I've been playing guitar for a little over a year now. I own an Ibanez GRX30 (Left-handed) electric guitar. Everything on it is original, but i think it's time for some new pickups. But i'm not sure what kind i should get...I'm leaning on EMG's, but i don't know what kind. I play in a band called No Deception and we're a Hardcore/Metal/2-step band. What kind of EMG Pickups would be good for a genre like that?








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I have EMG Zakk Wylde set and it's really good in stuff you want to play. They're 81 and 85. 81 is great to heavy rytmic guitar, 85 gives sweet and warm sound good to solos and clean guitars.








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Cort m600(EMG ZW set)->Dunlop DB-01->Copy of Mesa Tripple->Boss DD-2->Homemade 212 cabinet

F*ck Ibanez

EMG 85 on neck
EMG 81 on bridge


i don't know if you've considered others besides emg but Dimarzios sound good too. so do Super 70's if you can find them. ibanez used to make them.

there are far better pickups out there than emg's.
if you want high gain active pickups, try the duncan live wire series.

the metal live wire is the hottest thing i have played !! i like to use 500k pots with them , not the 100k's that duncan includes with the pickups.
(the higher the value on the pot,the LESS of your signal is being sent to ground)

duncan has a new live wire out now...the dave mustain model. i havent bought a set yet....but they seem to be not as hot as the metal live wire


oh yea....to the guy who dosent like ibanez...no,lets NOT f**k ibanez.

Ibanez ROCKS!! I have a lefty GRX 20LH, restrung right handed.

I feel you on the pickup replacement issue. Feedback is my problem. I've used EMG active pickups in the past (85/81) and loved them, but know that with EMG active pickups, you aren't just replacing the pickups, you're replacing the volume and tone pots as well, whereas if you go with EMG selects (non-active), Dimarzios or Duncan non-active pickups, you're just replacing the pickups. If you're not comfortable doing this work yourself, get it done by a qualified professional at a guitar repair shop.








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"And miles to go before I sleep...."

Bill Lawrence pick-ups.......Remember Dimebag?








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I own EMGs and Livewires and I love them both. I certainly don't consider the Livewires to be any better at all than the EMGs, they just sound a little different.
I tend to prefer the Livewire single coil tone and the EMG double coil tone.
The Livewires are really sweet sounding and have that glassy, ceramic magnet sound.
The EMGs are more consistent for metal in my opinion. Everyone prefers different qualities in pickups. I have a couple guitars with great passive pickups too and I love their tone as well. I also have a Bill Lawrence in one of my old Kramers too. Whe I play metal with it, that thing sounds like a panzer tank!!








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So many bands,.... so few musicians.

51216 wrote:

I own EMGs and Livewires and I love them both. I certainly don't consider the Livewires to be any better at all than the EMGs, they just sound a little different.
I tend to prefer the Livewire single coil tone and the EMG double coil tone.
The Livewires are really sweet sounding and have that glassy, ceramic magnet sound.
The EMGs are more consistent for metal in my opinion. Everyone prefers different qualities in pickups. I have a couple guitars with great passive pickups too and I love their tone as well. I also have a Bill Lawrence in one of my old Kramers too. Whe I play metal with it, that thing sounds like a panzer tank!!

you must be talking about CLASSIC livewires...they do have the wonderful sweet tone you mention.
for really out of this world output, i am talking about the METAL livewire. there is a huge difference between these pickups.

and the tip about NOT using the 100k pots(try 500k) that duncan says to use , really works. i have talked with duncans tech support...it is ok to do this .the tech couldnt understand WHY someone would want to do this, but it is perfectly fine to do so.
i read about it at the torres engeneering website. you get more output and tone if you use higher value pots. the higher resistance means LESS of your signal is sent to ground.

i am not sure how the higher value pots would work with emg's....has anybody tried this?
my guess is that they will sound very harsh with higher value pots.

with passive pickups , try 1 meg , or even 2 meg pots.....this will really let your pickups power and tone shine thru.

im a fan of emgs...they are great for metal...i have been using them since i was 15...so thats 16 years now...i have emg 707's and 81-7's for my seven strings....and 81 and 85 combo in my esp ltd viper and my larrivee custome electric strats......my advice is try out some guitars with emgs and see if thats the sound you like

hmm, i don't know a whole lot on the pick up end. but i will say this. i was looking at the guitar that you have and i would honestly recommend upgrading your guitar. those guitars are great start up guitars but not something that you would want to modify at all. it's not worth the time or the money. i don't know if you have the money for that but i would definitely start saving. you can get some killer guitars in the 400-500 price range. some already even have emgs in them. i almost bought a GRX back in the day but got an epiphone instead. that was about 3 years ago. so just check that out. if not, go with the pickups.

another thing with the EMG's is what type of amp you play them through...go through digital amp like line 6's dont use active pickups on the EMG's cause they drive the amp and the sound starts clipping...so use passive EMG's when using a digital amp

EMGs tend to give alot of buzz when you have the gain cranked on any amp if its active. I would say go with the 85 on the neck and get a Dimebucker for the bridge.








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so use passive EMG's when using a digital am

any passive pickup will work really

man my friends guitar has emgs there sweet i was looking at them a few days ago i would have them if i wasnt broke

Scruffy McD wrote:

EMG 85 on neck
EMG 81 on bridge


i don't know if you've considered others besides emg but Dimarzios sound good too. so do Super 70's if you can find them. ibanez used to make them.

Totally agree!!