EMG DG20 David Gilmour Pre-Wired Pickguard
Install this pickguard pre-wired with EMG SA single-coil pickups, an EXG Guitar Expander, an SPC Presence Control, and master volume -- just like Gilmour's.
$329.00
- 8 x$41.13
- No Credit Check6 x$54.83
- No Credit Check4 x$82.25
Overall User Ratings (based on 15 ratings)
Submitted March 23, 2015 by Aaron B in Indianapolis, IN
"As good as it gets!"
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I’m in love. I’ve been playing guitar for 20 years or so. And never once have I bought a 5-star musical product. Everything has some weird quirks or faults that I’ve lived with. But that’s not the case with these pickups!
First, there’s the installation. Couldn’t be easier. The solderless system means you just have to take the old pickguard off and plop this one on then slide some connectors together. If you can screw and unscrew screws and plug headphones into your iPhone, you can install these pickups. I did have to do a little extra work because my Strat has a System I bridge that requires a non-standard trem cut on the pickguard. But the solderless system made it easy to disconnect the pickups, move them over to my Strat’s pickguard, and then reconnect it all and drop it in.
After that, there’s the tones. So MANY tones! If you’ve thought about buying a Variax, give this a try instead. With the EXG and SPC turned down to 1 and the volume down a few notches, you get a pretty traditional Strat tone. It’s not as spanky as the Duncan SSL-6s I had in the guitar before. But it’s definitely recognizably a common Strat tone. Then crank the EXG and you get a nice BB King-ish tone that’s full of chime and thump. Back that off and crank the SPC and you get a sustain-for-days, creamy Slash tone that is beyond awesome to solo with. Of course, your subjective ideas of what these tones are might vary, but the point is that you can get a lot of different sounds pulled out of these! And those are just three tones. There’s so much space in-between by blending the two controls, raising and lowering the preamp volume, and playing around with the pickup selector. And, because these are noiseless, you can use the first, third, and fifth positions in a live situation without worrying!
I couldn’t be happier. Then to top all that off—before I bought these new from zZounds I was looking at a used set on another site. I wasn’t too sure about the set, though, because the seller wasn’t being all that clear with his listing. Not expecting much, I emailed EMG to see if they could help me identify more info about the seller’s pups. They responded! And it wasn’t just some off-shore customer support group. Someone who seemed very knowledgeable and familiar with EMG responded from their home office. He helped me figure out what the story was with those used pups. No reason why he should. EMG doesn’t get any money if I buy used. But he just did because that’s the kind of customer support they give. I was so impressed—I just bought a brand new in the box set when the time came. Because I have a feeling EMG will make good on their warranty if anything goes wrong thanks to that GREAT customer service experience.
Musical Background:
20 years playing guitar, bass, drums, keyboard
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Submitted October 7, 2012 by Mark W in St. Augustine , FL
"Extremely Satisfied"
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I grew up with the music of Pink Floyd and David Gilmour and have always wanted to play his solo's and music. So when I seen the DG20 by EMG, I had to have it. This was so simple to install and the sound quality was excellent. The midrange and low end boost feature it offers are amazing. I have had many hours of pleasure at playing with these pickups in my guitar and will have many future discoveries in the many sounds I can find in them. Making music, making memories. Thanks zZounds and EMG for your great products and service.
Musical Background:
I'm a play at home person, I have two electric guitars and one acoustic. Not an accomplished musician YET.
Musical Style:
Rock, country, blues, classical, latin.
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Submitted February 3, 2019 by Dave G in Elizabethtown, PA
"Damn!"
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So I finally bought the American Special I always wanted(through zZounds of course!) and yet the Texas Special pickups were lacking some serious oomph. I went to see my buddy’s band play and he was using a Strat with EMGs,swore up and down they were the best thing since sliced bread,so after much rumination I went and ordered a DG20 setup.. holy smokes it’s like night and day!! You can get the spanky Strat tones and yet turn around and get a raging Les Paul sound too. I’m in lust,that is all.i wish they made the same plug and play setup for Les Pauls and PRS though.
Musical Background:
40+ years
Musical Style:
All of it
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Submitted May 12, 2019 by John Moore in Galloway, OH
"DO IT!!"
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THE BEST MONEY I HAVE EVER SPENT ON PICK UPS SO EASY TO INSTALL. GREAT WAY TO MAKE A CHEAP GUITAR SOUND AWESOME...OR BETTER THAN MOST BRAND NEW STRATS...WHAT A GREAT IDEAL..I CAN CHANGE THESE OUT WITH IN 15 MINUTES, IDEAL FOR THE STUDIO JS....5 STARS HERE!!
Musical Background:
40yrs guitar
Musical Style:
Classic Rock
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Submitted February 7, 2020 by Lewis Lott in New Castle, DE
"Had to review these."
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Great sounding PUPS, put them in a beautiful used koa top.strat that had cheap PUPS with Seymour Duncan covers. Got it as an even trade for a damaged Mexican strat. loved the look but hated the sound. Now it’s my go to guitar out of 10. Other strats, Gibson, Epiphone, etc... Plenty of quack, chime and roar when you want it dirty. All strat and some “humbucker like” tones with the SPC. If you’re on the fence, pull the trigger. You’ll be glad you did haven’t needed manufacturer support.
Musical Background:
40 + years domestically and abroad.
Musical Style:
Broad range of styles, now under the category of worship.
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Submitted September 16, 2020 by a customer from me.com
"Simply perfect!"
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I started using EMG's in a Strat in the 80's, but then got away from them for a bit. Dropped the DG20 in (simple install) and I quickly remembered what I loved about them. Now I'm discovering how much more the DG20 set ads to the mix. The simplest explanation is it's like having a presence control and a mid boost instead of the normal useless tone controls (that I never touch). Want more clarity and sparkle, dial it in. Want more girth and punch, dial it in! I'm finding the mid boost is great all the way from 1-10, but while the presence has a LOT of range to it, I tend to stick more in the 1-5 range. It's truly like tweaking your amp on the fly except you can just reach down with your pinky. I find I'm dialing all the time and always getting just what I want from the system. I DG20 set is a keeper for sure and I can definitely see why Gilmour uses it!
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Submitted January 12, 2009 by a customer from aol.com
"With these bad boys, I'm locked and loaded!"
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I intend to use this product on this guitar for as long as I live. I've already owned the guitar for 25 years. I bought it in 1984. I have a lot of guitars and I use most of them. This Strat will now be one of my main instraments, again. These pickups are that good. Last year I put the Seymour Duncan Hot Rod set on an old Hamer I've had and they sound very nice, but these EMG DG 20's are amazing! They meet and exceed my expectations.
Sound
This product is all I could have ever imagined and more! The sound quality is amazing whether you overdrive the signal or play it squeaky clean. Once you start experimenting with it you'll fine out just how versatile it is and then fun begins. These pickups are perfect for me as I play lead solos, finger pick or just strum chords. I use it live through a BOSS GT3 effects processor. When recording I mic it through a Carvin-SX300 amp and sometimes through a LINE 6 SPIDER 3 amp, using a SHURE SM57. It sounds fantastic live or recorded! When you go to install this on your guitar. I would highly recommend you use the hole that the original ground wire runs through to the back chamber of your Strat to run the battery wires through so that you can replace the battery's through the back of your guitar. Instead of having to take all the strings off and pull the pick guard off every time you need to be replaced the battery. To make room for the battery, all I did was move the center spring over one position. The battery fit perfectly!
Features
The features are the EMG-SPC and EXG active tone circuits. Using them along with the volume control gives you an almost endless variety of sound quality's, at your disposal. It has everything I wanted and then some. The quality is excellent!
Ease of Use
This thing is so easy to get great sounds out of. It is hands down the best set of single coil pickups I've ever had the pleasure to use. The EMG-SPC and EXG control pods sound fantastic whether you use them flat out or sparingly. Everything in-between is completely usable as well. If you have a certain sound that you want to get out of these pickups all you have to do is dial them up. It's as easy as calling an old friend. There is nothing you need to learn how to do to use this thing, just relax, enjoy and have fun with it.
Quality
This product is made extremely well. (Except for one of the black wires from the circuit board was incorrectly wired. You'll see when you read the diagram. It takes seconds to solder it correctly.) The rest is completely dependable and totally roadworthy. I expect to be playing this guitar with these pickups on it, as long as I live. I've already owned this Strat for 25 years. I bought it in 1984.
Value
I paid $300.00 for this thing, but I believe it made my guitar 300 time better than it was. So, I believe it was well worth every penny I paid.
Manufacturer Support
I tried to explain to the support Tech at EMG that the diagram with the documentation they sent me had the wiring completely reversed. He couldn't have been more rude or aggressive to me. He tried to talked down to me and was absolutely no help what-so-ever in any way, shape or form. The next day I simply went to their web-site, found their customer support link, looked up the wiring diagram and wired it up correctly. From this source I also found out one of the black wires from the circuit board was wired incorrectly. I will be documenting this and sending the information to ZZOUNDS
The Wow Factor
This thing also looks great! The looks of a product are probably the last thing I think about, I'm all about the sound. So, when something sounds fantastic (like this does) and also looks great, I call that a win win!!!
Musical Background:
Active Misician, Audio Engineer/Recording Engineer
Musical Style:
Contemporary Christian, Jazz, & Rock
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