Wolfgangs and EMG's

[againstthewind]

You know I have seen a lot of Wolfgangs on Ebay that have the pickups replaced with EMG's. Any reason for this that anyone knows of?? Are they similar to the Wolf p'ups?? Just curious, don't believe I have ever played Emg's, how do they sound??

[Ed shred]

You know I have seen a lot of Wolfgangs on Ebay that have the pickups replaced with EMG's. Any reason for this that anyone knows of?? Are they similar to the Wolf p'ups?? Just curious, don't believe I have ever played Emg's, how do they sound??

I would say that they are not but emg's do have a good rock metal sound so I think the guys that are playing these guitars are metal heads. They realize that the guitar is good so they want that more modern metal tone therefor the emg's are excellent for modern metal.

[Majestic]

EMGs: the clarity & transparency of a low-output PAF, but the power, drive, and thickness (if it's the 85) of a high output bucker.

The touch-response isn't very "vintage" sounding, which turns off some people.

Actually, the EMG 81 can turn-off a lot of people with it's upper-mid, high-end spike. The EMG 85, on the other hand, has an Alnico V magnet, not unlike the Wolfgang, and produces a more "traditional" E.Q. curve. I'm not saying traditional "sound".....I'm just discussing the E.Q. curve.

But if you want to blaze a chord through heavy distortion, and hear every individual string ring-out, but without resorting to low-output pickups, an EMG can take you there.

[brianVH]

I used to have a hot rodded strat with EMG's that sounded pretty killer. I think they were also split where you could pull up the volume & tone knobs and make them single coil. The only downside was you had to change the 9v battery every now and then. I know on some guitars they have a little door on the back for easy access, but on that Strat, you had to take the pickguard off, which was kind of a pain in the ass. I've got a Wolfgang now and I can't see why anyone would want to mess with changing the pickups. The pickups are about as hot as you can get, and you can get plenty of chunky metal sound out of them.

[sixstring]

EMGs: the clarity & transparency of a low-output PAF, but the power, drive, and thickness (if it's the 85) of a high output bucker.

The touch-response isn't very "vintage" sounding, which turns off some people.

Actually, the EMG 81 can turn-off a lot of people with it's upper-mid, high-end spike. The EMG 85, on the other hand, has an Alnico V magnet, not unlike the Wolfgang, and produces a more "traditional" E.Q. curve. I'm not saying traditional "sound".....I'm just discussing the E.Q. curve.

But if you want to blaze a chord through heavy distortion, and hear every individual string ring-out, but without resorting to low-output pickups, an EMG can take you there.

Very well said. I always thought the EMGs sounded 'artificial'. In fact, I've tried a LOT of guitars with active systems and never really got the upside of using them...

[VHfanOU812]

I have both right now. Wolf Pups are awesome and I would never change them. EMG's do have a bit more sustain and produce some low end metal chunk.

[Brett]

I put an EMG '85 in my old Baretta a few years ago and the tone was just too metal for me. More sustain, but just didn't have the same warmth that you can get from a traditional pickup. At least for my taste.