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I've got a Flextone II 212nd I'm thinking of buying a guitar with an 81 in the bridge. I've heard from some people that the combo of emg and line 6 will sound awful. others say they think it'd sound fine. well, i have nowhere near me to try them out, so i'm asking you guys. my amp is very bassy (thumps, in a bad way), but from wha ive heard the 81 isnt very bassy anyways. my amp isn't too noise, feedback wise. it does tend to sound thin at times so that could be a concern. i'm not sure why it would sound bad, but u've heard something about active pickups not sounding good on line 6 gear. the guitar it would be in would most likely be an LP (or possibly an sg). would the 81 sound good, or should i stick to duncans?

Well the reason that you have been hearing those things is because of the nature of the EMG81 it is an extremely clean hi output and its frequency response is completely smoothed out by the internal preamp. What this means is that you will hear your guitar sound without any coloration, and this is why some people say you shouldn't use emgs in conjunction with solidstate amps. Basically the sound might lack warmth depth and richness of tone. Usually a good tube amp will add in those characteristics and so it makes the sound rich but very defined. really it is up to you to decide if you want to try it out.

As a side note you should check out adder plus pickups, they have a higher output than any other pickups, even emgs, and they are passive and incredibly clear. Since they are passive they will retain warmth, and still give you the huge output you crave. I am going to get a persuader lead custom and felonyx for the neck for christmas. The pickups cost less than emgs and the reviews at harmony central say that NO ONE who has ever tried these pickups have EVER gone back to anything else. Feel free to email Mel Lace who runs the company if you need any more info.

Hope this helps man,

Cheers

well a buddy of mine whio lives a few hours away has an esp with an 81 in the bridge and plays a line 6 spider II. i liked what i heard. keep in mind this is the only amp ive ever had so im not expecting it to sound like a tube amp. so if i liked what i heard from his clips, can i expect similar tones from my flextone?

I use a Line 6 Spider 2 amp and a PRS Custom 22 with EMG 81/85, sounds great together!


Originally Posted by milkandmeatI've got a Flextone II 212nd I'm thinking of buying a guitar with an 81 in the bridge. I've heard from some people that the combo of emg and line 6 will sound awful. others say they think it'd sound fine. well, i have nowhere near me to try them out, so i'm asking you guys. my amp is very bassy (thumps, in a bad way), but from wha ive heard the 81 isnt very bassy anyways. my amp isn't too noise, feedback wise. it does tend to sound thin at times so that could be a concern. i'm not sure why it would sound bad, but u've heard something about active pickups not sounding good on line 6 gear. the guitar it would be in would most likely be an LP (or possibly an sg). would the 81 sound good, or should i stick to duncans?

My friend has the Epi Zach Wilde sig guitar, EMG passive (H4/Z4's?), and a Line 6 amp, and he hates that amp. He got a Boss GT8 recently and has since then hated that amp even more. My recommendation is stay away from cheap objects that come with multiple effects just to get people interested in them. Amp modelling especially. But anyways, I don't know, the only way to make sure is to actually play through them. But I'd be willing to predict that, no, you won't like them. I say stick with your amp and a guitar for a while, then add spice later, or change things later. It's human nature, honestly, which is why sudden decisions usually are bad ones, in my opinion.

I use a strat loaded with the EMG DG-20 set with my GT-8 and it sounds fantastic clean or driven.

BTW Ladies amp; Germs, don't knock modeling too much. If y'all would hear my live tone you wouldn't know it came from a digital preamp unless somebody told you.

Line6 and EMG's sound great. It's what I play and I've never been happier.
Keep in mind that ultimately most of one's tone is generated by technique.
Hey Shredhead7, it's nice to see you FINALLY found a pick-up to try out.
How long has it been already? Well, it's good to see you've already become enough of an EMG expert to explain their tone to others. You can finally enjoy your Carvin guitar

Using a blanket statement like #8220;EMGs into modeling or solid state sounds terrible#8221; is a pretty ignorant and arrogant way to portray your dislike of one or the other. It#8217;s completely false. It#8217;s either that the pickups don#8217;t fit their taste or that they haven#8217;t spent the time to dial in their modeled tones. Modelers are like any other amp: you have to spend a fair amount of time turning knobs before you can be blessed with beautiful tone.

Modelling amps are great. My Mesa and Marshall have been collecting dust since I found my Vettas about three years agao. They are all i use now and my tone has been very consistent and great! I have never gotten this many compliments since finding vetta and taking the time to properly dial it in! I'll never use stomps, etc again. EMGs are supposed to be great with Line 6 although I have not spent much time on them. They are very clear and precise and I tend to like how passives react.

I've used EMGs through a Vetta II for quite some time and it sounded great. Ok, the sound isn't relly appealing if played through a spieder II but with the Vetta it can sound pretty cool.


Originally Posted by neosadistMy friend has the Epi Zach Wilde sig guitar, EMG passive (H4/Z4's?), and a Line 6 amp, and he hates that amp. He got a Boss GT8 recently and has since then hated that amp even more. My recommendation is stay away from cheap objects that come with multiple effects just to get people interested in them. Amp modelling especially. But anyways, I don't know, the only way to make sure is to actually play through them. But I'd be willing to predict that, no, you won't like them. I say stick with your amp and a guitar for a while, then add spice later, or change things later. It's human nature, honestly, which is why sudden decisions usually are bad ones, in my opinion.

I have the Vett II head and have put tube guys to shame at gigs and have gigged wth tubes/seen hundreds of rigs live work with a friend who is a sound engineer for many local bands. The conclusion we have drawn is that it comes down to the player and how they use their rig! I love my vetta and have NEVER been this happy with a rig and I ran a Marshall and midified Mesa prior to this rig! I personally do not like the Boss stuff. But again that is me.

yea frehley i finally figured it out. But actually i had tried out Emg 81s before, but i tried them in a ESP eclipse and so i figured it would sound a lot different through my setup. But yea my setup doesn't have enough warmth to fill in for the ultra clean ness of emgs. I will make sure to write a review once i get the pickups.


Originally Posted by neosadistMy friend has the Epi Zach Wilde sig guitar, EMG passive (H4/Z4's?), and a Line 6 amp, and he hates that amp. He got a Boss GT8 recently and has since then hated that amp even more. My recommendation is stay away from cheap objects that come with multiple effects just to get people interested in them. Amp modelling especially. But anyways, I don't know, the only way to make sure is to actually play through them. But I'd be willing to predict that, no, you won't like them. I say stick with your amp and a guitar for a while, then add spice later, or change things later. It's human nature, honestly, which is why sudden decisions usually are bad ones, in my opinion.EMG HZ pickups are NOT anything like a set of 81s.

Passive vs. Active, high impedance vs. low. Not to mention that Line6 makes a lot of different amps and there's a big difference between a $400 Spider and a $1700 Vetta, but that part of the quot;hates the ampquot; equation is not the point right now.

EMG HZ pickups are just as different from EMG actives as any other passive is.

I have a set of EMGs (85/81) in my Explorer and there are things it's good at, and things it's not so good at when used in combination with the Line 6 equipment I've used it with. (I own an AX2-212, and my brother has a PODxt LIVE)What it is naturally good at:

High gain tones, especially metal sounds with a lot of chunk and bite. They have tremendous clarity and definition, while still providing a quite hot output to drive the amp.

Crisp clean sounds. Not bluesy ones, and not smooth, thick jazzy ones.

I always tell anyone asking about EMGs to listen to Metallica. The type of clean sound that Hetfield uses is what EMGs do well.What it's not very good at:

Warm blues sounds. Takes a lot of tweaking to even approach such (especially on the 81)

Classic rock (mid gain) sounds. These things are Metallica. These things are Slayer. They are not Zeppelin. They are not Skynyrd. They're Wylde, not Iommi. Think of that sort of quot;sterilequot; (only word I could think of to describe it) Judas Priest palm muting sound when trying to imagine how these sound running raw through a Plexi.All of that goes in spades for the 81. The 85 is more versatile IMO, but it's still not quite as quot;vintagequot; or quot;classicquot; sounding as EMG's catalogue might describe it. Of course, you can always EQ the heck out of things to make things better or worse, the above is what these things do well or not so well naturally. It's my opinion though that if you have to do that much work to make a pickup fit a sound then you're using the wrong pickup for that type of sound.

The 81 will never do the PAF thing as well as the '59 in my fat strat.

It will never do the thick, prog metal Petrucci type sound like the Tone Zone in my RG.

But neither of those do what this thing can do as well as it can either. The 81 is, imho, one of those pickups that may not be extraordinarily versatile, but rather is just very good at what it does do.

Or at least, that's what I hear from it through my Line 6 gear. Anyone that wants to buy me a real vintage Plexi to spend some time with to see if it reacts the same or my impression of the pickup changes is more than welcome to do so.


Originally Posted by JB1592I always tell anyone asking about EMGs to listen to Metallica. The type of clean sound that Hetfield uses is what EMGs do well.

Like in the quot;Onequot; intro? The rhythm guitar before the Kirk comes in?

I have several sets of EMG SA's in Strats with the SPC/EXG modules, I have a Boss GT-6 and various other effects including a Line 6 Roto-machine, and a Solidstate Peavey Amp. I have NO complaints.

Check out some of Jeff's songs. I believe he records with a Schecter that has an EMG 85 in it, boosted with an OD (TS9 type I think), and then into a Line6 XT. Sounds great to me. He's a member here too, maybe he'll see the post and chime in.

from : localhost/www.myspace.com/IncognitaMetal

The other guitarist in my band plays a hellraiser through a spider II stack. Its got 81 at the bridge. It sounds pretty good, aggressive, through the 'metal' distortion channel. But its not as organic sounding as duncans, its got almost a gritty quality. Feedback isn't much of an issue really. Sounds pretty good for straight metal genres.

But the same guitar through one of those Line 6 live processors sounds pretty bad. There aren't many good distortions for metal type music, execpt one that is overkill to hell. Crazy bad feedback, bad treble and such. That distortion is called 'killer/Zquot; or something to that effect.

So it really depends on which line6 distortion. I think they have a good amount of different ones through out their entire product line.


Originally Posted by papersoulI have the Vett II head and have put tube guys to shame at gigs and have gigged wth tubes/seen hundreds of rigs live work with a friend who is a sound engineer for many local bands. The conclusion we have drawn is that it comes down to the player and how they use their rig! I love my vetta and have NEVER been this happy with a rig and I ran a Marshall and midified Mesa prior to this rig! I personally do not like the Boss stuff. But again that is me.

Same here with the Vetta 2. I had a mesa rectoverb before and I sold it. I think people who say they hate the line 6 stuff (the higher end stuff, not the spider so much) just haven't spent enough time dialing in the sound. Some of the sounds I downloaded from other users on the line 6 site were pretty terrible for instance. They were way to mid scooped and compressed.

As far as EMG with Line 6 goes - I had a KH602 with 81s, and I found the distorted rhythm tone to be great, but overall I preffer the tone of my Duncans. DD, C5, Custom, and Jazz specifically.