EMG 81

EMG-81 Active Humbucker...the rest you should know or you wouldn't be here.

I installed a Kerry King set (81 at the bridge, 85 at the neck, and the pre.) in a BC Rich Platinum Pro Beast. This was to replace the stock BDSM pups.

I play mostly Metal, thrash/power. I plug into a 6505 atop a Randall 4x12 cab. I don't use any effects, except the occassional Crybaby, or Flanger. For Raw Thrash, these things are KILLER! When I practice alone, I also toy around with other styles, hard rock, 80s metal, some classic rock, and rock'n'blues. This loaded beast is the only guitar I use, I have others, but ONLY play this guitar. If you make use of the knob thats on the bottom of your guitar, just under your strings, slightly left of the bridge, then this pickup is VERY versatile. The 81 has killer sustain, harmonics, and if you play with feedback, it allows you to control that feedback, and whammy it, shape it to your heart's desire. If set right. These pups have a sweet spot on height.

If this pickup was stolen, I would definitely buy it again. I've been playing on/off for over 15years. I have played around with several different pickups: BDSM, Duncan, DiMarzio, Lace and out of all of these, these pups sound the best for what I play, Loud, High-Gain, Raw, Thrash! But as I said, if you use your volume knob, you can acheive Awesome tones in virtually Any style of music. Cannot comment on Country/Bluegrass/Gospel/Pop/Classical/Funk/Rap/R&B as I do not play these styles of music. I would recommend going to your local guitar store and playing a guitar loaded with these to see if you like them, some stores have a room/area you can take an amp to try out something. Just have someone check the battery, or your not going to be impressed. Battery life on these, with a Duracell, or Energizer is surprisingly good though, so no worries there.

Humbucking active pickup.

The EMG 81 came stock in the Schecter hellraiser c1 along with an 85.

Used in the neck position.

This pickup is used by Metallica, Zakk Wylde, Kerry King and many various metal players.

For a start the output on this pickup can only be decribed as hot!
I use it through a Mesa Boogie dual rectifier and occasionally through my little cube 30.

This pickup sounds best when played with high gain settings. This pickup absolutely screams when playing leads. The sound this thing puts out is amazing.

I find the tone to be fairly bassy but with a real tone bite to it.

I play Metal, hard rock, alternative, post hardcore and jazz. This pickup suits everything but jazz but thats what the 85 is for.

The pickup is bridge on my guitar. I have heard of people that install two EMG 81s on their guitars. I assume it sounds decent as a Neck pickup...

Amazing sound but theres always room for improvement.

If this pickup was destroyed or stolen I would definitely install it on one of my several guitars or buy another with it. I would probably try the Seymour Duncan blackouts.

I have been playing 8 years I have owned lots of guitars over the years but currently I only own A Gibson SG, a Schecter hellraiser (Amazing guitar btw) a mexican telecaster and an Ibanez RG.

I love the sound it blew me away. It even sounds great through small practice amps.

Definitely has an amazing sound but I will always be looking for different sounds.

Being a very curious person I tested what it sounds like without a battery in it. The sound it very weak but that all changes when you put in the 9V battery...

9 volt humbucking pickup for guitar. Has a built-in preamp.

In terms of output, it is medium to high.

I've tried a lot of different pickups. My points of reference: PAF-style p/u's are low-output, pickups like the Dimarzio Blaze and Seymour Duncan JB are medium-output, p/u's such as Seymour Duncan Distortions or Dimarzio Super Distortions are high output, and p/u's like the Seymour Duncan Dimebucker and Dimarzio X2N are extreme-output.

This particular 81 is in the bridge position of an Ibanez MMM1 Mike Mushok signature guitar. This axe is heavily customized... the neck p/u has been removed and filled in, the p/u switch and tone control are gone, and it is equipped with Schaller locking tuners and straplocks.

This pickup replaced a "Super '58" covered humbucker. I never had the pleasure of playing the guitar with the original pickups.

Lots of artists use this pickup. Grab the metal yellow pages and flip to a random page. That guitarist probably uses an EMG 81/85 set.

It has a built-in preamp. The EQ curve has a sharp spike in the mids. Fairly balanced highs and lows.

Has a distinct midrange grind in a mahogany guitar. Very djenty and percussive.

I play a Fender MH500 through cabs loaded with Celestion 100w V30s.

I plug straight into the amp. No effects between the axe and the
head! (a few in the loop , tho)

I play metal. Lots of tremolo picking, palm-muting, power-chords, and harmonics both natural and artificial.

The EMG 81 has very recognizable mids. I play with flat EQ settings (5,5,5) and I like the djentiness and in-your-face grind of the EMG 81. I also play an Ibby with PAF7's. The tones are worlds apart.

High-gain tones destroy, "classic" overdriven tones are unconvincing, and clean tones are kinda harsh and brittle. Definitely make use of your volume (and tone) controls.

I tend to play solely with high gain. I play the occasional clean part, and the 81 handles that well enough.

I would be willing a try a Seymour Duncan Blackout (AHB-1) if the EMG 81 was somehow ripped out of my guitar :P

I love the surgical precision of the EMG 81 under high-gain. It has a lot of natural compression, which takes a lot of the unusable "grit" out of my distorted tone. Power chords, even when tuned very low (I play in A# Standard) are very clear and punchy.

Nothing I hate about this pickup. Clean and overdriven tones are not what the EMG 81 was intended for.

I gutted a Epiphone Les Paul Custom and put this and an 89 in it. I have the splitable version (TW).

The out put is strong but not overbearing. It is not like a passive pickup (which historically I prefer) where if you have a hot pickup that has nice harmonics and dynamics, you also have a pickup that sounds dull and terrible clean - no sparkle or high end clarity (this is my pet peave with high output passive pups). This pickup has changed my mind about active pickups. In the past, the ones I have used have seemed a little dead and w/o a lot of individual character. This pickup is great. Very dynamic, but controlable. I can hear the Les Paul tone, characteristic of maple and mahogany - so this pickup takes on the coloration of the body wood. But, the cool thing is you can get a good clean tone, even in the humbucker mode. When you turn down the volume it doesn't kill all the highs, but acts almost like a gain knob, just knocking down some of the output while retaining the tone - very usable, even w/o splitting it. When in single coil mode it works well to ball park an out of phase sound with the 89 in single mode as well. There is a big drop off in output and the amp vol. needs to be adjusted most of the time to compensate. It certainly doesn't sound as good as my Strat, but it can work in a pinch in a live situation where you don't want to change guitars. This is a great, dynamic, versatile, pickup - more so than high output passive pickups that generally sound like crap when played clean. I'm sold and it ain't coming out of the guitar anytime soon.

I've heard some people say Les Pauls are versatile. I disagree. I sold my Gibson Les Paul, because I was always switching between guitars to get a good clean sound. You either had to set up your amp to play a good distorted sound or set it up play a good clean sound and it was difficult to pull any sparkle or clarity out of the clean sound even when you worked at it. (I play through a Mesa Boogie Triaxis midi preamp and can set up channels however I want and still struggled to get a decent clean sound out of my Gibson Les Paul.) With the Epi Les Paul I had no problem gutting it and putting in the EMG's. And to be honest, I have been very pleasantly surprised with how versatile and dynamic the sounds are, and with it being splitable, I can even fake a halfway decent Strat sound. I am not a metal head, but it can rock with the best of them, but unlike hot passive pickups, it cleans up well too. I play this guitar the majority of the time, now.

Passive humbucker for the lead guitarist, so it has fairly high output. Completely black with the little "EMG" logo on it.

Came on an old Jackson DKMG I had. Didn't like it, and this neck pickup is a bit why. I'll get to that in a second though.

It was paired with an 85, but I don't do rhythm, how do you say? It is a very quiet pickup, handled distortion, and could tolerate very high gain and volume without picking up too much hum, which was nice. It was definitely made for playing at high gain at a live performance.

Now here's the bad part, this pickup sounds...well not like garbage but...dead. Once you play with one for a few minutes, monkey with the pickup height and the tone/volume knobs, no matter what, you're still gonna have that deathly bland taste in your mouth. This pickup is like the zombie version of a passive, dead but alive. Just...no personality, at all. Just what you think a guitar should sound like, driven or clean. I was actually very disappointed to hear the oh-so-famous EMG 81.

The clean sound this pickup got had no personality either. Not round, not warm, not fat, not weak, not ANYTHING. Just...there. It did sound a LITTLE better driven though, a little warmer, but was still pretty bland.

Since I traded the old Dinky back in for my Strat, that's a fairly good sign there that I'd never shoot for this pickup EVER again. I've been playing for a year now, but I know a good guitar when I hear one, and a guitar with the EMG 81 in it is NOT a good sound.

This pickup was meant to be stuck in a guitar that was built for ONLY playing live and for metal. It sounded better driven than it did clean by a longshot.

You know the specs or you wouldn't be reading this. A rail-magnet hot active humbucker. Low impedance output.

Bridge position of a Jackson RR1. I have an EMG 85 in the neck (my rants on the Volume knob also apply to the 85 and all other EMG pickups). I also have a PA-2 and EXG installed on this, and I have had this wired for both 9V and 18V setups. Currently I have it wired for 18V which to my ears does improve the sound of this pickup a wee bit...I'd recommend that mod to you if you can do it, but the pickup sounds great in either 9 or 18V config.

READ THIS!!!!!

Okay, here is the gig with EMG pickups people...and some other reviewers on here have stated this as well, but this importance of this can not be overstated- USE THE VOLUME KNOB!! People bash the cleans of this (and other EMG) pickup(s) without fully realizing their potential through changes in the volume knob. At '10' it is LOUD and extremely hot- exactly what it should be. However if you roll it down to say '6' or '7' you're going to be in more of a hot passive pickup zone. I often play distorted tones with the volume at 2.5 (yes, 2.5), which sounds GREAT. Turning the volume down also does wonders for clean tones- again this is applicable to ALL EMG pickups. There are so few of us guitarists that actually know what a volume knob is for...it's time to develop some maturity in your skill here my brothers and sisters- use that volume knob!!! :)

Overall, withOUT any volume knob tweakability, i'd give this an 8, because it's sold as a lead pickup, and it is a fantastic, hot lead pickup- however the added versatility delivered with manipulating the volume knob without question gives this a 10- extremely viable and useful tones for virtually any style can be pulled from this baby- but USE THAT VOLUME KNOB!!!! :)

Its an active humbucker...not much else to it.

Was already installed in a Jackson DKMG I once owned.

What it like? Whats it like??? Its boring! There's no zing or personality to it. Its just a pickup. Sure it sounds better than something from a Squier Strat Pack or something like that, but dang, there is NO personality. No matter how you monkey with it, lowering it, raising it, mixing it with another pup, its BORING. It makes your guitar sound like everybody else's. Yuck.

I traded in the guitar this pup was set in for a Mexican Fender Stratocaster. I got a better bang for the buck for the Strat. The std. Strat pups had a LOT more personality and tone that was much fuller and powerful than the 81. Sure, the 81 is a lead pickup, but I'd rather play with a single Telecaster pup than I would the 81.

Unless you just like a Zakk Wylde or Slayer kinda sound, then this pickup is for you. Otherwise, the pickup itself has no real personality or even its own distinctive tone.

Active Humbucker

I replaced the stock Ibanez V8 in my Ibanez RG470XL With the EMG-81
in the bridge position.
my guitar is Tuned to drop C.
I changed to this pick up to get a more aggresive sound.
Bands that use this pick up include.
Chimiaria..Machine Head..Metalica..ETC..

The output level is high.
I am using a Peavey 6505 Head with a marshall cab.
My guitar i tuned to drop C (Low CGCFAD High)
I am in a hardchore metal band, and my amp only ever see's the dirty channel.
For the kind of music i play and the tuning and amp i use the pickup is perfect.
I dont play any other kinds of music so i cant comment on the versitilty of this pickup.

If i lost my guitar i would get another with this pickup in it.
I have been playing on and off for 15 years. I know what i like, and i like this pickup.
The only thing i dont like about this pickup is the price

Active humbucker. Very high output.

I installed this on a ESP/LTD M-200 guitar in the bridge position. I replaced a crappy duncan designed pickup with this EMG. The other pickup is a EMG 85. Artists using this pickup are Kirk Hammett, Zakk Wylde and Bj??rn from In Flames among others. I changed the pickup because I like ZW and Hammett's lead sound and have read that it has a very good tone with tight bass and a fat top end and quick attack which is great when you play fast.

The output is very high. It can push a clean amp into overdrive if you play hard but if you turn down the volume knob it is very clean and sounds a bit like a vintage clean sound. You can get more distortion on a lead channel with EMG's than other pickups. I think the tone is balanced. Lots of mids and treble and when playing palm muted riffs you get a t??ght and punchy bass. I play rock and metal and it fits very good. It suits fine in all positions but I wanted a fatter sound with a bit more bass in the neck so I put a 85 there. I have tried to put it in the neck position and it sounds great, have actually a great clean sound!

If it got stolen I would be surprised that they didn't take the guitar and only the pickup :-). If my guitar got stolen I would get a new guitar with EMG's because I don't like passive pickups like DiMarzios and Seymour Duncans. I don't hate anything about it. Everything is great. If you would like to hear how this pickup sound I recommend you to visit my myspace at
www.myspace.com/peterholmgren
where you can listen to some instrumental stuff played on a 30 Watt 10" Marshall with a DOD YJM overdrive in front of it.

active humbucker

i installed this pickup in my jackson warrior mg in the bridge position.i replaced my emg hz because i always wanted to see how my guitar would sound with active pickups.artist using it are ppl like kerry king,zakk wylde..

the output level is higher compared to all the pickups ive used b4.ive used this with my rocktron rampage,metal muff,marshall guvnor..the amps ive used it with are my fender fm65,roland cube 30,fender twin reverb and marshall jcm 900.the tone cuts thru any mix and i could get any tone I wanted by just fulling around with my amp n pedal settings.I play all kinds of music ranging from death metal to blues.well its certainly more versitile than ppl here made it out to be.i use this in my bridge position

if it was stolen ill probably get the emg Hz4 n see how it compares to this..ive been playing guitar for 10 years I own an Ibanez rg370,a totally modified squier strat,as well as a fender american std strat.what i love abt this pickup is it sounds great no matter what style of music i play and it has excellent harmonics.what i hate about it?nothing ;) Compared to the pickups in my ibanez and the dimarzio tone zone n megadrive which are in my squire.. this totally kicks ass big time.If i want my guitar to sound how ever i want it,ill just play around with my amp settings and this pickup will respond to my liking alwayz.

Active Humbucker, ceramic magnet - high output I guess.

Installed in a BC Rich Warlock in the bridge to begin with, but I moved it to the neck... swapping the 85 to the bridge.
Replaces stock BC RICH BDSM Bucker.
A great number of artists endorse this thing, Im a metal player and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I wanted some ******* tone out of my new crimbo pressie from my girl!

High output, when used with my ENGL in a live situation it sounded OK, but not life changing... when used with my ADA it seemed to clean up a little more... a little less mushy (not muddy). When I recorded with it, it sounded sucky, so I swapped out the pickups and switched 'em round! BOYAH!
It's quite trebly... not to much mids going on which suck because thats where the tone is and the bass is quite artificial sounding Overall i'd guess it sat B/6-M/3-T/7, quite scooped so live it sounds ok thru the monitors but in the crowd it would probably sound like a big pile of old nappys.
I play thrash metal mainly... many people said Id love this pup... but it was just, average... not bad though! The 85 is a better fit for me, it's got some more balls to it, id go for Double Whammy or an X2N any day!

STILL GO DIMARZIO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overpriced... i've payed ??60 for pickups which have walked all over this, plus you've got to wire these hombr??'s up which is somewhat annoying at first because if you're playing for long periods at a time, the battery does tend to die... unexpectedly a couple of months down the line. LAME.

Overall, id go passive. I've kept the EMG's in my Warlock because it's simple to keep em there... i wouldn't use duncan's because their metal pups are pipes. Dimarzio or Bare Knuckle... thats what you want!

This is the **** with a brand new battery but only for the first few hours of play, after that it looses the added active heat and sounds just like a high output passive, which isnt in itself a problem, but the fact that they are much more expensive than passives makes it a complete scam. I want to replace this some another acitve, maybe a SD Blackout or a high output passive. I think if you can afford to change the battery everytime you play then you will get a killer and consistent sound but as the battery dies, the sound changes, my guitar has an entirely different sound each time i pick it up so i have to constantly tune my amp settings. I would not really reccomend this pickup as i think you could get close to or the same ammount of output from a passive which would respect the tone of the wood much more instead of putting out a lifeless, although awsomely brutal, sound that would make a guitar made from high quality wood sound the same as some cheap plywood thing

Normal EMG 81 bucker

I have these in a Jackson JTX and a guitar I built from an old Charvette modding the hell outta it - conversion to hardtail etc.

The 81 is very hot and powerful, brings amps to OD easily.
I'd say they are definitely on the bright side though; rather clear and articulate yet pack a punch; great for chording and rock. They make playing with less distortion much easier as they do pack a punch; you'll notice you need less drive and they still sound powerful indeed.

Because they are a bit bright, I'd bet they would work the best in Les Pauls etc. my Jackson-style strat-like light guitars that don't have a lot of low end anyway can sound easily rather thin, but I still prefer them to my other PU's like Duncan JB's or Jackson's own ones for they are pretty noiseless and - can't stress this enough - very articulate and easy to get a huge crunch from. I suppose in a darker axe they'd get a ten; now they get an eight just for needing some added warmth dialed from the amp. But I won't change them to any passives any time soon.

Gotta remember that once you go active, it changes the sound and response of your entire rig, so once you dial these in well, passives will sound weak and dark with the same settings. The problem being that your backup guitar needs the same pickups too...changing to a passive guitar on a gig is just too much difference in sound. Can't mix the use with passives on same settings.

Yep, I like 'em and will be using EMG's from now on. What they lack in the warmth and 'organic' department is well made for in their clarity, punch and noiselessness.

If I only played studio gigs, I'd rather use a selection of passive pickups, but live I find these cut thru so clearly and so punchily there's no comparison.

I also used an EMG active preamp (PS2?) in my Les Paul and that was somewhat similar, but a bit more noisier along with the original gibson buckers. A good match, though, when you have EMG guitars and need bakcups brought to same level, I'd recommend adding that.

Pretty much the standard in modern active pickup technology.

Came stock in ESP-MH400NT and KH-602. In the MH400 it's in the bridge and the KH it's in both bridge and neck positions. The MH-400 has a EMG 60 in the neck. Just about everyone using EMG's in heavy music uses this pickup.

The output on this is through the roof in stock configuration, run it at 18 volts instead of 9 and it's twice as loud and responsive as before. I'm running these guitars through a peavey valveking 212 and a crate vtx 212 with a bad monkey in front. The tone is pretty well balanced but can be really bassy or sometime have to much scratch treble but it is overall pretty well balanced. I play heavy metal, death metal, metalcore, thrash, and hard rock and this pickup delivers in all areas from the heavy riffing to the shredding. I think it's best in the bridge but it's decent in the neck just not as warm as I like a neck pickup to be. Never have used it in a guitar with a middle humbucker position so I don't know about that.

I'd probably buy it again if it broke but I doubt someone would steal the pickup and leave the guitars but I might want to try some more of EMG's humbucker line and see if there is one that suits me better. I've been playing 7 years. I've already mentioned all my gear except my ESP LTD EX-260, Fender Standard and American Strat, two washburns, Dunlop 535Q wah, and my Line 6 POD XT. I love the super high output and clarity of this pickup. I hate the fact that I have to replace two batteries everytime they need changed but you give more you get more and that is true in this case. Well it was either a guitar with these or seymour duncans and I've never had actives before so I thought I should try them out and I'm really glad I did. I don't wish it had anything else I could think of except maybe if it could block feedback more which cause it already blocks most of it really well already except when really loud in smaller areas. I think I've found my sound with this pickup for now but I'm always developing my sound more with different tubes and effects. If you want to get the tone that you commonly hear in modern day metal check these out cause they're not for everyone.

Active EMG-81 humbucker

Installed in my Jackson DKMG in the bridge position. This is the only pickup in the guitar. Replacing the stock EMG-HZ H3 and the turbocharger circuit. I may yet reinstall the turbocharger or go the route of the 18v mod.

A high output pickup, no question-but far from the highest output pickup I have come across. Currently in use with a Line6 Spider 2X12 combo and a Crate PowerBlock run thru a Genz-Benz G-Flex.
What strikes me first and foremost, is the incredible balance of this pickup-no string overshadows any other. I play everything from Incubus and Counting Crows to Venom and Death Angel-as far as I can tell, it's a perfect match for all musical styles of these and more.

If stolen, I would almost certainly buy another. In fact, I'm liking this so much in my alder bodied Jackson that I may well purchase another for my Washburn 332. Further, I was mightily impressed with what came with the pickup itself. EMG makes your pickup replacement experience quite easy by providing a volume and tone pot, and a stereo output jack. All solder joints that could be performed in advance are already done for you-a very nice touch.

I've gone thru a great number of pickups in a great number of guitars and I must say that my first experience with the EMG line has been a very positive one.

High output active pickup.

I have used this pickup extensively in BC Rich guitars, Fender guitars, Jackson and Ibanez. This is a review of my opinions on these guitars.

Just to start off, this pickup despite others claims will not magically "replace" the tone of any guitar. This pickup will react to body and neck woods the same as any passive pickup. I play rock/metal.

For basswood Ibanez guitars, this has got to be the best upgrade. The riff tones are uncomprimising, rich, full and most of all dynamic. It does not over-compress when reacting with bassier sounding guitars.

I had mine in several strats also. Some fared better than others. If you're looking for a good upgrade to your squier, or to a cheaper fender line, this is ideally where you should be looking. However, the American strats I have always found to not be too happy with the EMG pickups. My old Standard Deluxe was a good contender, however the straight standard was a no go. Over bright and a bit buzzy.

The most foul sounding guitar it was in was an old 80s Jackson Stealth XL. Ash body, maple neck, rosewood board: The EMG 81 was harsh, sterile, and everything bad that I've ever read about this pickup. However, in my Jackson DX10, it produced quite the opposite result: Brutal, melodic and very toneful.

So what is the conclusion?

Well, if you own a guitar that is overly bassy, warm and generally hard to get any articulation from, this is well worth considering. If you have a typically bright guitar (And I have found most guitars made of ash to be the case) I would look elsewhere.

The EMGs still have a residance in my Ibanez, however the Jackson got an DiMarzio Air Norton and its tone and playability improved 1000%.

Similarly, you need to think about what amplifier you are using as well. I wouldn't recommend this pickup to anyone using a high gain amplifier - you just don't need it. My Jackson now sings with my VHT CL. However, its a little wimpy with the JCM800. However, the Ibanez is much nicer with the JCM800 given the extra output from the active electronics.

So think about your hardware setup before you buy!

Good in the right places. Don't expect to sound like Metallica or whoever just because you have an EMG81 and let me just reiterate that this pickup will not magically "replace" the tone of your guitar. Everything still matters from your guitar to your amp to your cabinet!

I love it in my darker guitars, ones that I have had issues trying to clean up, however in my naturally middy and trebly guitars, its been one to avoid like the plague.

I also think its that without this knowledge lead many players to completely dismiss this technology as some buzzy POS form metal players.

I have been playing for a little over 19 years and have been a technician and repairer for 10 and a luthier for 7. I have toured with big-name acts and had my fair share of television and session work.

Sure the EMG has appeared at times but as I said, you need to evaluate your setup before you buy this pickup - or indeed any pickup.

Active humbucker.

Came installed as a bridge pickup in my Fernandes Vortex Elite. This guitar has a Fernandes Sustainer in the neck position. Plenty of artists are using EMG-81s. I wanted to have much sustain and a heavy tone.

The output level is the highest I've ever heard, it's simply amazing. Pinch harmonics are very easy to do, even at lower distortion levels, and the pickup has a great sustain.

I use it with a PODxt and a Fender FM65R combo amp.

And now for all the haters of the EMG-81's trebly sound: you have to tune your guitar down to C for example to have that bassy sound this pickup can deliver. In E tuning it will sound too trebly. Clean sounds cut through almost everything, but it will never sound "smooth". It's just sharp.

I mostly play hard rock, and metal (not death and black). This pickup does its best as a high-gain metal pickup.

If it was destroyed or stolen, I think I'd buy something else. Not because the EMG-81 is not good (it's amazing), it's simply too much for me. I've been playing for 1,5 years now, I had lots of different guitars with different pickups (I play very good for my 1,5 yrs...anyways), and I have to say this pickup is the best if you want to make heavy and sharp sounds out of cheap amps/effects. The incredible sustain is simply amazing, and it works even at bedroom levels.

I'm still searching for my sound, what is something like YJM's (a half year ago when I bought this guitar, I was into heavier music, my style is changing so fast...).

Anyways, I'd recommened this pickup to everyone who REALLY needs that VERY high-gain, death or black metal sound. You'll not regret buying it!

Active humbucker

Bridge, mahogany Fokus JCK 52 (v-shaped). I used DiMarzio Evolution 2 and it was too muddy for me. I took out the neck pickup and replaced it with plastic cover. Didn't use it anyways...

Balanced tone, strong output (but I've had stronger passive pickups).
Excellent for metal, but for other styles too I guess.
I use Rocktron Piranha -> Boss VF1 -> Marshall 9200 -> Framus 2??12 Vintage 30

No point in describing this superb pickup again. I just wanted to add a few answers and tips:
1) Someone mentioned this pickup has an awful feedback. Yes it has, if set badly in the guitar. If it's too tight in there, it catches vibrations and makes a strong howling. It also happened to me at first. Just dig a bigger hole in your guitar, so that it sits freely on the springs and the howling is gone completely!
2) I found a notice at EMG website that you can get even better sound from this pickup when powering it with 18V. And works really! Try to add another 9V battery and you'll see the difference! Much fuller sound!

Its a active humbucker as i'm sure most people know by now. Not a lot of features, its a pickup...

I put this in the bridge position of my Fender Blackout set neck tele. I have a 85 in the neck. I replaced the stock pickups which were a Duncan 59 in the neck, and a pearly gates in the bridge. They were nice pickups but i wanted a different sound.

They do have a lot of output, but not as much as people like to think they do. I've played passives before with the same or more output. I like to play heavier stuff sometimes tuned down to C or C# so i really like their clarity and tight definition. The harmonics of these are great and a cinch to pull off, and their virtually noiseless. The sound is very distinct, mid scooped with tight bass and focused on the higher freqs of the treble. At first i didn't really care for their sound but after tweaking for a while i found it. Their pretty much a one trick pony though, they don't do clean well because their too compressed, and the mid gain rock tones just sound dead flat. High gain metal riffs is where they Shine. Oh yeah, i'm playing on a Engl Thunder amp, with some various pedals.

if something happened and i had to replace them i would get them again. I think their the ideal pickup for the lower heavier tones. for drop D and standard i like a passive, but below that i go for the EMG's. You just can't get the clarity and string definition anywhere else.

active humbucking pickup

ESP-LTD deluxe EC1000VB
stock pickup in neck position, paired with an EMG60

the output isn't high as most people say, at least in terms of volume... compared with other passive-equipped guitars i own EMGs don't scream as much as i expected, wich isn't a bad thing at all, i love swapping guitars onstage and there's not need to turn volume down to balance the overall volume. they're very quiet too. In terms of saturation YES, the EMGs DO definitely scream...
- the 81 in bridge position has very definite and bright clean sounds, although it lacks the classic crystalline tone of a Strat single coil, of course... it sounds more metallic but it's still a nice and usable sound even for arpeggios. plenty of treble and some bass, but it cuts EVERY mid from the sound. as I said before this pickup can saturate the dirt channel (or the dirt settings, i usually play through a PODxt) much more than other pickups i'm used too, with interesting results. you can play rock and get sharp attacks full of clarity and definition (absolutely not muddy!), like a distorted Strat - without loosing any of the saturation that just humbuckers can give - and just by turning a bit down your guitar volume you can have bluesy dirts with no loss of volume.
And here come the bad news, at least for me...
if the 81 works well with dirty sounds it's almost completely useless when it comes to heavy distortions. i know, maybe i'm the only person in this world who dislikes the way this classic METAL pickup behaves in metal! it could be a question of personal tastes, but i simply hate the distorted sound of this thing... it remains very definite and never buzzes, even with HEAVY metalzone distortions, but it completely lacks sustain... it cuts like a knife on the treble range but kills even more mids than in clear settings. the only thing i was able to do with my 81 were palm muted rhythms, a thing i don't do very often... i play many different things, but my own style is based on gothic rock/metal. i'm basically a lead guitarist, and i found this pickup completely unusable for solos and smooth lead riffs... i love mids (LOTS of them!) and the 81 has got none. It completely killed the warmth and personality of my Eclipse (that is basically a mahoganey built Les Paul-style model), and gave me the kind of tones thet should appeal much more to brutal-death rhythm guitarists... it could sound well (although a bit too cold) in thrash metal too, but definitely not in melodic death metal and similar genres...
should a pop-rock guitarist buy it? to be true i was quite impressed with the powerful bite of its dirty sound, so i'd say yes, but it sounds way too clinical for my tastes even in rock... i love vintage PAF sounds, after all!
i don't dare to imagine it in neck position... i would be curious to try it but i've got no expectation...

for sure i'll never buy an 81 anymore (i'm still a bit perplexed on what to do with the one i still own!), and to be sincere i removed it from my guitar after 10 days of extensive play... i replaced it with an EMG85 (that thing has got great singing mids, at last!) and i have to say, after 8 months, that i've done the right thing!

Active humbucker, with ceramic casing.

I have dual EMG-81's on my ESP EX-250. They were replacing the horrid, passive "Duncan Design" jobs that were stock. I changed the pick-ups, because at the time(2000), I was really into Metallica and wanted Kirk Hammet's tone.

These pick-ups are really hot. When used with a tube amp, they push like no other pick-ups I've used. That said, sometimes it can unintentionally overdrive on clean settings. But when you're playing lead, these pick-ups have excellent sustain and clean break-up. On solid-state amps, they tend to push too hard, depending on the model, resulting in a somewhat muddy sound. They sound terrible on modeling amps, in my opinion.

As for my rating, I'd give it a clear 10 for tube amps, and maybe a 7 for all other types.

I love my EMG-81's. It's tough for me to play with passive pick-ups anymore, especially I since I usually play high-gain rock. I would buy them again in a heartbeat. The only thing that's a pain is changing the batteries. Each pickup has its own, and on my guitar I have to physically unscrew the neck pickup and lift it out to change the battery. ARGHH. But overall, they rock. If you want and insane lead tone, this is for you.

Humbucking (obviously) and active

Guitar: Ibanez GRG 270
Position: Neck
Replacing stock pickup (Ibanez PWSND)
Other pickup: stock pickup (Ibanez PWSND)
Artists: on neck, Hammett. On bridge, Hammett, Hetfield, many others
Reason for change: needed better quality on rythmics and palm muting

Output level: very very very high!
Amps: Washborn
Tone: maybe too bassy on clean tone, but good on distortion
Style of music: metal, hard rock, but I experimented chorus, flanger and phaser effects with Pink Floyd songs
Suitable: it's not bad for neck position, I think it's better to install two 81 in both positions than a 60 (85) in the neck and 81 in the bridge, to avoid differences in output level

If it was destroyed or stolen, I would either buy another one or install two 85, but I wouldn't install two different pickups.
I play guitar since 1990, and play different kinds of music, not only metal. I use Boss analogic pedals, a Korg AX-1500G digital pedalboard and Dunlop Crybaby Wah Wah.
For this pickup I love the clarity when performing palm muting, and the only drawback is that there are too loud bass frequences. Anyway I have satisfied with the overall quality, and can't wait to install another 81 in the bridge, to get a very very cool guitar

active humbucker

model: cort kx-5 katana
position: bridge
replacing stock mighty might motherbuckers
emg 85 in the neck
artists using: too many to list
reason for change: i wanted more gain, better harmonics and more clarity (and the emgs delivered!)

output: fucking hot like the sun crahsing into the earth man, this thign evn distorts my solid state clean channel!
rig: i usually plug my katana straight into my peavey bandit (yes i know i want a tube amp lol)
an sometimes run the preamp out of my bandit into an old yamaha tube combo my uncle gave me for that tube warmth an extra gain
tone: this is not a clean pickup, this bitch will tear your head off for anything high gain. the harmonics jump out i can get loud clea rpinch harmonics like nothing now, playing rhythm with this pickup gives a razor sharp crunch that im certain could cut through any mix and leads growl with a lovely blend of trebles and high mids but just enough bottom end not to tip the scale.the pickup also has amazing clarity when distorted you can play a chord and hear each note ring with endless sustain through any amount of gain. the clean tone (or lack thereof) is why i took off a point in this section. as i said before this pickup so hot it even manages to overdive my peavey bandit solid state clean channel but wihtout the gain this pickup adopts a more jangly brittle tone. doesnt bother me that much i usually dont use bridge pickups clean anyway and the 85 in the neck is gorgeous clean so im all set :P.

style of music: melodic death metal mostly, but i'll play anyhting if i like it, this is a perfect match for my style and the distorted tone ive had in my head for ages.

positions: kirk hammet an some other folks seem to like her in the neck but i can only comment on bridge position for now an i say this pickup is a bridge pickup at heart. i was thinking though of switching my 85 tot he bridge and 81 to the neck just to compare, its quite easy to switch them wiht the qwik connect clip, and for height i just went as close to the strings as i could get without touching them, pretty simple procedure.

if any douchebag took the time to steal my pickups an leave me with an empty guitar i would probably cap his ass haha, but i would definitely buy this pickup again.

i played bass for 4 years before switching mostly to guitar 2 years ago, ive listed all my gear here, i dont have any effects yet

comparison: the only comparison i did was through the reviews on this site and by memory comparing it to my old pickups, i was thining of going the dimarzio routebut after seeing how many of my major influences use emg 81s i though i just had to try one an now i understand

i am very satisfied with this pickup in any distorted setting, it has brought me closer to "the sound" then ive ever been

Active Humbucker.

I installed it on a Schecter Omen 6 on the bridge along with an 85 in the neck. I replaced the crappy pickups that came with it.

The pickup is pretty hot. The fact that it doesn't make much noise is nice. The tones are unbelieveable for hard rock/metal. The clean tones can use some work, but you need to know that before you buy this pickup. It works great for crunch to high gain sounds. The tighness of this pickup blows me away.

I installed this pickup along with the 85 almost 2 years ago and I play it very often.. sometimes hours on end. These pickups have never given me any problem and get this, I have never had to change the battery!! Everybody thinks it's a pain to have a 9v to change, but it lasts a flippin long time. Great pickup for rock, but if you want this sound and clean, go with the 89s, I just got those installed on my new schecter and those do clean sounds very well.

Active humbucker.

I have EMG 81 on the bridge position in my Jackson RR. I replaced Duncan Design (something with 103 in a signature).

Here comes real metal. The rhtyhm is just smoke. Solos are amazing. Great dynamics and compression. Harminocs are faantastic.

This thing is balzing, it's what I wanted! I've never had a singl problem with this pickup. It looks great, it sounds great! I'd definately buy it again.