EMG 89

Humbucker / Single (switchable) Active

I put this in my MIJ Strat to replace the OEM bridge humbucker. I wanted the ability to have both single coil and bucker sounds from the bridge position. I already had EMG model S pups in the neck & middle positions.

Output level seems to be higher than be OEM bucker, which was expected with an active pickup. It's not hot enough to overdrive the amp when rolling back the volume like you're going for clean tone. The clean sound is gorgeously pristine and has a lot of presence. You'd think you had a blanket over your amp before popping in this p'up. I play jazz, blues, and classic rock. Since I have the jazz tones well covered with the EMG single S p'ups in the neck/middle, this pickup was to help dial in the bluesy rock tones I felt were lacking in the original. For thicker tones, you just need a bucker. The 89 gets those FAT sounds and still stays articulate. Pull out the volume knob (included in the kit) and roll the volume up a bit to compensate for the level drop-off...and you get a single coil that delivers the traditional Strat single coil sound: Bright, airy, and chimey! Got a fat strat that you wanna get a more traditional tone from the bridge? The 89 is the ticket, letting you go easily between bucker and single coil. The installation instructions come with directions that are flexible for the switching. You can also set the single to be active while the knob is in and go to bucker when the knob gets pulled out.

I was totally pleased with this pickup swap. EMGs are extremely quiet when at idle. The low impedance output makes the length of guitar cable a non-issue. It will drive a long distance w/o the cable capacitance becoming a low-pass filter. Having to remember to always unplug after playing to conserve battery life is one downside, besides needing a battery in the first place. But hey, it's a small price to pay for delivering outstanding tones and virtually inaudible noise. The wiring is somewhat more complicated than that of a normal pickup due to the hum/sing switch, but the diagrams are easy enough to follow. I plug into a Fender Twin and a POD XT Live. I'd break out the soldering iron and replace it for sure if it ever disappeared.

Dual mode, push pull volume knob switches between humbucking & single coil mode.

Ibanez jetking 1, neck position, also hav an EMG 81 in the bridge position.

Higher output than most humbuckers in humbucking mode, except the 81 ofcourse, and relatively high output in the single mode (but not too much for a single coil, it should not have too much output i think)
Used with a zoom g9.2tt, and it works like a charm! Rich, warm,bassy tone, but with a lot of clarity, it doesn't get muddy, and in the single mode it is beautifully balanced. (comment to "darcy chubbs": is it possible you've gotten a bad battery installed? Thats probably the reason why your 89 doesnt work that well, believe you me, it should beat the crap out of most passive pickups what comes to output and clarity!)
I mostly play rock style music, and it suits me very well, seems that it would fit very well in the bridge position too. Very versatile!:)

I would buy this one again if it was stolen from my guitar for sure (haha).
I've been playing for about 12 years or so, i'm a semi pro and play gigs on a regular basis.
I love this pickup, and it's actually not that hard to install if you hav a tiny bit of experience with soldering and basic electronics, i installed the 81 without any problems, but i had to mill a bit in the guitarbody too get the 89's push/pull pot to fit, it's pretty deep, took me about 4 hours from the first screw was loosended to the last one was in place, but that's only because my guitar was a bit short of space under the pickguard.
Everyone: Remember to unplug your guitar to prevent battery drainage!:)

Pickup features: Active humbucker, dual mode
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson Les Paul Studio
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: factory pickups in Les Paul
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup: Many use EMG (Metallica, etc..) but not sure about the 89
You musical style(s): hardcore, hatecore, metal, punk
Reason for pickup change: Wanted something heavy but with good tones

Perceived output level: great...very hot
Tone: balanced to trebly
Sonic evaluation: I'm using this pickup/guitar combination with a Mesa Boogie Dual rectifier going into a Marshal cabinet with celestion speakers. Awesome setup! I couldn't ask for a better combination. The sound is so heavy and powerful, but still very clear. The notes jump out, and the crunches are clean and heavy. I've been playing for almost 20 years, and this is the best I've gotten so far.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: For clean, heavy hardcore or metal, these pickups are great. There is no muddy-ness or loss of tone at all.

Comments: Definitly buy EMG over and over for my Les Paul. However, they didn't see to fair well in my SG. It could have just been some wiring mistakes on my part, or it really could have been the pickups. The EMG 89s are a dual mode pickup, and therefore need special switches. The switches didn't fit in my SG, so I tried to bypass them. It didn't work. So, I had to pull them out of the SG and go with some passive pickups. However, in my Les Paul, everything fits great, and it's the best setup I've had. Loud, clear, heavy, everything I could ask for from a pickup

Pickup features: active humbucker and single coil
Impedence or other specs: additional electronics EMG RPC presence control

Model of guitar or bass: Heritage H-535 semi hollowbody electric guitar
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: neck and bridge Schaller stock humbucking pickups
Other pickups on guitar:
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Smooth jazz, funk, and rock
Reason for pickup change: I wanted to have a wide variety of tones available and use various stomp boxes without tone loss. I also wanted to run wireless without loosing my sound.

Perceived output level: These pickups were too hot in the humbucking mode and I called the manufacturer. They sent me a schematic that lowered th output of the humbucker so that it would be closer to the output of a EMG single coil.I am pleased that I can run through stomp boxes without overdriving their input.
Tone: I also added a RPC control to increase the high end which gave me a great humbucking tone with more bite and clarity.
Sonic evaluation: Iplay a Heritage H-535 guitar through the following pedals:Jim Dunlop 535Q wah wah, Boss cs 3 compression sustainer, Ibanez tube screamer ts 909 reissue, Tone bone classic MXR micro flanger, Boss DD-5 delay, and a Boss volume pedal. The amp is a Mesa/Boogie MK 3, an early model with an EV 12L speaker.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play smooth jazz, funk, rhythm and blues, Motown and rock and all pickup positions work the best of any pickup I have tried.I have tried various passive designs and none of them are as good as these EMGs.

Comments: The setup I describe here is absolutely versatile and I can cover all the styles I mentioned and more. I have been playing professionally for 26 years and I only play music for a living. I have found my sound with this setup and I must share a tip. I have searchrd for this sound for a long time, 2 years and spent a lot of money trying many brands of pickups and effects. The music that you play should dictate the sound. What I mean is that when you start playing a song, be it original music or a cover, your instrument will eighther sound right or not. I knew what I wanted to achieve and I kept trying to get it right until it fell into place. One more thing, It takes time to learn how to work equpment and get the best out of each piece of gear so be patient.

Pickup features: Dual Mode Active (Hum and Single switchable)
Impedence or other specs: Low impedance active

Model of guitar or bass: Maison Custom
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: Stock single coil
Other pickups on guitar: EMG 85
Artists using this pickup: Don't know
You musical style(s): Pop-Rock
Reason for pickup change: Lousy tone on my neck pickup..

Perceived output level: High in humbucker mode (around 1.0V RMS), moderate in Single coil mode (0.6V RMS)
Tone: Very subtle, but dynamic..
Sonic evaluation: I'm playing mostly pop-rock songs ands lotsa 80s stuff. I play my guitar with amplitube at home, and on stage I use a Behtinger V-amp pro, and it satisfies me in both conditions.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This pickup is suitable for all positions and for all styles of music. Since it can be a humbucker and a single coil with a single switch, there is no music style that pickup cannot perfrom well..

Comments: Absoultely perfect.

Pickup features: Tappable active HB
Impedence or other specs: quite sensible considering its an EMG HB; nowhere near 81 levels

Model of guitar or bass: '98 squier stagemaster, 'slightly modified'
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: busted stock pickup
Other pickups on guitar: emg 81
Artists using this pickup: dunno bout 89, 81's are used everywhere though
You musical style(s): funk, disco, rock, blues, and the occasional metal moment :D
Reason for pickup change: broken coils in stock pickup, just had EMG 81 fitted, fancied a mellower edge for the neck

Perceived output level: much less bite than EMG 81, more akin to a burstbucker or atomic
Tone: mostly bass and mid bass, with a nice bid of hi-mid n treble
Sonic evaluation: squier stagemaster (with 2 emgs) --> boss HM2 --> big muff --> crybaby --> fender frontman combo
excellent clean sound, wired the pair so that theres just the individual volume controls. the 2 pickups sound much better blended together, a switch creates too much difference in sounds. plus 2 pickups running from one battery sounds better IMO anyway.
*very* *very* versatile and tweakable, since the 81 out-guns the 89. in humbucker mode, theyre about balanced, but the 89 'fills in' the mid scoop the 81 creates. good stuff, i say.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: funk, rock, metal, blues are all good, there isnt really a specific weakness or strength

Comments: the way i have wired them (which needs a degree in engineering to work out 8-) ), leaves just about any musical style within arms reach. jazz tones are surprisingly good, considering the reputation of the company as a creator of manic shred machines!
only dodgy point - the price. but once you have it, you'll use it forever.

Pickup features: active dual coil pickup with coil tapping switches
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: fender tele japanese early '90's
Position: all positions
Pickup being replaced: original cheap fenders
Other pickups on guitar: emg sa
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): everything
Reason for pickup change: the guitar was going down hill and needed a shitload of work done to it, so i had these pickups put in too

Perceived output level: Let's put it this way, I have been playing a Gibson Les Paul Standard which I bought in fall '99 and I've been gigging with that guitar since that time every weekend, roughly 3-4 nights each weekend, about 6 hours a night each night in all that time. Needless to say, I'm very used to the tone of that guitar in clean, dirty, whatever. When I sent my beloved tele in to get work done on it, which was more for the sake of the sentimental value of it since it was my first real electric guitar, i asked for the pickups with the widest range of sound, and for somethng which would put out as close to a les paul tone a spossible. The guy who did the work on my guitar assured me that my tele would definitely sound like a les paul, although i was skeptical about that. Well Folks, let me tell ya for starters, this DOES NOT sound like a Les Paul, and it comes nowhere close, no matter what any salesman tries to push!
Tone: Muddy and sterile, no "balls" if you would pardon my language
Sonic evaluation: I have been using a Peavey Studio Pro 112 which I bought at the same time as I bought my Les Paul and I've been using it ever since that point. Many people on here have continously put down this amp saying it has absolutely no tone; well maybe I am infact "tonedeaf", but I feel that half of these people simply don't know how to play, and even a marshall stack won't make up for that. Anyways, this has been my set-up and I was quite happy. Just this week I got my tele back with all her modifications and I immediately plugged her into my amp with the same settings as were set for my Les Paul and hit a chord. Man, it just sounded dead! there was none of that familiar crunch, at first I thought that the strings on my tele were maybe a dead set of new strings, which by fluke I've had before. But no. Infact I find the bridge humbucker mode totally unuasable. Mind you, the clean tele and strat sound is as clean and transparent sounding as any $400 mexican strat out there, but there just seems to be no body to the sound. I know, I know, it's only been a week, but I just can't fool myself into believing I like these pickups. I thought I could the day I opened the case and plugged my guitar in, but thats where it ends. With the money i invested into this guitar, including all other mods I had done, I could have bought a Gibson sg standard, and I am very disappointed that I didn't invest my money in that direction, although its too late for that now. But don't be fooled by the hype of these pickups. If you have played single coils all your life, maybe you'll loves these pickups, but if you're a metalhead whos played gibsons and PRS guitars, don't buy these pieces of crap!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play mostly covers, everyting from CCR to AC/DC and back again. I've found the only satisfactory position that these pickups are fit to be used in is the traditional bridge/middle position in single coil mode. the humbucker mode suck big time and the single coils don't have any body at all, as I said above "no balls"

Comments: I would never buy these again for anything I own and I don't recommend them.I am 21 years old, been playing since I was 7 years old, and have been playing fulltime, semi-professionally since i was 13, believe it or not. I've owned a few twin style fender amps, a couople of peavey amps, the gibson les paul standard, two fender jap strats, a fender jap tele (the guitar these pickups are in) a couple of ovation 12 striings and 2 6 strings, a tak 12 string and a fender mexican precision bass, along with quite a bit of p.a. gear. I can't say I like these pickups enough to be able to use this guitar fulltime as I did at one time. I can't compare them mind you to any other brand because I haven't used many, but these are roughly the same as a carvin start pickguard kit i bought at one time, which I also wasn't very impressed with. it just seems like dual mode pickups such as these are impossible to get to work as they shuld, wonderful concept, but the results aren't worth much. All I wish these pickups had would be character, and what i mean by that is more of a rougher harder edged, full bodied sound such as my Paul. I can't say that I am still searching for "that sound" because I already had it with my les paul, but I got "greedy" for more tonal variety and took the chance on buying these. I think that all it comes down to is you have to make a sacrifice; if you crave a single coil sound more than humbuckers, stick to a really fine single coil, and vice versa if you'd rather a humbucker, and if you do infact want both sounds, and you're made of money, bring two guitars to a gig with you with both types of pickups. I hate to put these guys down for trying to get a balance between both types of pickups in one, but these suck, and if you're used to a Les Paul, DON'T BUY THESE!

Pickup features: Dual mode humbucker/single coil
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Custom guitar built from bits and pieces I have found and liked
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: unidentified humbucker
Other pickups on guitar: EMG 81 (bridge) and EMG SA (middle)
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): hard rock, metal, prog-rock, neo-classical
Reason for pickup change: The neck pickup that was in the body was not wired correctly and did not work at all. When I bought the body, I intended from the beginning to replace the passive pickups with EMGs

Perceived output level: In humbucker mode it is not as hot as the 81, but hotter than the EMG select that was in the bridge. It's also hotter than the custom Dimarzio pickups that were in the Parker Fly Deluxe I owned before this. In single coil mode the output is less, but still above most passive single coils.
Tone: Warm, but with a decent amount of bass as well. The single coil sound seems pretty balanced though.
Sonic evaluation: I'm running my custom guitar through a Line 6 PODxt then into a Kustom1x12 at home and directly through the PA when playing live.
I can truly get some amazing sounds with this pickup, especially when I use it with the 81 in the bridge and the tone rolled off some (I'm using 3 mini toggles instead of a 5-way switch) for those warm smooth leads. For some settings the 89 doesn't have quite enough treble and the 81 doesn't have quite enough bass, but the two together just make me want to scream with joy!
I can get all sorts of good Gilmour tones out of the single coil mode and at sounds great clean too. In humbucker mode I think there is just a little too much bass to play clean.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play a lot of stuff (Pink Floyd, Metallica, Rush, Yes, Alice in Chains, Radiohead, GNR, Yngwie Malmsteen, Iron Maiden, etc. etc. etc.) and between this and the 81 and SA, I can get any sound imaginable, especially with the versetility of the PODxt. I have only tried this pickup in the neck so I can't comment on how well it works in other positions.

Comments: The only reason this pickup isn't getting a 10 is because it was a pain to wire up and it took a couple of e-mails to EMG's excellent tech support (thanks Rick!) to get everything wired correctly. This was also my first time wiring pickups so if I had more experience it would have gone smoother.
I truly believe EMG makes the best pickups around. Between the 81, SA, and 89 I can get any sound imaginable, from almost accustic cleans to crushing rhythms and everything in between.

Pickup features: humbucker- single switchable active
Impedence or other specs: dunno

Model of guitar or bass: home made strat type..
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: late 60's fender single coil
Other pickups on guitar: emg 81
Artists using this pickup: metalliboppers, lots and lots of heavy bands!!
You musical style(s): rock, jazz, pinkeske
Reason for pickup change: the previous one was noisy, and i have always loved emg's

Perceived output level: a lot more than passives.. about 20%
Tone: middy-bassy
Sonic evaluation: Traynor 20 watter all tubes
also a rocktron velocity 120 with mesa boogie v-twin pedal
one or the other in a cabinet with a 35 watts celestion

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: when used this one, jazzy rock .. great match

Comments: if the guitar was stolen, i wouldn't hesitate to buy/build another guitar with
emg's ..
as a matter of fact, most of my guitars since 1984 have been equipped
with emg's.. its my favorite pickup because of it's low noise, it's minimal
string magnetic pull , it's balance, ease of installation..it can often make
a weak guitar a good one..

Pickup features: humbucker switchable to single coil sound
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson solidbody
Position: neck
Pickup being replaced: 490R
Other pickups on guitar: another 490R
Artists using this pickup:
You musical style(s): Rock
Reason for pickup change: Get good single and humbucker sounds.

Perceived output level: Humbucking--moderate for an active PU, Single coil--same, but hotter than a passive PU
Tone: Humbucker--muddy/trebly, Single coil--balanced
Sonic evaluation: I tried this thing on a beefed up tele, an SG and a Hawk, with my hotrodded Super reverb and a 50 Watt Marshall. I also have an EMG 85, which has a very nice deep and rich sound. The 89 in humbucker mode is not as pleasing as the 85--not as fat and not as musical. The single coil mode, however, is superb, definitely duplicating the sound of their great strat PUs.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play a broad range of stuff from 50's onward, from spanky clean to near-metal crush-o. EMG pickups are not the warmest, so you decide on their applicability.

Comments: I would not care too much if it were stolen. I have tried many passive pickups with coil splits (Gibsons, Dimarzios, Duncans) and claims aside, the single coil mode does not come close to a Fender single coil, either tele or strat. Now this EMG nails the single coil sound perfectly, but perversely enough, the humbucking sound is not the greatest. I have also used both an EMG 81 and an 85 with an EMG tone switch (cuts off lows depending on capacitors selected giving a psuedo single coil sound), so I have some familiarity with their products. The bottom line with the 89 is great single coil, so-so humbucking. The tone switch thingie I mention above is not particularly musical, but reasonable if you prefer to start with an 85 or 81 for great humbucking and so-so single coil sound. The choice is yours, but so far, no EMG (or any other pickup I have found) gets excellent humbucker and single coil sound. Also, the wiring on this pickup is a complicated pain in the ass. EMG products are extremely dependable and rugged; they are a good company and should be able to produce something better.