Comparison of DIs and Reamps... thinking of buying Dimarzio Breeds over EMGs

    Quote from MarkusUz

    Hahaha... you know, I have always detested villains who talk to corpses. So, I hope you are alive, or were alive at least long enough to hear them call you a shmuck.
    All I know... I can't set clean sense to zero, too much red. And I don't really reamp at all, it was just to test my Kemper. So that's not really my concern. But I can test the clean sense's effect to tone.


    Lol, that was from the comic book that is my life.

    It's funny that you have to lower clean sense so much with your EMGs. In my case, I don't think I have it more than -3 or -4 on my 81-85 combo, probably higher than that in fact. It's a bit curious to me that yours should be so high output.

    I know you talked to the company, but could there be something wrong with them, given that @DonPetersen mentioned there was clipping in the signal?

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    Ok, there's some clips again. The first there I recorded last, because I realized I had played it a little differently than nightlight. I needed to move my picking to over the neck pup and strum a little stronger yet looser. Nightlight's sounds better to me. More low-end. Less sterile and wetter (less mids I assume). And all-in-all a better, more organic sound.

    The 2-4 I recorded first, but since they were played a little different, let them be examples of Clean Sense. There's my normal choice -7 along with 0 and -12. Minor clipping in 0 and sounds a little duller to me than -7. And -12 sounds a little weaker. I would still pick -7 of those. The differences are not big, but there's a little there.

    I just read quikcly a review about ESP Horizon nt-2. It was praised, and as there was one pro and one con, the pro was: unbeatable pickup pairing. And the bridge pup was Seymour Duncan SH-4. Makes me think.

    Quote from MarkusUz

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    Ok, there's some clips again. The first there I recorded last, because I realized I had played it a little differently than nightlight. I needed to move my picking to over the neck pup and strum a little stronger yet looser. Nightlight's sounds better to me. More low-end. Less sterile and wetter (less mids I assume). And all-in-all a better, more organic sound.

    The 2-4 I recorded first, but since they were played a little different, let them be examples of Clean Sense. There's my normal choice -7 along with 0 and -12. Minor clipping in 0 and sounds a little duller to me than -7. And -12 sounds a little weaker. I would still pick -7 of those. The differences are not big, but there's a little there.

    I just read quikcly a review about ESP Horizon nt-2. It was praised, and as there was one pro and one con, the pro was: unbeatable pickup pairing. And the bridge pup was Seymour Duncan SH-4. Makes me think.


    I think you should try a different pup now after all these tests. It is very odd to me that your EMGs should be clipping, I'd guess there's something defective about them, which is very hard to prove, but seems likely given the massive cuts in CS that are required. It may even be a wiring problem, do you have the skills to check it out?

    The Horizons are great guitars, I really love ESP but can't afford them. I have an ESP Horizon II Five-String Bass and it absolutely crushes most basses I've heard. Don't give up on the guitar, it's construction is likely to be superior to many of the things you'd sell it for.

    Quote from nightlight

    I think you should try a different pup now after all these tests. It is very odd to me that your EMGs should be clipping, I'd guess there's something defective about them, which is very hard to prove, but seems likely given the massive cuts in CS that are required. It may even be a wiring problem, do you have the skills to check it out?

    The Horizons are great guitars, I really love ESP but can't afford them. I have an ESP Horizon II Five-String Bass and it absolutely crushes most basses I've heard. Don't give up on the guitar, it's construction is likely to be superior to many of the things you'd sell it for.

    I don't have the skills, alas. And I kind of suspect, no one is going to find a definite "fault" in the pup, so I won't bother sending it to EMG or anything. I guess I will have the pups changed, and they can check the wiring at the same time. The Tone Zone has been on my list at least. I don't know how good a match it would be with the Horizon, though. But I really want to make sure the low-end will be there and working properly.

    Quote from MentaL

    Pickup height can effect clipping

    I put some clips earlier with heights from 2 mm to 6 mm, 9 V and 24 V. The normal 9 V was clipping all the way to 4 mm, which I think is too much. And as was pointed out in a graph, even the 24 V had a some clips, but I can't hear them though.

    Quote from MarkusUz

    I don't have the skills, alas. And I kind of suspect, no one is going to find a definite "fault" in the pup, so I won't bother sending it to EMG or anything. I guess I will have the pups changed, and they can check the wiring at the same time. The Tone Zone has been on my list at least. I don't know how good a match it would be with the Horizon, though. But I really want to make sure the low-end will be there and working properly.

    I put some clips earlier with heights from 2 mm to 6 mm, 9 V and 24 V. The normal 9 V was clipping all the way to 4 mm, which I think is too much. And as was pointed out in a graph, even the 24 V had a some clips, but I can't hear them though.

    That kind of reaffirms my suspicion that something is odd with your pickups. My EMGs are barely 1-2 mm away from my strings, because they're supposed to be close to get a full signal.

    Quote from nightlight

    That kind of reaffirms my suspicion that something is odd with your pickups. My EMGs are barely 1-2 mm away from my strings, because they're supposed to be close to get a full signal.

    Yeah, that has been bothering me... but there are others who have had the same issue with some EMGs, and they have either increased volts or distance.


    I have made some inquiries:

    Dimarzio suggested Imperium
    http://www.dimarzio.com/node/8571

    Seymour Duncan suggested Duality
    http://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/duality-bridge


    A guy at Thomann suggested either Dimarzio's Activator or SD Black Winter
    http://www.dimarzio.com/node/2187
    http://www.seymourduncan.com/pickup/black-winter-neck


    There is definitely a pattern here... they are all suggesting pickups with not that much bass... but why? I told them all that I want more low-end and a thicker, sturdier sound, and less of that muddy 250-550 Hz range. The guy from Thomann just answered "because it suits the style of music you play" (hard rock). I'm not sure what to do... all of them seem to have the same idea. It's just kind of opposite what I had imagined.


    It's kind of like shooting blind. No one is going to accept a pickup return once it's installed in a guitar. Not sure what you can do other than do more research on what pickups you think will suit your style of music and then just pull the trigger. On forums, there is usually overwhelming support for some pickups, so a lot of less popular ones will go under your radar if you're not careful. Best option is to listen to clips on the manufacturers' websites and youtube and hope you luck out.

    The same issue has kept me from upgrading pickups on my EMG guitar, lol.

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    Okay, it took a while, but I finally got my guitar back from the shop with DiMarzios installed, Tone Zone in the bridge. Compared to the EMG, it definitely sounds fuller and better. Maybe not as drastic as I thought, but I'm happy with it. It's like the EMG is missing a layer of beef in the low end, and the Zone puts it back.

    But I still have to say, if this is about as best the Kemper can get, it's still quite far from what I could consider a professional sound.