EMG 81TW

Actine Humbucker/Single-coil (switchable)

I had this installed on the Bridge position with the 89R on the neck position.
Instead of having them driven by a 9v battery, I had them mod to run 18v in series.
I replaced my Carvin 127 stock M22SD bridge pick-up.

I changed pick-ups because, after going with the Lukather EMG set on my Strat, my rig's settings did not work well with the Carvin's pick-ups(which were excellent on their own right). If I wanted to have seamless guitar changes during our sets, I had to either go EMG or back to passives. The Lukather set sounds so good, that I went EMG on the Carvin.

I agree with the previous review. The output is high but not over-done. I believe "focused" is a better word for it. The 18v does give it a little more warmth (more noticeable on the bride p/u). The sound is round and the single-coil mode sounds different but still has the focused and round characteristics of an EMG.

I do not favor a clean bridge p/u sound within my playing style, but prefer neck only or neck-bridge. On the neck-bridge combo (single-coil mode) it delivers, punchy and clear, great for bluesy or funky stuff.

I like this pick-up, but remember to use the volume knob with the EMG's, the volume knob will help you get different sounds, to help off-set the "EMG trademark sound syndrome" a little bit and get more dynamics.

I wanted a more aggressive set-up for this guitar as compared to my Strat (which has an 85 on the bridge position).

I give this a 9 because it is not as versatile as the 85. But it does what I wanted.

Active 9V dual-mode humbucker.
Ceramic and steel magnets.
10Kohm impedance.
Dual internal pre-amps (one tuned for humbucking, and one tuned for single coil).

I use normal 81s in my ESP Horizon NT II, and in my strat I use the 81TW version in both positions. It replaced the stock Fender single coils. No other pickups in the strat, just the 81TWs. There are a lot of artists who use the EMG 81s, but not as many using the 81TWs yet (they are very new).

I changed the pickups because I needed some more "omph" in my guitars, while maintaining the dynamic headroom and clarity across the whole frequency register. Only Active pickups offer this. I still wanted to be able to get a decent strat clean sound from it though, and therefore the TWs were the only way to go. I realize stock Fender pickups would do a better job of producing the strat sound, but it is not my "main sound", and I wanted the option of going full chuggage on comand.

The output is moderately high. It is not as high and abrasive as some high output passive pickups, but defeinetly hotter than low output passives. In a passive pickup you either get dynamics and clarity without the hairy balls OR you get hairy balls with a terrible sounding clean sound. On these active pickups you never loose the clarity across the whole spectre of frequencies yet you get a pronounced mid range that drive an amp in very nice way. It is hard to describe as I am no guitar engineer, but it feels like you are more in control of which sounds the guitar puts out. Its very clear and articulate and each string rings through the amp without drowning in other frequencies from other strings. The Volume knob is a beautiful thing here as it works almost like a gain knob on an amp. You can clear up the sound very nicely, and gradually increase the hairy balls at will. The single coils do not sound like true vintage single coils, but they sound great all the same. No hiss, no noise, no hum. just ringing warm and clear notes.

EMGs are either hated or loved. I realize their tendency to sound generic. You will loose some of the true characteristics of your guitar. For certain types of music (Jazz, blues etc) I can definetly see how that is a big problem. For progressive hard rock and metal or for fusion type music that require a cleaned up neat sound with great attack and clarity they cant be ignored. Shredders will love these, but they are not just for the metalheads and shredders either. These pickups can basically do anything, but they will always have that characteristic EMG sound. Love it or hate it.. I love it.

They've never farted out on me. During recording I decided to change the batteries, and I did notce a slight improvement in the sound, but it was marginal, and I had used the battery for over a year at that point. I change batteries about once a year, and I have a consistent great tone (or so I've been told). The patteries will easily last 1000 hours of playing.

I've played guitar for 19 years. Ive owned countless guitars with various passive pickups (Dimarzios, Seymour Duncans, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez etc.) And for me it was an eye opener to try these out a few years ago. I realize there are different genres of music that require different guitars and different pickups, but for the progressive stuff I do, they are just the tool for the job.