EMG HA

The EMG HA is a single coil in a humbucker housing. It will fit in any standard humbucker mounting and looks like a typical EMG humbucker. It’s the perfect single coil sound in my opinion. The cleans are pristine and jangly, and the dirty tones are gorgeous too.

The thing that really separates it from typical single coils is that it is dead quiet. There is no sixty-cycle hum or any other noises typically associated with passive single coils. This is a huge advantage in the studio were hum can be a real issue.

Active humbuckers are known for being super compressed and high output. This is not the case with EMG single coils, in fact it is quite the opposite. The HA is a very open and dynamic pickup. Honestly, it sounded better than the passive single coils in my Fender Strat.

It had the open, uncompressed low end I look for in a single coil. Its punchy and dynamic, perfect for single note runs on the low strings. It also has that gorgeous high-end sparkle I expect from a Strat. It sounds so good. It also isn’t harsh or ice-picky at all, which seems to be typical of a lot of single coils.

With distortion all the things I mentioned before hold true. Its still clear, dynamic, and punchy. All with out any mud and no hum. If you are like me and have used single coils with gain before you know that hum can be a real issue. With active single coils it is non existent. I love it.

I personally don't like EMG humbuckers at all, but after getting a guitar with an EMG 81-HA set I seriously considered dealing with the EMG81 just so I could have the HA. It’s the ideal single coil. Bright with out being harsh, warm with out being muddy, and it does it all with out any single coil hum. Because of the EMG HA I will be putting EMG single coils in my next Strat or Tele.