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Opinons please: EMG David Gilmour pickups


morningstar

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I have this set up in my #1 strat.

Cleans are cleaner. No feedback. Passable mid boost for thicker humbuckerish tones.

I have played a strat plus with lace sensors (red white and blue) and really liked those but I would only pick that on my #2 strat for a change of pace. I don't even play a strat on stage anymore.

Again, if you like clean tones, these are real good. I have had them for about eight years of which the first two years this was one of only two Electrics that I owned/played.

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The Gilmour set starts with a set of EMG SA pickups. They have a lot of advantages. Among them are: High output, in the range of a mid-output humbucker. Dead quiet. Great cleans. Low output impedance so they can drive a whole chain of pedals (more on this in a sec). And, to me the biggie is that there is no way that you're going to kiss a mike while playing and have that thing kiss you back and fry you.

The Gilmour set brings a couple of extra circuits to the party. First is the fairly well-known EMG SPC or "Strat Presence Control" it's also commonly known as the Fat control. It shifts the resonant center of the pickups downward from the single-coil area to the humbucking part of the frequency range. Fattens the mids, softens up the top a little. If you're playing with an amp that is just on the edge of breakup, this knobbie will push it over. The name of the second circuit escapes me at the moment, but I think it's EXG or EXP. What it does is, as you advance the control, the mids get pushed back a bit and the bottom and top get lifted. It's definitely noticeable but not gonzo over the top. A practical application of this is taking a good strat sound, winding up the EXG knob and you're suddently venturing into that huge SRV wall of amps territory.

I cobbled this exact circuit together about 30 years ago, just out of the EMG parts catalog and well before EMG marketed it as a set of any sort. I wanted 1) a guitar that could cover almost all the bases in the band I was in: 2) An output level that was closer to my humbuckered guitar(s) so I wouldn't have to dink with the amp every time I changed guitars 3) something to get away from all the neon and refrigerator compressor buzz in the lines and 4) A ground isolation so I wouldn't get killed by the crappy power in the joints we were playing at the time. It woked well, still sounds great in the guitar I put it in.

But that guitar is 30 years old and getting worn out. So I dropped one of the new pre-fab sets into a Strat and it goes to a lot fo gigs with me. My only gripe is that the pots used to be a lot stiffer and the new ones spin a bit too easily for my liking, thus leading to the "pinky knocking the volume down" syndrome.

Oh, about the high output, low impedance. That's just the ticket for driving a crapload of effects and, the last time I looked, Gilmour was the poster child for such a setup. :lol:

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Get Mike Keneally and Beer for Dolphin's album "Dancing". If you don't believe EMG's can sound great going in, you definitely will by the time your done. I don't use active pickups because I'm just used to passives, but there are all sorts of people out there who make EMG's sound great.

-

Austin

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tomteriffic explained it best. I have a set of these and it was my #1 guitar. You can read about it in my blog. I am a Gilmour freak and would play along with his DVDs. I say it was my #1 guitar because my son and I are working on something heavier at the moment. You can't go wrong with the DG-20s. I'd sell you mine if I weren't going to return to them which says something. They are not for sale.
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+1 for the DG EMGs. I have a set in a red strat that I use for the gilmour stuff, and I actually built a black one as well (with the clapton boost in it) for comparison.

The DG-20 set is really killer for all the reasons stated above. And if you're also a GIlmour fanatic you can be comforted by the fact that Commander GIlmour himself still uses the original red strat with the DG-20 set in it for "Shine On" and other staples live.

:)

GH

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Well the pickups will exceed the cost of my MIK Daytona by about double (the case cost more than the guitar). It seems a good cheap platform and the only gripe I have is the cheesy pots. I like the strattiness of my MIK, and the nanner pudding finish is really awesome, but I really do want to try for a few Gilmour sounds. I like the fret wire too; as a confessed masher I am impressed with its ability to absorb excessive pressures over the last 12+ years.

Does any body know this: Will the "loaded" pickguard screw holes line up with my MIK Daytona predrilled body holes? If not, it seems the whole harness should transplant easily and the only solder will still be the jack. I have a new soldering iron to break in...

Thanks

morningstar

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Well the pickups will exceed the cost of my MIK Daytona by about double (the case cost more than the guitar). It seems a good cheap platform and the only gripe I have is the cheesy pots. I like the strattiness of my MIK, and the nanner pudding finish is really awesome, but I really do want to try for a few Gilmour sounds. I like the fret wire too; as a confessed masher I am impressed with its ability to absorb excessive pressures over the last 12+ years.

Does any body know this: Will the "loaded" pickguard screw holes line up with my MIK Daytona predrilled body holes? If not, it seems the whole harness should transplant easily and the only solder will still be the jack. I have a new soldering iron to break in...

Thanks

morningstar

I did an MIK Daytona like that for a friend, but I cobbled the circuit together on the existing pickguard. The pre-wired set I had dropped right into a MIM Strat, if that's any help.

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I believe it comes on the late standard 11-hole pickguard,

That is correct, the pickguard is pearloid too.

so you'll probably need to transfer it to another for a Daytona.

That I couldn't tell you as I've never seen a MIK Daytona except on e-bay.

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I have the EMG Gilmour pickup set in my Fender Japan Strat. I've gone through numerous pickups trying to find single coil pickups that wouldn't hum or sound thin. I took out the EXG module off of the pickguard and installed a master tone pot so I have master volume, master tone, and SPC module. I found the pickups/module configuration to be a lot more versatile and only had to adjust the volume knob & SPC knobs and not have to deal with the EXG module. I'm happy with this setup and won't be changing pickups for awhile. Tomterrific stated the advantages of active pickups.

Guitar George

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Thanks for the first hand knowledge. I really did not know what to really think of them. I love the Zakk set in my MIJ ESP Eclipse I Custom. That's buckers though and this is singles. I have never had the expander booster stuff so I am happy to hear the gizmos work.

I bought a DG20 set on FeeBay. I hould have a tone report in about a week or so.

morningstar

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I have the EMG Gilmour pickup set in my Fender Japan Strat. I've gone through numerous pickups trying to find single coil pickups that wouldn't hum or sound thin. I took out the EXG module off of the pickguard and installed a master tone pot so I have master volume, master tone, and SPC module. I found the pickups/module configuration to be a lot more versatile and only had to adjust the volume knob & SPC knobs and not have to deal with the EXG module. I'm happy with this setup and won't be changing pickups for awhile. Tomterrific stated the advantages of active pickups.

Guitar George

Oooh Oooh, how'd you do it?

I dropped mine into a Mex Classic 70s, which has a maple fretboard and an ash body. A wee bit bright for my taste on occaision. Never use EXP, and would really like to tame the highs at times.

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Oooh Oooh, how'd you do it?

I dropped mine into a Mex Classic 70s, which has a maple fretboard and an ash body. A wee bit bright for my taste on occaision. Never use EXP, and would really like to tame the highs at times.

Hey seeker,

I bought the EMG SA pickups and the EXG & SPC modules seperately since I was trying out active pickups to see if I would like it or not. The DG pickup set has both modules integrated as one circuitboard with the pots attached to the pickguard. If you have the DG pickup set, you can't seperate the two modules unless you buy them both seperately. Single coil pickups, whether active or passive, are bright, twangy, and snappy sounding which is what most folks want in a Strat or Tele type guitars. The EXG modules emphasize more lows and highs when you turn the pot clockwise. It's great for clean tones and really brings out the lows & highs it was designed for. I eventually got burnt out on having to tweak the EXG module to get the extra lows/highs, installed a master tone pot in its place, and left the SPC module for its midrange boost for leads or to fatten things up when I need it. I basically made my EMG pickups configured more like the Vince Gill pickup set, but using the SA pickups instead of the S pickups that come with his signature pickguard. If you're interested, I'm selling the EXG module.

Guitar George

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Tone report: Awesome. These will do about anything, Sustain is for days. Me likey the sweet clean noiseless operation of these pickups.

Installation notes:

The guitar: 1999-2000 MIK Daytona (just HAMER, not Slammer Series or Slammer by Hamer. The routs are H-s-H which I am sure helps with the fit. The serial is a white Brother-type plastic sticker horizontally across the headstock wrist. No indication of country of origin. I am almost certain all HAMER imports of the time wre Korean. If any of that helps anyone else thinking of doing this, good.

The pickguard: The pickguard DOES fit sorta. It is very tight near the treble corner of the neck, and you have to jimmy the wires to keep them centered down the middle of the routs. Not a big deal. There is a hole alignment issue.

The pickguard screw holes do not all line up. So if you want to avoid drilling extra pickguard holes, you will have to transplant the electronics. The pearloid pickguard looked so good and the guitar cost so little ($90 shipped!) that I just lined up and screwed down the holes that did line up and drilled the new holes for the rest of the screws. Pics below.

Jack drilling issue: The MIK ground wire hole is just big enough for the single wire that came from the factory. I had to use long (i.e. foot long) 1/4 inch bit to ream the hold out big enough to allow passage of the solderless connectors from the jack to the board.

Solderless connectors. Really easy and cool. As the official techno-tard I can say if I can do it, anyone can.

Some pics of the fun:

HsH Route in MIK Daytona---

IMG_0202.jpg

Board and plug in solderless connections...cool.

IMG_0207.jpg

Installed EMG DG 20 Set:

IMG_0211.jpg

morningstar

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