EMG DG 20 Test - David Gilmour Pickup Set

[@matthewcragg3607]

You’re superb playing is more the highlight here than the subtle pickup tone comparison.

[@jhustler1992]

I think the originals sound best, have better sustain and are more versatile. The EMG DG20's are still awesome but I find them more useful when you do overdrive, distortion and other. I have the DG20 set on one of my 2001 MIM strats and it was a huge improvement compared to the original pickups.

[@SO-bp2uc]

I didn’t expect the original passives pickups to have more sustain than an active pickups. Very surprising to me.

[@Domn879]

What he said. If you can afford more than one guitar, get a strat with its original configuration and something else for dirt. Also I think lace sensor cover both in a better way than the EMGs do.

[@cwilson8083]

I think the original pickups had a nicer amp edge of breakup sound. Nice playing !

[@TheWannabeBusker-z9c]

The vintage vibe of the stock pickups are the ones for me

[@DeeTee79]

The Gilmour set sound3d great, and your pearl jam tone was great too

[@nica2411]

The DGs sounded better to me here. Cleaner, better in a band or live setting in a mix, which is what they are made for. But by itself the brightness and vintage vibe of the stock pickups i think is more attractive to peoples ears on this video. Love the DG20s though. They excel at what theyre made to do. You can get really strat like tones, but also some tones almost humbucker like that you can't get with regular single coils Oh and sick playing btw man!

[@lorenmorgan1931]

Thanks for the demo. I have the set on one of my black vintage strats as well, and honestly just, coming here to see if they sound as flat here as they feel to me, and yes, this confirms it. Think I might sell my pickgaurd and get a good set of DylanTalksTone passives.

[@Discotex100]

They both sound nice. Enjoyed your playing also.

[@jonathonmccue7271]

Sound very nice! And great playing!

[@bodied.9875]

Thank you 🙏

[@NoobOnATele]

WOW you sure can play! Holy smokes

[@nine9whitepony526]

Great playing, but unfortunately that is my old guitar and I would like it back now please. Thank you.

[@colineaton6748]

In comparing like for like this video is all over the place. Logically each position would be compared one after the other, for example, the bridge position on each would be compared and so on, and so forth to position five.

[@Goldhand28]

Great demo, very well done! I have them as well and I like the sound but if I compare them to my other Strat with CS 69s and Duncan SSL5 pickups it doesnt sound as good. The EMGs sound a bit flat and compressed. Maybe with some pedal and EQ tweaking I might come closer to my preffered sound with vintage single coil pickups. Gilmour even said on why he went back to the Black Strat in 2005 instead of his candy apple red with EMGs that the EMGs didnt sound "stratty" enough for him.

[@bodied.9875]

I agree with you.

[@guitardave]

Have you tried the X series versions of these pickups, EMG SA-X? They’re supposed to “bridge the gap between active and passive pickups” according to the EMG website.

[@Goldhand28]

@@guitardave Sounds interesting ... haven't tried them yet.

[@fauconsereveille5106]

EMG pickups doesn’t sound as vintage as Seymour. Perhaps however EMG pickup’s don’t get any hiss or typical buzz of vintage and passive pickups. Depending on what results do you look for.

[@rdaws73]

@@fauconsereveille5106 one of the reasons Gilmour liked the EMGs. The pickups didnt have the hiss and the stage lighting didnt mess with it.

[@Ky6Stringer]

Nice playing and tone.

[@BuckFlicks]

Man, the originals sound pretty good. But those EMGs! Damn.

[@bodied.9875]

Thanks. The originals sound a little better, but hums. You don't want to listen to it.

[@Twylightt]

@@bodied.9875still have the EMGs?

[@brylidan]

so nice to listen to

[@luigiricci6916]

I think the originals sound best! 🎉

[@filipvanhuy531]

Hi there. I recently bought dg20's to play some Gilmour work, but after installation I had some mixed feelings. I asked myself the following questions: - How to set the pickup height correctly? There is no information about this anywhere. - Is the hiss that can be heard very well at volume 10 normal? There is absolutely no hum audible, but a hiss sound similar to an audio amplifier that you turn up in volume but without music. I would really appreciate it if you could answer on this. THX B.t.w: Nice work !

[@musiccer7446]

A hiss is not normal, I have them, they don’t hiss. And pick-up height is your own decision anyway

[@rednoise0]

I've had a set of SAs for about 30 years. I run hot and cold on them. Right now I'm hot, but that changes. Mine do, indeed, his a little, and high-gain amplification makes it a bigger problem. The fact that some people don't hear it tells me that either mine (and yours) has a problem, or more likely that they play them quite clean, like in this demo. They do sound very nice here. But crank up the gain in the signal chain and you're likely to hear an amplified hiss. EMG used to recommend you set the pickups as high as they go. I got better results by backing them off a fair amount. They sound more "vintage" to me. Back off too far, though, and they start to lose presence. It's a delicate balance. You have to play with it with a critical ear to find the sweet spot.

[@PowMusic]

Did you ever figure out the hiss issue? I have it too

[@valentin7574]

Make sure the EXG and SPC controls are set to the minimum. They boost frequency so they boost hiss as well

[@jesussavesrick]

Nice video. Well played and well done.

[@nsc217]

I think you played much better with the original strat pickups

[@christophermannmanno6318]

Can you remove the pickups from the pre-wired pickguard and put them into a guitar that does not have a pickguard?

[@MrJbangoy]

Depends on which DG20 you get. Some of them have individual units for the volume, XPG and SPC those you can quickly remove and load into whatever you want. Mine is a single board with all 3 pots, and that will only go into something with the knobs spaced the same. The pickups have a 3 wire connector that can be unplugged at the pickup or at the volume control. There's no soldering involved

[@leestanford2452]

Stella by starlight

[@digipeet2866]

no no no flat!.. great pickups..use the tone knobs!🎉

[@kooper3211]

Choad.

[@hustlinc3540]

so you cant get A "JAZZ"tone out of these? roll down the tone?

[@whistlemusic8572]

Very nice tone brother, very tight sounding. Is that a AKG C1000s?

[@sukkasemp]

What's the Backing Track on 5.45 ?? It's good.

[@bodied.9875]

It's such a small puzzle. You won't find it anywhere :-)

[@bertonedes]

Im little suprized because there are no classic TONE pot in that set, you can just cut some frequencies.And they made my guitar sounds snappy as hell.

[@Danthehorse]

Lovely demo and playing, you have taste. Which amp is that please?

[@Hammer821000]

Marshall studio vintage 20watt, with cabinet 2x12 marshall studio classic with 2 celestion v type 70watt.

[@bob-eu1jq]

should have put an 81 or 85 hss in the bridge

[@leandrobittenkourt]

Olá meu amigo, muito boa a demonstração, obrigado! por gentileza, a primeira música, de certa forma uma balada, saberia me dizer que música é? Ou ela é tua de autoria própria? ( Hello my friend, very good demonstration, thank you! please, the first song, in a way a ballad, could you tell me what song it is? Or is it yours of its own making? )

[@NicolasPorto-nj4hj]

while we cry

[@e30325ikiller]

nice amp, exact name?

[@rrrrdavid1]

What were the originals?

[@adrian3230]

Honestly, are these pickups worth getting, or really no significant difference??

[@rockrollmusicman1107]

I own these pickups and many others and I can say if you are playing classic rock or blues rock live then these are fantastic for the live environment and for large amps with effect pedals and distortion style pedals. They do not do hard rock well at all if you do that and aren't versitle. They don't sound great with my smaller tube amps but they do sound great with my larger amps. They are really dependable, loud and I utilize them for live gigs. They DG EMG's also require a battery as well. When I'm wanting to get my DG on I prefer my DG 920d Loaded Pickguard setup. They are more versatile and can really get that sweet Strat tone. When I'm at home I use attenuators and sometimes smaller tube amps and dime them for my rock tones. When I play live I use my larger amps and pedals because it's a more consistent and dependable platform for dialing in tones at different venues and they are nice and quiet which can be a real issue when playing live, loud and in different places with lights etc. Hope that helps!!!

[@elvan12581]

Man any recommendations on how to set up my dg20?

[@seanwhite8728]

There is no magnetic pull like a typical pickup so you can adjust pickups as high or as low as you like..what I did I took a looper and played a bit ..adjusted pickups and then compared til I found my happy medium..I am running vintage overdrive ,compression,modulation then delay ..I have built in reverb on my amp so no pedal

[@elvan12581]

@@seanwhite8728 thank you! I ended up experimenting too and realized it's a lot like... salt to taste. So I have setting I like right now.

[@serjaly]

A lot of compression, and sometime it's sound absolute non-stratty, but like jazzy-archtop - very clunk.

[@TenzinRigsel007]

Is that Mexican strat or American

[@oxnegative]

All the things you are

[@d0ntreadonme931]

Backing track on 2:00 ??

[@bodied.9875]

Kenny Wayne Shepherd - While We Cry

[@d0ntreadonme931]

@@bodied.9875 Thanks!!

[@samueldubois9790]

While we cry with EMG, no thanks 😅 this set is just good for shine on…

[@mikemurdock7234]

Original pickups sound way better.

[@Ju_Gt]

with a marshall

[@atl9077]

Now play it for real😂