# EMG Marty Friedman incoming?



## Zado (Oct 27, 2016)

Well, probably


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## TheWarAgainstTime (Oct 27, 2016)

I wonder if this will be an all new model or just a pre-packaged set like the KK or ZW 81/85 sets


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 27, 2016)

I think this was talked about awhile back. They're possibly going to be a new set of passive.


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## Dawn of the Shred (Oct 28, 2016)

I think they will be passives


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## yellowv (Oct 28, 2016)

He's been playing 57/66. I doubt they will be passive.


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (Oct 29, 2016)

yellowv said:


> He's been playing 57/66. I doubt they will be passive.



That's what I thought, another pre-packaged sig set, duh! But if it is indeed a new set, I'm all ears 

To add more confusion, earlier this year he recorded 3 songs for EMGTV playing 81x-60x on a beat up guitar w/ no branding, you could tell it was originally blue at some point, lol.


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## endmysuffering (Oct 29, 2016)

Would this mean Marty is coming back in full force?


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 29, 2016)

Stuck_in_a_dream said:


> To add more confusion, earlier this year he recorded 3 songs for EMGTV playing 81x-60x on a beat up guitar w/ no branding, you could tell it was originally blue at some point, lol.




From what I've heard, it's a regular Les Paul that suffered fire damage. 

I wish I can find the link, though. I did hear somewheres that they were passives. I can be totally off, though.


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (Oct 30, 2016)

Here


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## narad (Oct 30, 2016)

Yesss!! Now get this guy a sig Engl while we're at it!


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (Oct 30, 2016)

...and here's the best image I could find of the new Jackson sig prototype. I don't really dig the new axe, but the pickups, I'm definitely interested!


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 30, 2016)

^Can't use Imgur. Use something like postimg or tinypic.

EDIT: And I told you guys.  And I'd rock the .... out of his Jackson sig. I wish the entire Monarkh line used that traditional shape instead of the one with the limp cutaway.


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## oracles (Nov 1, 2016)

narad said:


> Yesss!! Now get this guy a sig Engl while we're at it!



I would buy the sh*t out of an ENGL sig Friedman head.


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## KnightBrolaire (Nov 1, 2016)

the monarkh is a sick guitar. Too bad the last one I played had blackouts or else I would have bought it.


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## Dawn of the Shred (Nov 2, 2016)

Definitely interested in these


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## Smoked Porter (Nov 2, 2016)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> EDIT: And I told you guys.  And I'd rock the .... out of his Jackson sig. I wish the entire Monarkh line used that traditional shape instead of the one with the limp cutaway.



 The reverse headstock on Marty's helps too. Looks meaner.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Nov 2, 2016)

Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about the pickups.  EMG passives tend to suck donkey dick. 

Although since Marty is giving his input, they'll be good I hope. The EMG GZR passive bass pickups get tons of praise, even though they're passive EMGs. I'm hoping Marty and EMG knock it out the park with this. I'm guessing they'll be based on the JB set, since he's used that for... years. Possibly sprinkle on some EMG 57/66 as well.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Jan 12, 2017)

https://www.facebook.com/martyfriedman.official/posts/1201165816587099








> Very proud to announce my first Signature Pickup Series EVER!
> EMG will debut the Marty Friedman Signature pickups at NAMM.
> This passive pickup was developed over the course of the recording of my "Inferno" album and my upcoming album. It retains the trademark EMG heavy metal bite, while also allowing for warm and very human sounding tones. It was an integral part in getting sweet solo tones like this one.
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdVg-1FKX4k
> I will be at EMG on 1/20 from 2PM-3PM.


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (Jan 13, 2017)

It's an HZ?!!


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## SqWark (Jan 13, 2017)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> https://www.facebook.com/martyfriedman.official/posts/1201165816587099



Then Marty posts a video of him playing a Paul Reed Smith with active pickups to help promote his new Jackson guitar with passives  

I do like this song a lot. It's got a Cacophony meets X-Japan kinda vibe... Two of my favorites artists


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## narad (Jan 13, 2017)

Question is, realistically that song was recorded like 2-3... would it really have had these passive EMGs in it?


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (Jan 17, 2017)

It's here, $189 direct:













*EDIT:* Demo but not by Marty 



*EDIT2: *Description from EMG site:
Guitar virtuoso Marty Friedman relies on only the best of everything to deliver his unique one-of-a-kind guitar mastery. EMG had been part of this equation for the former Megadeth guitarist for years. EMG president and founder Rob Turner set out to develop a brand new passive signature set for Marty that delivered all of the dynamic response, power, punch and clarity that only EMG can. With *alnico 5 *magnets and a brand new recipe for winding the custom made bobbins, the result was exactly what Marty had been searching for. Available in Marty&#8217;s favorite brushed black chrome finish, these pickups look as deadly as they sound. &#8220;When I heard this pickup, I knew it was "the one" because it made me want to keep playing and never stop. This is my sound. I&#8217;m glad EMG took the time to get it right.


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## couverdure (Mar 25, 2017)

Anyone here have tried them yet? This is the only other demo video available on YouTube since it's new but it's great. The rhythms sound pretty old-school/thrashy and the leads on both pickups are pristine as a newly forged sword. I would love to have a pair of these.


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## Matt08642 (Mar 25, 2017)

Stuck_in_a_dream said:


> It's here, $189 direct:
> 
> 
> 
> ...




So weird how they had the backing track cranked SO loudly... I could barely hear the pickups


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (Aug 9, 2017)

This is from the 'Wall of Sound' album, just out last week.


Awesome song IMHO, but aside from that, is he using an uncovered version of his sig EMG? If not, which pickups are these??!!


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Aug 9, 2017)

Someone reviewed the Jackson MF-1, and he says he didn't like the pickups. The dude's a huge EMG fan, and he says they're dull, muddy and lifeless. 

Sounds exactly like my complaints with the EMG HZ4 set.


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (Aug 9, 2017)

Is that why Marty stopped using them already lol? I'm not 100% sure but in the yt video i posted, at 1:48, I think I see what could be SD branding.


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (Aug 9, 2017)

^ I stand corrected! After extracting a frame from the video it seems to me his neck pickup is just an EMG HZ!!! Whether he actually used it to record the guitars on this album, no clue. Here's the frame.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Aug 9, 2017)

Probably an EMG HZ OC set.


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## SteveFireland (Aug 12, 2017)

I had an EMG HZ set and they were dreadful, worst pickups I'd ever had in any guitar. I hope these are better!

Don't care for that track. Marty is still awesome though.


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## Elwood (Aug 13, 2017)

Stuck_in_a_dream said:


> It's an HZ?!!



Strange, anything concrete on these!?

Every bit of Info contradicts the last.


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## Stuck_in_a_dream (Aug 13, 2017)

Well, he may have used them in the video because they look cool or whatever, the branding clearly (to me) shows EMG-HZ. Whether he used his sig or HZ on the current album, or even something else entirely, Idk as Marty has not shared this info (yet). His signature Jackson comes with his EMG signature pickups, here:


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## couverdure (Aug 14, 2017)

They might've been prototypes for sure, I remember he posted some pics of his sig last year and there were HZ-labeled open-coil pickups in it.


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## rexbinary (Feb 13, 2018)




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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 13, 2019)

So uh

Anyone tried these?


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## StevenC (Oct 13, 2019)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> So uh
> 
> Anyone tried these?


I thiiiiiiink @narad had a pair, but I might be misremembering.


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## narad (Oct 13, 2019)

StevenC said:


> I thiiiiiiink @narad had a pair, but I might be misremembering.



The EMG retro-active 77s. Might as well be a Marty sig pickup -- nails that sound.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 13, 2019)

narad said:


> The EMG retro-active 77s. Might as well be a Marty sig pickup -- nails that sound.



I just was curious about trying them out. There's a dude I follow on YT that claims he sweeears by these pickups now.


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## lewis (Oct 13, 2019)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> I just was curious about trying them out. There's a dude I follow on YT that claims he sweeears by these pickups now.


Who is that?

Not going to lie the passive EMGs ive tried before were dreadful. Im assuming these are going to be the same tbh.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 13, 2019)

lewis said:


> Who is that?
> 
> Not going to lie the passive EMGs ive tried before were dreadful. Im assuming these are going to be the same tbh.


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## Politics of Ecstasy (Oct 13, 2019)

TBH IMHO no matter what, these are gonna be bad. Definitely on the bottom of the list....i think EMG is just trying to infuse some new blood into its roster and they couldnt think of anything new to try with friedman so they went classic for a classic metal shredder.....but i hope if anyone is going to buy them that they enjoy them, i just cant see them being anything worth trying, and it just looks messy altogether


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 14, 2019)

Politics of Ecstasy said:


> TBH IMHO no matter what, these are gonna be bad. Definitely on the bottom of the list....i think EMG is just trying to infuse some new blood into its roster and they couldnt think of anything new to try with friedman so they went classic for a classic metal shredder.....but i hope if anyone is going to buy them that they enjoy them, i just cant see them being anything worth trying, and it just looks messy altogether



I was gonna write these off, but when EMG released the GZR pickup set to nothing but praise and love, i started to think they actually put effort in the signature sets.

I might wait and see what the deal is with the Jim Root pickups.


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## Politics of Ecstasy (Oct 14, 2019)

HeHasTheJazzHands said:


> I was gonna write these off, but when EMG released the GZR pickup set to nothing but praise and love, i started to think they actually put effort in the signature sets.
> 
> I might wait and see what the deal is with the Jim Root pickups.


Absolutely man, I can’t speak about them because I havent tried them or heard them myself. They might be nice....but in the end, why? Lol sorry, but as much as I love Marty Friedman and his work with Dave Mustaine and Jason Becker, its a little late in the game to get sig pups, and then make them _passive_ EMGs at that, like come on, do something special for the guy! Seriously, its more surprise at the choice than anything, because I love active EMG’s and never heard a good thing about the passives. 

Maybe, however, these are the exception....so if they are, Good for Marty!


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Oct 14, 2019)

I mean, you gotta try them to find out.  I just wanna try them out, mostly out of curiousity because I'd like to try what I can in the EMG roster.


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## Spaced Out Ace (Nov 24, 2019)

I get the feeling @Politics of Ecstasy is basing his statements off of what he's heard others say rather than actually trying any of the passive EMGs himself. I think Prashant Aswani gets killer tones out of his ESPs loaded with passive EMGs, who now has his own Sig set. I get feeling based on the tones and his prior tones with H3s and H1s that they are tweaked or hybrid versions of those. Lars Frederiksen's Dirty Middle Fingers set also sounds pretty interesting. I think all three would sound cool with the ABQ. 

I have some EMG passives, and with the ABQ, I thought they sounded killer. However, the new prices for EMG's passive line, even for someone who has had a pretty positive experience like me, is a definite no. $99 for a passive or active EMG is kind of silly. $70 or whatever it was prior is a little more reasonable and competitive. The selects, EMG designed ESP pickups, and the OC stuff I'm sure is absolute junk, though.

As for Hunter, I think his videos and tone are pretty meh.


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## Alex79 (Nov 24, 2019)

I don't understand what EMG is trying to achieve with all these signature sets. The Hetfield set made sense, but Friedman, Loomis, KK, ZW, Kirk Hammett? IMO they should simply release different, new pickups, without an artist name attached to them. In fact, the "signature" aspect is kind of off-putting. I don't have any intention to sound like a "Friedman" or a "Loomis", but I could get behind a differently voiced active pickup if it ticks the boxes.


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## TonyFlyingSquirrel (Nov 24, 2019)

Alex79 said:


> I don't understand what EMG is trying to achieve with all these signature sets. The Hetfield set made sense, but Friedman, Loomis, KK, ZW, Kirk Hammett? IMO they should simply release different, new pickups, without an artist name attached to them. In fact, the "signature" aspect is kind of off-putting. I don't have any intention to sound like a "Friedman" or a "Loomis", but I could get behind a differently voiced active pickup if it ticks the boxes.



Respectfully, I do get it. Much of EMG's baseline product line is what many artists began using, then began refining a great deal with outboard gear. As an artist, their is already a product demand in the sense that consumers want to emulate that artist's sound. Providing signature sets to supply that demand is just simply good economics. The demand for artist sets is higher in the market place right now over baseline sets. 

When I was at Warmoth, the spreadsheets would tell the tale of what products sold more strongly, and at what times of the year, based on related economic trends in various countries. Tax season is a pique time for sales in the U.S. for instance. Over and over again, there would be lots of forum talk, about I want this, or I want that, but when we would do "feeler" offerings for those types of things & post them in the showcase, they'd sit there and not move. The saying is certainly true "If they want it, they will buy it". Signature parts move significantly in the guitar world, much more than signature guitars. 

A friend of mine here in the Seattle area has his own signature with a well known Japanese company, and despite their past success, the movement of these guitars is actually in the lower dozens per year, not several hundred. The Gibson Les Paul and the Ibanez Jem are still the highest moving signature guitars and have been for many years. Those are the exceptions, where my friend from Seattle's example is the standard. Hardware/parts are much more affordable for the experimenting guitar consumer to purchase and do so repeatedly, so signature hardware moves product, moving product creates profit, and that is what a business is in business for after all.


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## couverdure (Nov 24, 2019)

Alex79 said:


> I don't understand what EMG is trying to achieve with all these signature sets. The Hetfield set made sense, but Friedman, Loomis, KK, ZW, Kirk Hammett? IMO they should simply release different, new pickups, without an artist name attached to them. In fact, the "signature" aspect is kind of off-putting. I don't have any intention to sound like a "Friedman" or a "Loomis", but I could get behind a differently voiced active pickup if it ticks the boxes.


Not to be that person but the Jeff Loomis pickups are from Seymour Duncan. I think you got him mixed up because he was with EMG before he moved to SD to develop his signature pickups.

The ZW set come with long-shaft pots so if you want to have an 81/85 set installed in a Les Paul. The KFK set are also an 81/85 set but with a gain boost toggle. The other signatures are actually different (or at least internally tweaked) pickups.

EMG do have some new non-signature pickups, they've been pushing the Retro Active line for a few years now and some Schecters have them stock.


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## Politics of Ecstasy (Nov 24, 2019)

couverdure said:


> Not to be that person but the Jeff Loomis pickups are from Seymour Duncan. I think you got him mixed up because he was with EMG before he moved to SD to develop his signature pickups.
> 
> The ZW set come with long-shaft pots so if you want to have an 81/85 set installed in a Les Paul. The KFK set are also an 81/85 set but with a gain boost toggle. The other signatures are actually different (or at least internally tweaked) pickups.
> 
> EMG do have some new non-signature pickups, they've been pushing the Retro Active line for a few years now and some Schecters have them stock.


FWIW this is a fine point of distinction that I can appreciate because of the (options such as the gain boost switch ) Fluence sets.... and no it has nothing about my membership badge lol

I think couvredure point that these sets have “options” that appeal to certain guitar players (like if I didn’t hop on the fluence train I was curious to see the het field set and also I didn’t know there was an 81.85 set with a boost toggle which is IMHO fuckin awesome, idc all the nay sayers would say MORE boost to the 81.... YES, it can handle it, esp I’m with the 18v mod )

so it’s a mixed bag, EMG is slightly desperate to remain competitive BUT this is making them offer super nice combo packages that might otherwise cost an extra $99 to buy in extra parts (I’m assuming these sets you mention include it at same price as rest [ca $250)

@Spaced Out Ace FWIW, I DID say, I’m basing it on pure conjecture, because i didnt hear it and they may be great, and if they are, why would i be unhappy? Best wishes to anyone who buys them, like i said originally

anyway a pro to the list for EMG


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## Alex79 (Nov 25, 2019)

couverdure said:


> Not to be that person but the Jeff Loomis pickups are from Seymour Duncan. I think you got him mixed up because he was with EMG before he moved to SD to develop his signature pickups.
> 
> The ZW set come with long-shaft pots so if you want to have an 81/85 set installed in a Les Paul. The KFK set are also an 81/85 set but with a gain boost toggle. The other signatures are actually different (or at least internally tweaked) pickups.
> 
> EMG do have some new non-signature pickups, they've been pushing the Retro Active line for a few years now and some Schecters have them stock.



Oops, my bad, I indeed thought that the Loomis was an EMG set!


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## c7spheres (Apr 2, 2020)

I just thought I'd throw it out there that the Marty Friedman set is out now. They're passive. Interesting too that in the instructions EMG is putting the Q value, the gauss strength and also the impedence while at the resonant frequency. Pretty useful info. 
- The Glenn Tipton set is also out now.


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## HeHasTheJazzHands (Apr 13, 2020)

c7spheres said:


> I just thought I'd throw it out there that the Marty Friedman set is out now. They're passive. Interesting too that in the instructions EMG is putting the Q value, the gauss strength and also the impedence while at the resonant frequency. Pretty useful info.
> - The Glenn Tipton set is also out now.



They've been out for awhile now. From what I can tell, the Marty Friedman set is probably the tightest and most aggressive of the passive pickups they've released from what I've been told. 

And the GTV set is supposed to be a smoother sounding EMG 81/81 set, due to the use of steel magnets IIRC? It seems like the tonal peak shifted more towards the low mids. So if you felt the standard 81/81 set sounded too harsh, this should smooth things out.


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