EMG DG20 Pre-Wired Pickguard - White Pearl

I have a Travelcaster guitar (a strat travel guitar) that I love. It had 3 single coils and a 5 way switch. It sounded great, but was noisy, and I couldn't get a great distortion sound from the single coils. I considered a number of solutions, but got this because I could install it myself, and I have used EMG pickups in the past and really liked them.It took me about an hour to install the whole thing. I had to make new holes for all of the pickguard screws, but that was very easy. It was truly plug-n-play.This configuration is SSH with the H being in the bridge position, right where you want it for a good distortion sound.I play a wide variety of rock music using very clean to very grungy distortion sounds. This thing is fantastic. Oddly enough, the middle single coil with distortion on it sounds REALLY good.I am getting zero hum out of this thing. The single coils are completely quiet even with really high gain. This is huge, because I really like the sound of the middle single coil with distortion, and the old pickups were just so noisy it was almost unusable. Dead quiet now all else the same.Each of the settings with the switch provides a different tone, and they are all super useful for different songs to get a different tone.I chose to mount the battery externally on the back of the guitar with velcro. I didn't even try to put it inside, because I use a wireless velcroed to the back so there is a hump there anyway. When I need to recharge that battery, I can just pop it off and top it off.The guitar pictured had the 1/4 jack on the back but that didn't work for me, so I cut a hole and moved it to the bottom of the guitar, running the wires for the 9v through the hole. I think it would have fit inside, I didn't even try.The only downside to this that I can see is that I thought $300 is pretty pricy for pickups. The Travelcaster cost the same amount as this pickguard with pickups.I justified paying the high price because of the ease of installation. EVERYTHING was pre-wired and good-to-go. No soldering. It was super easy.I really liked the feel of the neck, the size, and everything else about the guitar. Now I absolutely LOVE the tone I am getting from it.

I picked up a squire Strat from my local pawn shop. It was in great shape, and the original neck and middle pickups had a really nice tone. However, the bridge pickup was a single coil... and well, I was not so impressed with how that one sounded. i.e. it didn't chug.Swapping this unit in was super easy, no soldering required! It took less than an hour to complete the mod... which included a trip my local store to get a 9V battery. One hole out of eleven didn't quite line up. I had to drill that hole in the guitar using the unit as the template. I also had to widen the hole from the jack cavity into the pickup cavity a little to allow the wires to slide through with ease.Now this guitar rocks!!!! And the neck & middle pickups still provide excellent tone diversity.One other really important feature worth mentioning... Strats traditionally have the volume knob way too close to the bridge for my liking. This unit has some space between the bridge and the volume knob. Besides the humbucker bridge pup, the location of the volume knob was the thing that sealed the deal for me.The pearl color of the pick guard is totally awesome looking too! I am super happy with it and would recommend to anyone looking for fun and easy project to get a killer sounding guitar for not a whole lot of money.

This is the first time I've ever done this kind of mod, with any kind of pickups. It took me about 20 minutes with a screw driver, a small socket for the output jack, and I had to use a small drill bit to make the wire hole bigger for the input jack. It was super easy and they sound AMAZING. If you're thinking about doing this mod, it's worth it.If you aren't sure exactly how to do it there are videos online that are very helpful.It fit my Squier Affinity near perfect. The 9 volt battery was a little snug but I'd say that's a good thing so it doesn't jiggle around.

I had an old Squier 70's Vibe Black Strat that needed a new bridge and pickups. It sat in my attic for years collecting rust and dust. I saw a YouTube video about the EMG KH20 loaded pickguard and heard how great it sounded and decided to restore my old Squier Strat. BEST DECISION I EVER MADE! Installing the KH20 was so easy! No soldering necessary. I had to drill a SLIGHTLY bigger hole between the control cavity and the jack cavity for proper wiring but that was easily done. The screw holes in the pickguard lined up PERFECTLY with the ones on my guitar and the battery fit perfectly underneath the volume/tone control knobs. The tones are AMAZING! The clean tones from the S single coils are very Straty, tight and clear. The 81 humbucker is a BEAST with distortion! Plenty of dirt with little to no noise. I also replaced the bridge. Now I have a SUPER STRAT that I can play anything with. And THANKS to Amazon for overnight delivery!