What comes in the box?

The 45HZ ships with a 15-inch pickup cable, two 5.5-inch connect cables, a 6-inch output cable, a 6-inch bridge ground wire, and two 250K pots (volume and tone) for complete plug-and-play wiring.

Is this pickup active or passive?

It's fully passive—no battery required. The ceramic/steel magnet design and humbucking coils deliver low-noise performance without onboard preamps or active circuitry.

What genres and tones is the 45HZ best suited for?

It excels in high-gain applications, studio sessions, and recording where articulate midrange and noise rejection are priorities. It's not designed for bright or deeply scooped tones, and won't deliver ultra-high output if that's your target.

What's the soapbar housing size, and will it fit my guitar?

The housing is 4.5 inches long with a maximum string width of 3.62 inches, making it compatible with standard soapbar routs. Verify your guitar's cavity dimensions before ordering to confirm fit.

How does this compare to active EMG pickups?

The 45HZ trades active amplification for passive simplicity and no battery dependency, while still delivering controlled midrange and low-noise performance suited to studio and high-gain work. It won't match the raw output of active designs, but offers cleaner integration with standard passive electronics.

Do I pay sales tax on this order?

We collect sales tax only on orders shipped to California. Orders shipped to any other US state are charged $0 sales tax at checkout when you buy direct from our website. Marketplaces such as eBay, Reverb and Amazon collect sales tax in nearly every state as marketplace facilitators no matter who the seller is, so the same item at the same price costs less bought direct. Free US shipping and 30-day returns are included. Some states ask buyers to self-report use tax on out-of-state purchases.

EMG 45HZ Passive Soapbar Pickup in Black

The EMG 45HZ is a passive soapbar pickup built for players who want articulate, controlled midrange response without batteries or onboard electronics to fail on stage. Its extended housing format and ceramic/steel magnet design deliver balanced output across the frequency spectrum, making it a solid choice for both retrofit installations and original equipment builds.

Electrical Performance & Tone

With a DC resistance of 11 kOhm and 3.62 Henries inductance, this pickup produces a resonant frequency of 2.40 kHz (500K load) or 4.05 kHz (1 MegOhm load), depending on your control configuration. The 54.5 kOhm impedance at resonance ensures smooth integration with standard potentiometer values and yields defined articulation without excessive treble or mud in the midrange—crucial for cutting through a live mix.

Design & Installation

The humbucking design minimizes 60-cycle hum and electromagnetic noise, essential when you're playing loud rooms or tracking in the studio. This pickup ships with all necessary wiring: a 15-inch pickup cable, two 5.5-inch connect cables, a 6-inch output cable, and a 6-inch bridge ground wire, plus 1 × 250K volume control and 1 × 250K tone control for immediate integration into your instrument.

Key Features

Housing length: 4.5 inches (115mm)
Maximum string width: 3.62 inches (91.9mm)
Width: 1.500 inches
Magnet type: Ceramic/Steel (C/S)
DC Resistance: 11 kOhm
Inductance: 3.62 Henries (series wired)
Resonant frequency: 2.40 kHz (500K load) / 4.05 kHz (1 MegOhm load)
Impedance at resonance: 54.5 kOhm (500K load)
Humbucking design for low-noise operation
Passive design — no battery required
Includes volume and tone controls (250K each)
Complete cable and wiring harness included

The 45HZ combines passive simplicity with refined electromagnetic design, delivering dependable performance for gigging musicians and recording artists who prioritize clarity and low noise over active amplification.