Alternative for EMG 85/81

[Letus]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

I've had the 81X for a few years and really like the passive feel that it has, very versatile pickup. I do have a feeling I might like the 57 better as it probably has a warmer sound due to the alnico magnets, haven't had a chance to try one out yet.

How much of a difference would you say there is in between the 81 and the 81x? Is there more headroom? Are there any downsides to the changes made?

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

I've played the 57.

Which gives you no experience with the 66 or 81 that they were talking about. Can you tell me what a Custom sounds like cause you played a JB? This is exactly what you are saying here.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

How much of a difference would you say there is in between the 81 and the 81x? Is there more headroom? Are there any downsides to the changes made?

It's a slightly less compressed 81 that doesn't clip the high end as much, think of it like an 81+. That's pretty much it. I know people that prefer a compressed tone to one with more headroom so if there is a downside it is subjective. If you already have an 81 in there and you find it congested then a wiser investment would be just to do an 18v mod since a new 81x is like $110 out of pocket for a sound that is pretty much the same, but is a bit more responsive.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

It's a slightly less compressed 81 that doesn't clip the high end as much, think of it like an 81+. That's pretty much it. I know people that prefer a compressed tone to one with more headroom so if there is a downside it is subjective. If you already have an 81 in there and you find it congested then a wiser investment would be just to do an 18v mod since a new 81x is like $110 out of pocket for a sound that is pretty much the same, but is a bit more responsive.

Even with the 18v mod normal EMG's still clip a bit where the X's wont. But its not a huge huge difference. The biggest difference for me with the x's are the active tone controls. They have a lot more range than the passive tone controls you get normally and the whole sweep is usable not just full up and mud.

 

[Falloffthebonetone]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

Even with the 18v mod normal EMG's still clip a bit where the X's wont. But its not a huge huge difference. The biggest difference for me with the x's are the active tone controls. They have a lot more range than the passive tone controls you get normally and the whole sweep is usable not just full up and mud.

Yeah I know. I wasn't saying the 18v mod is equivalent to the 81x, just something to think about nstead of dropping over 100 dollars.

 

[xntrick]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

How much of a difference would you say there is in between the 81 and the 81x? Is there more headroom? Are there any downsides to the changes made?

It has been a while since I've used the 81, but from what i can recall the 81X has more headroom but not as much gain and not as much compression. The X feels less like an active pickup if that makes any sense. The downside is the tone control for the 'X' series costs $40 freaking dollars so I don't bother playing with one.

 

[Letus]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

Which gives you no experience with the 66 or 81 that they were talking about. Can you tell me what a Custom sounds like cause you played a JB? This is exactly what you are saying here.

And here we go again. I hope I get this clear now. I was talking specifically about how, when switching back and forth between the 57/60, there was a difference in dynamics and headroom that sounded slightly awkward. Because the 66 is a matched neck pickup for the 57, both pickups will obviously will have that headroom and those dynamics, which the rest of EMG's lineup can't touch, though I can't really say for the X series. With the 66 and 81 combo, that tonal disparity will obviously be present as well, if not even more pronounced, because the 66 is very 'buttery' and warm, and will be in the neck position, where it will pick up more string vibration, and the 81 is infamous for being a very sterile pickup. I'm not saying the combo won't work, but if you're a person like me, who likes to do a lot of pickup switching and fiddling with the tone knobs in the middle of songs, it might be awkward.

P.S. I've tried the 81.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

And here we go again. I hope I get this clear now. I was talking specifically about how, when switching back and forth between the 57/60, there was a difference in dynamics and headroom that sounded slightly awkward. Because the 66 is a matched neck pickup for the 57, both pickups will obviously will have that headroom and those dynamics, which the rest of EMG's lineup can't touch, though I can't really say for the X series. With the 66 and 81 combo, that tonal disparity will obviously be present as well, if not even more pronounced, because the 66 is very 'buttery' and warm, and will be in the neck position, where it will pick up more string vibration, and the 81 is infamous for being a very sterile pickup. I'm not saying the combo won't work, but if you're a person like me, who likes to do a lot of pickup switching and fiddling with the tone knobs in the middle of songs, it might be awkward.

P.S. I've tried the 81.

Ive read when you posted this before. Your still out of your lane. Your talking about perceptions you've gained from youtube vids and from reading about pickups. Not actually having the pickups under your hands. You're doing this from a position of "I have played this... So i think this is true about that". Sorry but around here there is a certain amount of trust placed in the experience of people with the products they are actually speaking about. Not what they read not what they saw. Everyone on this forum can read reviews and watch youtube they come here to speak to people who actually have experience with the products who can say first hand what its actually like. Not a guess thats a supposition based off of inference.


P.S.

I'm sorry but I have a hard time believing you have tried the the 81. Want to know why?

So what guitar did you use the 81/66 combo in?

My friend's LTD Hetfield model, but it had a 57/60 combo. Through a Krank combo, if you were going to ask.

Why not state at this point that you tried the 81?

 

[idsnowdog]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

I was kind of surprised by how much more I liked the 85 and 60 than the 81 in this clip. The 85 from this clip has better high end definition because the midrange is dipped out, the 60 is even brighter because the bass is tighter.

 

[Letus]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

Ive read when you posted this before. Your still out of your lane. Your talking about perceptions you've gained from youtube vids and from reading about pickups. Not actually having the pickups under your hands. You're doing this from a position of "I have played this... So i think this is true about that". Sorry but around here there is a certain amount of trust placed in the experience of people with the products they are actually speaking about. Not what they read not what they saw. Everyone on this forum can read reviews and watch youtube they come here to speak to people who actually have experience with the products who can say first hand what its actually like. Not a guess thats a supposition based off of inference.


P.S.

I'm sorry but I have a hard time believing you have tried the the 81. Want to know why?





Why not state at this point that you tried the 81?

I'm not talking based on perceptions. I was talking specifically about the disparity in dynamics and passive-like response, and PAF-like characteristics between the 57, bridge pickup for the Modern Classic set, and the rest of EMG's lineup. I'm telling you, based on basic reasoning, the bridge and neck pickups in the Modern Classic set will obviously be matched in this respect. The set was marketed as sounding loosely PAF-like, and if one of the pickups in the set wasn't PAF-like, they could not have been marketed as a set under any circumstance.

I did not state at that point that I had tried the 81, because the discussion was specifically about whether I had tried one of the Modern Classic Pickups and one of the standard EMG's in one guitar. I had. The guitar, however, did not have an 81 in it. I do have experience with the 81 in many, different guitars, though, and that is hardly something to raise an eyebrow at, because if I've tried the 57, did you really expect me to not have tried the 81, as ubiquitous as it is?

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

I'm not talking based on perceptions. I was talking specifically about the disparity in dynamics and passive-like response, and PAF-like characteristics between the 57, bridge pickup for the Modern Classic set, and the rest of EMG's lineup. I'm telling you, based on basic reasoning, the bridge and neck pickups in the Modern Classic set will obviously be matched in this respect. The set was marketed as sounding loosely PAF-like, and if one of the pickups in the set wasn't PAF-like, they could not have been marketed as a set under any circumstance.

I did not state at that point that I had tried the 81, because the discussion was specifically about whether I had tried one of the Modern Classic Pickups and one of the standard EMG's in one guitar. I had. The guitar, however, did not have an 81 in it. I do have experience with the 81 in many, different guitars, though, and that is hardly something to raise an eyebrow at, because if I've tried the 57, did you really expect me to not have tried the 81, as ubiquitous as it is?

Your kidding right? This is one of the funnier things you've ever posted...How many things have been miss marketed? Your not old enough to remember the original ads for the Screamin Demon are you? That pickup was a huge disappointment. Even then sounding loosely PAF like leaves a TON of room for interpretation. Do you remember the ads for the TS-9DX? It said the hottest mode on a TS9 was like "a wall of 4x12's" dont believe everything you read in ads.

You cant speak about a disparity in dynamics when you dont know what the dynamics are. You keep repeating that basically all the EMG's in certain series are the same and I'm sorry but its just not true. An 81 doesnt play the same as an 85 or an 89. You need first hand experience with them. You keep talking about the marketing, since when has the marketing on something ever been the last word or a definitive guide to something.

He asked you specifically what guitar you had tried the 81 and 66 in and you brought up trying the 57 and 60. 2 pickups that weren't pertinent to the question posed.

 

[Chad]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

"Organic punch."

LULZ.

 

[Letus]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

Your kidding right? This is one of the funnier things you've ever posted...How many things have been miss marketed? Your not old enough to remember the original ads for the Screamin Demon are you? That pickup was a huge disappointment. Even then sounding loosely PAF like leaves a TON of room for interpretation. Do you remember the ads for the TS-9DX? It said the hottest mode on a TS9 was like "a wall of 4x12's" dont believe everything you read in ads.

You cant speak about a disparity in dynamics when you dont know what the dynamics are. You keep repeating that basically all the EMG's in certain series are the same and I'm sorry but its just not true. An 81 doesnt play the same as an 85 or an 89. You need first hand experience with them. You keep talking about the marketing, since when has the marketing on something ever been the last word or a definitive guide to something.

He asked you specifically what guitar you had tried the 81 and 66 in and you brought up trying the 57 and 60. 2 pickups that weren't pertinent to the question posed.

But we all know that the Modern Classic Set is very PAF-like. I'm not going by what I read in ads, but by what I've played. Also, when the general consensus matches the manufacturer's description, you know that's an accurate description.

Also, I'm not saying that all other EMG's are the same in terms of dynamics. I have noticed the subtle differences in the way the notes bloom going from the 81 to the 85 to the 60 while playing them that can be put down to the character of the pickups and not their placement or which guitar they're in. I'm just saying that they have something of a flat dynamic response compared to passives, which I don't have to tell you, and the differences in dynamics within those three are negligible compared to the disparity in between them and passives, as well as the Modern Classic Set.

We were talking specifically about how much of a difference in tonal quality it would make switching back and forth in between one of the Modern Classic pickups and the other EMGs. That was why I could comment on that set while using a slightly different one.

 

[Edgecrusher]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

But we all know that the Modern Classic Set is very PAF-like. I'm not going by what I read in ads, but by what I've played. Also, when the general consensus matches the manufacturer's description, you know that's an accurate description.

Also, I'm not saying that all other EMG's are the same in terms of dynamics. I have noticed the subtle differences in the way the notes bloom going from the 81 to the 85 to the 60 while playing them that can be put down to the character of the pickups and not their placement or which guitar they're in. I'm just saying that they have something of a flat dynamic response compared to passives, which I don't have to tell you, and the differences in dynamics within those three are negligible compared to the disparity in between them and passives, as well as the Modern Classic Set.

We were talking specifically about how much of a difference in tonal quality it would make switching back and forth in between one of the Modern Classic pickups and the other EMGs. That was why I could comment on that set while using a slightly different one.

Sorry not buying that load of malarky at all.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: Alternative for EMG 85/81

-81 versus -81X?

Like putting on new strings. Like being in the same room as the guitar rather than hearing it through a closed door. More dynamically sensitive. Somebody already mentioned "feel". That is probably the single greatest advance with the X versions.

Of course, this is just the two models A/B tested in the same guitar. What really counts is matching them to an appropriate host instrument. (Original EMG-81 in Squier Affinity Stratocaster? Fan-bloody-tastic!)

Regarding the EMG-60, it is similar to the -81 in the respect of having a similarly narrow string sensing "window". Again, how it sounds depends upon the host guitar. I hated it in my LTD EC401w. It sounds fabulous in my bottom-of-the-range Ibanez Iceman. Here, it pulls off the Firebird mini humbucker trick of sounding somewhere between a Gibson and a Fender.

Regarding the VLPF versus traditional treble roll off tone controls debate, it is my considered option that the only thing "wrong" with the basic EMG Tone control is their choice of capacitor. Change this to a .0333 or .0473uF and you'll be happy.