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Post subject: EMG-GC21 SA Prewired Pickguard Set in a MIM Strat? Others?
Posted: Fri Mar 25, 2011 10:06 pm
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I'm the original owner of a stock 1999 MIM strat. I'm looking to upgrade the pups but with all the choices and options out there, choosing which ones to go with aint easy.

I came accross the EMG-GC21 SA Prewired Pickguard Set and I'm wondering if anybody has any experience (good or bad) with this setup.

Favorite artists are Gilmour, Clapton, Page, Frampton, SRV, Santana to more modern rock sounds (Pearl Jam, STP...). I've thought about DG-20s, Lace Sensor (Blue, red, silver...or golds), some of the Fender CS Series (Texas Specials, etc.).

Basically, I'm open to suggestions so long as we keep the total price below ~$200. I know this topic of new pups gets covered over and over again but I gotta ask. Thanks for any help!


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Post subject: Re: EMG-GC21 SA Prewired Pickguard Set in a MIM Strat? Othe
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 11:39 am
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GarretNYC wrote:
I'm the original owner of a stock 1999 MIM Strat. I'm looking to upgrade the pups but with all the choices and options out there, choosing which ones to go with aint easy.

I came across the EMG-GC21 SA Prewired Pickguard Set and I'm wondering if anybody has any experience (good or bad) with this setup.

Favorite artists are Gilmour, Clapton, Page, Frampton, SRV, Santana to more modern rock sounds (Pearl Jam, STP...). I've thought about DG-20s, Lace Sensor (Blue, red, silver...or golds), some of the Fender CS Series (Texas Specials, etc.).

Basically, I'm open to suggestions so long as we keep the total price below ~$200. I know this topic of new pups gets covered over and over again but I gotta ask. Thanks for any help!


Welcome!

The majority of players who use active pickups tend to go through a lot of other preamps such as pedals and racks before the guitar's signal even gets to the amp. This is EMG's forte as it keeps the pickups' signal as 'high-fidelity' as possible to work in conjunction with other preamps. Those who don't use a lot of preamps tend to not like EMGs all that much as depending on the player, there always seems to be some unwanted and/or excessive frequencies. Four things all EMG users can agree on are that EMGs are loud because of their preamps, humbucking because of same; once the battery starts dying the pickups start dying and sound like 'fecal matter' and changing the battery is generally a pain in the 'donkey'.

If you go passive (meaning, normal, non-preamped pickups), the "magic number" for a trio of new, premium pickups starts at around $125. Needless to say, there is no limit to how much one can spend from there.

Suggestions on passive brands/models would literally take pages and pages of any given thread as has been proven many times over in the past where you'll be no further ahead. Everyone plays differently and so, although say, a hundred suggestions were given to you as to what works for a given player, there is absolutely no guarantee whatsoever that their suggested combo will work for you. Based on the particular manufacturer's hype or what you've read from particular users of a particular pickup or pickups to this point is only a suggestion. YOU have to get out there and try as many as you can for yourself in order to make any kind of an informed decision.

On the up-side, manufacturers like DiMarzio and Duncan have a swap policy where if you buy one or a set of their pickups and you don't like it/them, you can exchange them within their grace period. DiMarzio is 30 days from the date of the sales receipt; Duncan is 21 days from the dated of the sales receipt.

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Post subject: Re: EMG-GC21 SA Prewired Pickguard Set in a MIM Strat? Othe
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 1:58 pm
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Thanks so much for the thoughtful answer. I appreciate the help and advice.


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Post subject: Re: EMG-GC21 SA Prewired Pickguard Set in a MIM Strat? Othe
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 2:19 pm
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GarretNYC wrote:
Thanks so much for the thoughtful answer. I appreciate the help and advice.


Any time!

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Post subject: Re: EMG-GC21 SA Prewired Pickguard Set in a MIM Strat? Othe
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 3:30 pm
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Just curious....thoughts or personal experience with the lace sensors (gold vs blue silver red combo)?


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Post subject: Re: EMG-GC21 SA Prewired Pickguard Set in a MIM Strat? Othe
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:30 pm
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GarretNYC wrote:
Just curious....thoughts or personal experience with the lace sensors (gold vs blue silver red combo)?


To my ear, out of the bunch, the gold was tolerable. The silver didn't have enough midrange, the blue was too bassy and the red just puked midrange. All lacked any real Stratty type high-end. Laces are not for me.

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Post subject: Re: EMG-GC21 SA Prewired Pickguard Set in a MIM Strat? Othe
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:11 am
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Thanks again. Based on all the info I've found I'm now leaning towards the dimarzio area set (61b/67m/58n).


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Post subject: Re: EMG-GC21 SA Prewired Pickguard Set in a MIM Strat? Othe
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:16 am
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GarretNYC wrote:
Thanks again. Based on all the info I've found I'm now leaning towards the dimarzio area set (61b/67m/58n).


Anytime!

You've made an outstanding selection towards a new set. Those three are my personal favorites in the DiMarzio series too. FWIW, I put the 58 in the middle and the 67 in the neck.

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Post subject: Re: EMG-GC21 SA Prewired Pickguard Set in a MIM Strat? Othe
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 9:46 am
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Thanks. I'll take your advice and put the '67 in the neck. I've got this nice in-house credit at musicians friend they'd been burning a hole in my pocket....brings my cost well below a benjamin!

on another note......know anybody that wants to buy my nearly new Dean ML X in transparent sunburst? :)


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Post subject: Re: EMG-GC21 SA Prewired Pickguard Set in a MIM Strat? Othe
Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2011 11:53 am
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GarretNYC wrote:
Thanks. I'll take your advice and put the '67 in the neck. I've got this nice in-house credit at musicians friend they'd been burning a hole in my pocket....brings my cost well below a benjamin!

on another note......know anybody that wants to buy my nearly new Dean ML X in transparent sunburst? :)


Glad to help.

As to the other, I'm afraid not.

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Post subject: Fender Hot Noiseless?
Posted: Mon Apr 04, 2011 8:37 pm
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Well I had every intention of ordering a set of the Area Pickups (58 61 67) from Musicians Friend (had to use that in-house credit!). Unfortunately, the Area set is on backorder until May 4. I did some more research and came upon the Fender Hot Noiseless (FHN) Set. They seem to get good reviews though for whatever reason there's not a lot of info out there on them (vs. the Area's which get lots of discussion). The FHN set are on sale at the moment for like $129. After all discounts/credits at MF, they ran me about $60 for the entire set. They should be here in a few days. Any opinion on those?

The other question is - should I install them myself or have a luthier do it? I'm capable at soldering but no expert. Regardless of who does it....should I go for a standard install or one of the mods like having the bridge (instead of the middle) pickup connected to the Tone?


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Post subject: Re: Fender Hot Noiseless?
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 4:28 am
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GarretNYC wrote:
Well I had every intention of ordering a set of the Area Pickups (58 61 67) from Musicians Friend (had to use that in-house credit!). Unfortunately, the Area set is on backorder until May 4. I did some more research and came upon the Fender Hot Noiseless (FHN) Set. They seem to get good reviews though for whatever reason there's not a lot of info out there on them (vs. the Area's which get lots of discussion). The FHN set are on sale at the moment for like $129. After all discounts/credits at MF, they ran me about $60 for the entire set. They should be here in a few days. Any opinion on those?

The other question is - should I install them myself or have a luthier do it? I'm capable at soldering but no expert. Regardless of who does it....should I go for a standard install or one of the mods like having the bridge (instead of the middle) pickup connected to the Tone?


I'll let others chime in on their opinion of the Hot Noiseless pickups.

The HNs are not complicated in terms of how they are installed. However, they are not the most sturdily made of pickups so if you do choose to install them yourself, handle them as if they were eggs. As to which tone pot does what, I'd wire it so the upper tone pot controls the neck and middle pickup and the lower tone pot controls the bridge pickup.

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Post subject: Re: Fender Hot Noiseless?
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 5:13 am
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Martian wrote:
I'll let others chime in on their opinion of the Hot Noiseless pickups.


Uh-oh....Now that doesn't sound like a very positive endoresement! I appreciate all of your help so far but it sounds like you and I are the only ones in this conversation -- I haven't heard any feedback on this topic yet from any others! :wink:

Based on our convo, looks like I'll be sending them right back to musician's friend when they arrive. I suppose I might be back to the Areas or....:?
Keep in mind, I'm not a pro or even close (yet). I'm a casual player (only been playing a few years), and so far play only (99%) rhythm in my gigging band.

Martian wrote:
The HNs are not complicated in terms of how they are installed. However, they are not the most sturdily made of pickups so if you do choose to install them yourself, handle them as if they were eggs. As to which tone pot does what, I'd wire it so the upper tone pot controls the neck and middle pickup and the lower tone pot controls the bridge pickup.


I'm wondering if a pre-wired set of whichever ones I go with is worth the extra ~$100 premium then rather than spending money on having a pro install them.


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Post subject: Re: Fender Hot Noiseless?
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 5:39 am
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GarretNYC wrote:
Martian wrote:
I'll let others chime in on their opinion of the Hot Noiseless pickups.


Uh-oh....Now that doesn't sound like a very positive endorsement! I appreciate all of your help so far but it sounds like you and I are the only ones in this conversation -- I haven't heard any feedback on this topic yet from any others! :wink:


No, it's not.

I'm glad to help.

Apparently, they have none.

GarretNYC wrote:
Based on our convo, looks like I'll be sending them right back to musician's friend when they arrive. I suppose I might be back to the Areas or....:?
Keep in mind, I'm not a pro or even close (yet). I'm a casual player (only been playing a few years), and so far play only (99%) rhythm in my gigging band.


This is all the more reason why you'd want Areas. They are an infinitely better designed/built pickup where you'd have rich Alnico tone vs. grainy Ceramic tone.

Martian wrote:
The HNs are not complicated in terms of how they are installed. However, they are not the most sturdily made of pickups so if you do choose to install them yourself, handle them as if they were eggs. As to which tone pot does what, I'd wire it so the upper tone pot controls the neck and middle pickup and the lower tone pot controls the bridge pickup.


GarretNYC wrote:
I'm wondering if a pre-wired set of whichever ones I go with is worth the extra ~$100 premium then rather than spending money on having a pro install them.


Frankly, working with one's existing pickguard and components, I routinely do it for less and I've been at it professionally since 1968!

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Post subject:
Posted: Tue Apr 05, 2011 5:48 am
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It's the waiting until May 4th that's the hard part!! I have severe GAS (includes equipment too) so waiting a month until stock at MF replenishes leaves me way too much time to try to get my fix at the expense of making a sub-standard decision. :lol:


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