EMG 81 vs. Hetfield

[Lasse Lammert]

Details: see yt description

 

[D-Rock]

Man that Het Set sounds great.
Do want.

 

[JCDenton6]

Sounds really good, I like both pickups so it's tough to pick out a favorite.

 

[Reiep]

For rhythm the Het is way better, fuller. I can use it for hard rock without feeling too... EMG. But for solo the 81 is sharper, cuts better.

 

[acalaf]

prefer the 81.

 

[spanny]

I always thought they sounded extremely thin and compressed for clean sounds, never was a fan (EMG's to clarify)

 

[D-Rock]

For rhythm the Het is way better, fuller. I can use it for hard rock without feeling too... EMG. But for solo the 81 is sharper, cuts better.

My exact diagnosis as well. (Hetfield only through clips though, but I own the 81)

 

[anthonymunoz]

Wow! Both sound great, but the Hetfield set sounds more rich as compared to the 81 (I still love the 81 sound too). Thanks for a great comparison!

On a side note... nice playing and overall sound. There is nothing like a good player in front of a natural signal chain.

 

[Reiep]

I always thought they sounded extremely thin and compressed for clean sounds, never was a fan (EMG's to clarify)

Did you try the 60 ? It's a fantastic PU for clean sound. The Het version is less bassy, which is not a bad stuff at all.

But I agree the 81 is absolutely awful for clean

 

[Lasse Lammert]

haben't tried the 60, no.
I'm using the neck pup mainly for solos though, so I actualy would have preferred a pickup based on the 85 instead of the 60....but combining the regular 85 with the Het Bridge would look shite

 

[koury73]

I like the Het much better than the 81 personally.

 

[Les Zombie]

cool clip, i own both both and love them, to me the het bridge is warmer with more output and has a thicker lowend than the 81, the het neck clean is really nice and is my fav emg for clean tones and i was a user of the 60 for a long time and really liked it but i think the het neck pu is even better.