EMG 81

Pickup features: humb
Impedence or other specs: specs ...

Model of guitar or bass: Warlock
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: whatever that was (duncan something)
Other pickups on guitar: EMG 85
Artists using this pickup: i dont know
You musical style(s): Blues, metal, alternative
Reason for pickup change: Because i needed high level output

Perceived output level:
Tone: mids and treble
Sonic evaluation: Peavey 5150 combo w/noise gate , volume, and chorus

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable:

Comments: Great for some leads and mostly rythm crunchy saturated sounds, sucks for clean sounds.
Thats why i got myself a EMG 85 at neck, for nice cleans.
So i give it a 10 for its metal sound, 2 for clean.
I use the EMG 85 for leads and clean for warm bass and lower mids
And by the way, you dont have to waste all the review space with little personnal issues.

Pickup features: humbucker
Impedence or other specs: sheilded/

Model of guitar or bass: 80's model plywood Kramer
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: emg select
Other pickups on guitar: 85 Emg on neck
Artists using this pickup: Hammet, Zack, me
You musical style(s): name one
Reason for pickup change: looking for more more more!

Perceived output level: very hot
Tone: mids/ trebly with a bit of mud
Sonic evaluation: Kramer mid 80s through a Cry baby into a dbx noisegate into a Alesis midverb4 into a kawai eq 8 out of a Crate BlueVoodoo212.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I play country to metal

Comments: I would replace if stolen. I have been a guitarist for at least 18 years, I like the way harmonics leap off the fret board. This pick up has a great sound coupled with my cheap plywood guitar. I was going to replace the guitar but could not find a guitar with the same "Kramer" sound. A Emg 81 can alter the sound of your ax but not in a bad way. If you like the voice of your ax go with a less hot pick up. If you like a balls to the wall wail, this is your ticket.

Pickup features: active
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: bc rich warlock, gibson ORIGINAL 61 sg, fender double aft strat (with the floyd rose)
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: yet another gibson paf
Other pickups on guitar: gibson paf
Artists using this pickup: too many
You musical style(s): hard rock
Reason for pickup change: took a BOYS opinion

Perceived output level: "HOT"
Tone: "BALANCED"
Sonic evaluation: GUITAR-AMP-PEDALS

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: "GOOD FOR EVERYTHING"

Comments: i just want to add some things to my past review (look for the guy named Edward). listen people, dont get angry with someone just cause they dont like the pickup. mind you these are all OPINIONS! for all you metal wannabes who all have the same stupid guitar sound (emgs and mesa boogies), relax and consider what YOU think about the pickup. so what if someone doesnt like it? its our opinion. im stating this cause some nerd thinks i cant play guitar...lemme tell ya, i aint no 3rd rate malmsteen, and i sure aint no cheap rip off of hammet. emgs are for a specific sound. "metal." not hard rock. i do play metal (anything iron maiden) and i also search for their sound SOMETIMES. but to be successful in the business, you cant have someone elses sound. you cant get famous playing someone elses solo. think about it. if john sykes were to play everyone of jimmy pages solos, someone is gonna notice and say "hey, those are jimmy pages." my point is that im looking for a specific sound too, and emgs are not my way of going. so please, all you dipshits who sit in your room and play guitar with your practice amps dancing around thinking youre kirk hammet, ease up. and remember, these are opinions. if everyone liked the same stuff...well...every other company would go out of business. i took this guys advice about putting the emg in my gibson. lemme tell ya, i take back everything i said...and i will say it again and mean it twice as much. HORSES SHITTING SOUNDS BETTER. dont ever try and confront me thinking youre all tough...emgs....HAH! seymour duncans are way better. I KNOW SEYMOUR DUNCAN, he custom makes my pickups now. listen, i know all you morons like emgs, but dont get on my case. after all...theyre only words!
"we must fight and defend the name of our great leaders! EMG!" i mean cmon, how and why would you defend a pickup. if i hurt someones feelings (somehow your brain is attatched to the humbucker) im sorry. please forgive me. i didnt mean to make you cry. after all your pickup almost made me cry. ive NEVER modded or opened or anything like that my gibson sg. ive owned it for 24 years. i think i accidently stated in my previous review that i had been playing 7 years. i meant 27. so, dont think im new at this stuff. ive owned about 6 guitars, but i sold them because i had to help my nephews out. so i kept it to my best 3. yeah most of you would think "you kept the bc rich? what an idiot!" yeah, but none of you would have known that i had it handmade in here and i watched it get made. its not made of that chesswood or whatever. its made of MAPLE. can we say "expensive"? i paid more for that than i did for my car. (71 boss mustang, orange and black, its beautiful) alright, but anywho, i hate the emg. it sucks to me. may sound good to everyone else, but im not everyone else.

Pickup features: Active Humbucker
Impedence or other specs: Output Impedance (Kohm) 10

Model of guitar or bass: ESP V350
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: EMG HZ H4
Other pickups on guitar: EMG 85
Artists using this pickup: Hetfield, King, Hammett, Borland, slipknot, Wylde
You musical style(s): Rock, Metal, anything!
Reason for pickup change: The EMG HZ H4 pickups were absolutely useless!

Perceived output level: Hot Very good treble cut
Tone: Very well balanced more to the side of screaming treble than bass, crunchy
Sonic evaluation: I'm playing into a Marshall Mode 4 with MF400 Straight cab, Crybaby Wah, Digitech Whammy, Ibanez delay/echo & flanger/Chorus and Boss Advanced EQ20.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: I tend to play more metal or rock than anything else and this is an amazing bridge pickup its the most amazing pickup i've ever heard with gain, TURN IT DOWN FOR CLEANS!

Comments: I Love the in your face cut of this pickup its even nice clean its not bassy but just tweek the tone n eq n TURN THE VOLUME DOWN on the pickup and its crystal clear. This pickup practically overdrives itself when turned up! There is NO better rock metal pickup than this, hearing is believing! Good with an EMG85 on neck, the 85 has a lil less treble cut but is massive sounding on the bass and nice clean TURNED DOWN! I've tried EMG, Seymour Duncan, DiMarzio, Gibson & at the end of the day EMGs just blow them out of the water! Overall Especially at high gain!

Pickup features: active HB
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Squier stagemaster
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: bust stock pickup
Other pickups on guitar: hehe a nice big gap where an EMG-85s gonna go
Artists using this pickup: Tom morello! woo!
You musical style(s): broad term - 'experimental rock'
Reason for pickup change: bust old pickups. sounded terrible anyway.
needed heavier tone.

Perceived output level: *much* hotter than any stock ive ever tried (but not an EVH stock)
Tone: treble heavy, mid weak.
Sonic evaluation: stagemaster (+EMG) -->Jim dunlop wah --> EH muff reissue --> fender frontman 15

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: sweet for most rock/metal sounds - covers shred and hair metal :D

Comments: if anything happened to it, id have a good look at SD's or dimarzios - i aint played em much
i own a fender strat, one i made (crappy), a squier strat, and a mountain of parts. theres a hohner copy in there somewhere...
i love the distorted tone, but hate the treble. it really needs an 85 to counter it.
i wish the tone control was a tad more flexible,
i have loads of new sounds that i didnt have before. it makes any guitar sound twice its value

Pickup features: Active Humbucker
Impedence or other specs:

Model of guitar or bass: Jackson SL1
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock
Other pickups on guitar: 2 EMG SA
Artists using this pickup: who cares who uses them.
You musical style(s): Metalcore
Reason for pickup change: Needed a good metal pickup.

Perceived output level: Very high output pickups, feel like im straining to play louder on my guitars with Passives, to equal the output of the 81.
Tone: Has a very good balanced tone, not to middy, good bass, highs come right through.
Sonic evaluation: I use a 5150 head and cab with 4 Svetlana 6L6GC power tubes and 5 Sovtek 12AX7 preamp tubes. I also have it modified with an adjustable bias to get out of crossover distortion. This pickup screams, i have to turn down my amp when I use this guitar. It has great output, but still remains clear for intricate guitar work, very good sounding.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Metalcore, perfect pickup for the style. This pickup is best in bridge position.

Comments: I'd buy EMG 81 for all of my guitars, and then for the new ones when they were stolen. I've been playing for 8 years. I currently own a Jackson Custom Shop Dinky, a Jackson USA Soloist, a Jackson USA Dinky, a Jackson USA DR2, a flamed koa Warmoth Dinky, and a Neal Moser custom (you guessed it) Dinky. I love how high output it is, it can pick up on the slightest movements, while thats probably not good for begginners, it's great once you know how to play guitar. This pickup is really clear even under heavy distortion. I found that sound, and it's an EMG 81.

Pickup features: Active Humbucker
Impedence or other specs: see: http://www.emginc.com/specs.html#EMG81

Model of guitar or bass: Cort M-500 "Mirage" (love it!)
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Mightymite Vintage alnico
Other pickups on guitar: none (for now, will put in a second EMG81 soon)
Artists using this pickup: Kirk Hammet, James Hetfield, etc. etc.
You musical style(s): Heavy Metal/Speed Metal/rock/blues
Reason for pickup change: I recently accuired myself that nice PW-10 v-wah boss makes, and no matter how much I loved my old mightymite, it was never going to scream like this baby does.

Perceived output level: This would be in the so-hot-you-break-sweats-hearing-it, so-hot-your-crowd-gets-scared-by-your-output-they-start-running-during-the-soundcheck-your-roadie-is performing
Tone: This pickup is so versatile by means of tone, not as versatile as you'd like if you are an allroud player. I have never ever seen a pickup that gets affected by the tone knob as much as this. I'v got one pickup in the bridge (read this people...). When turning the knob to 0 it's to bassy to play rythms, when turned to 10 it's almost too hot for soloing. I wondered how the hell kirk hammett got his first ESP signature with one single pickup in the bridge. I was wondering about the rythms & stuff, now I know...
Sonic evaluation: I play this badboy on my cort m-500 (prs-style guitar, cool!) through the boss v-wah and through a tube-emulating solidstate (yeah kinda sucks saying it, but it's a good sound). The distorion is so crispy and sounds so natural. No more tone worries for me, every guitar I have/will have needs the emg's from now on. Superb lead-screams, heavy palm mutes. (I'm actually affraid of my own guitar tone, and wonder what will happen with another pickup in the bridge :))
You will have to adjust your gain settings because the emg distorts more easely that any pickup I've heard.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: This pickup is definately a good metal-pickup. Cleans work ok, but I wouldn't recommend them to jazz players and effect guru's.

Comments: Doesn't need to be stolen, Definately gonna get more of those things anyway. After a tone quest for the last 7-8 years of playing I finally found something to rely on. Just lay back and enjoy my tone when playing, it's an awesome feeling. Stock pickups, or even other great pickups didn't give me THAT sound, when playing you always hear a note here or there that doesn't sound crispy enough, hot enough,.. bassy enough... Now I have total control over my tone, the great attack-response of this pickup helps you to shape your tone with a standard distortion... all you have to do is... FEEL IT. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to go enjoy some guitar ;) Peace!
btw us-people... your president's a fucking idiot! ;)

Pickup features: Active Humbucker
Impedence or other specs: Pickup is coverd for less noise.

Model of guitar or bass: Gibson Gothic V
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: Gibson 500t
Other pickups on guitar: Gibson 496n
Artists using this pickup: Metallica,Slayer,Machine Head,Dino Cazares.Lots of Metal bands
You musical style(s): Anything Metal except that fake crap.
Reason for pickup change: Always wanted to have a Emg-81 cause of its great sound.

Perceived output level: It didnt totally destroy the 500t in output but theres definatly more.
Tone: Its very thick sounding but has better clearity in the highs than the 500t.
Sonic evaluation: Well I'm using the Gibson V in either a J-station or a Crate Combo with a BBE and Metalzone.And I know how much better my guitar sounds in a amp of higher quality like the Engl Savage120.

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: For my style oh yes perfect not much better Ive heard yet.

Comments: For this guitar or any guitar with a Mahogony body Im putting the 81 in them.For its overall clearity in low tuning.And its overall character.For anybody who thinks they cant get good cleans roll your volume down man.If it were Destroyed that would probably be my own fault.But I always keep my guitar in its case when I dont use it.Oh yeah always unplug your guitar when not in use to save battery life.Ive been playing for 3 yrs and Im very satisfied with my guitar now.It definatly helps me in being a better player

Pickup features: humbucking
Impedence or other specs: NO clue BUT F******** HOT

Model of guitar or bass: guitar
Position: bridge
Pickup being replaced: stock jackson peace of S***
Other pickups on guitar: EMG 85
Artists using this pickup: Zack,kirt,Mudvayne But not my favort john Pertrucci :(
You musical style(s): Progressive,Metal,Rock
Reason for pickup change: The other stocker sucked

Perceived output level: So hot it makes my guitar Bleed my guitar
Tone: it is verry trebly and not to much bass but just the rite amount :)
Sonic evaluation: My rig OOOOO boy hear it go's A peavey XXX head>Lany 412 loaded with 30's>donlop wah>Boss Flanger>Boss Nosie supressor>into my Shure wire less>in to my guitar!!!!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: Progressive,Metal,Rock

Comments: If this was stolen i would cry theni would kick my cat then i would cry somemore and finaly buy a new one. i have ben playing for 12 years and this is the best pickup i played. TYO ALL U DREAM THEATER FANS LET THE SPIRIT CARRY ON!!!!!!!

Pickup features: i dont know
Impedence or other specs: ?

Model of guitar or bass: bc rich custom usa warlock
Position: middle
Pickup being replaced: gibson paf
Other pickups on guitar: sd jazz neck
Artists using this pickup: weird people
You musical style(s): hard rock
Reason for pickup change: wanted to try it

Perceived output level: i thought it would be as said...to be "the best"
Tone: ugly
Sonic evaluation: my axe>ds1(with the mod!)>chorus>phaser>delay>randall head, peavey 4x12. it sounds....not good with everything ive tried. ive tried it with....countless distortion pedals (i never buy an amp for the distortion...what a waste of money), and every wah pedal i use doesnt like it. its too damn...ugly! no mids! too much highs! and....lows that make me look bad on stage!

For which styles and positions is this pickup (un)suitable: i play 80's hard rock, classic metal, classic rock....this pickup doesnt work. all the "Gods" used seymour duncans and gibsons...i wasted too much money on this piece of crap.

Comments: if it were stolen...hell id pay the guy for getting it off my hands. if it were destroyed....well....id be the one to do it. ive been playing for 7 years. i own 3 other guitars, and one other amp. oh and a whole shit load of effects. i hate everything about it. not only does it sound ugly...but it looks ugly. not just too plain, but too...harsh. compared to a horse ass, this thing is total shit. i wish i bought a seymour duncan screamin demon. i know they sound alot better. dont waste good, valuable money on something that will/can get you booed off stage. if youre some dumbass numetal/detuning/7string/raprock/punkshit/deathmetal/grindcore idiot who likes to look and sound like a goat pissing into a can, then be my guest and buy a few. but for that much money, it aint worth the shit out of jimmy pages ass. i wouldnt buy emg pickups if i had to waste 100 dollars. id at least buy something worth anything. like seymour duncans."emg"...hah! whats that stand for?! Electric Mouse Guts? its not even worth a 1. its worth...id say a....-75, only cause im nice.