I think that the 57/66 and the Het Set are the most balanced overall. I would start with new strings, then record a track with the plugin against backing tracks, then tweak the preset to taste prior to the plugin feeding any thing else in the chain. Set all your gain and tone knobs how you want them, with only minimal eq tweaks, again within the same plugin, then save it and commit. This will get you so far closer to the finished mix quality before any post production treatment, minimally if at all.
Yeah speaking of the master knob. I would love it if we could get an update that you can set the level to auto compensate for changes to the master knob. Pretty please? ^^
Have you tried just unplugging your tone pots? Something else I noticed when I replaced the wiring in a Les Paul I snatched up from a pawn shop is EMGs plug and play electronics sound like shit compared to, say, an Obsidian wire rig. I’m going to get Mad Hatter controls and see how they affect the overall tone. (Going with a single volume pot and kill switch this time.)
I have 2 EMG active pickups and they are very hot, can't get a nice balanced tone like one would with passive pickups and tone sounds more digital thorugh the plugins unless I have the settings wrong on the interface, tends to clip on the gain from 3 o clock
@@NeuralDSP I was playing around with the height of the pickup and found that if I lower it slightly I get a much more balanced output! Hope this helps if others have a similar issue🤘
The set up I have is the is katana-100watt amp with classic black ZX Dean guitar guitar pickups I have in it is EMG ZW-81 85 EMG pickup set with a wah pedal crybaby from hell thinking adding a the overdrive pedal with it
Hi Steven, first of all thanks for the amazing plugins from Neural and for the content here. Can you make more content talking more about making video quality, camera setups, etc... Thanks
I am an addict to the plugins. I got the Soldano plug-in over a year ago and haven't looked back. I need a new fix though. I am a huge Dream Theater fan so I might have to go with John's custom plugin. I bought an Ibanez RGIB21 just for the Soldano plugin. The guitar with the plugin, I get monster sound and great cleans. The presets are awesome also. I did a recording with a preset and it sounds great without any thing added. When are we going to get a Marshall (JMC 800 - 900) like plugin? I need my Satch tone sometimes.
This is a bad advice, it shouldn’t be as close to string as possible. You should lower the pick-up down until you stop hearing modulations while playing high G, B, E strings. Modulation is a strange effect where a string can sound slightly out of tune while being actually in tune or create unpleasant harmonics while a string is vibrating while pressed on any of the 7 to 14 frets. Also height of a neck pickup affects tone of your bridge pickup. I prefer my neck pickup to be low and even lower on the bass side(heavy strings). In general when playing a chord on 5-12 frets your guitar should sing instead of being choked, if you understand what I mean ) My EMG 81/60 have a very tight low end so it is tempting to raise the bass side of the pickup and lower the treble side to get that chug. This what causes them to be perceived as muddy.
I do, although my Protone Gary Holt Mid Booster pedal came and it's killer now (my guitar was recently serviced), new batteries, mind you I also play through a Mesa, which has a Darker tone (my 6 string passives and SD Mick Thomson sound killer through that amp though). I was close to replacing the pickups.
EMG (active pickups) are cool and 100% have their uses but i hate how they compress then boost your signal, makes your waveforms look like shit cause it chops the peaks off and kills some of the dynamics compared to passive pickups. Really wanna try fishman pickups and see how those sound/feel
they don't compress, it's just plain old clipping. if you have them too close to the strings the signal is too hot and there's not enough power to reproduce that from just a single 9v battery. that's why some people run them at 18v (double the voltage = double the headroom). Also as the battery drains the headroom will become less and less. just fyi.
@@ShaneDobbie Yeah iv been fighting this for a year now, even with a DI box and lowering the pickups all the way it still clips my signal sometimes on heavy chugs
Finding the right 412 cab to match your amp head will do more than anything mentioned in the video. Two T-75 Celestions paired with some V30's will get the job done.
I love EMG Pickups!! Have a reputable EMG installer install the pickups.. 1) No which EMG pickups to get.. depending on your style. 2) It's all bout the EQ pre-amps...Add the BTS ( Dual ) EQpre-amp to your Emg pickups... Also, you may want to add the EXG pre to boost both bass and treble at the same time. Lastly, stay far away from the cheap EMG pickups... Totaly Garbage..
I don't like emg active pickups at all.. I tried the 81 in a 6 string and i had 808 in my 8 string. I changed immediately the pickups for a passive (as always..) in the 6 and installed Fishman T. Abasi in the 8. This is my experience. Passive pickups are better to my ears. Nowadays there are many aftermarket great products.
#6: Sell them to a Metallica fan/sucker and buy a decent pair of passive pickups. Even budget-priced pickups nowadays, like Tonerider, Irongear or GFS, sound much better than EMGs and they have enough models for most tastes.
this actually nothing to do with EMG pickups
I think that the 57/66 and the Het Set are the most balanced overall. I would start with new strings, then record a track with the plugin against backing tracks, then tweak the preset to taste prior to the plugin feeding any thing else in the chain. Set all your gain and tone knobs how you want them, with only minimal eq tweaks, again within the same plugin, then save it and commit. This will get you so far closer to the finished mix quality before any post production treatment, minimally if at all.
Measure 99 times record less than a 100 you’re absolutely correct sir.
Yeah speaking of the master knob. I would love it if we could get an update that you can set the level to auto compensate for changes to the master knob. Pretty please? ^^
Thank you steve it did help a lot with my 707 pickups they sound much brighter now
Have you tried just unplugging your tone pots? Something else I noticed when I replaced the wiring in a Les Paul I snatched up from a pawn shop is EMGs plug and play electronics sound like shit compared to, say, an Obsidian wire rig. I’m going to get Mad Hatter controls and see how they affect the overall tone. (Going with a single volume pot and kill switch this time.)
I need to get that drill bit.
how to brighten EMG pickups:
Step 1. Buy EMG RPC knob
congratulations, you have brightened your EMG pickups
Thank you, just saved me a bunch on new pick ups 👍
EQing the DI really works wonders.. I've being doing that lately.. Too bad i use Elixir and i change strings once a year 😁
Can I use neural dsp as a stand alone program just to jam a bit or do I need a Daw?
Can be used as standalone
I have ZW-81/85 EMG pickup set
I have 2 EMG active pickups and they are very hot, can't get a nice balanced tone like one would with passive pickups and tone sounds more digital thorugh the plugins unless I have the settings wrong on the interface, tends to clip on the gain from 3 o clock
Send us an email support@neuraldsp.com we'll be happy to give you some tips!
@@NeuralDSP I was playing around with the height of the pickup and found that if I lower it slightly I get a much more balanced output! Hope this helps if others have a similar issue🤘
Very informative, thank you for the video! Keep up with a good content!
What's the music at 1:05?
The set up I have is the is katana-100watt amp with classic black ZX Dean guitar guitar pickups I have in it is EMG ZW-81 85 EMG pickup set with a wah pedal crybaby from hell thinking adding a the overdrive pedal with it
Hi Steven, first of all thanks for the amazing plugins from Neural and for the content here. Can you make more content talking more about making video quality, camera setups, etc... Thanks
I am an addict to the plugins. I got the Soldano plug-in over a year ago and haven't looked back. I need a new fix though. I am a huge Dream Theater fan so I might have to go with John's custom plugin. I bought an Ibanez RGIB21 just for the Soldano plugin. The guitar with the plugin, I get monster sound and great cleans. The presets are awesome also. I did a recording with a preset and it sounds great without any thing added. When are we going to get a Marshall (JMC 800 - 900) like plugin? I need my Satch tone sometimes.
If you want JCM tones, give the lead amp in Archetype: Tim Henson and the Crunch amp in Archetype: Nolly a shot (based on Nolly's personal amp).
I hate the jangle of fresh strings. Strings sound good after a couple days of playing. I change strings after about two months.
The video I was waiting for , thanks!
hey man, any recommendation on EMG 81/85 PUs height to start with ? Should they be as closest to the strings as possible ?
Yes, start close without the string touching on it
This is a bad advice, it shouldn’t be as close to string as possible. You should lower the pick-up down until you stop hearing modulations while playing high G, B, E strings. Modulation is a strange effect where a string can sound slightly out of tune while being actually in tune or create unpleasant harmonics while a string is vibrating while pressed on any of the 7 to 14 frets.
Also height of a neck pickup affects tone of your bridge pickup. I prefer my neck pickup to be low and even lower on the bass side(heavy strings). In general when playing a chord on 5-12 frets your guitar should sing instead of being choked, if you understand what I mean )
My EMG 81/60 have a very tight low end so it is tempting to raise the bass side of the pickup and lower the treble side to get that chug. This what causes them to be perceived as muddy.
What gear he used to record this
Do you find 707 muddy?
I do, although my Protone Gary Holt Mid Booster pedal came and it's killer now (my guitar was recently serviced), new batteries, mind you I also play through a Mesa, which has a Darker tone (my 6 string passives and SD Mick Thomson sound killer through that amp though). I was close to replacing the pickups.
Very helpful video, thank you!!
Is this for mac or pc?
Sick content! Thanks Steve 🙏🏻
Thank you!
Emg + overdrive = big Metal tone
I think the video should be on how to brighten NON active pups... EMG's (generally speaking) are much brighter than the average pickup.
Nice Gears Sticker!
Can you do a similiar videowith fishman fluence modern?
You shouldn't need to brighten up fishman pickups
If you're using fishman fluence and your tone is too dark, the issue isn't with the fishmans.
Thanks for showing me ABSOLUTELY nothing about brightening my pickups and showing me how to select an IR I can’t afford the hardware for 😂😂😂
EMG 57/66 + 24V mod = versatility
Well that was not what I wanted 😕 basically said restring guitar, get plug-ins and an eq. Not much help but maybe someone found it helpful?
Solder it, use a treble bleed, use a signature set. Trust me
EMG (active pickups) are cool and 100% have their uses but i hate how they compress then boost your signal, makes your waveforms look like shit cause it chops the peaks off and kills some of the dynamics compared to passive pickups. Really wanna try fishman pickups and see how those sound/feel
they don't compress, it's just plain old clipping. if you have them too close to the strings the signal is too hot and there's not enough power to reproduce that from just a single 9v battery. that's why some people run them at 18v (double the voltage = double the headroom). Also as the battery drains the headroom will become less and less. just fyi.
@@ShaneDobbie Yeah iv been fighting this for a year now, even with a DI box and lowering the pickups all the way it still clips my signal sometimes on heavy chugs
Fluence pickups are crap... I have moderns and they have odd artifacts in the sound particularly when you pick sorts hard
wish I could somehow fit two batteries in my SG :/
@@dougleydorite I doubt your issues are due to the fishmans. Fishman pickups are the best around.
Change strings an turn a tone knob! I'm out 3:00minutea!
Finding the right 412 cab to match your amp head will do more than anything mentioned in the video. Two T-75 Celestions paired with some V30's will get the job done.
5 years without changing strings is a capital punishment. It should be.
I love EMG Pickups!! Have a reputable EMG installer install the pickups.. 1) No which EMG pickups to get.. depending on your style. 2) It's all bout the EQ pre-amps...Add the BTS ( Dual ) EQpre-amp to your Emg pickups... Also, you may want to add the EXG pre to boost both bass and treble at the same time.
Lastly, stay far away from the cheap EMG pickups... Totaly Garbage..
I have a 2009 ibanez rga42fm with EMGs 81/85, gonna try these out!
What do you mean by cheap EMG?
Honestly most people just have to much gain and that’s the reason simple
No one on this planet earth rest assure has covered how to make emg actives darker
How to brighten EMG pickups?! Install them! Wtf?
sorry but i can‘t hear any differences because you play everything in the mix 🤷🏻♂️
No no no no we want be darker God dammit
the video, eluded to brightening up the guitar. .. the guitar....anyone can eq a guitar with pedals and crap. title is mis leading somewhat.
emg more like emg amirite
Yeah maybe don’t buy the $1,000 guitar with active pickups and instead buy a decent amp lol
Dude i change strings almost every week.
So stop doing it D:
I don't like emg active pickups at all.. I tried the 81 in a 6 string and i had 808 in my 8 string. I changed immediately the pickups for a passive (as always..) in the 6 and installed Fishman T. Abasi in the 8. This is my experience.
Passive pickups are better to my ears. Nowadays there are many aftermarket great products.
#6: Sell them to a Metallica fan/sucker and buy a decent pair of passive pickups.
Even budget-priced pickups nowadays, like Tonerider, Irongear or GFS, sound much better than EMGs and they have enough models for most tastes.
Step. Don't use EMG's lol