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EMG EMG-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup  

Product #301504
  • MSRP:
    $129.99- $159.99
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  • Gold

    $119.00 Top Rated

    In stock

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  • Chrome

    $119.00 Top Rated

    In stock

    { "name": "Chrome", "status": "instock", "price": 119.0, "isOnSale": false, "msrp": 159.99, "salePrice": 119.0, "listPrice": 119.0, "isPriceDrop": false, "promos":[ "topRated", "topSeller", "guarantee", "international" ], "warranty": false, "sku": "site1sku301504000045000", "displaySku": "301504000045000", "serialized": false, "stickerText": "Top Rated", "shipsFree":true, "condition": "New" }

  • Ivory

    $99.00 Top Rated

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  • Black

    $99.00 Top Rated

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    { "name": "Black", "status": "instock", "price": 99.0, "isOnSale": false, "msrp": 129.99, "salePrice": 99.0, "listPrice": 99.0, "isPriceDrop": false, "promos":[ "topRated", "topSeller", "guarantee", "international" ], "warranty": false, "sku": "site1sku301504000001000", "displaySku": "301504000001000", "serialized": false, "stickerText": "Top Rated", "shipsFree":true, "condition": "New" }

  • White

    $99.00 Top Rated

    In stock

    { "name": "White", "status": "instock", "price": 99.0, "isOnSale": false, "msrp": 129.99, "salePrice": 99.0, "listPrice": 99.0, "isPriceDrop": false, "promos":[ "topRated", "topSeller", "guarantee", "international" ], "warranty": false, "sku": "site1sku301504000002000", "displaySku": "301504000002000", "serialized": false, "stickerText": "Top Rated", "shipsFree":true, "condition": "New" }

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EMG

The EMG-81 is a high-output pickup designed especially for the lead guitarist. The 81 is at its best for high volume overdrive and amps with a master volume. Whether you're playing power rock 'n' roll, or overdriving your amp, there's a razor sharp attack, and incredible sustain for brilliant soloing. If you're looking for exceptional qualities in a rock pickup, the EMG-81 is the one.

Distortion during lead passages is consistent, sustain is long and the breakup fades smoothly. The ceramic magnet in combination with wide aperture steel poles lend a quick attack but the tone stays nice and fat at the same time. Perfect if you're the only guitarist in the band, and need to switch from rhythm to lead and still keep the band moving. Another great thing about the EMG-81 is it's quiet. If you're playing at really high gain the last thing you need is noise.

Features

  • Package includes:
  • EMG's exclusive Quik-Connect cable
  • Prewired split shaft volume/tone control set
  • Output jack
  • Battery clip set
  • Screws and springs

EMG-81 Humbucking Active Guitar Pickup Specifications:

  • Resonant Frequency (kHz): 2.00
  • Magnet Type: Ceramic/steel
  • Output Voltage (String): 2.0
  • Output Voltage (Strum): 4.5
  • Output Noise @ 60Hz: -91 dBV
  • Output Impedance: 10 kOhms
  • Current @ 9V: 80 microamps
  • Battery Life: 3,000 hours
  • Maximum Supply: 27V DC
Write a Review Overall Rating Customer Reviews 56 See all 56 customer reviews...

I keep coming back to EMG....

| Review By: john harrell | 3 weeks, 4 days ago

1 people out of 1 found this review helpful

Features:

It's a pickup.  Not a lot in the way of features.

Quality:

If these weren't top notch pieces of gear, then professional musicians wouldn't all be usng them and swearing by them.

Value:

You get what you pay for, and these are worth more than what they cost in my opinion.

Overall:

I have played metal, blues, and various other types of music for the last 18 years on a gillion different guitars and amps, alone at home, in a band, and recording tracks on my computer.  I have used Duncan Blackouts, passive pickups of all sorts, and I always keep coming back to the EMG 81.  It's just my staple sound and I like it more than anything else out there.  I cuts through the mix in a band or recording better then the Blackouts, clean tones are still clean, and they are plenty brutal when you want a metal sound, which is what they are made for.  They don't get muddy when you play more than 2 string power chords like others do. I have 8 guitars, and my favorite is an Ibanez SA that was reloaded with these pickups in the bridge and neck, and just articulates every little gritty, grainy, gain-saturated note I play like no other guitar I own or have ever played, with any type of pickup or wood.  These are the best!

Do you own the product?:
Yes
Have you used the product?:
Yes
Musical Experience:
18 years
Style of music you play:
Metal
Where you live:
Georgia

Did you find this review helpful? yes no1121168

Clarity and attack

| Review By: Jason Crow | 5 months, 1 week ago

0 people out of 0 found this review helpful

Features:

The EMG 81 features clarity and attack that cannot be found elsewhere.

Quality:

Made in USA. The solderless connections make installing these really easy. I always had a hard time soldering the ground leads to the back of the pots and stripping the pickup wires. EMG has made this really easy. If you have a 3 way toggle switch, you still need to do a little soldering, but its no big deal.

Value:

A little more expensive than the blackouts, but the solderless wiring and sound is worth the money.

Overall:

I used to run an 85 in the bridge due to its warmth and because It was  easier to get harmonics, but I found that I like the 81 in the bridge. I  have a Warlock NJ with Blackouts and I think the 81 has a little more  attack, but the blackouts fall between the 85 and 81 in terms of sound. (  I like the EMG's a little better in the bridge, but I like the blackout  better in the neck). I play through a Bugera 6262 and a TBX150H and these sound great!

Do you own the product?:
Yes
Have you used the product?:
Yes
Musical Experience:
Intermediate player
Style of music you play:
Metalcore, Thrash
Where you live:
Antioch IL

Did you find this review helpful? yes no1100314

This pickup has won me over

| Review By: Moonshield 39 | 7 months, 2 weeks ago

0 people out of 0 found this review helpful

Features:

I stayed clear of this picup for so long, and now that I've played it, I cant give it enough praise. I have this pickup equipped in my b.c. rich asm pro and I play through a peavey vypyr 30 watt amp. This pickup has major guts and tons of tone. Its also dead silent when your not playing "no hum". Chords are tight and single notes are clean, clear and focused. I love this pickup. If your having second thoughts about using this like I did for so long, just buy it, I think it will win you over like it did me.

Quality:
Value:
Overall:

10

Do you own the product?:
Yes
Have you used the product?:
Yes
Musical Experience:
hobbyst
Style of music you play:
metal/hard rock
Where you live:
drexel hill

Did you find this review helpful? yes no1096465

EMG 81

| Review By: chop883-t3zpx | 1 year, 3 weeks ago

3 people out of 4 found this review helpful

Features:
Quality:
Value:
Overall:
I am a very slow convert to EMG pickups in general.  I am an engineer, and when you look at the idea of using an active preamp at the source and having a low impedance signal to connect your source (guitar) to your amp, it makes sense that it would solve alot of problems like noise and hum.  In addition, because these are epoxied, the possibility of having one become microphonic is 0;  The first time I bought them and installed them in a Les Paul, I did not like them - I was very into the passive pickups I was using at the time, but because of the high gain/low noise features these offer, I have kept coming back and trying EMGs again.  I now have 2 similar type guitars with EMG 81 in the bridge, and also about 4 similar type guitars with a passive higher output in the bridge.  i often go between them to see which tone I prefer.  These days, I am becoming more of a fan of the EMGs.  Some people have accused the 81 of always just sounding like an EMG 81 and masking the voice of the guitar.  That is completely false.  They, like all other pickups or microphones, are voiced to enhance or excite certain frequencies, but the voice of each of my guitars, which I know well, still comes through when I install EMGs.  For recording, they are an answered prayer because they are high output with very low or even no noise.  The 81 has abundant midrange which is important to me.  The 81 has a sharp attack, which I expect as it is a ceramic magnet powered pickup.  I think when most people hear the term "EMG" they assue "81" and judge what all active pickups will sound like based on the 81.  However, the 85 to my ear responds more like an Alnico pickup would normally respond, and the 81 responds like a ceramic pickup would normally respond.  That is another great feature - the quick disconnect makes it a snap to change pickups.  So if I need a more classic vibe for a recording, i will pop in an 85 in the bridge.  When I I need the power and attack to rip it up, I put the 81 in the bridge.  I am a passive purist who has converted to the active pickups of EMG. I like them, I like the idea behind them.  I like the way they sound, and I like the versatility.  I just wish they looked like a normal humbucker so it did not change the appearance of my guitars so dramatically from the "stock" look. 
Do you own the product?:
Yes
Have you used the product?:
No
Musical Experience:
Recording Artist, Active Musician
Style of music you play:
Rock, Alternative, Blues
Where you live:
Traverse CIty, MI

Did you find this review helpful? yes no800148

greatness in a box

| Review By: deth dee fire | 1 year, 1 month ago

0 people out of 0 found this review helpful

Features:
Quality:
Value:
Overall:
great pick ups i use them in my B. C. Rich warlock they have great sustain a killer bite and a sound perfect for any metal head ot there dont listen to me though try em yurself
Do you own the product?:
Yes
Have you used the product?:
No
Musical Experience:
amateur band, some live shows , and solo musician
Style of music you play:
rock , hard rock, metal death metal, black metal,
Where you live:
pickerington ohio

Did you find this review helpful? yes no1052271

See all 56 customer reviews...
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