Post by antigua on Nov 13, 2023 1:37:58 GMT -5
I recently got ahold of an EMG-60, so I wanted to measure that response curve just to see how it compared with the 81 and 85.
The EMG site www.emgpickups.com/60.html says
The 60 humbucker packs plenty of output with a balance of thick, boosted mids, big lows and singing highs. Featuring close aperture coils, similar to a mini-humbucker, this model produces rich harmonic overtones. Due to its ceramic magnets, the EMG 60 has a full treble response and loads of output great for distinct single-note solos. The 60 provides clarity and character to your guitar and works very well in the neck position.
I haven't put this pickup into a guitar yet in order to hear it for myself, I have to rewire a whole Les Paul copy from passive to active value pots, so it's going to take a minute. The interesting thing is that it says it has close aperture coils, luckily I have magnet film on hand to "see" under the covers what they're talking about, it does look like maybe a Firebird sized humbucker is under the cover, centrally placed.
I plotted the 60, 81 and 85 all at once. I have normalized the outputs:
Based on the bode plot with the Ken Willmott integrator, all of them are very nearly the same, with the EMG 81 having more of a mid bump, and the 60 and 85 almost overlapping, except that the EMG-60 have a little more response in the treble. I think in practice these three pickups are effectively the same in terms of EQ, because the curves are so broad that a guitar amp's EQ three band EQ can probably approximate these differences, unlike a the more specific resonant cut-off of a passive pickup.
Due to the high sensitivity of the output in relation to the placement of the exciter coil, I can't measure their relative outputs reliably, but overall they seem to all be about the same. According to EMG, the 81 and 85 supposedly had the same circuitry, and the main difference was that the 81 had a ceramic magnet, and the 85 an AlNiCo magnet. According to the copy, the EMG-60 has a ceramic magnet.
In summary, if I had to guess what really sets the EMG-60 apart from the EMG-81, it's that it's using smaller Firebird-like coils, and the difference between the two of them with respect to the 85 is that the 85 has an AlNiCo magnet. I have a couple guitars with Firebird sized humbuckers, I have a Sheraton I with minis and a Sheraton II with full sized, almost the same guitar with these different sizes of humbuckers, and I do think the mini humbuckers sound more single-coil like in the timbre, with a sharper bridge sound a more chime-like neck sound. I'd expect the EMG-60 might sound a bit more single coil-like as well.
This EMG-60 / EMG-81 set also happens to come with a polished nickel cover. This is the first time I've seen active pickups with a metal cover, but there doesn't appear to be any eddy current loading of consequence.
The EMG site www.emgpickups.com/60.html says
The 60 humbucker packs plenty of output with a balance of thick, boosted mids, big lows and singing highs. Featuring close aperture coils, similar to a mini-humbucker, this model produces rich harmonic overtones. Due to its ceramic magnets, the EMG 60 has a full treble response and loads of output great for distinct single-note solos. The 60 provides clarity and character to your guitar and works very well in the neck position.
I haven't put this pickup into a guitar yet in order to hear it for myself, I have to rewire a whole Les Paul copy from passive to active value pots, so it's going to take a minute. The interesting thing is that it says it has close aperture coils, luckily I have magnet film on hand to "see" under the covers what they're talking about, it does look like maybe a Firebird sized humbucker is under the cover, centrally placed.
I plotted the 60, 81 and 85 all at once. I have normalized the outputs:
Based on the bode plot with the Ken Willmott integrator, all of them are very nearly the same, with the EMG 81 having more of a mid bump, and the 60 and 85 almost overlapping, except that the EMG-60 have a little more response in the treble. I think in practice these three pickups are effectively the same in terms of EQ, because the curves are so broad that a guitar amp's EQ three band EQ can probably approximate these differences, unlike a the more specific resonant cut-off of a passive pickup.
Due to the high sensitivity of the output in relation to the placement of the exciter coil, I can't measure their relative outputs reliably, but overall they seem to all be about the same. According to EMG, the 81 and 85 supposedly had the same circuitry, and the main difference was that the 81 had a ceramic magnet, and the 85 an AlNiCo magnet. According to the copy, the EMG-60 has a ceramic magnet.
In summary, if I had to guess what really sets the EMG-60 apart from the EMG-81, it's that it's using smaller Firebird-like coils, and the difference between the two of them with respect to the 85 is that the 85 has an AlNiCo magnet. I have a couple guitars with Firebird sized humbuckers, I have a Sheraton I with minis and a Sheraton II with full sized, almost the same guitar with these different sizes of humbuckers, and I do think the mini humbuckers sound more single-coil like in the timbre, with a sharper bridge sound a more chime-like neck sound. I'd expect the EMG-60 might sound a bit more single coil-like as well.
This EMG-60 / EMG-81 set also happens to come with a polished nickel cover. This is the first time I've seen active pickups with a metal cover, but there doesn't appear to be any eddy current loading of consequence.
