X2N vs. EMG81

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Re: X2N vs. EMG81

thing with the 81 is you either like it or not.

i like it, and am gettting a zakk set for my les paul :headbang:

 

[Mephis]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

Man, why do people get 81's? After having an 81 in one of my guitars, it made me realize the 89 owns the entire EMG lineup by miles, same great tone, just a little more to it, and lil' more grit in distortion.

 

[Mephis]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

Quote "Mephis":

"an 81 is very thin and shrill, great for shread but not always great for metal."

James Hetfield and Kirk Hammett of Metallica use EMG 81's, and as far as I hear, their tone is neither "thin" or "shrill".

Same with Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman from Slayer.

And what about Zakk Wylde, he uses them too?

Heard of sound processing, plus james hetfield uses a EMG-60 in the neck, and they REALLY smooth things out, takes away any shrill or thiness.

Zakk Wylde has monster sound processing + the 85 in the neck which smooths things out, and kerry king just has good sound processing.

The 81 by its self is not as good as an 85 or 89, not by a longshot. Ofcourse, the only good neck pickup EMG makes is the 60 and the 60A in the humbucker lineup, the 85 in the neck is bassy garbage, but zakk wylde makes it sound good some how, its much better in the bridge tho .

 

[ranalli]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

Man, why do people get 81's? After having an 81 in one of my guitars, it made me realize the 89 owns the entire EMG lineup by miles, same great tone, just a little more to it, and lil' more grit in distortion.

Maybe the 81 sounds crummy in YOUR guitar but other people with other setups might prefer it over the 85 and they often do.

 

[Mephis]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

I dont think it sounds crummy, its just not as full as an 85 or an 89, and i like a little more fullness in my sound, sry for the dbl post.

its like with an 81 shread sounds awsome, but it lacks cleans and bass responce imo.

and with the 85 or 89 you have alot more versitility and you can play what ever you like, as long as you are willing to have a little more fullness, and on the 89 paired with a 60 in the neck, just pull the pot, roll back the volume on the 60 and you will basicly have an 81 sound, thats why i suggested against it. *The 85 and 89 also are alot warmer then the 81*

 

[Alex_In_Chains]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

Heard of sound processing, plus james hetfield uses a EMG-60 in the neck, and they REALLY smooth things out, takes away any shrill or thiness.

Zakk Wylde has monster sound processing + the 85 in the neck which smooths things out, and kerry king just has good sound processing.

The 81 by its self is not as good as an 85 or 89, not by a longshot. Ofcourse, the only good neck pickup EMG makes is the 60 and the 60A in the humbucker lineup, the 85 in the neck is bassy garbage, but zakk wylde makes it sound good some how, its much better in the bridge tho .

I'm not sure what would constitute 'sound processing' in your terms, but the relatively simple rigs used by Zakk, Kerry and Jeff contradict what you're saying dude. I mean really, they're pretty much as simple as you can get without plugging straight into the amp with no effects whatsoever. As far as fancy production goes, neither Slayer or BLS go for that kind of thing. And I can tell you from personal experience, BLS and Slayer both provide excellent live tone. Maybe they get good tone as a result of nice chops and a combination of top notch gear?

By the way, the 85 is not 'bassy garbage' in the neck, I find it to have an articulate midrange quality which suits the neck slot perfectly well.

You found you didn't like the 81, and that's cool, but with all due respect, no EMG is going to sound good through a solid state Peavey amp, let alone the 81 with it's ceramic mag. Also, I'm sad to say it, but the BC Rich Bronze Warlock isn't exactly composed of nice tonewood. Overall tone is about much more than the pickup you use.

Sorry to be somewhat harsh, but you're being unfairly critical in my opinion.

 

[Mephis]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

Im not being critical, did you read my last post? And i know my peavey aint much, i spent all my money on my platium pro. I dont wana sound stupid saying this, but that bronze is an awsome little guitar for the money, i still play it, and i like its sound. Its just not nearly as versitile as i would like a guitar to be imo, and yes, bad quality woods affect the sound of a pickup, but as far as i know the 81 isnt using the tone of the wood to get its sound or so ive heard.

And no band sounds as good in concert as they do in a studio, they do use sound processing in a studio to remove noise and stuff, in concert most bands sound at about 75%, compaired to a studio recording.

 

[Alex_In_Chains]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

Im not being critical, did you read my last post? And i know my peavey aint much, i spent all my money on my platium pro. I dont wana sound stupid saying this, but that bronze is an awsome little guitar for the money, i still play it, and i like its sound. Its just not nearly as versitile as i would like a guitar to be imo, and yes, bad quality woods affect the sound of a pickup, but as far as i know the 81 isnt using the tone of the wood to get its sound or so ive heard.

Yeah dude, I read it. Lets compromise, and say you were being less than complimentary

Please don't think I'm ragging on your gear bro, I know how it can be getting decent gear when you're on the younger side.

As far as the tone generated through active pickups not being affected by tonewood, yes, it is a common misconception. I can only think it's due to active pickups sounding 'different', and so many guitarists just assume it's because the wood is somehow taken out of the equation

Honestly, there are so many comparison clips in rotation of EMG pickups in different guitars through identical rigs, which disprove this theory, it's not even funny. You can probably find some on HC if you look hard enough.

Your Platinum guitar, while still not exactly made of stellar wood (and I'm no one to talk, I own an NJ Warlock myself) is much better than the Bronze Warlock, in build quality and components. That's most likely why you prefer the tone to such an extent.

Anyway dude, rant over :laugh2: I'll shut up now and let this thread get back on course.

 

[ranalli]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

I can only think it's due to active pickups sounding 'different', and so many guitarists just assume it's because the wood is somehow taken out of the equation

Very true....I agree.

 

[Mephis]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

Theres still the fact here that:

81 = low bass, moderate mids, and slightly high highs.
85 = moderate bass, moderate mids, moderate highs.

Thats what it sounds like to me... So i dont know, maybe its different with every guitar. (im talking about in the bridge)

 

[Alex_In_Chains]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

Theres still the fact here that:

81 = low bass, moderate mids, and slightly high highs.
85 = moderate bass, moderate mids, moderate highs.

Thats what it sounds like to me... So i dont know, maybe its different with every guitar. (im talking about in the bridge)

I wouldn't call it fact, people hear things differently from individual to individual, but I digress.

That which you listed above makes neither an inferior pickup, and neither ultimately superior. I own 2 EMG 81's, an EMG 85 and an EMG 707, and to me, they are all equally as good, and each has their own niche and speciality. As they say around here, 'It's horses for courses mate'.

 

[Mephis]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

Well, they are totaly different, its almost as big of difference from a active to a passive between the 81 and 85, not implaying either sounds passive. I said "Thats what it sounds like to me".

 

[Altitudes911]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

well i even got a better idea on the active pups now through this thread lol
anyways, i'd like to know if the X2N is gonna sound good with a small amp?
im planning to run it through: kelly->metal zone->peavey envoy 110.
i know its a tiny 40 watts amp, but my budget for this christmas is short... and i went to try it out like one month ago, using a Ibanez with stock pups, and i found it sounded pretty nice and loud. so will the X2N like overboost and distort it?

 

[Mephis]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

heh, well, i have a peavey 258 trans tube with some of the hottest pickups money can buy and its totaly playable, it would sound better on a mesa boogie full stack tho....

 

[JB_From_Hell]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

Zakk Wylde uses lots of sound processing? He uses a Uni-Vibe, an overdrive, a wah & chorus. Something like noise reduction hardly counts as (what you imply to be) tone altering sound processing.

I disagree about the bands sounding better in the studio than in concert. Every band I've ever seen that's worth a sh*t sounds TONS better live. Regardless of gear, it's always more "organic."

Lastly, you can't rag on a 1 hum guitar with an EMG 81 for it's lack of versatility. Any guitar with one pickup is gonna lack versatility.

 

[Mephis]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

Thoes processes would change the sound of the guitar vastly, no its not going to make a P90 sound like a screaming demon, but it isnt going to sound the same.

Anyway, not worth arguing over, and it isnt that my bronze isnt versitile, its just not exactly the perfect sound from a pickup imo.

 

[Altitudes911]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

hehee,, i thought that transtube 258 was a big amp. lol... now i shouldn't worry

 

[SABOTAGE]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

I'm not sure what would constitute 'sound processing' in your terms, but the relatively simple rigs used by Zakk, Kerry and Jeff contradict what you're saying dude. I mean really, they're pretty much as simple as you can get without plugging straight into the amp with no effects whatsoever. As far as fancy production goes, neither Slayer or BLS go for that kind of thing. And I can tell you from personal experience, BLS and Slayer both provide excellent live tone. Maybe they get good tone as a result of nice chops and a combination of top notch gear?

By the way, the 85 is not 'bassy garbage' in the neck, I find it to have an articulate midrange quality which suits the neck slot perfectly well.

You found you didn't like the 81, and that's cool, but with all due respect, no EMG is going to sound good through a solid state Peavey amp, let alone the 81 with it's ceramic mag. Also, I'm sad to say it, but the BC Rich Bronze Warlock isn't exactly composed of nice tonewood. Overall tone is about much more than the pickup you use.

Sorry to be somewhat harsh, but you're being unfairly critical in my opinion.

yeah man ZAKK and slayer do not use any 'sound processing" ????
zakk used rack gear years ago but since then has used a JCM 800 a two pedals and a wha.
slayer uses a EQ and not much more with their jcm 800's

 

[SABOTAGE]

Re: X2N vs. EMG81

Well, they are totaly different, its almost as big of difference from a active to a passive between the 81 and 85, not implaying either sounds passive. I said "Thats what it sounds like to me".

from the EMG site,

EMG-85

Although the EMG-85 has more measurable output than the 81, its frequency response and string interface are different. The 85 uses two Alnico magnet loaded coils with a wide aperture to maintain a beefy lowend and a fatter top end. Because of a more natural tone, it works great as a rhythm and blues pickup because it has loads of output but isn't muddy. Itís a perfect choice as a rhythm pickup in combination with an 81 in the bridge, which is the same pickup combination used by Zakk Wylde.