EMG 81 Black

EMG 81's dont really needs a lengthy review, with so many bands and famous names behind them.

Love them or hate them, they've helped shape metal and rock as we know it.

I keep coming back to 81's for bridge PU's because of the consistency and the overall sound characteristics.
They've got a nice punch with a good low-end, and a good treble response.
Sure, they're not as dynamic as a Seymour Duncan JB (passive), but they've got great dynamics nonetheless.

The solderless installation is my favorite. Makes installations much faster, and less chance of a screw up.
You can get every style of switch from EMG them selves, so you wont need to use a soldering iron every again.

In conclusion:
If you're a fan of older (pre-2010) metal/hard rock, then they're definitely worth a look.
Likewise if you're looking for a really hot pickup, with an easy installation, these might also be for you.

I bought this, along with an EMG 85, for the classic EMG 81/85 setup favored by players like Zakk Wylde, Kerry King from Slayer and Elias Viljanen from Sonata Arctica. I was upgrading the stock BDSM pickups on an old BC Rich NJ Warlock guitar from 2004.

I was initially skeptical that I would hear any difference, so I recorded some "before and after" tracks. Well, let me tell you that I definitely did hear a difference from the very first minute after I plugged the guitar into my amp 😄.

To my ears, my guitar sounds much better now. First of all, there's a lot less static noise. But there's also a lot less noise when sliding between chords. Single notes also sound much clearer. And because the guitar sounds better, I suddenly feel like I've become a better guitar player overnight, even though I know that all that changed was the pickups.

I installed the pickups myself. This was my first pickup upgrade. Installing EMG's is a lot easier than most pickups, because you don't need to solder. All you need to do is plug wires into the right holes. I didn't even need to desolder the old wires from the old potentiometers — I just cut the old wires at the solder join instead. So you don't need a soldering iron at all.

From a non-guitar-tech perspective, EMG really do a great job of making sure that the pickup installation is as easy as possible. The fact that all the replacement components (potentiometers, input jack, wires etc. Even the hex nuts and washers, which are not pictured.) are included in the box and don't need to be sold separately is a huge plus to beginners like myself. Since I bought two pickups, it also means that I have some spare parts now, in case I break something 😄 Each pickup box also includes diagrams for how to wire your guitar for various pickup configurations.

Because my guitar wasn't built for active pickups, it doesn't have a battery compartment. I was worried that the pickup cavity wouldn't fit the battery bus and the battery that the EMGs need to work. In the end, I was able to fit everything, but just barely. Pro tip: don't take off the sticker from the battery bus and glue it to the wall of the pickup cavity until after you've wired everything and are absolutely sure that everything will fit!


Overall, I am a very satisfied customer. I would purchase EMG pickups again.