EMG 81 or 85

[Immortal]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

Here ya go:

http://www.mobisux.com/album/showgal...bmalec&thumb=1

[toejam]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

Originally posted by DRAKE:
I thought the 81 was suppose to go in the bridge?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">EMGs can go in any position you want to put them in. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Steve Lukather is one famous person who uses the 85 in the bridge, Jon Donais from Shadows Falls uses the 85 bridge and 81 neck, I believe Dan Spitz from Anthrax also used to use the 85 as his bridge pup.

[Immortal]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

Originally posted by toejam:
</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by DRAKE:
I thought the 81 was suppose to go in the bridge?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">EMGs can go in any position you want to put them in. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
Steve Lukather is one famous person who uses the 85 in the bridge, Jon Donais from Shadows Falls uses the 85 bridge and 81 neck, I believe Dan Spitz from Anthrax also used to use the 85 as his bridge pup. </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yeah, really, EMG's are IMO pickups that none of them have its position defined beforehand.
Others brands are good, too, that's for sure.

But, the position and variations of the pickups is just the matter of the personal preference. I know toejam, he likes 85 in the bridge, but I like 81 in the bridge at this time. Maybe someday sides will turn. [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[mbuchanan]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

I am thinking of an EMG 81 in my Charvel 550XL. No tone control. Is this likely to be a problem? I play through a Peavey Studio pro 110 and POD V2 (I know, but the house would fall down if I bought a Boogie)

[sambencuda]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

That won't be a problem at all.

[neilli]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

I used to hate 81s, but have now decided that they work in neck thru guitars, not bolt-ons! (I'm probably going mad!!)
I have an 85 in one neck-thru which just doesn't cut it, so will maybe sometime get round to swapping it for an 81, but every other guitar (bolt or thru) I have with 85s sounds excellent.
I have an 81 in my Charvel 88 ltd (bolt-on) and it just sounds like crap - totally dead.
Just my thoughts though.....
Cheers
Ian

[FLuX]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

my (formerly NOTP) kelly has a 85 i nthe bridge and 89 in the neckk and this is absolutely the most rippin guitar i've ever heard with active electronics.

i highly recommend it.

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

Stop bragging about my former KE3... I'm starting to kick myself for selling her now. [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] Kidding.

The 85 is a crushing pickup. It sounds like a classic humbucker, except VERY meaty and organic. The string definition is unreal.

The 81 seems a little "cleaner" to me, and more compressed. It also seems "flatter" to me, which lends the pickup to external processing... a blank slate that you can shape to get a sound you want, compared to the 85 which sounds fantastic plain.

[MetalGrasshopper]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

Wouldn't a 85 in bridge sound muddy?

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

Depends, I guess. Maybe I just had great luck. My 85 was in my alder KE3, rosewood on maple bolt-on neck.

There was a time before I tried EMGs where I believed that I would go for the 81 in the bridge, obviously due to the influence of Metallica, Slayer, and Zakk Wylde using that particular pickup in the bridge as the "definitive heavy metal bridge pickup". Originally, I wanted the Zakk 81b/85n configuration for my KE3, but then decided to go against the grain for whatever reason, getting an 85b/89n off Ebay for decent prices. Incredibly, it worked out fantastically. If Flux ever slaps an EMG-81 in my KE3, I will personally fly over to the east coast and kick his arse... [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

The great thing about current EMGs are that the pickups themselves are connected to the wires through their special quick-clips, so you can change the pickups to other quick-clipped EMGs to find your perfect ones. This lends the EMGs to easy experimentation. [img]/images/graemlins/headbang.gif[/img] We've had some JCFers with recent Jackson DK1s where they've swapped the Zakk configuration that they originally come with and were absolutely pleased with their results. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[toejam]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

[ QUOTE ]
Wouldn't a 85 in bridge sound muddy?

[/ QUOTE ]
Why would it sound muddy in the bridge? If anything, it would sound muddy in the neck since the strings pick up more vibrations and overtones in that area. It's kinda like the old EVH idea and why he went to one-pickup guitars in the '70s and'80s. When you get a good warm, chunky sound on the bridge pickup, switching to the neck pickup would usually give a darker and muddy sound (this, of course, was before replacement pickups for tailoring different sounds came along). When Eddie would get a nice sound on the neck pup, he noticed that the bridge pup would then be too bright. I am pretty much behind EVH's idea and think the warmer/darker sounding pup should go in the bridge and a brighter pup in the neck. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Steve]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

the 85 has way more balls man similar tone [as the 81] but alot more punch in the bridge position . //Steve

[Number Of The Priest]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

And Toejam is known to currently carry that torch and that is his philosophy behind neck VS bridge pickup tone flavors. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[Steve]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

[ QUOTE ]
I used to hate 81s, but have now decided that they work in neck thru guitars, not bolt-ons! (I'm probably going mad!!)
I have an 85 in one neck-thru which just doesn't cut it, so will maybe sometime get round to swapping it for an 81, but every other guitar (bolt or thru) I have with 85s sounds excellent.
I have an 81 in my Charvel 88 ltd (bolt-on) and it just sounds like crap - totally dead.
Just my thoughts though.....
Cheers
Ian

[/ QUOTE ] you are going mad dude lol emg 81's work in any guitar ! emg pick ups don't rely on the tone on the wood or the neck [not that much anyway] for that matter cause they are active pickups I've played emg 81's in neckthru jackson guitars les pauls bolt on jackson imports gibson sg's and they always sound the same , if it's a real real thin body or a real real fat les paul they sound a little bit thin or a little bit fat but not enough to really notice . I love emg stuff I use they're passive and active pick ups they all sound good the passive ones are my faves [the hz h3's] the h4's sound good as well , but you can't find em much used online though , they sound great through a high gain amp , good harmonics and lotts cut through bite ! duncans are a thing of the past for me now I think . //Steve

[jtr]

Re: EMG 81 or 85

Go with a EMG 89 their best pickup. I've got 81,85&amp; 89 in the bridge of and I prefer the 89 to the other two. Next I like the 85 I don't understand how everyone says that the 81 has more high end I just don't hear it that way. The 81 sounds way more compressed and lacks highs.