EMG and Metallica have recently announced the newly released JH Signature EMG pickups, a custom line of pickups designed for Metallica mainman James Hetfield. The pickups were debuted by Hetfield at the recent Big Four Festival in Indio, California, last month.
A post on Metallica.com reads: "For those of you who like tech-talk, the new pickups feature sleek black nickel plated caps and EMG's Solderless Installation System components and the JH Set consists of the JH-N (neck) and the JH-B (bridge). Both pickups were patterned after the pickups James has used for 30 years but the end result was a completely different animal. The JH-N has individual ceramic poles and bobbins that feature a larger core and are taller than the 60. This produces more attack, higher output and fuller low end in the neck position. The JH-B uses the same type of core but has steel pole pieces, unlike the 81 that uses bar magnets. This produces the familiar tight attack with less inductance for a cleaner low end."
Check out the video below to see Hetfield talk more about his new line of pickups:
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Josh Hart is a former web producer and staff writer for Guitar World and Guitar Aficionado magazines (2010–2012). He has since pursued writing fiction under various pseudonyms while exploring the technical underpinnings of journalism, now serving as a senior software engineer for The Seattle Times.
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