Anyone regret doing the 18v mod on EMG 81? EMG 85 or 81 on basswood guitar?

[narcossintese]

I have a basswood guitar and I´m not sure if I should use a 81 or a 85 on the bridge. I know that people usually like 81 on the bridge on mahogany guitars, but I couln´t find much information about basswood.

Plus, if I go with 81, I would like to know if someone here regreted doing the 18v mod.

Thanks!

 

[Metaltastic]

I'm loving the 81 at 18v whenever I can (I can't fit both batteries in the cavity so I just unscrew the cover and have them dangling when I'm recording important stuff, and run it at 9v otherwise) - but if I could run it all the time, I would!

 

[Lazzari]

for a basswood guitar get the emg 85 man really

 

[John_C]

It's not really something you have to regret. If you don't like it, it's not exactly hard to undo

 

[JeffTD]

I don't really dig it, tbh.

 

[narcossintese]

I decided to do the 18v mod (thanks marcus for the shootouts) and get 85 on the bridge and 81 on the neck.

Dumb question: I just putted a new set of strings on my guitar. If I loose them big time (without removing) to swap the pickups position (81 on the bridge and 85 on the neck), will this ruin the strings or they'll keep as good as new?

Thanks.

 

[Metaltastic]

It certainly won't ruin them, but I'd imagine it'd shorten their lifespan as far as retaining that new string brightness; that said, I always thought that was kind of overrated, so don't sweat it! FWIW, though, I should've specified, I actually prefer the 85 at 9v, cuz the 18v mod to my ears tends to slightly diminish the mids and extend the lows and highs; the 81 benefits from this, but the 85 doesn't IME! Check it out:

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...85-9v-vs-18v-shootout-decent-height-time.html

But my ideal combination is still 2x 81's at 18v!

 

[Lazzari]

But my ideal combination is still 2x 81's at 18v!

thats because u have mahogany guitars, in basswood guitars u should get the emg 85 sinces it has more lows than the emg..

 

[Mutant]

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/equipment/293799-my-emg-18v-experiment.html

Make the temp harness if you are not sure.
http://home.comcast.net/~mgollihur/emgmod.html

 

[narcossintese]

FWIW, though, I should've specified, I actually prefer the 85 at 9v, cuz the 18v mod to my ears tends to slightly diminish the mids and extend the lows and highs; the 81 benefits from this, but the 85 doesn't IME!

Yeah, I saw that, but I honestly preferred the 18v tone on that shootout. Anyway, they all sound damn good. Sometimes it sucks having so many good options.

May I ask our opinion on the 81 on the neck (with and without the 18v mod)? I´ve noticed that, for me, the 81 cleans on the bridge sucks (too thin), and the 85 cleans on the neck are only good when playing single notes or melodies (not struming chords). So the 81B/85N wouldn´t give me any options of good clean chords.

thats because u have mahogany guitars, in basswood guitars u should get the emg 85 sinces it has more lows than the emg..

That´s exactly what I´ve thought. Basswood is brighter than mahogany and lack those lows.

 

[Metaltastic]

Well to copy myself from another recent thread, I love the 81 in the neck, even more than I love it in the bridge tbh; the neck is inherently the bassier spot because of how the strings vibrate, and why anyone would want a bassier/muddier pickup there (the 85) utterly escapes me; I love the cut the 81 brings to those chunky single notes in a fast-picking run on the neck pickup.

 

[narcossintese]

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/equipment/293799-my-emg-18v-experiment.html

Make the temp harness if you are not sure.
http://home.comcast.net/~mgollihur/emgmod.html

I checked that thread but it was too much rocket science for me
I´ve seen that it changes the clipping but, tonewise, what did you preferred?
The 707 is supposed to be a 7 strings version of 85, right? I wonder why they are more popular than 81-7 while 81 are more popular than 85 on the bridge.

 

[Metaltastic]

The 707's have been around longer I think, so I guess the 81-7's just aren't as well-known!

 

[Mutant]

I´ve seen that it changes the clipping but, tonewise, what did you preferred?

18v is clearer, more defined, much better djent/palm mutes.
(IMHO OFC)

 

[narcossintese]

Does the 81 on the neck sounds better with the 18v mod or with the regular 9v? I´m 99% certain that I´m going with 85 bridge, 81 neck and 18v mod.

 

[Metaltastic]

Never recorded comparison clips of the neck pickup at 9v vs. 18v, but that's cuz I'm infinitely less picky with neck pickup tones vs. bridge; I highly doubt you'll be disappointed by your planned config. though, and as has been said, it's SO easily reversible; this is what I use:

The free clip connects to the clip in your guitar (wired to the pickups), and voila!

 

[006]

The 707 is the EMG-85 pickup with a tweaked frequency response, courtesy of faggot Dino, and extended for the 7th string, obviously. The 81-7 is pretty much identical to it's 6-string counterpart and in a mahogany bodied guitar is a MUST in the bridge IMHO. I could not stand the 707 in the bridge of my HellRaiser C7, swapped for an 81-7 and I'll will never look back. In something brighter, like basswood or ash, the 707 would probably excel, but it is way too wooly for my tastes in an all mahogany guitar like my C7. Your tastes may differ though.

The 18v mod does not have to be permanent at all man, so don't worry about it. If you do it using one of a few reversible methods then you can easily switch it back to 9v.

 

[Lazzari]

The 707 is the EMG-85 pickup with a tweaked frequency response, courtesy of faggot Dino, and extended for the 7th string, obviously. The 81-7 is pretty much identical to it's 6-string counterpart and in a mahogany bodied guitar is a MUST in the bridge IMHO. ... . In something brighter, like basswood or ash, the 707 would probably excel, but it is way too wooly for my tastes in an all mahogany guitar like my C7. Your tastes may differ though.

The 18v mod does not have to be permanent at all man, so don't worry about it. If you do it using one of a few reversible methods then you can easily switch it back to 9v.

+ 1 !!

 

[slashvanyoung]

why anyone would want a bassier/muddier pickup there (the 85) utterly escapes me

I - for one - do want this. I don't play rhythm with the neck pup anyway, so I couldn't care less about it being muddy/boomy on chords/riffs/mutes etc. in that position.

But for smooth solos, the 85 just sings...

And playing Blues with it, just makes me

 

[Metaltastic]

Oh I don't play rhythm with the neck spot either, I use it strictly for solo'ing when I wanna get my neo-classical tonez on (thus I usually stick to the bridge, but occasionally a lick just calls for the neck spot ), and so I really like it to be crisp and cutting