emg 81's

[ToLiveIsToDie]

I'm going to get my stock EMG HZ's taken out and replaced with 81's and got some questions about em... first off.... are they as great as some of the people say? and second... do they require batteries?

[EricV]

Hi there,

yes the EMGs are active and therefore require a battery. You also will most likely have to have a new output jack and knobs / switch installed... I once got a set of one EMG 85 and two SA´s ( the latter are singlecoils ), and they came with tone- and volume-knob, an output jack and a fiveway-switch. I had to put all that into the guitar ( a Valley Arts Strat ) which was quite easy cuz the whole set was pre-wired. YOu just had to plug in the pickups ( plugs, no soldering ).
The battery can either be put into the electronics-cavity ( either install a clamp to hold it, or wrap it into something to keep it from moving and thereby making noises within your guitar ), or put it into the vibrato cavity ( I have seen some players do that too ).

The EMG81s are quite popular, especially for metal musicians. They sound very agressive. Kirk Hammett and Zakk Wylde use those, and someone recently told me that with the 81, it was way easier to get those agressive Wylde-squeals...

Eric

[ToLiveIsToDie]

so does the 81's come with new knobs and switcher? and if it does... would that mean that a higher price is required to have them installed... or is replacing them not too difficult? and... would another knob be added? just clueless as to wat to expect... no clue wat's going to happen to my guitar. and eric... thanks for all the replies man... really helpful.

[EricV]

No problem, man.

Well it depends where and which set you buy. As I set, usually they require a special output jack and knob ( It doesn´t matter whether you want a tone knob or not... if you don´t want it, you don´t have to install it ) ( Maybe check out their website or user reviews at Harmony Central... to make sure the single pickup comes with the replacements. If not, you can buy them separately )
This is to make the pickup perform to it´s full potential.
And you can do that yourself, probably. All the stuff is pre-wired ( at least that was the case with the Strat Set I bought ).
Also, a good manual was inluded.
All I had to do was to deconnect the wires from the output jack ( soldering required ), remove all the knobs and pickups from the pickguard ( no soldering required usually ), put the EMG-stuff on and connect all the components with the plugs.
I only had to solder the two ( or was it three ?! ) wires to the output jack. That was it.
Done within like an hour, and as long as you follow the basic rules of soldering, it´s easy as pie.
Shouldn´t cost you much more to have that stuff installed, in case it is not included in the prize of the mere pickup-installation

Hope this helps
Eric