Hey y'all, simple question: I recently acquired a Sublime Millenia Stripe guitar which had been fitted with EMG's "Het Set" active pickups. They sound great but I'm a little confused about the output of them; I record through DI in my audio interface and I have to crank the gain with EMG's more than with the strat pickups (both single and dual coil). Is this normal? I should also mention that the battery in it is new.

Have you gone through all the relevant topics in EMG's FAQ? Lots of good stuff out there. https://www.emgpickups.com/emg-faq

Were the Strat pickups especially hot compared to "normal" Strat pickups (whatever "normal" is)?

How much gain are you having to add? If you're still in a reasonable gain range and there are no noise issues, things may be fine. I have a Sting Ray bass whose output is significantly lower than either of my two Precisions. It needs about 6 db more gain to match their signal level. It works, and nothing downstream of the Sting Ray is close to being maxed out. So, no big deal.

A thing with EMGs is that they do not have that high of an output but you can adjust them ultra-close to the strings, making them actually way louder than other pickups.

Hey thanks for the replies. I don't know how the strat pickups compare to others. I bought the guitar a few years ago used and haven't diddled with the electronics at all nor have I played any other strats. This is good to know though, I was under the impression that EMG's are supposed to have "SoOpeR hiGH OutPutS dooD!" so I thought maybe something was wrong. But, eh, again they don't sound damaged so must be fine.

Long shot, but maybe pull the pickguard and make sure the wiring was done correctly. And make sure the pot and cap values are correct. Sorry I didn't suggest that sooner.

Good point, c1010. The pots should be 25KOhm and not the usual 250 or 500KOhm.

I took a look at the electronics last night, because I've noticed the tone pots don't do much, and it all looks okay as far as I can tell. 25k pots and the confusing mess of wires seem to be going to the right places. I believe it's a solderless system that came with, or was purchased with, the pickups so the parts better be correct!