I bought this set to give an Ibanez EDR470EX (comparable to a modern Ibanez S) some new life; I was primarily aiming for metal but didn't go for the 81/85 because the cleans seemed much better on this set, and I wanted something a bit more versatile (plus, the 81/85 is done to death).
The kit seems aimed for Gibsons (with the 57 name and Gibson parts), so I had to purchase and solder a new output jack and pickup selector, but otherwise I am quite impressed with the installation, which was quite painless. The battery fits fairly snugly in the electronics cavity, so I didn't feel the need to use the battery holder I had bought.
The sound was essentially what I expected, that is to say it sounds good. It is advertised as PAF-like, but I don't own any PAFs to compare it to.
I like how the neck pickup sounds clean with no EQ modification, but I haven't found much use for it otherwise. The bridge pickup sounds nasal until I turn down the middle frequencies (which I expected); it works very well for metal kind of sound (also expected). I don't have the experience or vocabulary to describe how it sounds so I suggest you look up videos online or go try it in a store.
I have a set of Fishman Keith Merrows to compare it to, and surprisingly (to me) the EMGs have less muscle than them: I play the EMGs at 75-100%, but the Fishman at 50% (which gives me room to push the amp further if I want to, which I like). The EMG neck also has less brightness and harmonics, although that might be in part due to the guitar. The Fishman have two voicings (modern & PAF), but the EMGs sound PAF-ier to meown (again, I don't own a PAF..). I have heard people say Fishman pickups had more dynamics (that is to say, they are more sensitive to how strongly the string is picked) than EMGs, and I can confirm that the Fishman feel almost twice as sensitive.
In conclusion, I am happy to have bought these pickups (for 208 euros at the time). I was looking for something with enough bite for metal and the "EMG sound" without going all in on that sound, and I think this set did the job quite well.
