EP73 - EMG81 vs 85 and Multitrack Stems in Pro Tools 8

[AkiraSpectrum]

awesome comparison guys, great job!

[MadUserJ]

Awesome sound you got there.

Can you please give more details about the room you recorded at, string gauge and string tuning?

Thanks

[LimitlessStudios]

@MadUserJ The amp was a Mesa Boogie Single Rectifier going into a Mesa Boogie 4x12 Traditional Rectifier cab. The cab was placed in a closet surrounded by acoustic panels that I built, and mic'ed with a Shure SM57. The strings were Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom 10-52, and the tuning was Drop C.

[AngelOfChaos963]

@LimitlessStudios Ernie Ball Skinny Top Heavy Bottom for the win! lol

[clemford1]

I have a Jackson Dinky XL w/basswood body and I was thinking of trying an 81 but I've heard it would be thin so maybe the 85 would be better. However I think the 81 still articulates better for metal in your clip so what if I just fatten up the 81 with an eq in the chain or a sonic maximizer. I have a rack setup with an xtra space.

[btbamm91]

I was hoping you guys could help me out. i have just started trying to record my guitars. im using an ibanez 7 string going into an ibanez ts-9 tube screamer into a peavey jsx. my mic is an sm-57 going into a fast track ultra. and my recording software is adobe audition. when i record and play back my tone is really fuzzy and unclear. what can i do to clean up my amp sound?

[2coolsexa]

I don't think was a fair comparison of the 81 and 85 in the bridge.

Your jackson is probably an alder body guitar. My gibson les paul custom with 85 in the bridge has clarity and didn't have muddiness probably due to the maple cap. It has no problem cutting through the mix. The 81 in the bridge does sound better on alder body guitars. I'd like to hear another video with the 85 in a mahogany body guitar in the bridge position.

[LimitlessStudios]

@2coolsexa I too have a Les Paul Custom with EMG's and to be honest it makes the 85 sound even worse in my setup/tone. My Jackson is an Alder body which is brighter and more full (which I personally like) where as my Les Paul is thicker sounding but at the same time it's more muddy (even using the 81). However, we may revisit this video with another guitar eventually.

[2coolsexa]

@LimitlessStudios cool, i'd like to hear another video.

[SlaughterSwitchBlade]

Thanks For the video guys,btw The guitars were tight no need to excuse

[HenrikGennert]

Why change the battery that often?

I got the EMG 707s and the lifetime of a plugged in guitar is 3000 hours... :)

[GuitarRocks23455]

Hey dude, what kind of tubes are you using in your recto?

[minidavb]

I have ProTools LE and I'm useing a M-Box with no problems.

[BrinkOfInsanityMusic]

Hey I know this probably isn't the right video to be asking this but... do you guys have any tips for reducing pick attack when recording acoustic guitar into a condensor mic (AKG Perception 220).

[Phreakshow91]

does the whole distortion come from the tube screamer only?

[aeonic666]

can u tell me the setting for ts tubescreamer??

[MrPeachfuzzMan]

What do you mean by quad tracked? Did you acctually record it 4 times over or did you make 4 clips so what did you do?

[drugdrunkker]

I have a pro tools m-powered essential software, does it work with M-audio fast track pro interface?

[Elias04567]

hey guys i have a question... what version of windows are you guys running, and how compatible is pro tools with vista and 7???

[InhumanTom]

Hi, could you guys make a video about mixing ? Showing a mix from beginning to end(you could make a mini series cut into parts or sth)of a standard guitars-bass-drums song in Reaper.That would be very educational.

[InhumanTom]

Hi, could you guys make a video about mixing ?

Just show a mix from beginning to end(maybe post it in parts) of a simple guitars-bass-drums setup in Reaper ? That would be very educational.

[innerblades]

Long requested and long awaited by ME.

[thomazzinhu]

hey guys. awesome videos. i want to know some more about pro tools compatibility between older versions. We are recording some instruments in my home studio.. but drums and vocals we are recording in a pro studio with pro tools TDM. But they use pro tools 6.4 and we got pro tools 8. Its a pain to consolidate audios and then create a new session in the studio. Back home we import the new audios recorded into our session. What do you suggest?

[kevblue26]

how are the 81X compared to the 81 ?

[FallIntoWinterr]

i have a question, which could probably be talked about in the next episode, how important is the mic pre amp? perhaps make a video of recording the same thing with different pre-amps

[MusicRedd]

81 sounds best, but still i think you should test this at a strat kind of shape because this is the most common shape so the best basic to stick to.

[dasoundengineer]

as a drummer and untrained ear, i'd say TO ME the 81 sounded better

[filipopolis1976]

One note to omfgaduck: it's NOT about copying and pasting, but recording the track four times. Separately. No way to workabouts with copy and paste dude....

[LimitlessStudios]

+1000

There is no way around playing the track 4 times. Copy and pasting the tracks only increases volume. It doesn't add any thickness to the guitars whatsoever.

[derdude]

thanks for your answer! another question: you said when you double track you pan it hard left, hard right. how do you pan it when you have 4 tracks?

by the way: thanks for your videos! they're great!

[MattPurkis]

i personaly do hard left , right then bout 40% each way.

[LimitlessStudios]

We usually pan the first two 100% L and 100% R. Then the second pair around 75-80% L and 75-80% R.

[lagiator]

emg 81 is better but i hate that it's running on batterys.

[LimitlessStudios]

Why does it bother you that the pickup runs on batterys? All other active pickups require batterys as well so it's no different than those.

[lagiator]

hate changing baterrys.

[LimitlessStudios]

That's understandable. It's only necessary to change batteries about once per year under normal use, however, I change the battery every recording session just to be sure the pickups sound as good as possible.

[lovelyyaris]

@LimitlessStudios I have a marshall dsl 401 im getting way too much high end, im strapped for cash but if i got one of the harley benton vintage 30 cabs do you think i could get the extra low end im looking for??

[Deph11s]

@LimitlessStudios I know tons of people who are serious musicians who rarely change their battery in their active. In my jackson, which ive owned for about 5 years, i have an 85 on the neck and 81 on the bridge. Only replaced it 3 times. I also have (my own custom setup) ibanez rg370dx: twin 81, and YJM dimarzio stacked passive humbucker, 3 way switch with an added 3rd tone. The way its wired up is one volume knob does volume one does gain and one tone.

[LimitlessStudios]

@Deph11s My battery has never technically died in any of my active guitars, however, I have noticed loss of tone as time goes on which is why for every recording session I replace the battery.

[richardemg]

@lagiator

don't worry, i've had an emg loaded guitar for 3 years and batterys are still going good!

[lagiator]

@richardemg  wtf? are you playing 1 minute / day?

[richardemg]

@lagiator

hmm not at all, but i suppose I do have many, many professional guitars to play around on.

[derdude]

what means "quad tracked"? thank you!

[bluepingu345]

@derdude it means that the guitar parts were recorded four times and played at the same time. I think that the 81 pickup sounds better.

[derdude]

thanks!

[jackinal]

4 tracks

[omfgaduck]

its when you take a track and copy it and paste it so it plays 4 times at once it gives it a fuller bigger sound instead of just one its like haveing 4 guitars perfectly in tune playing it in perfect unison

[PapaKenny777]

85 all the way, more balls less gainy and less fizzy.

[LimitlessStudios]

In a full mix the 85 will most likely be too muddy (at least IMO). The fizz actually aids in allowing the guitar to cut through the mix, and once it's in the mix the fizz practically disappears.

[DraXgonProductions]

from personal experience i think the 81 sounds great but it a little tinny for me. i like the 85s better because it has more depth and it is a little muddy but i fix that by dialing down the gain on my amp and it sounds great. I also do the 18v mod which gives it more headroom.

Great comparison tho.

[RAYGproductions]

That is going to be my next move Hd3...