For a darker instrument it will add to it's sound but to a more bright guitar it might not produce the desired result.


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## elkoki (Feb 17, 2018)

I've been running an EMG 81/66 combo on my Schecter Solo. I prefer the 57 over the 81 in the bridge for high gain, I had them originally with the standard EMG wiring then swapped for the solder-less wiring. I didn't have a solder-less tone pot so I just installed them with a single volume. and I don't notice any difference in sound, not even in a slight way TBH... and i'm usually always picking up on those little subtleties.


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## Tisca (Feb 17, 2018)

Last year I had a pair of EMG 81s for sale and after weeks of no one wanting them I decided to test one in the bridge of my ESP Edwards LPC. Since it was only a quick test I soldered directly to output jack and a battery ofc. So no pots at all. I swear it sounded better than ever before, not that I had tried actives in this particular guitar. Ofc just after I get it installed and loving it I get a message about the pickups and agree to sell them next day so didn't get much time testing.

This week I got a new guitar (MIJ Tokai LPC copy) and I feel like it's a great candidate for actives. I have a EMG 57 unused I'm going to test direct out. This weekend's project.

I have a pair of BKP A-bombs in one guitar with vol/vol only. They feel a bit too hot for the stoner/doom/sludge I'm using them for. When the guitar was in std tuning there was an annoying upper mid harshness which I've read other complain about. This disappeared when I tuned down to C and below. I still wonder if they could benefit from tone pots, not that I have any holes for that in the guitar. Maybe a resistor or smth could work.


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## elkoki (Feb 17, 2018)

Tisca said:


> Last year I had a pair of EMG 81s for sale and after weeks of no one wanting them I decided to test one in the bridge of my ESP Edwards LPC. Since it was only a quick test I soldered directly to output jack and a battery ofc. So no pots at all. I swear it sounded better than ever before, not that I had tried actives in this particular guitar. Ofc just after I get it installed and loving it I get a message about the pickups and agree to sell them next day so didn't get much time testing.
> 
> This week I got a new guitar (MIJ Tokai LPC copy) and I feel like it's a great candidate for actives. I have a EMG 57 unused I'm going to test direct out. This weekend's project.
> 
> I have a pair of BKP A-bombs in one guitar with vol/vol only. They feel a bit too hot for the stoner/doom/sludge I'm using them for. When the guitar was in std tuning there was an annoying upper mid harshness which I've read other complain about. This disappeared when I tuned down to C and below. I still wonder if they could benefit from tone pots, not that I have any holes for that in the guitar. Maybe a resistor or smth could work.




Some guitars just sound amazing with an 81. I had the 81 in an Omen 6 and it didn't sound bad in there, but in my Schecter solo it just sounds way better...


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## Tisca (Feb 17, 2018)

So I just installed the 57 in my Tokai and it's a bit noisy. There's no grounding needed for active EMGs, right? I have it installed from bridge pup to output jack with battery. I left everything else installed, even the old mono jack is loose on the inside. I'm going to check tomorrow for shorts and change a fresh battery. Anyone know already now what could be a problem?


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## elkoki (Feb 18, 2018)

Tisca said:


> So I just installed the 57 in my Tokai and it's a bit noisy. There's no grounding needed for active EMGs, right? I have it installed from bridge pup to output jack with battery. I left everything else installed, even the old mono jack is loose on the inside. I'm going to check tomorrow for shorts and change a fresh battery. Anyone know already now what could be a problem?



What do you mean by a bit noisy ? is it a slight hiss when you have your amp loud and with lots of gain ? if it's like that then it's probably normal. They're never completely quiet . I get a slight hiss too but using a noise gate takes it away completely .. 

If they're noisy even when your amp is pretty quiet then there's an issue somewhere for sure . you don't need to solder the guitar ground wire either .


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## Tisca (Feb 18, 2018)

elkoki said:


> What do you mean by a bit noisy ? is it a slight hiss when you have your amp loud and with lots of gain ? if it's like that then it's probably normal. They're never completely quiet . I get a slight hiss too but using a noise gate takes it away completely ..
> 
> If they're noisy even when your amp is pretty quiet then there's an issue somewhere for sure . you don't need to solder the guitar ground wire either .



Gave the guitar a once-over and I think it's normal hiss now. Might have seemed more noisy due to different setup. I stopped using gate/suppressor a good while ago but at the same time I've been playing different amps with power amp saturation + pedals as opposed to what I like with EMGs and fast riffing that I'm testing now. Wouldn't hurt to remove everything extra.

Going from SD custom 5 to a EMG 57 wasn't too much of a difference. Going to test a 81 next with both 9V and 18V.


EDIT: Can't claim to notice a difference with the 57 and no tone pot vs tone pot.


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## elkoki (Feb 18, 2018)

If I remember correctly the Custom 5 is some what warm/fat sounding . The 57 sounded pretty warm too, well for me...

the 81 will likely sound much more different to you. Personally I liked the 81 better over the 57 for metal, but the 57 is more "versatile" I guess. All I know is that I just didn't like it LOL


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## lewis (Feb 18, 2018)

elkoki said:


> *Some guitars just sound amazing with an 81*. I had the 81 in an Omen 6 and it didn't sound bad in there, but in my Schecter solo it just sounds way better...




woah now. Have you not head that "tone wood" is a myth and EMGs sound exactly identical in every guitar they are put in regardless of what the guitar is made from?............

I guess not......
haha.


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## elkoki (Feb 18, 2018)

lewis said:


> woah now. Have you not head that "tone wood" is a myth and EMGs sound exactly identical in every guitar they are put in regardless of what the guitar is made from?............
> 
> I guess not......
> haha.



You're being sarcastic right haha . that just isn't true .... Anyone with a good ear wouldn't say that...


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Feb 18, 2018)

By the way, in case anyone orders used solder less EMG's without the guts, I can confirm that GFS pots work seamlessly at a fraction of the price of EMG's.
I recently got a 57/66 7H set & nabbed some GFS pots.


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## lewis (Feb 19, 2018)

elkoki said:


> You're being sarcastic right haha . that just isn't true .... Anyone with a good ear wouldn't say that...


Haha of course dude.
Ive read or seen this nonsense on here and online in general more times than ive seen naked women.

Absolutely unreal how many people peddle this garbage.


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## Tisca (Feb 19, 2018)

Today I swapped 57 for an 81 and can't say which I like more. I remember liking 18V more so imma try that next but with no tone pot this time.
I previously said it had originally a Custom 5 (Alnico 5) because that's what the seller said but it's actually a Custom (the ceramic one) looking at the back. No biggie, I own both from before.


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