EMG 81/85 Bridge position shootout! (and first Dual Rec test!)

I liked the 85 with EL34's best, but I think I would've liked those stock DiMarzio/IBZ pickups more. :p


Your Ibby looks HAWT, BTW!
 
thanks for the post marcus, deffo digging the 81 like really clear tight and punchy, a bit undecided on the tubes, both work for me, the difference is very subtle, but it would depend on the feel of the song i guess!! i generally prefer the 6l6 for metal as it really pronounces the his and mids, really clears em up, where as the 34s warm the mids up, adding a bit more crunch, and slightly (only slightly) losing focus, but yeah its a very tough call!!

how'd you mic the cab (positioning) and what were your settings? as you get a really nice 'tube' tone there, where as i still struggle! at times gnna DL the di files, and when i get a chance, run em thru my krank and peavey see what i can get out of them, nice to have a mesa reference tone of yours
 
Rex Rocker said:
I liked the 85 with EL34's best, but I think I would've liked those stock DiMarzio/IBZ pickups more. :p


Your Ibby looks HAWT, BTW!
Click to expand...

Thanks man, I love it, now that I had a tech put a shim of wood in the neck joint to raise it (and thus raise the bridge, it was too low for me at first) it's possibly the greatest feeling guitar I've ever played! (the neck could be just a bit thicker, but I can deal)

Mark, thanks a bunch dude, I appreciate it! I hear ya on the 6L6/EL34 debate, but FUCK is the difference subtle here; still, although I normally think I prefer EL34's, in this case the 6L6's win for me ever so slightly as well, and I also definitely prefer the 81 to the 85 in this test (but I'll wanna hear it through a few more rigs before I make up my mind).

I mic'ed the bottom left speaker (after multiple tests I've discovered that the bottom row sounds noticeably fuller than the top, though I have a slant cab) in the usual "edge of the dustcap" spot, and the settings were:

Gain at 2:30 (might bring it up next time for more saturation)
Bass at 1:00 (might bring it down a bit next time)
Mid at 11:00
Treble at 1:00 (also might bring it down a touch)
Presence at like 9:30 (that little bastard has to be kept so low, took me a few tries to realize it cuz I'm so used to Peavey's loving high presence settings, and I might even bring it down a bit more next time!)

And it was uncomfortably but not painfully loud in the room, though I had the loop on, so maybe with it out of the signal chain it'd sound better. Also, I should mention this was the red channel but on a 2-channel Recto, so if you've got a 3-channel you'd have better luck on the Orange. I'd love to hear what you could do with some reamping dude!
 
this is a cool thread.. but i'm still torn between 85 in the bridge and the 81 :(

they both sound awesome.. but hearing that 85 will sound muffled in lower tunings is giving me second thoughts. but i heard KSE use 85 in the bridge and play in C? so it can't be that bad, right?
 
here ya go, a VERY quick mic up with my Krank Rev Jr

was in the same room as my DAW under covers n sheets, so i coudltn really tune the amp in like id have wanted.

I know i can get it sounding better though


81 DIs>Reamp V2>Digi 002 out>

Krank Rev JR> SD1> Marshall 1960A V30s>

SM57>Motu 8 pre

SD1
Level 12:00
Tone 10:30
Drive 8:30

Krank:
Sweep 7.5
Bass 7.5
Mid 3
Treb 5
Gain 6 (boost IN)


http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/369408/Krank MSTR.mp3
 
Damn, that sounds righteous Mark, nice job! (and thank you for putting the guitars at a decent level ;)) Sounds like you could've moved just a bit more away from the dustcap to eliminate some of the grain, but otherwise rockin - can't wait to hear when you can get a comparison between 81 and 85!
 
Metaltastic said:
Damn, that sounds righteous Mark, nice job! (and thank you for putting the guitars at a decent level ;)) Sounds like you could've moved just a bit more away from the dustcap to eliminate some of the grain, but otherwise rockin - can't wait to hear when you can get a comparison between 81 and 85!
Click to expand...

yer that was bang on 50/50 dustcap edge. i think the grain is coming from the pedal and cab IMO

Ive had to gclip and limit it to fuck to match it to the level of yours though!!!
 
Yeah, come to think of it I remember I reamped some tracks for Gavin and he was using the SD-1, and I found those to be quite grainy as well. And don't worry about matching my level (tons of GClip and limiting there too :D), I just meant thanks for getting the level of the guitars relative to the drums right! (unlike Ermin's version ;)) Any time you can get to doing an 81/85 shootout would be rad, dude! :headbang:
 
Metaltastic said:
Yeah, come to think of it I remember I reamped some tracks for Gavin and he was using the SD-1, and I found those to be quite grainy as well. And don't worry about matching my level (tons of GClip and limiting there too :D), I just meant thanks for getting the level of the guitars relative to the drums right! (unlike Ermin's version ;)) Any time you can get to doing an 81/85 shootout would be rad, dude! :headbang:
Click to expand...

gnna try have a blast on either friday or sunday with it again, just finding the time between work, college and my house mates being out so i can KRANK it:headbang:
 
Haha, I hear that man! Housemates at least isn't an issue for me cuz I'm on the first floor and they're both on the second, but it's finals HELL right now so I haven't had the time to give my Recto another go! :erk: (especially cuz I just discovered how incredibly different the hi-gain mode on the orange channel is from the red channel, damn!)
 
yer its cool to have these dis of yours through my amp, for the comparison almost exaclty of what the recto has to offer, as ive never managed to work the recto out!! too many combinations and options, i like the bsics of bass, gain, mid treb and pres, even this krank confuses me with the sweep as there are soo many tone combinations!
 
The thing is, the Recto really isn't that complicated - all each channel has are bass, mid, treble, and presence controls! The complexity really just comes with the presence knob and the fact that the other knobs sorta build off of the treble and gain knobs, but really, as long as you set gain first, treble second, and then the rest, you can make minor adjustments without throwing the whole thing off. What rules about it is how COMPLETELY different the settings of channel 1 in high-gain mode have to be to get it to sound similar to channel 2, I've never had an amp like that! (on both my 5150 and JSX, I felt like the green/crunch channels were just sorta lower gain versions of the red/ultra channels, respectively, rather than completely different animals as these seem to be!)
 
Can't listen now Stee cuz I'm in the library, but couldn't you have just reamped the 81 DI's too while you were at it? :cry: :D And how does your interface not have a balanced line out?
 
Ah, much better Ermin, thank you (though you panned 'em opposite ;)) - shit, now I'm having a tougher time making up my mind, cuz I kinda like the fatness of the 85 in yours...
 
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