How to Install EMGs into a LES PAUL - EMG 81 & 85 ZAKK WYLDE WIRING GIBSON EPIPHONE metal pickups

[@mattflanagan8663]

That end demo gave me whiplash. Did not expect playing like that in this video

[@crazyeye1]

He should have put a warning before doing that. I need to go to work with a neck brace now

[@captpootis8495]

This has helped me so much!! I just bought a pair of Zakk wylde emg’s for my schecter blood moon and when I was inspecting the inner channel routes they were smaller then I had expected. So I was so worried about having to make the routes bigger but as seen in the video I can insert the wire the way you did to get it to fit. Thanks for the good content as always!

[@stevelawlor7869]

Dude that was some killer sweep picking!!

[@TheStrykerProject]

I replaced two sets of pickups for two different guitars with EMG pairs (a Kerry King set for my K.K. B.C. Rich and a Gary Holt set for my Kramer explorer, mainly for the red p/u covers). They really do make it pretty easy to put them in! I'm not sure why a lot of people rag on EMG, but I like them. Speaking of p/u swapping, I'm REALLY happy with the Seymour Duncan Hot Rails that I put in my Fender Player-series Telecaster. With pickups being one of the easier mods to a guitar (well, soldering can take some practice), they can make a HUGE difference in tone for a budget guitar!

[@Letsunboxguys]

Bro can I replace only 1 emg pickups . Or I have to buy a pair

[@TheStrykerProject]

@@Letsunboxguys Hey man - looks like the EMG signature pickups only come in sets, but you can certainly buy a single EMG 81 (generally bridge) or a single 85 (neck or bridge) separately. I honestly don't know if there's really any difference between, say Zakk's 81/85 set vs. buying stock EMG 81 & 85 pickups.

[@HesheR82]

Just a little trick I found out with installing my EMG's. I ran into the same problem with pickup wires not fitting through the hole into cavity cause of the wire ends is to just push the pin on the black ends and remove them temporarily. Feed them through and add them on again. Not everyone will have a long drill bit to make that hole bigger lol I didn't. Love the channel and what you do. 👍

[@Zombie_13x33]

You are so good at guitar man. I'm working on my galloping technique but need exercises to make it better idk

[@markfreitas9833]

Beauty job! Gave me the confidence to finally set up the KH bone breaker set! Thanks man 🤘🏽great job again

[@mikey-dubs]

I just watched 20 mins waiting to see how the battery is inserted/fits and he just skips that part lol.

[@charlescrowe2249]

I appreciate this comment lol

[@kamasutra8359]

What if you are also wiring an EMG toggle switch in with the ZW setup? Do I still need to use the buss? I just did my Ibanez with an EMG 3 way switch and didn't need to use the buss at all. It took me a while to find a video with the correct wiring with the EMG 3 way switch for that application. Unfortunately I haven't been able to find anything yet for the Les Paul.

[@billyarbrough291]

Great video and install walk through.

[@bjstein4242]

One of the best views of actually doing this job and explaining it nicely.. well done sir.. love EMG's.. been wanting to try Fishmans as well.. but not sure they have quite the raw power of the EMG's.. do you have any experience with the EMG81X?

[@andrewbrusseau9704]

Nice Tutorial, about as simple as I expected but I'm going to need some additional parts in my case. Pulling my 81/85s out of my old ESP Ax and throwing them in my Epiphone LP. Thank you for such a detailed video tutorial and the epic ear bleeder test sesh! *Picks up guitar to test* ...Proceeds to Casually sweep pick... DID.NOT.EXPECT XD

[@ygurawu-akido-fu2061]

Thanks, brother. I should have made that drawing some time ago.

[@thestrum71]

That's an early 90's Studio, ebony fretboard. These are absolutely great guitars! Workhorses if you will! Nice playing there bro!

[@extrememike]

Good video. I want to do this on a Flying V. Not sure how much space is below the pick guard.

[@rferguson3]

Hey, so first off, that was some fkn tasty playing. Secondly, I'm about to do this (on an SG, tho) & the only thing I'm confused about, is that it sys (emg literature) that if you're going from passive to active, that there's one thing I need to solder to the stereo jack. I've done many pup swaps, although never from passive to active. I see you didn't have to.. if you wouldn't mind shedding some light on this, it'd be greatly appreciated.

[@rsmetalguitar]

My installation was very similar to this except I didn't have a bare wire for ground from the toggle switch. But when the toggle switch has both pickups selected, nothing comes out. Separately they work great. Maybe a bad toggle switch? I'm a bit confused on this right now

[@orcunozcan]

Thanks for the video man, may i ask what is the heigth of brid and nexk pick up from strings 3 mm? thanks

[@DoomOfConviction]

It’s fantastic what you get for the money, I want to equip my cheap LTD Viper with EMG pickups and just need a master volume, master tone with a toggle switch and I’m paying less for all the stuff than for a SD Pickup set…

[@mcxenxie230]

great video! i recently bought a set of these for my epiphone explorer, but it has a killswitch already installed when i bought it and i was wondering if when i swap out the pickups will the killswitch not work anymore?

[@Heartwork17]

Hello. Where did u connect the ground wire coming from the bridge? Thank you

[@MrAcEsNeIgHtS1188]

A heads up- Your Klein link defaults to the B&D cordless as well.

[@Oldironmachineshop]

How did you Set the correct high for the two pickups ? Is there a Detail in the emg manual? Thank buddy. Great Video 👍👍👍👍

[@thelongvirtuesignal8551]

cool 90's ebony fretboard les paul studio !

[@RavenMadd9]

How would you do a three humbucker Paul?

[@broncoxy]

Super helpful, thanks!

[@julian7172]

Extremely helpful video!!! Hey where can I get those black pickup mounting screws? I wanna match the hardware on my guitar to the pick guard so it looks clean.

[@davessparetime83]

Could that cover plate have a hole cut to install he battery box?

[@coldragoon]

Holy smokes! That playing doe 🤘🏽🔥

[@donfaulkner852]

where can I get a HZ Passive 5 pin color code diagram? I'm trying to wire a set of emg pickups to the existing controls

[@EllisJonesDeath]

I've just received my set from Amazon. I have one if those special pots. Then 3 regular les Paul ones with the solder prongs. No battery connection...and the bus consists of 1 red little block. Is it possible they made a passive set ?

[@CiniMini69]

Are the pickup adjustment screws standard? Or EMG has a special thread?

[@tattoodan4277]

If you loosen up the two tailpiece anchor screws a half turn each you should have the clearance to slide it off and unless your customer is planning to over wrap the strings the tailpiece doesn’t have to be set that low otherwise you increase the break angle of the strings between the tailpiece and bridge causing there to be more pressure on the bridge than needed and in time will cause it to collapse and then you start getting all these weird tuning and intonation issues and fret buzz normally the G and D strings are the most effected and although there are home remedies for bending it back in place it’s just a short term fix and then you have the choice to either search for a used one that’s still good and matches the wear on the rest of the hardware or buying a new one and then you have to wait for nature and countless hours of playing time for it to naturally ware and match the rest of the hardware not to mention that they are not cheap for what they are both Nashville and ABR-1 style TOM bridges that fit Gibson and other non metric guitars

[@PRP-YT]

Great info 👍👍 How did you secure the battery inside the compartment ?

[@EHou01]

He added foam from the packaging to "squeeze" the battery and keep it from moving. You can also ad a strip of blue painter's tape to keep it down.

[@feignit]

Was thinking that a 9V battery clip with velcro might be a good option.

[@larryfleming7295]

I have a cherry colored Epiphone “Custom Shop” Les Paul and set of pickups would

[@kopan14]

any recommendation on EMG 81/85 PU height ?

[@shelbyrockstar]

Did this on the same guitar 25 year's ago because of Zakk. Emg 81-85 with grovers. Still have the guitar. Wish had a KZbin vid back then. Back then they were $400 guitars. Today they are $400 guitars. All because it doesn't say Gibson 😞

[@bluephoenix3865]

Would your diagram work on a Schecter omen extreme six?

[@RobintheHood17]

This video was so helpful! And my God man you shred!!! So nasty! I wasn’t prepared for that face melting 🤘🏼

[@edsonmiranda7263]

Great video

[@AmritP]

hi mate thanks for the vid. just installed the same. any recommendation about pickup height for this combo? i've got the 85 in neck and 81 bridge position. thanks

[@MrPeter924]

Awesome great guitar 🎸 great work

[@metalhed6t7]

When routing the wires through the body, the connectors can be removed if the hole is too small…

[@nathanchalcraft6919]

So how dose the pickup switch get wired?

[@Killepitsh]

Muy buen trabajo. Ojalá la demostración del final hubiera sido grabada con una placa de audio y no con el micrófono de un teléfono ya que no se logró apreciar el sonido, para nada.

[@22fretts]

great pickups

[@berserker_2886]

Would this work with 81/60?

[@louddude]

do they sell wiring compartment with battery unit installed into it? otherwise it would be pain to open it with a screwdriver every time

[@GuitarGuts]

They do sell that, but you have to get it installed by someone who can use a router so it’s a bit of a job. But the 9-volt battery lasts over a year. To remove 4 screws to change it literally takes 30 seconds.

[@louddude]

@@GuitarGuts didnt know that it lasts so long, I thought few months - I just have guitar which has so tight cover so I can remove it only at home with bosch food vacuumizer unit xD

[@thiagoalves1646]

great video! My guitar only has two faders (1 tone + 1 volume). Is there any way to use only two potentiometers for these pickups?

[@ethanputman3471]

Yeah, I was on the EMG website, and they definitely have that opinion. I'm not positive about the Zakk Wylde set in particular. But, other 81 85s for sure. You can buy the pickups alone and then the 2 pot wiring set if anything else.

[@Charlie6969]

@@ethanputman3471 I have the Zakk Wylde set, I just use them with a switch and a single volume, works fine.

[@peeldonionz]

Do you have to change the pots? Can u wire emgs to existing pots?

[@GuitarGuts]

You have to change the pots. EMGs use 25k pots and lespauls generally have 500k pots. So you’ll need to change them.

[@alexshevchenko7568]

Hi, could you give me a piece of advice? I have two EMG 89s, and I would like to use one of them as the 89R in the neck position. Which means that it needs to be installed upside down. Can it be done this way? Will the upside-down position make any difference to the sound (either in the humbucker mode or the single coil mode?

[@arjunmukherjee3347]

sorry for the reallllllllyyyyyyyyy late reply (sure you've gotten the help by now) but yeah you can do it that way cuz there won't be any difference. Infact, you don't even need to install it upside down

[@alexshevchenko7568]

@@arjunmukherjee3347 I've already had a pair of EMG 89s installed on my FGN. They work perfectly well. Thanks anyway!

[@arjunmukherjee3347]

@@alexshevchenko7568 no problem dude. And damn you replied fast haha

[@Oilid]

👍👍👍

[@flapjack413]

How did I watch this yesterday if it was just uploaded 20 minutes ago? So confused!

[@GuitarGuts]

This one is a step by step tutorial more than an episode of the show 🤘🏼

[@charles-hebertlahaye8747]

Skills and skills!!!

[@thrashefe3523]

Guys, My guitar has 1 volume, 1 tone, a 3-way switch similar to a les paul and an output jack and enough space in the cavity for the battery, I have an emg 81-85 set but i don't have pots i just have a 3 way blade switch that wont fit my guitar and a battery socket besides the pickups, can I install them through my own pots etc.? I'm not in a hurry to install them I want to be careful

[@Strathaczar]

I know that this is not necessarily related, but I sent you this message on Twitter and email, so I thought I'd throw this out there in the comments here. Sorry if it feels like overkill. No harm in trying! I got this ESP LTD EC-1000 Deluxe that has a gold/yellow binding on a black matte finish. I want to add a Cobra Kai logo to it since it looks just like their tourney karate gis, but I have no idea how to transfer that to a matte finish. I want to make sure it's permanent, but wouldn't that mean I'd have to make the paint job gloss instead of matte? What should I do here? (Picture on Twitter and Email)

[@thelongvirtuesignal8551]

put emg's in a cheap ibanez not an expensive les paul, as they bypass all influential elements of the guitar to the sound (inexpensive les paul like this is also fine)

[@duffdastuff8071]

How much did this cost your customer? I want to do it.

[@GuitarGuts]

Send me an email [e-mail] 🤘🏼

[@EHou01]

I'm gonna put an EMG Het Set in an LP.

[@maximilianosalazar8020]

the original wiring looks messy for a Gibson

[@jamesnewton485]

Wow. Swapping Seymour Duncans for EMG's. That's almost sacrilege.

[@GuitarGuts]

For some people. But if you’re into Metallica and bands like that, you can’t beat EMGs.

[@jamesnewton485]

@@GuitarGuts I grew up in the bay area and can remember a little thing in Oakland in 1985 called A Day on the Green. Also remember The Stone. Its somewhat of a myth that Metallica got no radio play because in the early 80's 90.5 KVHS played them. Yes, it was a local radio station broadcasting from Concord Valley High School. Anyway, I'm also a huge Megadeth fan and prefer them and Dave Mustaine uses Seymour Duncan's so just like a Metallica fan boy who prefers EMG, I'm a Megadeth fan boy and like the SD's. I never got caught up in the Metallica vs Megadeth crap because one fact holds true, two iconic bands were birthed from one. However, back then I was a bass player so you know it was all about Cliff for me. Hard to believe this year will be 37 years and he still haunts the band and the fans to this very day. Anyway, I went off topic. I do like the EMG 81 85 it just seems strange in a Les Paul.

[@RavenMadd9]

Thank you ......I hate emg's diagram

[@itsmumoe]

why does NO ONE show how they secure the battery.. I have yet to see 1 video that shows them securing the battery.. lol

[@maselbac]

I'd have binned those flimsy far eastern pickup rings

[@larryfleming7295]

Tell him to CHANGE THE STRINGS ANYWAY!!!

[@RicardoBuquet]

why in the world would you want that? every single guitar sounds the same with those mics. My 3k ESP and my cheap no name guitar that is why I just replaced to passive. Use real pick up, be a man.

[@samizdat113]

"The strings are new"... they are also less than $10 Mr Cheapskate.

[@Gl49ers]

Such a lame guitar.. but to each their own