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The Fishmans to me had a little bit of extra “sauce” to the mix, but with a little tweeking of the EMG’s, they could easily get there as well. Plus, the EMG set is more affordable.
The EMGs have some extra low end and sound heavier to my ears. it's splitting hairs sonically, The Fluence modern pickups are quieter when muted and have coil split /tap & voice modes that can make your guitar much more versatile if you bother wiring it all up. The EMGs are tried and true simple metal pickups. I love them both.
Lol almost 2 decades of being influenced by robs writing and playing and I'm just now realizing the great teacher vibes he has. This man could fkn host blues clues 😆
I totally agree with what you said at the end about feeling the riffs and not just listening. In isolation both pickups do sound very similar but the Fishmans do have a tad bit more clarity. But in the mix I do feel the chugs from the EMGs much more. They feel much more in your face compared to the Fishmans.
I love how many different voices/tones the Fishmans have and add to the toolbox without losing that "81" tone. After 20 years with 81s, it was near impossible for me to like anything but an 81.... until I tried the moderns out. Now all of my guitars are rocking moderns
If the Fishman modern ceramic replaces the 81 in the bridge, what replaces a 60 in the neck? I'm guessing the Fishman alnico neck is similar to the 85 which has alnico so maybe the Fishman modern ceramic neck is closer to the 60 which is also ceramic?
@@DunderHead.5000 there are some guitars which have both bridge and neck with a Modern ceramic rather than the Ceramic + Alnico combo, so yes i think that's pretty much the logic you should follow.
The EMG seems to have a bit more "give" to it that makes it sound better with palm mutes. A mix of that and a more present highmid-trebly pick attack. The Fishmans have more mids, but don't have that "give" or that pick attack the EMGs have. They never felt very satisfying to play in my experience.
Thanks for making this video, Rob! This was actually a burning question of mine and I was starting to feel old school with my EMGs. Now I know I'm not really missing anything.
You know, for the amount of hype that surrounds the Fishman's, they dont sound that much different to the EMG's (imo) I guess it just comes down to preference. Im a Hammett fan and ive rocked the 81/81 combo in my ESP's forever and i dont think ill be changing anytime soon. Thanks for another sick video Rob \m/
The Fishman have more options. 3 possible modes. You can also do stuff like HF rolloff (needed for the classics) and Low Gain mode if you want to have more clarity/dynamics with less compression and if the pickups are pegging your pedals or whatever making them sound buzzy. Personally, I think the Fishman Moderns sound pretty good direct to amp, but if using a pedal or what not, they often sound pretty bad in high gain mode. Makes my preciso drive or HM-2 sound like garbage. These options can be hardwired by jumping pins on the back of the pickups or adding switches to short the pins for options on the fly. In the other hand, EMG's def give you your meat and potatoes, for the rigs you're accustomed to... But if they sound bad for certain things/rigs, you have 0 options, as you're stuck with a one trick pony... A great one trick pony, but one trick nonetheless. Persknay, recorded, I love the Emg sound.. I just Sint like how they feel to play. I rarely get enjoyment compared to passives. People who hate actives or don't like the Moderns at first, sometimes change their minds when they switch to low gain mode.
@@XChristianNoirXVery well said. I absolutely agree with everything you said. I recently (couple months or so ago) copped my first set of fluence moderns & I absolutely love em. And just as you mentioned, what makes me now lean more toward the fluence, is the fact that you just can't beat the versatility. Bottom line. I still love my emgs (multiple guitars of mine are loaded with em. 81/85, 81/60, 57/66 & Het set) & while I don't plan of changing them, I do plan to get another set (maybe even a couple sets) of fluence to replace some of my passive loaded guitars. Was skeptical, with all the huge hype surrounding Fishman, but I was absolutely blown away at the sheer versatility, all within the same set of pickups. The neck pickup with vol. popped out & single coil voicing activated, SOOO drastically different than the wide open, brutal sound of the bridge. Not to mention, all sorts of super tasty in betweens. Highly recommended , to anyone remotely considering them.
Having played EMGs since I was 13, mostly 81/85s in my teens and then 57/66s throughout most of my 20s, the Fishman's were a surprise for me and have lived up to the hype. The Fishman Modern's active voicing is very clearly modelled after the EMG 81/85 set, they don't try to hide that, and a listener would not be able to tell the difference between the two, but as a player, in opinion, you can feel the difference. The Fishmans feel like they have slightly more compression and just feel easier to play on. Plus the Fishmans do have the Passive voicing when you pull on the volume knob, and some artist sets get other extra voicings, making them much more versatile than a 81/85 set. The only drawback of the Fishman's is that they do eat through batteries way faster than EMGs, but Fishmans can be installed with USB rechargeable battery kits. In the two years since I've tried Fishman's, I've swapped 6 of my guitars over to using Fishmans, 5 with Moderns and 1 with the Keith Merrow set. I still use EMG 57/66 sets on 4 of my guitars because I love that extra hot PAF sound they have and I think they sound better and have better dynamics than both the Fishman Moderns and the EMG 81/85 sets.
Really need to save up and get me a set of EMG pickups I've always wanted them but unfortunately at this time I only got to play other guitars with EMGs and thats my driving force to one day have them in my guitar. Awsome job on video you always do the best job explaining what going on. Great start to 2022
On Reverb there is the EMG Factory Outlet, I’ve bought a bunch of pickups off of them. They’re considered “blemished” stock but their standards must be higher than mine because I can’t find any scratches or visual imperfections. You still have to bug a wiring kit separately but you can still save some money doing it that way.
Yup, I felt the same...the difference is barely noticeable..you would have to really dig and look for it, so in the end it would be about feel...great video Rob, I love your channel brother!
That new guitar really shines bright man! 😍 As for the pickups, I really had to put on some quality headphones on to hear a difference. I'd say the fishmans have a tiny tiny edge on the clarity. Maybe a clean tone would reveal some more of that? However, I'm no sound engineer but there is next to no difference to my ear. I had to close my eyes and focus on my hearing only to notice the tiniest bit of tonal shift between the two!
Nice! I’ve heard fishmans in two different guitars (almost identical guitars with mahogany bodies) sound vastly different. Same pickups. I also had an LTD eclipse (maple top) that sounded best with an 81 and another eclipse (no maple top) that sounded best with an 85. It’s honestly something I feel you just have to mess with which each and every guitar unless you’ve got 2 identical guitars.
Enjoyed the the video Rob! Closed my eyes and listened with headphones on when you began playing and surprisingly couldn't tell any difference whatsoever.
Thanks a lot Rob for this excellent video;) I fully agree with you especially on the Riffing part, The Fishman sounds a little bit more precise but when you went through lead part for me the EMG has a little bit more personality and thickness I clearly heard the difference. Both are awesome btw!
That lead was super clean and sounded so perfect. I’ve had both pickups and I think for active I prefer the fishman but overall I like a passive pickup. The Jupiter set is awesome.
Going by this video, and having personal experience with both pickups, my opinion is that the Fishmans have a great split coil sound, but i love the sound of the 81 so much more for whatever reason. The low end you get from the 81 compared to the Fishmans is more noticeable in my opinion. But we are talking about two different guitars but the woods are similar.
Killer comparison Rob! I did the same a while back and found that the Fishman is even closer to the X series EMG 81. It's so close I have a hard time believing it wasn't modeled directly after it. It also seemed that the reason for the percieved tighness difference was the high pass on the Fishman was set slightly higher. Funny how the trendy new hotness is often just an old classic with a new look! Enjoyed your breakdown.🤘
The only way to be super sure is to swap pickups in and out of the old M-1000 back and forth in a new video. You can bypass the diff voicings in the Fishmans and go straight to the "active" sound simply by using the existing EMG connector onto the Fishman where the 3 pins are off to one side. Maybe that comparison would have been a little more exact? Maybe a follow-up vid?!?!?!? As always you tha man tho!
i started recording music shortly after I saw the recording process dvd you guys put out after leaving roadrunner. that damn video hyped me so much i went out a bought logic and started making music with a buddy of mine but it was short lived, now 41 my 13yr two weeks ago asked me to teach him guitar and bam after buying him a setup i find myself right back into it and now have a chance to get something like my idol Rob Arnold ! thank you for everything you do and for always posting videos that inspire me and others to keep playing. hopefully one day you can let esp know that we want a guitar with the chimaira logo inlay .
What's interesting is that most of the time I prefer playing through Fishmans for that tightness and clarity BUT whenever I record with my EMGs I dig the recorded tone more. There's just something about how they sit in the mix where the chunk sounds so punchy. With that said, Fishmans can easily catch up by tweaking settings here or there.
You should have included in this emg vs fishman comparison a passive voicing of fishman pickups , just to have a clear picture of what sound this pickup can produce and that is the main reason why fishman pickups became so popular.
Listening through my studio monitors the Fishmans sound like they have a little more low mids its more noticeable when double tracked. They sound slightly thicker and give off a wider more "stereo" sound when double tracked. They sound awesome. Ive been using my EMG 81 / 85 set in my MH400NT for ages I love them but id like to track some Fishmans now.
Both sound incredible. Love your playing, man. Appreciate all the badass music you've given us over the years. I feel like the sonic differences get smaller once EMG's are run at higher voltages. Like you said...gotta crank it to know. It's gonna come down to feel.
Rob and a new amp😱. The Fishman moderns are pretty much based on the best Emg 81 ever made. The thing is the consistency and technology of Fishman which is revolutionary and mindblowing. All the models I own are amazing. The consistency is the thing that knocked me of my socks. Pickups with wound wires have a lot of variables even within the same brand/model/Magnet ones. Fishman tackled that with their technology.
I got my ESP Horizon E-II about a month ago and it has EMG 66TW & 57TW pickups. These are my first EMG's and I was really surprised at how much more I liked them compared to my Fishman Moderns. I was planning on changing out the EMG's before I even got the guitar lol. They sound incredible.
I recently pitted the M-1000HT against the LTD JL-600 with 81/60. Through my setup, the Fishmans have more upper midrange bite. The EMG'S have a nice darker, squishy sound in comparison.
Thanks Rob very helpful. I'll stick to my EMGs. I still have that ESP catalogue haha. I drooled over the M1000 because you and God Forbid used them. in the end I got an ESP Eclipse. I also have an ltd V407B which has the same arrow inlays killer guitar. Shame they dont make the 8 ball v anymore.
I think the emg sounded better for the riffing a little fatter tighter and more aggressive and the fishman I think sounded better for the solo a little thinner and brighter
I hear a difference. And I've heard a lot of comparisons lately as I'm about to up grade to replace an older guitar. The difference is not in tone or output but the Fishman's although a bit crisper or clearer sounds synthetic. It's really only noticeable to me during octave or any non-palm muted single note melodies or solos. Does not seem to affect chords or any kind of chugging. Makes sense though as they are basically a processor with magnetic poles. It is subtle but once "I" heard it I can't unhear it. But technology gets better everyday and overall they do sound great. Everything is moving in the direction of software simulations anyways. I think it's just best to jump on board if in the market for a new pickups.
I had the EMG 81/60 combo in my ESP E-II V. I wasn't the biggest fan and had them swapped out for passives. I may toss them back in and compare them to the fishmans myself since I got the 7 string version of this M1000HT on its way to me.
I have also noticed my guitars with Floyd's always sound ever so slightly different than the hardtails. Possibly just a tad weaker or less full. I think it might be due to the routing and it having less mass and the springs pulling on the magnetic force of the pickups. I notice it especially with active pickups.
Awesome comparison! That new M-1000HT is absolutely stunning, the only thing holding me back from picking on up is I already have an EMG-81 loaded Eclipse that I play all the time, and this video really did show how small the difference is between the two pickups. I think the Fluence sounds better, but not enough to give the tonal options I'm looking for.
The biggest difference would probably be in the sustain pretty much, The sound .. Alder is a softer wood than maple. Not sure if that would have any effect from the pick ups or not though..
Damn rob, let me just say, one thing people majorly fail to realize is the importance of good bends in lead playing. That bend at the end of the EMG lead was one of the most beautiful thing ive ever heard man
Had to stop the video to put in what I think before you gave your thoughts. I like the high end attack and clarity of the 81s in this example. Could be that I’m used to your sound but I think it sits better in that eq range in the mix. The fishman have their own character though. I feel they’re warmer in a way and more rounded. Darker in naturally less articulate. I’d say the difference could be compared in a way maybe not 100% but the difference between a brilliant finish cymbal and a dark cymbal
I think there is a bit more openness and clarity in the Fishman pickups, whereas the EMGs are a bit more compressed and a bit muffled. In my personal experience the Fishmans are way better for a super low tuned baritone, which came stock with EMGs which were very muddy for low tunings.
Both sound good but the EMG's have a deeper sound. Fishmans are a bit more high pitched. I prefer a more bassy sound as long as you're not losing detail. Which was not the case with the EMG's.
The rhythm playing sounded identical to me. There seemed to be a small difference in the lead though. The fishman maybe sounded a tad bit warmer than the emg. I enjoy the sound of the emg lead though as it is a little more harsh and metal sounding. At the end of the day they both sound fantastic.
As someone who played EMG for 15 years but then switched to Fishman for me the big difference is in the cleans. Less mud. You can hear more articulation, especially with big chords.
This was a cool comparison because I have a arrow 1000 with the 81/85 pair and just bought an m 1000 with the Fishmans. They both sound killer! To my ear the Fishmans might saturate and cut through in the mix just a tad more but they both sound killer!
I 100% agree on the analogy you came up with. I think the Fishmans have just a touch bit more clarity than the EMG’s. As you said, a bit more modern. They sound fantastic, but then again, so does the tried and true EMG.
Passives are better than either IMO. I have a Schecter with the Fishman Fluance Modern... no dynamic range... can't wait to pull them out and put some passive Duncan's instead.
You should have pulled the pot and did voice 2 the passive voice. I personally think it’s the best sounding voice with the fishmans. And that’s the cool thing about fishmans is it’s like having 4 seperate pups, in one guitar. Passive voice and active. You should do another vid comparing the the voices
great comparison Rob, I'm just getting in to the "active" pickup guitar shopping, EMG were what I've always heard in the past but the guitar I'm looking at has the Fishman.
The 81 was definitely 100% the target for the Fishman. I think the 81 has a little bit of low midrange mush that the Fishman doesn't have. I think the absence of that slight low mid mush is what makes them seem brighter, relatively speaking
Soundwise in a mix no real differences that a simple eq wouldn't sort out. Fishmans have more options with the voicings and coil taps and what not. But otherwise, it's purely about preference. Pickups just don't matter that much in high gain settings. 2 active humbuckers aren't realistically going to give you radically different results, like say a different speaker would.
EMG is the sound I grew up listening to, and what I built my current sounds around. Fishman Moderns came in a new guitar I bought and while I like them, I’m not going to swap all my current EMG guitars over to Fishman, but the Fishman’s give me another “color to paint with”.
To my untrained hack ear the fish man’s have a thicker warmer mid, maybe you could call it muddier but I don’t think that’s it. The EMG’s feel more aggressive at the top and bottom
Both are great pickups. I mean honestly most pickups at least the big companies are pretty solid.. i have emgs, fishmen, symours and one doesn't really scream out to be as better. I think the guitar itself, the wood, and the amp are the main concern, that being said i really wanna try out some bare knuckles.
I have the exact 2002 M-1000 Deluxe. I swapped out the stock Floyd trem block with a solid brass unit & added Duncan Gus G's actives. IMO sounds way better. The EMG's sounded a bit harsh to me but right at home in my EC-1000. The Duncans have a warmer tone but as much attack.
I’m a Floyd guy too. Fishman pulled me away from EMG’s…But I still got more guitars with passive JB’s in the bridges and Saturday Night Specials in the neck. Experimenting is a blast. I am trying out different types of necks as well. Good video. Thanks.
Amazing video a usual!! Ok, so i've been playing for a while with active pick ups until i finally made the "jump" on them 5 years ago. My first guitar with active pick ups was a jim root jazzmaster (ebony fretboard, maple neck and mahogany body) came with a set of 60-81 emg's. Sounded so agressive, so fat, big and trebly at the same time and in a way had this muddy and harsh sound which i love, that guitar and those pick ups were on point, i found it absolutely killer. Sold it cause i was more into floyd roses bridge.. (yep). Got myself an ltd ec 401 fr (everything was mahogany) with a set of 60-81 emg's. Sounded way different than the jim's root. Less fat and big (probably because of wood-cut for the floyd) and kind of cold, still muddy and harsh on the high end. With time, i felt i needed more clarity in the pick ups.. so i changed them for the fishman fluence moderns. Still high gain sound, less muddy, less compressed and had a lot clarity besides playing high gain music which i mediately loved and they were warmer and organic to my ears, too. They made me pick up the guitar, everytime. Pleases my ears, i guess. i noticed something really interesting with the fishman, it had less latency than the emgs (yes, i swear) which is great cause it responds very well with your playing. For pluggins, is amazing. They kind of easily let eq them too, whichever the sound you want. I found the emgs hard to eq. Fishmans had this kind of modern sound which i was looking for and kind of passive sound in them, they respond so much of the way you play, how agressive is your right right or left hand or how "bad" you play, you'll notice evey mistake which i didn't feel with the emgs. So for me, the fishmans do the job. They had two voices, the second is more kind of a "passive" sound. Less compressed with more bass and refined mids and highs. The first one, which i only use are more compressed, more agressive. Still tight on the bass low end, same happens with the mids and highs. And they're not noisy at all. By being said, it doesn't mean emgs are bad. If it wasn't because of the fishmans.. i would've gone back to the emgs and had kept them. In fact, there will be no fishmans without the emgs because they are too close and they're "based" on the emgs. It's nice to have both out there, if you want emgs with all their cons and pros, get them. Many will find pros and cons whether are the emgs or the fishmans, i recomend trying both though, the fishmans are more expensive. They worth it. I also had the SD blackouts ahb-1 but that's a different discussion, lol.
The solo brought out the difference... The emgs cut harder but the fishmans had a more balanced neutral tone... Kinda surprised because to me they sounded identical except the in the solo. Everybody seems to be jumping to fishmans but I been playing 81/85 for awhile now and they just sound better to me.
Rob. Thank you so much for this comparison. I love the EMG 81. But the Fishman's are also great. After watching this, I ordered some FIshman Fluence Modern 7 string in Black Nickel (so smooth!!) for my Schecter KM-7 because of 2 reasons: Local store were sold out of EMGs. Amazon Fishman Fluence page has a 5 month payment plan for the same price I'd pay the EMG set. So why not? Totally excited to riff on these. Thanks again for the detailed review.
Wow awesome bro! I'm sure you're going to love em'! You really can't go wrong either way you go when it comes to these pickups. Please stop back and let us know you're thoughts after you've spent some time riffing on em!🎸
emgs have that tone you either like or hate (i personally love) and the biggest selling point for Fishman is the 5 way switch and multiple modes the pickups provide for experimenting. If you dont need all that and play 1 genre stick to what you like and need, but if you play clean, dirty,ambient, cant make up your god damn mind the pick some Fishman or get 5 guitars with differnet emgs lol
Holy crap I remember that 2005 ESP catalog. The 30th anniversary series. Takes me back. But my Ibanez RG631ALF and LTD M1000HT both have Fishman moderns in them. Compared to my other guitars, running them through Neural DSP amp sim they come out sounding very clean. I understand why ppl call them a “sterile” pickup but to for downtuned metal (drop B) I absolutely love them.
I've been a EMG guy since the mid to late '90s and still am today and will never change haha, is that being said the EMGs I believe sound better to my ears.
