gibson LP with 81X or 81?

[findingthesound]

Hi,
I'm recording tunes properly right now for my first real album, and was thinking about switching to active pickup cause I'm playing a gibson LP standard with stock pickup in Drop B tuning and it lacks a bit of clarity for such a low tuning, even if I like color of my sound.
I've seen 81X/85X are available since the last year and I hesitate to take them, or to take the usual 81/85 combo.

In fact, I don't know what to think about the X serie. You get more headroom and less mid, but to get a modern guitar sound sit in a mix, don't you need a compress and mid sound?

So, can you help me, sharing your thoughts and experiences?

Thank you!

(ps: the recording chain is: LP-Diezel Einstein-orange cab with V30- SM57+R-121 - chandler tg2 - Fatso - Lynx Aurora... A F****** set up!
ps2: style will be a mix of melodic death+electro+D'n'B)

 

[findingthesound]

No one used them yet?

 

[exoslime]

the emgs (without x) are truly classics, you cannot go wrong with them..
if you can order the pickups with a return period you could order both sets and try them both and compare..
pickupchange goes really fast with the emgs cause they have quickconnects on the bottom of the pickups,

btw, i have an emg 81/60 set for sale..
http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/gear-sale/564918-fs-emg-81-60-set.html

and there is also the 18V Mod think you could do with EMGs that also claims to have more headroom.

you may ask yourself why i sell my emgs if they are so great, because i have changed the pickups in my esp eclipse to EMG 81TW and 89, appearently, i like the 81 a bit better than the 81TW, but for now i want to keep the 81TW for the single coil option, and i still have another guitar with an emg 81 in it.

i have not heard an emg x pickup yet, so no comment about it.

 

[J.DavisNJ]

AFAIK, the "X" series EMGs are supposed to have the 18v sound to them, soooo IMO you should go with the regulars and do the 18v mod yourself. At least this way it's reversable so you can compare and see the difference for yourself!

Joe

 

[deLuther]

I have 81X, it is now installed in Caparison TAT.
I can not compare with 81, have only 85.
It looks like that 81X can have less low end than 81, so, maybe, conventional EMGs are more safe bet.
Some interesting illustration:

Blue is Charvel Model with 81X installed.
Magenta is ESP Eclipse with SD AHB1 (also good active pickup choice).

Sample (different pickups comparison on TAT, in order according to filename):
DI
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3630120/TAT_PH-R_vs_85_vs_81X.wav
Through TSE X30
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3630120/TAT_pickups_X30.wav

Another two samples:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3630120/M6_EMG81-X_r1.wav
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3630120/TAT_EMG81-X_r1.wav
DI only

 

[findingthesound]

Thanx for your replies and for those .wav!

Well, it seems that there's no answer yet!

I have read the blackouts are amazing too, more passive feeling than regular 81 and that the 81X is the answer of emg to get back the 50% of market they loosed since the blackouts were out! And like deLuther showed with this illustration, they seems to be very similar.

However, if I take the active pickup way, it's to get the cleaner and tighter (more compressed) and punchy sound of modern metal... so I'm not sure about the new 81X and SD AHB1... more mids may lead to a more muddy, unclear sound....


As no one really test X-serie against standard serie, maybe someone switch from 81 to SD AHB1? What are your thoughts?

And about the 18V mod, is it difficult to make, or do I have just to add another 9v batterie in serial?
What do it change exactly? Any examples?

 

[deLuther]

http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/...ut-bridge-vs-emg81-round-2-dtb-content-d.html

 

[findingthesound]

Thank you deLuther!
I've just read and listened to Metalstatic samples (thank you for this test!) and to me, 81 in 18V are the clearer, most agressive sounding pickup, and the important thing is it'll be easier to mix in the mids as my LP is enough fat sounding on those frequencies.

So I'll test emg @18V on my LP.

Thank you for your help!

 

[Key_maker]

I have 81X, it is now installed in Caparison TAT.
I can not compare with 81, have only 85.
It looks like that 81X can have less low end than 81, so, maybe, conventional EMGs are more safe bet.
Some interesting illustration:

Blue is Charvel Model with 81X installed.
Magenta is ESP Eclipse with SD AHB1 (also good active pickup choice).

Sample (different pickups comparison on TAT, in order according to filename):
DI
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3630120/TAT_PH-R_vs_85_vs_81X.wav
Through TSE X30
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3630120/TAT_pickups_X30.wav

Another two samples:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3630120/M6_EMG81-X_r1.wav
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3630120/TAT_EMG81-X_r1.wav
DI only

But those are completely different guitars!

it's not a fair comparison, the emg can sound very different in different guitars, the 81 is very shrill in alder guitars but in mahogany is amazing.

 

[John_C]

But those are completely different guitars!

it's not a fair comparison, the emg can sound very different in different guitars, the 81 is very shrill in alder guitars but in mahogany is amazing.

+1

It's not even very scientific to compare with the same guitar, let alone 2 different ones. Not a valid comparison at all

 

[deLuther]

Yes, it`s not fair comparison.
But, at least, I see similar behavior, like some kind of highpass-filter.

 

[John_C]

The two graphs don't actually depart from each other conclusively until at the very highest 16hz

Stuff don't there really doesn't matter to anything, ever. Except maybe a live gig by Sunn0)))

 

[Force666]

I was thinking about ditching the 81 in my LP for an 85. But after I did the 18v mod, I fell in love.

 

[findingthesound]

After a day talking with a friend guitar maker and testing some esp eclipse (the most similar guitar to my lp standard in wood/layout) with 81/85/60, i've ordered a set of 81/60 and ask him to put it in 18 volt mod.
Really like the overall clarity and possibilities of this set. apart the 81 sound I was looking for, I finally can use the neck pickup with good results with the 60.
Should have them installed in the end of the next week! Can't wait!

 

[findingthesound]

About the graph: It's a 81 X compared to an AHB1, not the regular one. And even if it's not the same guitar etc... I think it show us that they're quite similar. Maybe a zoom from 140 Hz to 12Hz with the same guitar would be better to get a more precise idea of their differences, thought.