EMG 81X Black

I've been there - a girl growing up on influence from my sis listening to Metallica and Slayer, whilst my own (complicated and confused) teen years it has been Bullet for my Valentine, Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying and so many other metalcore bands - these were my heroes, there when I was crying, lonely and there when I was happy - and I always wanted their sound.

When I started playing the guitar, I got the EMG Zakk Wylde 81/85 set and had it installed, and for many years it has been *it* for me.

Now, as my tastes changed a bit (and, inevitably, did the musical scene), I am looking forward into a pickup that's more cleaner, clearer and more versatile, but while I play nowadays modern metal - I still bring back the bands and songs that got me to playing the guitar in the first place. I haven't forgotten the best time of my life. 81X is all of that - clear punchy and open enough for modern rhythm playing, bright enough for cutting through the densest mixes - and still powerful enough to play those songs we all grew up on.

So for me, this is a perfect pickup. Thank you EMG. :)

I bought the 81x and 81 for my HH strat build a few years ago now, and they've held up amazingly.

Their sound is the obvious highlight- I originally chose EMGs for their high gain capability (which is as good as they say), but as my music taste has changed over the years I've never felt the need to replace them because they're so versatile, without sacrificing sound quality. I can go from Foo Fighters to Alex G and not skip a beat. The 81X in particular has a more mellow sound than the regular 81, and highlights the middle tones. I love how dreamy it sounds without any effects pedals.

Installation was also very convenient! I wired most of the thing myself when I was 16, and it's easy even for a beginner. Because I went for a more unconventional build there was some soldering from a shop, and they mentioned it being a very quick job thanks to the plug-in model.

Overall, I'd recommend the 81X for anyone who likes a high distortion sound, but also enjoys a cleaner tone sometimes.

Sharp, thicc, crisp - all you need in the bridge position.
Easy to install system and all wiring you need is included with every pickup package!
Note: Be mindful of the schematics and how your guitar is wired to get it working!
I installed this (and the 85X) to my oldie-goldie Schecter Omen 6 that used to have passives. There's 2 wires that must not be clipped for this to work! And the input jack cavity was too shallow, so needed to drill it deeper and would need to re-drill a connection hole to the other electronics, but it seems more like a design issue of the original schematic.

Good project and it works like a charm!

The installation is incredibly easy as the quick connect system it uses eliminates the need for soldering. It has a very focused tone with a tight low end which combined with it's ridiculously high output results in a very saturated and aggressive distortion that remains articulate even at higher gain settings. Given it's tight tone it tends to work better in darker sounding guitars. The active preamp in it does reduce the audible difference between different wood types slightly, but it still seems to sound best in a mahogany guitar.

It's less compressed sounding than the original EMG 81 and it responds more to picking dynamics. For high gain modern rock/metal tones it's pretty hard to beat. As with the original 81 it doesn't excel at clean tones, but the extra headroom on the 81-X does offer a slight improvement.