EMG old vs new

[Lasse Lammert]

I have all kinds of EMGs....old logo quick connect, new logo quick connect, old hardwired ones....

And although I think my ears are pretty good I don't hear a difference between them that couldn't as well just be because the guitars they're in, or even just the difference from pup to pup...even from the same year.
so to me none of them sounds significantly better than the other....now I found this on the EMG page:

Headroom is defined as the ability of the pickup to deliver a clean, undistorted waveform. But...while current is being drained from the battery, the battery voltage is decreasing, and so is the headroom.
EMG Pickups never put out more voltage than is being supplied. Using a 9 Volt battery will limit the output signal of the pickup to slightly less than 9 Volts. Older EMG Pickups may have a maximum output of 4.5 Volts, one half of the supply. If you supply the pickups with 18 Volts the headroom will double, creating even more headroom for the signal. Doubling the supply voltage to 18 Volts will increase the amount of current drain. You don’t get something for nothing.

so it seems like there's quite a difference between the old and the new ones...why can't I hear it?


can you?

discuss

 

[deLuther]

Maybe by saying "older" EMG means not X-series pickups?
One my friend measured 81X with oscilloscope and reported almost 7 Vpp (peak to peak), where conventional EMGs have only 4.5 Vpp.
But my experience with 81X is different, it had peak output less than my 85 (on same battery).

 

[Fabrice]

IIRC the X serie have ceramic magnet instead of alinco.

edit : It is wrong, sorry.

 

[TheWinterSnow]

The reason you don't hear anything is because high output pickups rarely have a voltage swing over 4Vpp. I am thinking that the NEW EMGs that are able to utilize the majority of the supply voltage are the X series. We know that EMGs compress the signal when the average high output guitar signal is 4Vpp, so if the supply voltage was 9V, and the pickup would utilize most of that voltage, there would be no compression/distortion that EMGs are known for.

 

[Rogueleader]

IIRC the X serie have ceramic magnet instead of alinco.

Huh?

81/S=ceramic, 85/89/SA=alnico This has not changed for the X series.

I actually bought a TON of old school, slightly not so old school, and new school EMGs with the intent of a comparison, but I never got around to it. I just use new quick connects (X series and non X series) in all my guitars, and I am perfect satisfied. No real need to mess with a good thing!

Here's some info I received from Rick Hunt from EMG (great guy!) that might be of interest to some of you, so I'll post it up here.

In response to whether the 81 is the EXACT same as the humbucking portion of the 81tw. I've noticed this for quite some time and it was bothering me. I presume it is the same for the 85 and 89 as well:

"From what I see of the specs the pups are fairly close in nature. There may be a slight difference in attack, but to be truthful, I cannot hear it due to my tinnitus."

In response to a query about what the codes on the back of EMGs mean.
(Pictured: A mess of older EMGs I bought off someone who was switching all their guitars to passives!)

"Those are old manufacturing date codes that I used to determine warranty status.



IE – 1995

IJF – June, 1990

IG – 1997

JA – 2001

HGK – November, 1987

IB – 1992

"

I didn't ask him what the slight spec changes were between years, but there are the codes if you want to identify what year your EMGs are. Though from the looks of it some of the codes are super specific, and there are most likely some in between.