I bought this Schecter Damien 6, FR Satin Black, back in 2008 – it was a good buy for me at the time – affordable, satin black finish metal style with a maple neck, rosewood fretboards neck, with bat inlay, EMG-HZ passive pickups, a licensed Floyd Rose tremolo bridge. It’s too suitable for practicing guitar.

Those EMG passive humbucker pickups sound clear and defined between mids and lows. It’s good, especially when this guitar is only for home practice, and I also want to keep the peace with my neighbor. However, you’ll need more interest when increasing the amp volume.

That said, she’s been with me for 14 years, a pretty long-term relationship 🙂

Those EMG passive humbucker pickups sound clear and defined between mids and lows. It’s good, especially when this guitar is only for home practice, and I also want to keep the peace with my neighbor. However, you’ll find a lack of interest when increasing the amp volume.

This year, I decided to make her look a little less ‘affordable’ by swapping out a few gadgets, including:

  • A Floyd Rose Original 1984 Tremolo System
  • EMG 60 active neck pickup
  • EMG 85 active bridge pickup

01. Research & Planning.

The tremolo bridge system – If you are familiar with a Floyd Rose tremolo system and use it properly, there’s nothing better than an honest Floyd Rose. A licensed Floyd Rose is still a replica – I wanted a real one that was truly ‘Made in Germany’ and the legendary 1984 version that brought Floyd Rose to the world market.

Drawing back from the original design specification of 1984, Floyd Rose incorporated the “1984” tremolo system to recapture the vibe and excitement from that era. The “1984” system is the original reissue featuring brass-style housing,  fine tuners, a locked-in swing arm, bridge mounting wood screws, and a fat solid brass block for incredible tone and sustain.

The neck pickup – I choose the EMG 60. Because the 60 humbucker packs plenty of output with a balance of thick, boosted mids, big bass, and treble highs. This model produces rich harmonic overtones with close-aperture coils, similar to a mini-humbucker. Equipped with ceramic magnets, the EMG 60 has a complete treble response and loads of output great for distinct single-note solos. The 60 provides clarity and character to your guitar and works very well in the neck position.

The bridge pickup – I choose the EMG 85. 85 is one of EMG’s first pickups to feature Alnico V magnets; the 85 is a powerful guitar pickup with exceptional tone and versatility. The Alnico magnets of this model produce a muscular growl and smooth lead tones allowing you to play everything from the blues to the most extreme metal.

Although often used in the neck, the EMG 85 sounds great as a bridge humbucker, thanks to its exceptional smoothness and soul. This pickup pairs well with just about every other humbucker in the EMG line, and using EMG solderless system makes changing your tone more effortless than ever.

Taking off the old parts gives mixed feelings, especially when I DIY for the first time.

02. Actions

Taking off the old ones and changing the new ones is not as tricky as my initial thought. Especially when the new EMG pickups all use pin connectors. You don’t have to mess around with soldering iron – just following the diagram, and that’s it.

The hard part lies in setting up the Floyd Rose tremolo system, including intonation, action string, etc. Tuning the string on a 2-way tremolo system is always tricky for me.

DIY Guitar