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EMG-DG20 SA PICKUPS VS VINTAGE STYLE STRAT PICKUPS
Here are comparisons of the David Gilmour EMG-DG20 pickup set vs vintage style Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup and Fender Custom Shop '69 neck pickup. David switched from vintage style pickups to EMG SA noiseless pickups in the mid 1980s to help reduce the noise and interference from the lighting rigs when he played live. They are in his red Stratocasters (there are more than one) that he has been using since early 1980s. David used these red EMG strats as his main guitars for many years, and they are considered the heart of the Pulse era Gilmour ones. Around 2005 David changed back to using his old Black Strat with vintage style single coil pickups as his primary guitar. A good article about David's red strats can be found on the Gilmourish.com website, HERE.
The DG20 set from EMG includes three SA single-coil pickups with Alnico magnets, wired with an EXG guitar expander circuit, and an SPC presence control circuit. Strangely, it comes mounted on a pearloid pick guard, even though Gilmour's pick guards are always white. These are active pickups, meaning they are powered internally by a 9V battery, rather than passive like vintage style pickups which require no external power. The active circuit means there is no need for the pickup circuit to be grounded like a passive pickup. The lack of a ground and the low impedance of the pickups reduces the RF interferance noise common with passive pickups. In other words, they are practically silent. Many consider these the holy grail for the Pink Floyd / Pulse era guitar tones, and they are very much identified as Gilmour pickups, though SA pickups have actually been around since the late seventies.
Shown above - Gilmour's red strat with EMG-SA pickups and the DG20 set with pearl pickguard and SPC/EXG tone knobs
CONTROLS - The knob farthest from the volume is the SPC (Strat Prescence Control). The SPC sound is the one that us Gilmour tone freaks rave about. It is a presence control that boosts the mids, or rather the low mids. It does sort of what a humbucker does. It sharpens the tone while keeping the "thickness" intact and smooth. The EXG (Expanded Guitar) is the middle knob. It cuts the mids and boosts the bass and treble, or scoops the tone. Similar to a soft V setting on an EQ pedal like a Boss GE-7. Turn them both to 1 and they are disabled and you only hear the straight pickup tone, which is very good by itself without any EXG and SPC EQing, though in the bridge position it does not sound like a vintage style single coil pickup. Some versions of the EMG DG20 set may have the EXG and SPC reversed. I don't care much for the EXG control so I usually keep it at 0. I use it to thicken up my clean tones, but anything higher than 5 does not sound good in my rig. Gilmour does not use it much either. I like keeping the SPC control off for clean tones, but for distortion I raise it to 5 or 10. It boosts the mids and makes a Big Muff sound very articulate. It is also easy to get very distinct harmonics and feedback with the SPC cranked up.
Left is an early EMG-DG20 circuit and on right is a newer set with a slightly different circuit layout and solderless plugs
The EMG SA pickups sound excellent for clean tones using the neck position, though I think the vintage style passive pickups like the CS' 69 sound just as good. For Delicate Sound of Thunder/ Pulse era Pink Floyd tones, especially with a Tube Driver and Boss CS-2 compressor, the SA pups definitely hit the mark. The SA pickup in the bridge position produce very distinct warm mids and a bright tone when using fuzz-distortion like a Big Muff. They really help get that Big Muff solo tone from the same era when the SPC control is used, but they are very limited to that tone range and cannot do the older tones from the 1970s very well. I love the SPC/Muff tone, but overall I still prefer vintage pickups for bridge position leads. The SAs are great when you want that P90 humbucker type tone from a Strat and excellent for clean tones as heard in the live versions of Shine On You Crazy Diamond from Delicate Sound of Thunder and Pulse.
DISTORTION - Here are two clips of the EMG-DG20 distortion tone, showing the difference with the SPC and EXG controls. Fender Deluxe strat with EMG-DG20 pickups -> Boss CS-2 compressor -> BK Butler Tube Driver -> Big Muff -> Boss GE-7 Equalizer set for mids boost ->TC Nova delay -> Boss CE-2 chorus -> Fender 65 Twin Reverb amp.
SPC CONTROL
MP3 Sound Clip - Demo of SPC control on and off with a Big Muff using bridge pickup.
COMPARISON CLIPS - EMG SA Strat with SPC control compared to a Seymour Duncan SSL-5 vintage style passive bridge pickup for comparison.
MP3 Sound Clip - Demo of SPC control on 10 with a Big Muff using EMG SA bridge pickup
MP3 Sound Clip - Same as above but with SPC off
MP3 Sound Clip - Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup
EXG CONTROL
MP3 Sound Clip - EXG control on 10. SPC on 0. Muff distortion on bridge pickup.
MP3 Sound Clip - EXG control on 2. SPC on 0. Muff distortion on bridge pickup.
Here is the same pedal board setup, but with a Seymour Duncan SSL-5 passive bridge pickup for comparison.
MP3 Sound Clip - Seymour Duncan SSL-5 bridge pickup. Muff distortion.
CLEAN - Here are examples of a clean tone through the EMG pickups. Fender Deluxe strat with EMG-SA neck pickup -> Boss CS-2 compressor -> TC Nova delay -> Fender 65 Twin RI amp.
MP3 Sound Clip - EXG control on 10. SPC on 0. Clean neck pickup tone.
MP3 Sound Clip - EXG control on 2. SPC on 0. Clean neck pickup tone.
Here is the same setup, but with Fender Custom Shop '69 passive neck pickup for comparison.
MP3 Sound Clip - Fender Custom Shop '69 neck pickup.
EXG SETTINGS - Here is some clean tone noodling with the EXG control in different positions, mostly with the neck pickup. I think the SA pickups are the best out there for clean bluesy Strat tones, and the EXG can fatten up the neck pickup sound nicely by scooping the tone. Fender Deluxe strat with EMG-SA neck pickup -> Boss CS-2 compressor -> TC Nova delay -> Fender 65 Twin RI amp.
DAVID GILMOUR'S RED STRAT EMG-DG 20 SETTINGS
These settings may not apply to your gear because your amplifier, effects, and your gear settings may sound different than David's Pulse rig.
Based on the Pulse DVD and On An Island Gdansk concert it would appear David's EMG-DG 20 solo settings typically are:
Vol : Always on 10
EXG : Always on 1 to 1.5
SPC : Around 1 for clean solos, and around 5 for distortion.
Here are David's settings from the first Coming Back to Life solo on the Pulse DVD, pictured below. I use David's volume knob setting as a basis for where 10 would be on his red strat. During the show, and in the intro solo to this song in particular, you can see David check to see if his volume is all the way up. Based on that, and the fact that it is mostly seen in this same position during solos, I think his volume is always on 10 for solos.
Vol : 10
EXG : 1
SPC : 1
The second and third solos look to be the same, pictured below, but the SPC is now on 4.5 (based on the direction TONE reads and the gap between 10 and 0 on the SPC knob). Just before the second solo you can see David check the knob position on the SPC.
Vol : 10
EXG : 1
SPC : 4.5
For Shine On You Crazy Diamond it is harder to see the settings for the intro on the Pulse DVD, pictured below, but if you look close at the two camera angles on a big screen you can see the light glint off the knobs and reveal the tone position. The SPC is either on 1 or 6.5. I can't see which direction TONE reads to know for sure, but listening I think this is 1. For the vocal section of the song the EXG is set at 1. I assume it is always set at 1 since the position never seems to change in any song. Volume is 10.
David also used the EMG strat for this song during the On An Island tour. The settings can be seen at various in the Live in Gdansk performance, pictured below (thanks to Rafal Zychal for the pix).
Vol : 10
EXG : 1-2
SPC : 1-2
The Pulse DVD settings for Sorrow vary during the song. The intro is show below. Gilmour has the SPC around 10 for this song.
The fills and both guitar solos have the settings shown below.
The Sorrow outro solo settings from different points in the solo are shown below. After the first few notes David increases the SPC control from around 1 all the way to 10. This helps with the feedback needed for the intro.
Comfortably Numb first solo settings from the Pulse DVD are shown below.
Vol : 10
EXG : 1
SPC : 1
For the second CN solo, shown below, the EXG is 1, and the SPC is around 4.5.
Vol : 10
EXG : 1
SPC : 4.5 to 5 (position based on gap bewteen 1 and 10 on knob)
The photo above is one of the only photos I have found, other than Pulse screen captures, where you can see David's settings on the red strat. The settings look identical to the CN second solo settings. This is from Phil Taylor's excellent book, The Black Strat. This photo appears to be from the Division Bell tour, or possibly the Pulse DVD concert.