Pros:
- balanced and even sound
- thick bass and bright highs
- sounds amazing in almost any mix
- installation is a breeze
- works great with active electronics or without
Cons:
- you'll need a battery, as these are active
- not you vintage P pickup
Now this is the pickup I was looking for a long time. I get why people who love vintage stuff don't like this, and those are the same reasons I love it. It sounds more like a modern soapbard pickup on P position than vintage P; it's balanced, a bit compressed, sits great in the mix, doesn't have harsh mids and is 100% without any hum (as most P pickups are). Now the idea that EMGs are for HEAVY/METAL music is IMHO not true. While this pickup cuts through mix like hot knife trough butter, even with passive tone controls (Volume+Tone), you have a lot of options. It sounds great in almost anything, vintage rock, modern metal, r'n'b, pop, heck it sounds great even when I play top50 songs on it. all in all, EMGs aren't sterile, dull or "metal", IMHO this pickup has more life and character than any other P pickup I've tried but at the same time it's easy to control in the mix; and sits great. playing solo it does sound a bit too scooped or "bland" but in the mix is where this beast shines.
also it's a bit lighter in weight than standard P pickups and there is almost no pull on the strings so you can set it really close to strings and get more pronounced highs/mids