I've used EMG since 1986 when my guitar teacher, a top L.A. session player at the time, showed me his custom Charvel strat with this exact set. I had only been playing guitar for a year at that time and had only recently moved from acoustic to my first electric, a strat. The tone was night and day. It was the difference between watching a movie in black and white then seeing Star Wars in 3D. Absolutely mind-blowing. I got this set installed and it worked magic. You haven't heard a strat till you've heard it with the DG20 set. There's nothing like it.
@@TheStratplayer76 He probably said something like, "You want me to play Gilmour? He's way too slow. These pickups won't sound good for that kind of music."
First time every installing anything on a guitar other than changing strings and you made this simple process even more simple - dummy proof! I cannot thank you enough!!!! As far as these pickups are concerned, when playing Comfortably Numb and/or Wish You Were Here - I can actually keep my Boss Karan on totally clean channel, no pedals, just the natural sound of these pickups, and the songs sound IDENTICAL (in tone, etc - not skill) as the originals from Gilmour himself!!!! I’m not kidding - nothing but this set and tuned strings - SAME SOUND!!! Beautiful!!!
These pickups sound great! I love them in my strat, too. However, I definitely find I get a closer tone using stock pickups and lots of pedals/effects than I do with these and no effects. But hey, different people hear things differently! Keep enjoying your DG20!
I picked up a 1992 Fender Squier Series Stratocaster tonight, made in Korea, in the Cort Factory. It looked and played real cool. Plugged into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe IV tube amp I noticed the EMG pups were kicking and the two tone controls were very interactive. I was like what is going on under the hood here? This sounds great! I pulled out my smart phone and quickly figured out it was this pup set. Bought it, just a wonderful guitar. This pickup set is phenomenal. So much kick and range of tones available, you can really cover just about anything. You can turn up the amp, dial down the guitar volume for clean and rhythm, then bring the volume up for solos and overdrive. The tone controls are very sculpting for fattening or thinning out the tones, etc. Wow! It won't necessarily make me give up all my other guitars or change out all my pickups, but I feel like I just added a real powerhouse Strat to my arsenal and collection. It should be a blast out live on various gigs.
EMG SAs are excellent. Have them on my ´78 strat since forever (well sometime aprox 1986). Never going back to passive pickups. Now that set with the two booster circuits are another level up in the game.
Hey Rob, I just got my DG 20 setup.Sorry to say that I had it installed literally in 15 min.....works right as rain.......had a set of your sv pu's with the rpc in my bread and butter 57 workhorse strat for 10 years and just decided spontaneously to check out the prewired range.have been using your pu's since 85....love them!!!,
The only thing I don't like ist the glimmery pearl-pickguard which is a bit tasteless imho. That's why I got the version with black pickguard which looks better imho.
"Wow! That sounded way better! A whole lot better" Jeesh.. Lots of Gilmour is clean shimmer and although we got a non distorted clean in the "BEFORE" demo, we only got crunch on the "AFTER". This demo didn't tell me much other than ease of installation
@@nicolashrv I mean, yeah, but it would've been kinda pointless if they straight up said it sounded the same. They are trying to promote a product after all.
Great video! Very informative and easy to follow. There needs to be easier battery access perhaps a pop out section in the pickguard! Thanks again for the video.
The question would be; did EMG this demo (with music that nothing have to do with Pink Floyd) in answer to David Gilmour after he decided to stop using them and push away active pups? 🤔
I did the exact same thing to my Strat, except I recorded everything and tried to make it as scientific as possible. I also used a multi-meter to record the output of the pickups, a sound meter to record volume differences, and it went through my PC to measure the frequency differences. Man, what a difference. I could not believe it. But the bottom line is that just to my ear it blew the stock pu's away. Awesome
You may think that's true about active pickups but they still put out the 60 cycle hum. My brother has a Schecter Hellraiser guitar with an HSS EMG p-up config and I have an American Deluxe Stratocaster with the HSS config that has two stacked classic noiseless pickups and one Fender Atomic humbucker. We plugged them both in and had the volume turned down to zero. You could hear the EMG equipped Schecter hum like crazy through his amp but the Noiseless+Atomic humbucker equipped Strat was silent.
@carmencammarata1971 There actually is a huge difference. the problem is, the guitarist probably didn't like the tone from the new pickups and tweaked the EQ to get his regular sound. I don't know why they would allow that on a demonstration video. just go around youtube and watch other videos, and you'll hear the difference
The guy playing the Strat needs to tone down the treble AND play David Gilmour stuff instead. The installation portion was spot on. The pickups sound incredible IF you’ve got the tone dialed in…if not, they’ll scape your eardrums raw!
How not to sell a product,demo.Why the pearl pick guard when Gilmour's is plain white.And why does the so called guitarist not play something Gilmourish to demonstrate what it sounds like instead of the unbearable noise that he does play :/
@TheNohcim Probably not. Most strats are routed for single coils so there will be wood getting in the way. However if you find a strat that is routed with a "swimming pool" body then there will be room. swimming pool means there is a big rectangle routed out. You can put any pickups you want in those.
Wanted to buy these but had no intention of getting them and then having to strip them out to fit on my plain white 8 hole single ply. Whilst they do look good on the pearl guard why not give the option of plain with 8 or 11 hole? Due to your choice of guard you missed out on a sale and I bought secondhand
I like the concept of being able to change out the pre installed pickups but having to change the battery like that? What a hassle. I also didn't like the fact that they used a distortion tone to show the end result. They started with a clean channel. They didn't sound that great to me.
Stephen Black I just installed an EMG solderless system on a early 90's model Ibanez RG. My big problem was that the new buss system attached to the 5-way switch took up so much room that there was none left to put back the battery! I had to route the battery out the back and I'm currently debating just purchasing an EMG external power supply.
Stephen Black Not that bad. Pretty much exactly like this install--the only difference being that I had to attach the wiring to my existing pickups. The guys at EMG were pretty cool too; they were quick to respond to any questions I posed to them. My only complaint is that I had no room left for my battery and I definitely don't have the skills (or the tools) to route out some room in the body.
If i want this pick ups by separate, i mean without buying the whole set, cause the strat has a pickguard already, can I install the pickups in the original pickguard?
Yes, but you would have to de-solder the connections from the old pickups, make note of where each wire belongs, then reassemble the new ones in the same spots. It's fairly easy, but there are many videos that give a step-by-step guide for you. Or, you could contact your nearest guitar repairs & upgrades store and ask for a price quote.
I'm going do put the battery easier accessible at the back of the guitar below the springs cover, just by boring out a little battery compartment at its side.
If you play big venues, these DG20´s make sense. They were designed for canceling out signal interference. Otherwise there is no point using them. Better to put the Lace Sensors instead if you want that Candy Apple Red Strat-look like Gilmour.
There is a slight difference in the low-mid area, with a bit more balanced tone between all strings. To be really sure, I would have to hear it through the amp. But as it is, would think twice about changing the original Pickups...
@Lazzle22 Well it doesn't help that he doesn't play the same licks to base upon as a reference, but I can hear a difference, its just a matter of being used to listening for things like that. The EMGs definitely sound more compressed, But then again I work for a guitar manufacturer in sales and have been replacing pickups and modding guitars for 8 years, so I'm used to listening for the subtleties.
The funniest thing is like in top shop commercials guitar player do not say anything,but when pickups are changed after first shot"Wow!,that sounded way better".
1:57 There should be no safety issue with the strings being at earth ground potential. If the exposed metal parts of your amp chassis, mics, PA system, etc. aren't at a safe potential/voltage, you have a shock hazard regardless of whether you clip the grounding wire in the guitar. And don't let anyone suggest using a mains ground-lift adapter! If you don't trust the wiring in the venue, get it tested.
I was curious about this. I would think that you’d want to be grounded, since electricity is always searching for a ground. I’m a bit unclear about this and have never severed a ground wire from a guitar. If this is an issue, why do guitars have a grounding wire. It’s more work to have a ground wire than not have a ground wire
@@michaelbronfman7648 It's not so much that electricity is "searching for" ground, but if there is a high enough voltage difference and a low enough resistance, then a certain amount of current will flow. If the resistance is your body and the voltage is more than about 50 V, then the current could pose a hazard, potentially even a deadly one. With grounded guitar strings, your body becomes an EMI shield when you touch the strings. That's why guitars often get buzzier/noisier when you take your hands off the strings/bridge.
Some very old guitar amps with 2-wire mains cables can have mains-level voltages on the chassis (depending on how they're plugged in or how their on/off/on switch is set). But that problem is a general safety issue, and no reason to clip the ground wire on the guitar.
Thank's :) I bought it for my Squier Standard Strat and it was not so easy. The Squier body is not deep enough to place the battery and I had to pout it near the tremolo underneath the body. No more termolo but good sounds :) I'll fix this later.
Why no more tremolo? You just can bore out a little battery compartment in the "spare" wood at the left side of the springs hole which later on will be covered by the springs over.
When is a good time to show us what the optimal height for each pick-up would be & the difference it makes in tone and strength of signal in an EMG ????
I just installed these just the way you showed and I got nothing but buzzing and I dont get any noise from the emgs at all like you did with the screwdriver. My strat had 2 grounds. One screwed in the the body in front and soldered to the volume and the other soldered from the volume to the spring assembly in the back. This is pretty frustrating
Really like these pups but I have 2 concerns I don't really like the pre-wired pick guard how difficult are they to install into another after market pick guard and secondly there has got to be a better place to put the battery because I don't work on my own guitars (don't judge me) having to remove anything makes me hesitant. so should I buy now or wait and hope EMG comes up with a process more to my liking ?
hey i have a question, on EMG website they have the 81/81 pro series pickguard, but i want the 81/85 setup, do i buy the pickguard and swap out the pickup, or buy the 81/85 pickup and try to solder it myself?
Mine i bought it first edition , i had to sold a couple of cables , , do not remember if the jack is stereo, why is that ? And sometimes its hard to understand the use of this system with pedals , sometimes volume changes , at clean is the only way im happy with my first edition model , can you help me understand? Or do you have a video of how to install that model ? Thank you
Excellent install video. Unfortunately the 5 second demo at the end did nothing to show clean tone. Just distorted nonsense. As you can read the comments below everyone agree's. Rerelease the video with a clean tone demo that matches the quality of the install part please.
My son is in the Army and order the EMG DG 20 pickups & pickguard, he's coming home soon and wants me to install it before he comes home. I need some foam for the battery & I need some dense foam for my guitars to put under the strings above the nut so it will help with noise! Anyone know where I can find this kind of foam? Thank for the video, I can't wait to hear these pickups in his strat!
Are there different models of EMG DG20 pickups? I just bought a set from a guy and mine don't appear to be solderless. They are different than in the video. Older model? Are there any videos to show how to install mine? The box they come in is different too than the one in the video, but they say "EMG DG20 The pro series" on the box. There are only two wires. A white one and then a black wire that comes from the battery plug.
This is why usually you should pay to route the back behind the tremolo cavity.............still for me is way more efficient to use a vertical battery box, and put it next to the neck/bridge pickups........the issue is they don't make those in white, to camouflage it a bit. Actually they do, but is twice more expensive and harder to find.
The difference could've been obtained with the first pickup by turning the volume or tone knobs, knobs on the amp, etc. Stock pickups must be good enough.
question, I've been having trouble with my set for a while now The guitar came with the dg20 loaded pickguard installed, played great for a while but now kinda crapped out basically the issue I'm having is that all of a sudden the volume control no longer seems to function nor does the switching unit, all the pickups seem to be on all the time, and the battery drains superfast even when not jacked in, no rewiring has been done only replaced the input jack any ideas what I should look at, thanks
I installed one of these DG20's in my red strat 5 years ago I don't have a stereo jack and I have soldiered connections, I didn't get the plug in connections, it this because yours is a newer model and why would you need to turn the battery on and off that should happen when plugged in.
@EMGpickupsTV. How much extra would it cost to have a Black pickguard instaed of the white but still have the Ivory pickups white volume, tone and white switch knob. Or How difficult to remove everything from a white pearloid pickguard and install i on a black pickguard. I do a have a black pickguard on my Srv strat replica but would like a whole new setup and keep the one I have for another project. I think with a black pickguard look great with this setup.
It shouldn't be hard. Just remove the screws, knobs covers, and selector tip. They'll yank out and the pickups and electronics will still be wired. Although, I DO believe that EMG's single coils are slightly bigger than a standard single coil. I'm not very sure.
I have the DG20 installed and found that it will use the battery in no time if I don't remove the battery after every play. Is there a switching device to the battery or something as it's pretty annoying to remove the battery every time I'm finished playing? Thanks
@@stephenmooibroek You got to pull out the plug at the guitar end. if you pull out at the amp it will not prevent the battery from slowly losing juice. The switch is on the jackbox on the guitar (why it needs a stereo plug).
The Custom Shop Gilmour signature Strat that is modelled on his guitar doesn't use a battery? Batteries last 5 minutes. Why would I want to be unscrewing the faceplate every time I need to change it? It all seems too fussy.
That's not the same guitar. The black strat doesn't use EMG pickups but custom passive ones. Gilmour used the EMG pickups on his red Strat which he used in the 90s, so on the Momentary lapse Of Reason and Pulse tours. I attended live in both and Dave's Guitar simply sounded fantastic, thick, warm and 3d. That's why I'm keen on these pickups. The black Strat sounds quite a bit differen, but very good on its own. Less warm but a on the other hand more lively and also more brilliant. It depens on the material which one sounds better. I think for "Shine On" (both solo and broken chord lick) the red Strat sounds better. But the black one sounds better on the Dark Side stuff and also Comfortably numb.
is the the lukather prewired pickguard the same way? is that one solderless too.. how easy really is it to install? thinking about getting the lukather one.. thanks!
There are worse places to put it, I used to have it hang outside the pickguard. I didn't put it in the trem cavity as I use the trem almost all the time while playing but putting it under the P/G is ok because the battery lasts for around 1000hrs with a quality battery.
@kurtdrengen if you leave on your guitar on for a whole month straight the batteries will die so from that you can tell they last it all depends if you play a lot
I bought the Kirk Hammett pickguard and I cant figure out where to put my ground from the tremelo. my other EMG set Jim Root set had a ground terminal.....I connected it to the switch and this thing is buzzing like crazy......where does the ground go on this pickguard??? no instruction whatsoever in the box.
I wish other loaded pickguards would adopt this plug in system. EMG you guys rock.
I don't even have a strat I want to change the pickups on, but this video was so relaxing to watch! the tone of the voice and all, so relaxing!
I've used EMG since 1986 when my guitar teacher, a top L.A. session player at the time, showed me his custom Charvel strat with this exact set. I had only been playing guitar for a year at that time and had only recently moved from acoustic to my first electric, a strat. The tone was night and day. It was the difference between watching a movie in black and white then seeing Star Wars in 3D. Absolutely mind-blowing. I got this set installed and it worked magic. You haven't heard a strat till you've heard it with the DG20 set. There's nothing like it.
I just got mine !
Would have been better to demo David Gilmore riffs.
Copyright
@@joseduran9232 he played Hendrix anyway so copyright doesn’t matter
Probably can’t play any 😂
@@TheStratplayer76 He probably said something like, "You want me to play Gilmour? He's way too slow. These pickups won't sound good for that kind of music."
First time every installing anything on a guitar other than changing strings and you made this simple process even more simple - dummy proof! I cannot thank you enough!!!! As far as these pickups are concerned, when playing Comfortably Numb and/or Wish You Were Here - I can actually keep my Boss Karan on totally clean channel, no pedals, just the natural sound of these pickups, and the songs sound IDENTICAL (in tone, etc - not skill) as the originals from Gilmour himself!!!! I’m not kidding - nothing but this set and tuned strings - SAME SOUND!!! Beautiful!!!
These pickups sound great! I love them in my strat, too. However, I definitely find I get a closer tone using stock pickups and lots of pedals/effects than I do with these and no effects. But hey, different people hear things differently! Keep enjoying your DG20!
So...this is a set of DAVID GILMOUR (PINK FLOYD) signature pickups, so why not play a few DG licks instead of SRV and Hendrix, this make no sense.
+howlingmine i agree with you
Ive never understood that either. Its literally like demoing a jazz guitar & playing Metallica
It's probably all he could. Play.... 😂
SInce Gilmour actually uses the set its kind of a given that they sound like Pink Floyd, so hearing other 'vintage' iconic sounds makes sense to me.
pajguitar It's literally not.
I picked up a 1992 Fender Squier Series Stratocaster tonight, made in Korea, in the Cort Factory. It looked and played real cool. Plugged into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe IV tube amp I noticed the EMG pups were kicking and the two tone controls were very interactive. I was like what is going on under the hood here? This sounds great! I pulled out my smart phone and quickly figured out it was this pup set. Bought it, just a wonderful guitar. This pickup set is phenomenal. So much kick and range of tones available, you can really cover just about anything. You can turn up the amp, dial down the guitar volume for clean and rhythm, then bring the volume up for solos and overdrive. The tone controls are very sculpting for fattening or thinning out the tones, etc. Wow! It won't necessarily make me give up all my other guitars or change out all my pickups, but I feel like I just added a real powerhouse Strat to my arsenal and collection. It should be a blast out live on various gigs.
"Oh let's play distorted SRV and Hendrix licks for a Gilmour pickup demo"
So fucking what?
😂🤣🤣🤣
Ikr
@@joshfeatherstone8546 That is a song by the Anti Nowhere League.
Let the good times roll...
EMG SAs are excellent. Have them on my ´78 strat since forever (well sometime aprox 1986). Never going back to passive pickups. Now that set with the two booster circuits are another level up in the game.
I have EMG’s from 86 also. Nothing compares.
Hey Rob, I just got my DG 20 setup.Sorry to say that I had it installed literally in 15 min.....works right as rain.......had a set of your sv pu's with the rpc in my bread and butter 57 workhorse strat for 10 years and just decided spontaneously to check out the prewired range.have been using your pu's since 85....love them!!!,
The EMGs didn't sound noticeably different...
That was the idea. Noiceless pics that sound like the original ones.
0:38 and 6:38 just jump from demo to demo and you'll hear the difference between stock Mexico ceramic pickups and the EMG alnico's, big difference.
The only thing I don't like ist the glimmery pearl-pickguard which is a bit tasteless imho. That's why I got the version with black pickguard which looks better imho.
David Hendrix would be proud.
Lmao
Do you mean David Ray hendrix
i don't understand... u show the EMG DG20 GILMOUR pickups and you don't play pink floyd or gilmour song? wtf
Couldn't hear the difference between stock pickups and the new ones, but I really enjoyed the video. Cool installation.
"Wow! That sounded way better! A whole lot better" Jeesh.. Lots of Gilmour is clean shimmer and although we got a non distorted clean in the "BEFORE" demo, we only got crunch on the "AFTER". This demo didn't tell me much other than ease of installation
actually if you listen one after the other, there is no difference between the original and the EMG pickups.
@@nicolashrv I mean, yeah, but it would've been kinda pointless if they straight up said it sounded the same. They are trying to promote a product after all.
I too wanted to hear the DG sound following the installation, but Bill gave us the SRV Texas sound :)
For the next video to sells David Gilmour's pickups you can play The Ramones, just think about it.... 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Great video! Very informative and easy to follow. There needs to be easier battery access perhaps a pop out section in the pickguard! Thanks again for the video.
I'll be installing mine in my American standard strat after work in a couple of hours. Very excited!
The question would be; did EMG this demo (with music that nothing have to do with Pink Floyd) in answer to David Gilmour after he decided to stop using them and push away active pups? 🤔
I did the exact same thing to my Strat, except I recorded everything and tried to make it as scientific as possible. I also used a multi-meter to record the output of the pickups, a sound meter to record volume differences, and it went through my PC to measure the frequency differences. Man, what a difference. I could not believe it. But the bottom line is that just to my ear it blew the stock pu's away. Awesome
Where is the video, I looked on your channel... pop that thing up, even if its just audio and graphics explaining whats going on.
ya thanks. that demonstration didn't convince me of any sound quality increase. nice installation though guys.
I've flicked between the two sounds on the video and honestly can't hear the appreciable difference I was expecting.
You may think that's true about active pickups but they still put out the 60 cycle hum. My brother has a Schecter Hellraiser guitar with an HSS EMG p-up config and I have an American Deluxe Stratocaster with the HSS config that has two stacked classic noiseless pickups and one Fender Atomic humbucker. We plugged them both in and had the volume turned down to zero. You could hear the EMG equipped Schecter hum like crazy through his amp but the Noiseless+Atomic humbucker equipped Strat was silent.
@carmencammarata1971 There actually is a huge difference. the problem is, the guitarist probably didn't like the tone from the new pickups and tweaked the EQ to get his regular sound. I don't know why they would allow that on a demonstration video. just go around youtube and watch other videos, and you'll hear the difference
Hey EMG I have an idea for you guys; Single coil versions of the 81, 85 and 60
The guy playing the Strat needs to tone down the treble AND play David Gilmour stuff instead. The installation portion was spot on. The pickups sound incredible IF you’ve got the tone dialed in…if not, they’ll scape your eardrums raw!
How not to sell a product,demo.Why the pearl pick guard when Gilmour's is plain white.And why does the so called guitarist not play something Gilmourish to demonstrate what it sounds like instead of the unbearable noise that he does play :/
Actually gilmours is a pearl pick gaurd
No Gilmour never had a pearl pick guard on his red strat it’s just plain white
Just won this setup on the Facebook page! Thanks guys!
Well, now we know why David stop using this pickups, it was after watching this video nd its demo. 🙃
@TheNohcim Probably not. Most strats are routed for single coils so there will be wood getting in the way. However if you find a strat that is routed with a "swimming pool" body then there will be room. swimming pool means there is a big rectangle routed out. You can put any pickups you want in those.
Would you be better using copper shielding in the cavities or not. Would appreciate your advice
did he do anything to the ground wire after he tucked it next to the springs?
Wanted to buy these but had no intention of getting them and then having to strip them out to fit on my plain white 8 hole single ply. Whilst they do look good on the pearl guard why not give the option of plain with 8 or 11 hole? Due to your choice of guard you missed out on a sale and I bought secondhand
agreed ...plain white should be an option!!!
Why not demo the clean (undistorted) riffs after the installation? Would like to hear the REAL sound of the pickups, not strained through a dirt box.
I like the concept of being able to change out the pre installed pickups but having to change the battery like that? What a hassle.
I also didn't like the fact that they used a distortion tone to show the end result. They started with a clean channel. They didn't sound that great to me.
Stephen Black I just installed an EMG solderless system on a early 90's model Ibanez RG. My big problem was that the new buss system attached to the 5-way switch took up so much room that there was none left to put back the battery! I had to route the battery out the back and I'm currently debating just purchasing an EMG external power supply.
***** ha, i'm to lazy to change my own strings strings much less have to go through what you went through. Good for you man. Hope it was worth it.
Stephen Black Not that bad. Pretty much exactly like this install--the only difference being that I had to attach the wiring to my existing pickups. The guys at EMG were pretty cool too; they were quick to respond to any questions I posed to them. My only complaint is that I had no room left for my battery and I definitely don't have the skills (or the tools) to route out some room in the body.
Ha ha not lazy but rather inept!
If i want this pick ups by separate, i mean without buying the whole set, cause the strat has a pickguard already, can I install the pickups in the original pickguard?
Yes, but you would have to de-solder the connections from the old pickups, make note of where each wire belongs, then reassemble the new ones in the same spots. It's fairly easy, but there are many videos that give a step-by-step guide for you. Or, you could contact your nearest guitar repairs & upgrades store and ask for a price quote.
Thinking of buying it, to put on my Squier artic white 2016 model which costs 190.- is it worth it? Thanks you.
I have the dg20 signature strat, Daves red strat as the signature model does not have a pearloid pickguard, it's just plain white, just saying
Pickguard is rank. I think I'll keep my original plain one.
I'm going do put the battery easier accessible at the back of the guitar below the springs cover, just by boring out a little battery compartment at its side.
So... my strat mock has no room for the upgrade. Any tips on how to route it in without compromising the structure of the guitar?
Regarding the ground wire, if it was that dangerous to have the ground attached, I'm sure electric guitars would not be grounded as such?
If you play big venues, these DG20´s make sense. They were designed for canceling out signal interference. Otherwise there is no point using them. Better to put the Lace Sensors instead if you want that Candy Apple Red Strat-look like Gilmour.
Also better for recording. Some noise cancelling Pups really don't cancel out ALL the noise, these do.
There is a slight difference in the low-mid area, with a bit more balanced tone between all strings. To be really sure, I would have to hear it through the amp. But as it is, would think twice about changing the original Pickups...
@Lazzle22 Well it doesn't help that he doesn't play the same licks to base upon as a reference, but I can hear a difference, its just a matter of being used to listening for things like that. The EMGs definitely sound more compressed, But then again I work for a guitar manufacturer in sales and have been replacing pickups and modding guitars for 8 years, so I'm used to listening for the subtleties.
Nice video , You sound like the Bob Ross of EMG loaded pickguard installation !!
The funniest thing is like in top shop commercials guitar player do not say anything,but
when pickups are changed after first shot"Wow!,that sounded way better".
1:57 There should be no safety issue with the strings being at earth ground potential. If the exposed metal parts of your amp chassis, mics, PA system, etc. aren't at a safe potential/voltage, you have a shock hazard regardless of whether you clip the grounding wire in the guitar. And don't let anyone suggest using a mains ground-lift adapter! If you don't trust the wiring in the venue, get it tested.
I was curious about this. I would think that you’d want to be grounded, since electricity is always searching for a ground.
I’m a bit unclear about this and have never severed a ground wire from a guitar.
If this is an issue, why do guitars have a grounding wire. It’s more work to have a ground wire than not have a ground wire
@@michaelbronfman7648 It's not so much that electricity is "searching for" ground, but if there is a high enough voltage difference and a low enough resistance, then a certain amount of current will flow. If the resistance is your body and the voltage is more than about 50 V, then the current could pose a hazard, potentially even a deadly one.
With grounded guitar strings, your body becomes an EMI shield when you touch the strings. That's why guitars often get buzzier/noisier when you take your hands off the strings/bridge.
Some very old guitar amps with 2-wire mains cables can have mains-level voltages on the chassis (depending on how they're plugged in or how their on/off/on switch is set). But that problem is a general safety issue, and no reason to clip the ground wire on the guitar.
Thank's :) I bought it for my Squier Standard Strat and it was not so easy. The Squier body is not deep enough to place the battery and I had to pout it near the tremolo underneath the body. No more termolo but good sounds :) I'll fix this later.
Why no more tremolo? You just can bore out a little battery compartment in the "spare" wood at the left side of the springs hole which later on will be covered by the springs over.
When is a good time to show us what the optimal height for each pick-up would be & the difference it makes in tone and strength of signal in an EMG ????
EMG, can you PLEASE make a Left Handed version of the DG20??
THEY DID:)
So you don’t not need to ground the EMGs by following a wire from the time to the rear trem assembly ?
Doug Devine right??
nope. you don't need the ground for active pickups.
excellent video, please do other videos for the 81/85/60
I just installed these just the way you showed and I got nothing but buzzing and I dont get any noise from the emgs at all like you did with the screwdriver. My strat had 2 grounds. One screwed in the the body in front and soldered to the volume and the other soldered from the volume to the spring assembly in the back. This is pretty frustrating
Is it possible to convert this pick guard set into a lefty, without damaging or replacing parts?
R- Silver its impossible. Sorry.
it can be done. But you will have to replace the pickguard (d'oh)
Just done this install, sooooooo easy and fast. :-) great great pups.
I have a strat and it was manufactured in Mexico. Will I have any issues plugging in the wires?
Really like these pups but I have 2 concerns I don't really like the pre-wired pick guard how difficult are they to install into another after market pick guard and secondly there has got to be a better place to put the battery because I don't work on my own guitars (don't judge me) having to remove anything makes me hesitant. so should I buy now or wait and hope EMG comes up with a process more to my liking ?
hey i have a question, on EMG website they have the 81/81 pro series pickguard, but i want the 81/85 setup, do i buy the pickguard and swap out the pickup, or buy the 81/85 pickup and try to solder it myself?
I love the EMG DG20!
I want to modify my strat by putting active pickups in it and adding a killswitch for I can play some exciting solos
4:42 I was trying to install some emg-s in my strat but the stereo jack socket doesn't fit in the cavity. Was the wood on this one pre routed?
Wow... I'm really disapointed. I didn't think they sounded any better than the stock pups.
Is it easy to replace the pickguard? I want these off white pickups but on a black pickguard
Mine i bought it first edition , i had to sold a couple of cables , , do not remember if the jack is stereo, why is that ? And sometimes its hard to understand the use of this system with pedals , sometimes volume changes , at clean is the only way im happy with my first edition model , can you help me understand? Or do you have a video of how to install that model ? Thank you
Excellent install video. Unfortunately the 5 second demo at the end did nothing to show clean tone. Just distorted nonsense. As you can read the comments below everyone agree's. Rerelease the video with a clean tone demo that matches the quality of the install part please.
My son is in the Army and order the EMG DG 20 pickups & pickguard, he's coming home soon and wants me to install it before he comes home. I need some foam for the battery & I need some dense foam for my guitars to put under the strings above the nut so it will help with noise! Anyone know where I can find this kind of foam? Thank for the video, I can't wait to hear these pickups in his strat!
Are there different models of EMG DG20 pickups? I just bought a set from a guy and mine don't appear to be solderless. They are different than in the video. Older model? Are there any videos to show how to install mine? The box they come in is different too than the one in the video, but they say "EMG DG20 The pro series" on the box. There are only two wires. A white one and then a black wire that comes from the battery plug.
Having to change a battery, unscrewing and screwing the pick guard. It doesn't seem too efficient.
This is why usually you should pay to route the back behind the tremolo cavity.............still for me is way more efficient to use a vertical battery box, and put it next to the neck/bridge pickups........the issue is they don't make those in white, to camouflage it a bit. Actually they do, but is twice more expensive and harder to find.
The battery last for a VERY LONG time..
The difference could've been obtained with the first pickup by turning the volume or tone knobs, knobs on the amp, etc. Stock pickups must be good enough.
question, I've been having trouble with my set for a while now The guitar came with the dg20 loaded pickguard installed, played great for a while but now kinda crapped out basically the issue I'm having is that all of a sudden the volume control no longer seems to function nor does the switching unit, all the pickups seem to be on all the time, and the battery drains superfast even when not jacked in, no rewiring has been done only replaced the input jack any ideas what I should look at, thanks
did you get the help you needed after?
I like how you call everything ''that guy''.
Where was the mini toggle for pick up modes 6 & 7?
nice video....can you tell me exactly the guitar model that you use...thanx
little wing sounds nice on the original pickups. why doesnt he play it on the EMGs?
Can you please make a video with EMG 57/66 set and "arrow"-guitar (ESP SV, Alexi Laiho, Jackson RR, etc.)
so a v?
I have a DG20 setup in my ESP. I think I have a dead battery as I lose signal when I turn the boost up. Help.
I installed one of these DG20's in my red strat 5 years ago I don't have a stereo jack and I have soldiered connections, I didn't get the plug in connections, it this because yours is a newer model and why would you need to turn the battery on and off that should happen when plugged in.
+Powertuber1000 it's to make the battery last longer so it's not using the battery when you don't have a cable in
I have that set coming in two days, can anyone tell me what size driver that hes using? Thank you.
great video, it really helps. btw, what's the background music called?
@EMGpickupsTV. How much extra would it cost to have a Black pickguard instaed of the white but still have the Ivory pickups white volume, tone and white switch knob. Or How difficult to remove everything from a white pearloid pickguard and install i on a black pickguard. I do a have a black pickguard on my Srv strat replica but would like a whole new setup and keep the one I have for another project.
I think with a black pickguard look great with this setup.
It shouldn't be hard. Just remove the screws, knobs covers, and selector tip. They'll yank out and the pickups and electronics will still be wired.
Although, I DO believe that EMG's single coils are slightly bigger than a standard single coil. I'm not very sure.
uhh, kinda. I swaped a twin 81 to an 81/85, and it was fine, so i'd assume link most emg products it will work for the JH set
does anyone know if you can just tape down the battery? seems like it'd would make getting the pickguard on a lot easier after changing the battery's
both before and after sounds were awful... You should redo this as it wont sell your product..
I have the DG20 installed and found that it will use the battery in no time if I don't remove the battery after every play. Is there a switching device to the battery or something as it's pretty annoying to remove the battery every time I'm finished playing? Thanks
Just don't forget to pull out the plug when you're done playing. You'll be suprised how long the battery goes along...
@@stephenmooibroek You got to pull out the plug at the guitar end. if you pull out at the amp it will not prevent the battery from slowly losing juice. The switch is on the jackbox on the guitar (why it needs a stereo plug).
@@ptrisonic yep, that's what i meant :)
The Custom Shop Gilmour signature Strat that is modelled on his guitar doesn't use a battery? Batteries last 5 minutes. Why would I want to be unscrewing the faceplate every time I need to change it? It all seems too fussy.
That's not the same guitar. The black strat doesn't use EMG pickups but custom passive ones. Gilmour used the EMG pickups on his red Strat which he used in the 90s, so on the Momentary lapse Of Reason and Pulse tours. I attended live in both and Dave's Guitar simply sounded fantastic, thick, warm and 3d. That's why I'm keen on these pickups. The black Strat sounds quite a bit differen, but very good on its own. Less warm but a on the other hand more lively and also more brilliant. It depens on the material which one sounds better. I think for "Shine On" (both solo and broken chord lick) the red Strat sounds better. But the black one sounds better on the Dark Side stuff and also Comfortably numb.
And one other question to the one below; does DG's guitar REALLY have a battery inside to power the pickups?????
yes.
i read somewhere that you can use the pickups around 2,147 hours
Will this fit on a strat players series 2024
could I use the EMG DG20 pickups with my alembic stratoblaster?
EMG's definitely give it a fuller,richer tone.Think ill order a set of these bad boys :)
I didn't see an answer about the ground wire? leave it disconnected ? be part of the grid?
how long does it usually b4 you have to change the battery?
is the the lukather prewired pickguard the same way? is that one solderless too.. how easy really is it to install? thinking about getting the lukather one.. thanks!
There are worse places to put it, I used to have it hang outside the pickguard. I didn't put it in the trem cavity as I use the trem almost all the time while playing but putting it under the P/G is ok because the battery lasts for around 1000hrs with a quality battery.
So was the foam from the packaging?
@kurtdrengen if you leave on your guitar on for a whole month straight the batteries will die so from that you can tell they last it all depends if you play a lot
@evhguitarstv43608 not a whole lotta diference but you can hear there is less buzz in the overdrive with the EMG
i love emgs have them in my musicman luke but he played chords when emgs work best for bending and triads for a clean tone
I bought the Kirk Hammett pickguard and I cant figure out where to put my ground from the tremelo. my other EMG set Jim Root set had a ground terminal.....I connected it to the switch and this thing is buzzing like crazy......where does the ground go on this pickguard??? no instruction whatsoever in the box.
shine on you crazy diamond from what sounds like the delicate sound of thunder cd