What is the EMG-89?
The EMG-89 is a dual-mode pickup. There is no electronic filtering going on to simulate a coil tap. There are two bona fide pickups in a single humbucking housing. The single coil portion of the EMG-89 is located on the logo side of the pickup. It is identical in sound to the EMG-SA. The humbucking portion is spread across the entire pickup and sounds like the EMG-85. It’s perfectly OK to rotate the pickup 180 degrees to locate the single coil portion of the pickup further away from the bridge for a “beefier” tone. You may also order the EMG-89R, which has the single-coil portion located opposite the logo.
