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Kirk Hammett and EMG Pickups | Pro Audio Land
Kirk Hammett and EMG Pickups
Early in Kirk’s Metallica days EMG became an important element in shaping the tone in many of leads of some of the greatest heavy metal songs ever written. For nearly 40 years Kirk and EMG pickups have been partners in the evolution of Metallica’s tone. From single coil Strat style set up to the new Signature Bone Breaker Set, Kirk’s tone starts with EMG pickups. The following is a review of where Kirk’s EMG tone travels are now and where it began.
New Tone Arrives in 2018
The new Kirk Hammett Bone Breaker set is the result of taking the success of Metallica tone and adding some new elements without sacrificing gain for clean or vice-versa. By making slight pre-amp adjustments and combining Alnico 5 and Ceramic magnets the perfect tone-beast was created. The Bone Breaker set consist of the BB-B Ceramic bridge and the BB-N Alnico 5 neck pickups. If you are looking for rhythm or lead tone, the Kirk Hammett Bone Breaker set offers crisp crushing leads or smooth rounded rhythm tone at the flip of the selector switch. Kirk Hammett has been ripping up solos for Metallica for over 30 years. Riffs on Ride the Lighting, Master of Puppets, and the Black Album are a must learn for all rock guitarists. For Kirk, his tone starts with EMG pickups. “Metallica’s crunch sound is often cleaner than people expect”, says Kirk. “My taste in tone has definitely changed over the years. I don’t like to use as much distortion these days—I prefer my tone to be nice and crisp”. The new Kirk Hammett Bone Breaker set is the result of taking the success of Metallica tone and adding some new elements without sacrificing gain for clean or vice-versa. By making slight pre-amp adjustments and combining Alnico 5 and Ceramic magnets the perfect tone-beast was created. The Bone Breaker set consist of the BB-B Ceramic bridge and the BB-N Alnico 5 neck pickups. If you are looking for rhythm or lead tone, the Kirk Hammett Bone Breaker Set offers crisp crushing leads or smooth rounded rhythm tone at the flip of the selector switch.
The Early Tone
Kirk Hammett is the guitar soloist for a generation of metal fans, and EMG pickups are the tools of his trade. One of the first EMG pickup setups supplied to Kirk was a single/single/ humbucker set up. This was right around the time Master of Puppets was being recoreded and Kirk was experimenting with EMG humbuckers and single coils. This inspired the Pro Series KH20 Prewired Pickguard. With the classic 81 humbucker in the bridge and a S single coil in the middle and neck positions, the KH20 offers fierce tone and searing harmonics. These pickups are all built using ceramic bar magnets for the tightest, most controlled sound with incredible versatility and sustain. This setup comes with one tone and a master volume all wired on a custom 11-hole white pearl pickguard with contrasting black knobs. Being completely solderless, installation is simple and quick with the only tools you need is a screwdriver and a hex-nut driver.
The Later Years
At the time of And Justice for All recordings and touring, Kirk had signed with ESP Guitars and started using a dual EMG humbucker combination. Metallica was leading the pack in the metal/thrash world and Kirk was building on EMGs for his signature tone. At this point the Pro-Series KH21 Prewired Pickguard was developed. Consiting of an 81/81 dual humbucker combination with powerful ceramic magnets and close aperture coils, creating a guitar tone with detailed intensity, incredible amounts of high end cut, and fluid sustain. This setup comes with two volume and one master tone all wired to a custom 11-hole white pearl pickguard with contrasting black knobs. Plus being completely solderless makes installation very simple and fast.
KH-BB Bone Breaker Set Specs:
KH-BB-N = Neck pickup – Alnico 5 magnetKH-BB-B = Bridge pickup – Ceramic/Steel magnet
| Specs | BB-B (Bridge) | BB-N (Neck) |
|---|---|---|
| Logo Color: | Green | Green |
| Magnet Type: | Alnico | Ceramic/Steel |
| A C/S Resonant Frequency (KHz): | 1.80 | 1.63 |
| Output Voltage (String): | 3.00 | 3.00 |
| Output Voltage (Strum): | 4.50 | 4.50 |
| Output Noise (60 Hz): | -100 | -100 |
| Output Impedance (Kohm): | 10 | 10 |
| Current @9V (Microamps): | 80 | 80 |
| Battery Life (Hours): | 3000 | 3000 |
| Maximum Supply (volts DC): | 27 | 27 |
KH-20 Specs:
| Specs | SA Pickup | 81 Humbucker |
|---|---|---|
| Logo Color: | Silver | Silver |
| Magnet Type: | Alnico | Ceramic |
| A C/S Resonant Frequency (KHz): | 4.05 | 1.63 |
| Output Voltage (String): | 1.00 | 3.00 |
| Output Voltage (Strum): | 3.00 | 4.50 |
| Output Noise (60 Hz): | -101 | -100 |
| Output Impedance (Ohm/System): | 10k | 10k |
| Current @9V (Microamps): | 240 | 80 |
| Battery Life (Hours): | 1000 | 1000 |
| Maximum Supply (volts DC): | 27 | 27 |
KH-21 Specs:
| Specs | 81 Humbucker |
|---|---|
| Logo Color: | Silver |
| Magnet Type: | Ceramic |
| A C/S Resonant Frequency (KHz): | 2.0 |
| Output Voltage (String): | 2.00 |
| Output Voltage (Strum): | 4.50 |
| Output Noise (60 Hz): | -91 |
| Output Impedance (Ohm/System): | 10k |
| Current @9V (Microamps): | 150 |
| Battery Life (Hours): | 1500 |
| Maximum Supply (volts DC): | 9 |