Anyone running an 85 in the bridge?

D-Rock

D-Rock

Well-known member
I got a guitar today with an EMG 81/85 set and the previous owner swapped them so the 85 is now in the bridge.

I've been playing it for most the day and I'm not sure whether I like it...
 
The 85 is one of the best bridge pickups for brighter sounding guitars. It has a great growl to it.
 
My EC-1000T's had the usual 81/85 combo. I swapped them around, and the 85 was a much richer sound - not as "sterile". Ended up putting EMG 60's in the necks.
 
Yeah, the 85 is a lot thicker. Not as mean as the 81 but an awesome lead tone, a lot of session players and rock guys used them extensively back in the day.
 
It's in all of my guitars and I love it...

If I switch over to an 81, it sounds to shrill to my ears... I tried the 57 a liked it for a while, but always felt like I had to play a lot harder to get into that 'mean' territory...

The 85 is chunky, beefy, thick steak goodness....
 
I can appreciate the added beef and body from the 85, but I'm still adjusting to the less sharp attack and responsiveness which I'm more accustomed to in the bridge. (Not that the 85 is dull or tracks slow)

I found I had to turn up the mids on my amp a notch or two, as well as the highs to compensate, no big deal though.

I'm going to take all day today to bond with it some more and try it with a few other rigs too.
 
D-Rock":b4bg3thd said:
FourT6and2":b4bg3thd said:
I do. And I like it.
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What pickup did you change to it from? What do you like about it?
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The guitar came with EMG 81/85. I simply swapped them around so the 85 is in the bridge. Killswitch Engage has their guitars set up like this, to give you an idea.
 
FourT6and2":34s87u86 said:
D-Rock":34s87u86 said:
FourT6and2":34s87u86 said:
I do. And I like it.
Click to expand...
What pickup did you change to it from? What do you like about it?
Click to expand...

The guitar came with EMG 81/85. I simply swapped them around so the 85 is in the bridge. Killswitch Engage has their guitars set up like this, to give you an idea.
Click to expand...
Ok thanks. Ya, I heard KSE does this as well.
The fact that I'm increasing my amp's highs and mids with this pickup kinds makes sense then because they boost their amps with TS ODs which adds mids and some high end sizzle to their tone. Something I'm finding the 85 is deficient in compared to typical metal oriented bridge pickups.
 
I have an old LTD EC1000, back when they came with the 81/81 set. I wanted something different, so I put an 85 in the bridge. I like it a lot more. It's not as gainy, aggressive, and bright. It's darker, and fuller sounding. It gave me what I was looking for from the guitar. I don't have a ground wire to the bridge factory installed on mine, and I wanted a more passive sound. I'm definitely happier with it, and I still have another guitar with an 81 in the bridge in case I want that sound.
 
I have 85s in the bridge of all but one of my EMG loaded guitars. I much prefer it over the 81, which is OK for old school thrash IMO, but doesn't do the more 80s sound I like. I find the 81 is very 'dead' sounding, whereas the 85 has that warmth to it that I'm looking for.
 
Have it in all my gigging guitars I use in my Ozzy tribute band. Love it. Sounds much thicker and chunkier than the 81 IMO.
 
I tried it, didn't like the 85 as much as an 81 in the bridge. Not that there was much difference really, but I think the 81 sounds better.
 
I do miss the sharper, razor like pick attack from the 81, and although thinner sounding than the 85, I could always supplement that with lowend from my amps/cabs.

Midrange...I guess I didn't notice an overly scooped tone from the 81, but I typically run V30s and a fair bit of mids on my amps.

I do like and appreciate the added girth and body from the 85, and less stringent highend.

Midrange...Although I've increased my mids a bit since using the 85, my amps and speakers are upper mid voiced, so if the 85 is more lower mid voiced than I suppose I'm just resorting back to what's familiar by filtering in some more upper mids.

The fat warmth from the 85 is undeniable though compared to the anemic sterility of the 81.
 
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