TheGreatGreen
Well-known member
I've been messing around swapping back and fourth between an EMG 81 and 85 lately. 81 has a higher resonant peak so it gets more hi-fi sounding. It's also smoother overall, more refined. The 85's lower resonant peak feels like it's more in line with highlighting string detail and clank. It gets more down and dirty / growly. It's also just a bit thicker.
It's tough to pick a favorite.
Edit:
After a lot of testing, I'm going with the 85. If I was just plugging straight into an amp, I'd go for the tighter 81. It's easy to see why that pickup became so popular, especially against the 85 which can sound kinda muddy or dull straight into an amp. But if you're good with pre-EQ, I think the 85 gives you more to work with, and the tighter nature of the 81 with its higher resonant peak can be pretty easily EQ'd into the 85, but with the 85 you get more detail and string definition in the mids. Also with the 81, it's easy to go overboard on treble boosting, which can put you into abrasive upper treble territory and add some pretty obnoxious clicking into your pick attack. That description might make that character sound desirable, but it's really not. It sounds like something is broken in the amp. The 85 doesn't have a resonant peak as high as the 81 so it feels more forgiving and accommodating for treble boosting. The 85 is a better balanced pickup overall imo.
Never thought I'd go for an 85 over an 81 for a bridge humbucker, but there you go.
It's tough to pick a favorite.
Edit:
After a lot of testing, I'm going with the 85. If I was just plugging straight into an amp, I'd go for the tighter 81. It's easy to see why that pickup became so popular, especially against the 85 which can sound kinda muddy or dull straight into an amp. But if you're good with pre-EQ, I think the 85 gives you more to work with, and the tighter nature of the 81 with its higher resonant peak can be pretty easily EQ'd into the 85, but with the 85 you get more detail and string definition in the mids. Also with the 81, it's easy to go overboard on treble boosting, which can put you into abrasive upper treble territory and add some pretty obnoxious clicking into your pick attack. That description might make that character sound desirable, but it's really not. It sounds like something is broken in the amp. The 85 doesn't have a resonant peak as high as the 81 so it feels more forgiving and accommodating for treble boosting. The 85 is a better balanced pickup overall imo.
Never thought I'd go for an 85 over an 81 for a bridge humbucker, but there you go.
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I BLUSA was just harsh and ice picky to a point that it was unpleasant. It was ok for just Dime stuff but the B&B L500XL is still aggressive as hell but it's just way less harsh in the highs, think Nuno type tones. I'm even running the B&B L500XL with no tone pot with a straight 500K pot.
