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  • jkesseljkessel

    Ton croustillant serré, mais fade

    EMG 81Publié le 30/04/12 à 19:02
    contenu en anglais (contenu en anglais)
    I tried to avoid active pickups for the longest time, just didn't want to have to deal with batteries and all the negative views on them. Eventually I just bought one and was pleasantly surprised. They do have a different sound from passive pickups but it's in no way a negative difference. They are very tight sounding, low noise, and have a great crunch to them. They are pretty bright so that's all personal taste, but I like it. Hard to describe the stale sound but it's like they're so tight and clean sounding it's almost unnatural, but in a good way. There's no fizziness or any annoying spiked frequencies to these, just overall a great pickup. On cleans they really excel IMO. I like a very bright, sparkly, chimey clean tone and these just nail it. Perfect example is the clean tone off MetallicA's And Justice For All album. They used EMG 81's in the neck into a Roland JC120 for that album and the EMG 81 is a huge part of that tone. Later they switched to using the EMG 60 in the neck but that album is all 81.
    Anyways there’s a 18 volt mod that some people are doing, it increases the headroom. The new X series are designed to be like the 18 volt mod but more dramatic, and only run on a single 9 volt. I tried the mod and wasn’t really impressed. I didn’t notice much of a difference at all. It was slight, the overall tone was quieter and thinner, but nothing you’d ever notice in a band setting or multitracking. I’d prefer to stick with 9 volts to save batteries.
    I own 3 along with some of the X series and various other EMG pickups, this one is by far my favorite. Check out my 81x review for a little more in depth comparison.
  • ArcheosArcheos

    EMG, What else ?

    EMG 81Publié le 22/04/12 à 15:22
    J'utilise ce micro depuis très longtemps, je suis littéralement amoureux de mes 81. Beaucoup de gens ce plaisent à en dire du mal, mais EMG, c'est un son. Ce micro à du caractère, après on aime ou non. Si vous savez utiliser votre chaine d'effet, contrôler votre volume ainsi que votre ampli (ampli haute qualité, un ampli de basse qualité ne vous donnera pas un son différent entre un EMG actif et un autre micro...), ce micro se montrera très polyvalent.
    J'ai pour habitude de le monter avec un emg 60, le 85 n'étant pas à mon gout.
  • jmabatejmabate

    excellent

    EMG 81Publié le 04/03/12 à 08:22
    Bonjour
    je joue du métal depuis plus de 15 ans.
    je jouais sur des guitares avec des micros (position floyd), dimarzio tone zone; évolution; superdistortion, des seymour duncan et tous sont de très bon micros.
    mais depuis que je suis sur EMG, j'ai un son plus aéré, plus droit, plus précis et un grain plus resserrer !
    parcontre il donne l'impression d'être plus synthétique...attention ce n'est pas forcément flagrant !
    pour le prix, le EMG 81 est une valeur sure et sa réputation n'est plus à faire !
  • James...James...

    Essayez de 18 volts pour awesome supplémentaires

    EMG 81Publié le 29/12/11 à 02:55
    contenu en anglais (contenu en anglais)
    I tried my first 81 model probably a decade ago in an ESP guitar. At the time it blew my mind. It was super aggressive and super hot. It always cut through and seems to slice through every amp I used with it. It had killer bass response too. Sure the cleans don't sound too hot with it but isn't that what the EMG 60 is for? I really think this pickup only lends itself to heavy metal type players. It's way too overdriven for light rock or anything like that. It's hard to get a sound out of it that's not blistering distortion.

    These are active pickups of course and so your EQ will be a bit more responsive. One problem I always had with my 81 was a lack of dynamic response. Rolling down on the volume knob never seems to do too much to clean it up (god forbid when you want a little less DISTORTION) from it. A friend of mine suggested a mod he heard about where you wire another battery in the loop to make it an effective 18 volt pickup. I figured heck why not and gave it a go. The result is a very responsive and dynamic pickup with tons of headroom. It almost turns it into a passive pickup in some ways. It makes the 81 sound more organic and less machinelike if that makes any sense at all.

    I don't really recommend this to anyone but hard rock and heavy metal type players. I have tried it for other genres and it's just not fit for it, even with mods. Still, for my prog metal playing it can't be beat. I love it. The clarity is just so much better than passive pickups. notes really pop. It's really a love or hate kind of pickup.
  • myriam63660_enmyriam63660_en

    EMG 81Publié le 27/03/08 à 21:34
    contenu en anglais (contenu en anglais)
    - I had two of them in 2000 and in 2007. I didn't keep the first in 2000 because i find the sound thin and trebly. In 2007 i decided to give it a second chance in case i got a faulty one the first time: the sound was still synthétic to my ears (even on a tube amp). I also had EMG 60, 85, SA and only dislike the 81 and the 60 (those two have céramic magnet).
    - as the others EMG, the 81 has great clarity, définition and gain, they are great for métal, and i think they would be perfect with Mésa tube amps (to bring more clarity and articulation to the distorsions)
    - a very good pickup, but i prefer by far the 85
  • RockmonsterRockmonster

    EMG 81Publié le 03/04/08 à 01:54
    contenu en anglais (contenu en anglais)
    Used this pickup in an Ibanez RG550 for over a year... Basswood has a very balanced smooth tone, so.. I think it was a forgiving canvas for a pickup to make an impression. I have had extensive experience in tone dissatisfaction.. so I am always changing stuff in and out of guitars.. It IS a disease! I have used Fender, Gibson, Paul Reed Smith, EMG, Dimarzio, Seymour Duncan, Carvin, etc, etc.
    Alright. So, now the pickup. EMG81. The pre-eminent metal pickup of choice for all the Nu-Metal kiddies. This pickup has been around FOREVER. I think I was using this 12 years ago.. maybe longer... so this is definitely not the new piece of gear lots of people think it is. Very high output, neutrally voiced pickup. It has a lot of clear, boosted signal. Kind of the opposite gain approach of the Dimarzio HS-3.. which is a low output... very, VERY neutral pickup. Zakk Wylde seems to love this in a Les Paul.. I imagine it might be a good choice in that guitar.. as the maple may add brightness.Let me also add that he has a maple neck, so.. this has a small bit of impact as well. In the Ibanez, it was opaque. Flat. Neutral. Can't think of any other boring adjectives to describe it. The good news is.. it should take on the characteristics of your rig. If you have a good preamp... or a Marshall JCM800.. with a bunch of Boss pedals in front of it.. you might be able to get a nice dark, heavy tone. (like Zakk) Not particularly complex.. pretty straightforward, high gain. Easy pinched harmonics, but not rich and detailed sounding. The best way to get a rich sound would be if you have a crunchy amp.. and use this to push it into higher gain. I'm sure Zakk Wylde's rig would not scream quite so loudly if you played a Strat thru it. The best part about this is that it is verbose. Huge. Fat. Like playing a regular humbucker with a clean boost. (One good way to avoid buying this, changing your pots and adding batteries) But if you want a dead quiet, high output solution.. need your notes thick and meaty (and your rig provides the character you want) this is the way to go. You hear it on lots of heavy albums nowadays... the question one has to pose themselves is... Do I want to create my OWN sound? This might be it... but there are lots of other options.
  • nickname009nickname009

    EMG 81Publié le 28/03/11 à 02:44
    contenu en anglais (contenu en anglais)
    I've owned at least 3 different guitars equipped with the EMG 81, and I've bought and installed about 5 EMG 81s in different guitars that I've owned and tried them in both the bridge and neck position. If you took a medium output passive pickup, threw a boost out in front of the amp, you'd get an EMG pickup. In essence, this is what the battery does for the pickup.

    as a neck pickup (CLEAN):

    Not bad. It's not like any fender glassy clean nor is it like a thick humbucker pickup. But the tone is almost like a transparent, woody tone. Suprisingly, very transparent. Not too bassy or trebly or anything! Just clear and woody is the best way i can put it. Though the headroom is a little bit questionable as it sounds like it's JUST on the verge of break up, but doesn't.

    as a neck pickup (DIRTY):
    Great! Smooth distortion, not too bright and not too much bass. There's enough gain on tap to do any of the shreddy stuff. Low-medium gains is nothing to write home about however. But it tracks very well under high gain!

    as a bridge pickup (CLEAN): The clean is decent. Some people have said that it breaks up but I personally haven't had that same experience, it may depend on the pickup height however.

    as a bridge pickup (DIRTY): Very subjective here. Over the years it's been claimed to be either great, or shrill and sterile. I personally think it is a relatively bright pickup, and slightly gritty. I've used this pickup on standard tuned guitars and downtuned guitars, both of which sound good. Of course on a downtuned guitar the overall sound is smoother than if tuned in standard. A lot of metal players use these pickups for this reason. It keeps the tone tight when downtuned. Harmonics leap out effortlessly.

    Overall great metal pickup. Very tight, and clear even with downtuned guitars. Clean is not something this pickup excels at. Doesn't clean up with the volume control but it is quiet since it's active. The battery thing is a necessity with these pickups, it DOES help with taming ground noise and whatnot. I do not find it troublesome, though some people do. It's completely subjective these days as a lot of other guitar gear works the same way.

  • HatsubaiHatsubai

    Le plus célèbre pickup actifs

    EMG 81Publié le 05/04/11 à 19:18
    contenu en anglais (contenu en anglais)
    The EMG 81 is one of the pickups that helped make EMG a name for itself. It’s a pickup with an active preamp inside it. That means it requires a power source. In this case, it’s a 9V battery. It’s housed in a special cover with no pole pieces and has a ceramic magnet.

    The EMG 81 is a pickup that’s getting a bit dated today, but it is still a great pickup. Overall, the pickup really pushes the amplifier, despite the pickup itself actually being low output. This is mainly thanks to the built in active preamp. It’s a quiet pickup that doesn’t need a buffer for long cable runs, and it doesn’t interfere with nasty RF waves like most regular pickups do. This is what helps make EMGs more appealing, especially in a live situation.

    The pickup is very tight, has some good midrange and some screaming high end, but it’s also a bit bright. It has some awesome grind going on, but this can lead to it being overly bright in the wrong piece of wood. I find it works great in more neutral to mid heavy woods such as alder and mahogany. Basswood can be a bit iffy, depending on the tone you’re going for. I don’t recommend using this in a body made of a dense wood such as maple. The pickup can be used in both the neck and the bridge. Some find it works great in the neck, but I simply find it to be too bright for the lead tones I usually go for.

    The biggest issue with EMGs is that they can sound a bit “linear.” They’re very compressed, and this can lead to some guitars sounding more similar than if they’d have passive pickups. Some argue this case, but it’s true to an extent. The guitars won’t sound identical, but they’ll sound a bit more similar than if they might have a pickup that’s more picky about woods such as the Seymour Duncan JB.

    Overall, the pickup is great, especially for those who play metal. It can be a bit dated sounding thanks to the boutique market, but I still feel this is one of the best active pickups on the market.
  • ibanez4life SZ!ibanez4life SZ!

    Serré, comprimé, tous les métaux dehors!

    EMG 81Publié le 09/04/11 à 21:12
    contenu en anglais (contenu en anglais)
    For years, EMG has been an instantly recognized name in heavier genres of music for their high output active pickups. And who doesn’t recognize the ‘blacked out’ look of their matte black covered pickups? Used by top acts such as Metallica, Slayer, Zakk Wylde, and MANY more modern bands, EMG has defined a sound of its own that some love, and others don’t.

    The 81 a ceramic magnet humbucker usually found as the bridge pickup in EMG’s recommended sets. As with all EMG pickups, it features a quick connect interfacing of circuitry and pickup, so that pickups can be swapped easily. In an active design, pickups usually have weak magnets, and couple with a preamp (the ‘active’ part of the circuit) to boost and mold the signal. This is why EMG pickups are usually found set very close to the strings. The preamp is also why EMG’s tend to sound a bit more similar in different guitars than your average pickup.

    In the bridge, the 81 is a very sharp, compressed, and percussive pickup. It offers a very quick and tight low end, which lends itself well for adding clarity to dropped tunings. The midrange is slightly scooped, and treble response is sharp. Harmonics fly off nearly every position of the fretboard with this pickup. Those looking for a constantly aggressive, tight, and quick sound tend to love the 81, though it quickly comes off as sterile when used in more mellow applications. The hot signal of the EMGs pushes an amplifier hard, so cleans can come off as harsh and even distorted. When using the 81, I like to couple it with the 18V mod, to add a little depth and undo some of the treble peak.

    Oddly enough, I also find the 81 to be a GREAT neck pickup. It is much clearer than the usual 85 EMG recommends, and definitely produces a more ‘glassy’ sound. With the quick connect cables, it is easy to try this, and you might be pleasantly surprised!
  • tjon901tjon901

    Le parrain de micros actifs

    EMG 81Publié le 18/05/11 à 22:27
    contenu en anglais (contenu en anglais)
    When someone says active pickup you think EMG. When someone says EMG you thing the EMG 81. The EMG 81 put EMG and active pickups on the map in the guitar industry. The EMG active pickups use a pair of rail magnets with a built in preamp. As you probably know active pickups require a battery to power them. Rail magnets are better than the normal magnets used in pickups because there is no gap in the signal. When you bend a string with normal pickups the string moves slightly away from the magnet that string is associated with, and you get a slight decrease in signal. With rail magnets there is no gap in detection of the string vibration. The 81 first came out in 1981 along with the EMG 85. The 81 is the more focused pickup of the two. It has a searing high gain metal sound. When I play music with a lot of palm muting I can get an awesome tone. The 81 really shines when you are playing tight chugging riffs. Tight chugging riffs and single note lines are what this pickup is best at. When you downtune all these traits just help to keep the sound nice and tight. It is very hard to get a muddy sound from this pickup. With the built in preamp it has a ton of output. Because of the built in preamp the magnets dont have to be as strong so there is less string pull so you get more sustain. Because the pickup is so focused on metal it may for some people be lacking in other areas. Sometime if I am playing with a clean tone I can feel like the tone is a little cold or sterile. It can also sound a little “off” when you are playing wide open chords. If you are looking for an active metal pickup for the bridge position this is the way to go.
  • King LoudnessKing Loudness

    Pas pour les snobs ton millésime

    EMG 81Publié le 12/06/11 à 22:11
    contenu en anglais (contenu en anglais)
    The EMG 81 is probably one of the company's best known pickups and is highly regarded by the metal community worldwide for its tightness, compression and output. I've tried it in many different guitars by Gibson, ESP, Jackson, Schecter, etc and I've come to the conclusion that it's a great pickup for higher gain metal applications. However, my tastes have changed quite a bit in the last couple of years and that type of high output pickup doesn't really do too much for me anymore tone wise. However I'll try and give as unbiased a review as I can.

    First off, I should mention that when I was more into active electronics, I found that EMGs wired for 18 volts (as opposed to 9 volts) sounded thicker, punchier and just BETTER overall. Not that 9 volt operation sounds bad, it's just that I (along with many others) just feel that the 18 volt wiring sounds better.

    The clean tones are very interesting to me. I find that they're better in many ways, such as the amount of clarity, the top end sparkle and the built in compression. The resulting tone is one that is a little bit more high fidelity sounding when compared to a passive humbucker, which I find is great for eighties and modern clean sounds. However, if I want to really dig in and get a bluesier and more tube-like character... I don't find that this pickup gets there very well. It just has this "perfect" character that doesn't really allow for things like gutsy blues tones to shine through.

    The distorted tones are very high output and killer for nineties rock through to modern metal. The added output and compression that comes from the active circuitry really helps to add a cool dimension to the sound. They retain their clarity at even the highest of gain levels, and are quite articulate as well. That being said, they definitely lack some of the openness of passive humbuckers, and doing things like volume rollback/swells or using fairly low gain levels doesn't sound all that stellar to me, so given my current (more vintage based) musical tastes... this pickup doesn't really work well for me.

    All in all I feel that the EMG 81 is a great active pickup for those seeking something that is articulate and has that cool high fidelity character. However, for those wanting a more vintage vibe to their tones... look elsewhere.
  • ejendresejendres

    Grande collecte, mais pas mon truc

    EMG 81Publié le 10/11/11 à 19:09
    contenu en anglais (contenu en anglais)
    The thing I like most about EMG pickups in general is the absurd amount of clarity. The note separation is awesome and there is absolutely no mud. Its also dead quite due to the active preamp.

    What I like least about the EMG81 is the low end response. Its very very punchy, which is good, but its also tight to the point of stifled in my opinion. I have a very tight rig to start with, so that combined with the tightness of the EMGs pretty much takes away the low end from my rig. That said, the EMG 81 would work really well with a looser rig.

    Also, the EMG 81 is really bright, which adds to the clarity, but also needs to be compensated for with eqing on the amp or it can be too bright.

    A lot of people give say the EMG81 is a one trick pony, I don't agree with that. It definitely has more output than most passive pickups, but if you expect that and setup the gain on your amp with respect to it you can get great crunch and clean tones out of this pickup.

    I think the real trick to getting excellent tones out of EMGs is knowing that you'll have to eq your amp differently than you would for passives. Personally, I don't like them, but that doesn't mean they're bad. I've heard a lot of guys get amazing tone out of them.
  • fry1985fry1985

    Ok pour le hard et moins de souffle si bien monté

    EMG 81Publié le 13/08/11 à 00:06
    Voila, je voudrais juste rajouté à ce que certain dise, qu'il n'y a pas plus souffle que d'autre micro, je dirais même avec certitude qu'il y a moins de souffle. Et sinon contrairement au idées recue vous pouvez les raprocher des corde encore plus fort que les micro passif ( voir guide ESP )
  • CautionHotCautionHot

    EMG 81Publié le 20/05/11 à 17:53
    Je l'utilise sur une Ltd EC1000 Vbk et sur une Jackson RR24.

    J'avais déjà essayé divers modèles (Gibson 500t,498,496, EMG 81,60,85 et Seymour Duncan Dimebucker,Blackout,sh4,sh2,59 ) et je trouve le EMG 81 redoutable sur les crunch et saturations.

    Je joue principalement du hard rock/Heavy metal (AC/DC,Iron Maiden, Metallica..) mais également des classique du rock (Led Zep,...) et je trouve que ce micro à une réponse énorme sur un corps acajou.En jouant du volume, j'obtiens des sons vraiment intéressant et convenant parfaitement à mes influences. Comme quoi, pas forcé de jouer à 11 pour que ça sonne . . .

    J'aime beaucoup la particularité aimant céramique/ micro actif. C'est une très …
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    Je l'utilise sur une Ltd EC1000 Vbk et sur une Jackson RR24.

    J'avais déjà essayé divers modèles (Gibson 500t,498,496, EMG 81,60,85 et Seymour Duncan Dimebucker,Blackout,sh4,sh2,59 ) et je trouve le EMG 81 redoutable sur les crunch et saturations.

    Je joue principalement du hard rock/Heavy metal (AC/DC,Iron Maiden, Metallica..) mais également des classique du rock (Led Zep,...) et je trouve que ce micro à une réponse énorme sur un corps acajou.En jouant du volume, j'obtiens des sons vraiment intéressant et convenant parfaitement à mes influences. Comme quoi, pas forcé de jouer à 11 pour que ça sonne . . .

    J'aime beaucoup la particularité aimant céramique/ micro actif. C'est une très bonne combinaison qui traite à merveille les effets (un léger chorus sur une bonne saturation vous donne très vite un son années 80').

    Je tiens cependant à dire que le EMG 81 RESPECTE la lutherie.En effet, j'ai comparé la Jackson RR24 et ma EC1000 sur mon ampli'.Et le résultat est flagrant; la Jackson, équipé d'un corps en aulne, manche neck-thru et OFR,délivre un son un peu dépourvu de basse et parait un peu "lisse". A l'inverse, la EC1000 a de la présence dans les basse fréquence.Hors, celle-ci a un corps en acajou, un tune-o-matic et un manche collé.

    Néanmoins, il faut reconnaître qu'il y a un côté Hi-fi avec ce genre de micros. Ce n'est pas aussi irrégulier qu'un micro passif qui a du caractère. Le 81 sonne précis,incisif.

    Je souligne également que le EMG 81 est souvent installé en chevalet. Fatalement, les sons clair ne sont pas excellent..Alors qu'en manche,le son clair est très bien !

    Je trouve le rapport qualité/prix très bon, parce que c'est un micro fiable,pas trop chère et qui envoi sévère.
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  • Anonyme

    Terrifiant

    EMG 81Publié le 16/09/10 à 11:51


    * Depuis combien de temps l'utilisez vous ? Je l'ai reçu la semaine dernière et monté dans la foulée, sans problème.

    * Quelle est la particularité que vous aimez le plus, le moins ? Ce qui m'a vraiment agréable surpris c'est la qualité du packaging, le plan de montage super simple (même en anglais), le fait que c'est du plugg in !!!!(excellent, pas besoin de fer à souder...!) et surtout LE SON!!!

    * Aviez vous essayé beaucoup d'autres modèles avant de l'acquérir ? Non, j'avais déjà des 85, je savais à quoi m'attendre.

    * Comment jugez vous le rapport qualité/prix ? Pour 71€, c'est vraiment cadeau chez les allemands. Inclus dans la joli boite: le 81, 1 volume, 1 tone, 1 ja…
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    * Depuis combien de temps l'utilisez vous ? Je l'ai reçu la semaine dernière et monté dans la foulée, sans problème.

    * Quelle est la particularité que vous aimez le plus, le moins ? Ce qui m'a vraiment agréable surpris c'est la qualité du packaging, le plan de montage super simple (même en anglais), le fait que c'est du plugg in !!!!(excellent, pas besoin de fer à souder...!) et surtout LE SON!!!

    * Aviez vous essayé beaucoup d'autres modèles avant de l'acquérir ? Non, j'avais déjà des 85, je savais à quoi m'attendre.

    * Comment jugez vous le rapport qualité/prix ? Pour 71€, c'est vraiment cadeau chez les allemands. Inclus dans la joli boite: le 81, 1 volume, 1 tone, 1 jack, battery buss, divers câbles et le pickup buss B157.

    * Avec l'expérience, referiez vous ce choix ? Oui sans hésitation. Vivement le prochain!!! Celui ci est monté sur ma vieille Epi SG de 99(Manche collé, acajou), je pensais que ça pourrai sonner et en effet, ça sonne!

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