EMG-81 Analysis: why it is noisier than your Dimarzio SuperD

[Deleted]

www.electrosmash.com/emg81

[newey]

The Dimarzio Dual Resonance patent US4501185 claims that winding the coils with the same number of turns but with wire of different gauge, the 60 Hz hum cancellation is emphasized without affecting the higher harmonics of the hum which may contribute to the desired tonal qualities.

So, hum is good?

[Deleted]

Jan 21, 2014 8:31:59 GMT -5 newey said:

The Dimarzio Dual Resonance patent US4501185 claims that winding the coils with the same number of turns but with wire of different gauge, the 60 Hz hum cancellation is emphasized without affecting the higher harmonics of the hum which may contribute to the desired tonal qualities.

So, hum is good?

nice catch , however my main point was to point what i have experienced my self : the EMGs are noisier than most good humbuckers out there. Seymour Duncan LiveWires / Dimarzio Super Distortion, are louder/hotter and less noisy than the EMGs. I like the EMG-81/60 tho for cleans. They do absolutely fantastic cleans.

[newey]

gd-

No, I got your point, and the link explains it well. I was just calling out what I saw as some blatant marketing-speak from DM. Nothing against those pickups, either, I've never tried them so I can't say. They may, in fact, sound wonderful.

I just couldn't (and still can't) decipher the logic of "hum bad" but "harmonics of hum good"

Or, at least, potentially good- it says "may contribute to" "desired" tonal qualities.. .Translation: "We think so but we have no data".

[straylight]

The issue with a conventional humbucker that DiMarzio is trying to solve here is that when a harmonic vibrbrain on a string aproaches the separation distance of two coils it gets cancelled out. This is VERY obvious with wider spaced pairings such as strat pickup combinations. The intent is not to capture harmonics of the 60Hz hum, it's to reduce cancellation of higher order harmonics in the guitar string. This is potentially useful behaviour if the vibrating string has more high frequency harmonic content than the mains noise.

I'm not sure this difference in frequeny response is actually significant given the tolerances in my pickup winding appear to show more variation, but I'm currently at a very small sample size.

[andeeeroooo]

So , any opinions on an EMG H-1? I bought one on the cheap, have yet to install or play it. Passive Gibson - looking humbucker