EMG 81X vs EMG 81 - Active Bridge Pickup Guitar Comparison / Demo
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- Опубликовано: 10 окт 2019
- Distorted and clean rhythm comparison demo between EMG 81X and EMG 81 pickup on the bridge position. Settings are the following:
GUITAR
Model: Custom strat (alder body with canadian maple neck)
Tuning: Eь / D#
Strings: D'Addario EXL140 (010-052 gauge)
AMP
Distortion: Peavey 5150 profile (Kemper Profiling Amp)
Clean: EVH 5150 III profile (Kemper Profiling Amp)
RECORDING TECHNIQUE:
- One centered mono track per pickup.
- Same config and EQ for both.
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#pickups #comparison #guitar 
Видеоклипы
Woah. the difference is immense. Was not expecting that. Sounds like 81X has less mids/low mids and has more top end. 81 still reigns supreme for me.
Excellent comparison. Good job
Great comparison, the 81X has that shrill and quacky Fishman sound that seems to be more popular these days. The standard 81 just can't be beat imo.
I agree the 81 is unbeatable and these kids love them some quack.
I did expect a much more subtile difference, like just a small difference to the dynamics. But like we can hear the original one also got a little more lower frequencies. Thanks for the comparsion!
Wow! I just ordered a guitar that s coming with an 81X and I was anticipating having to change it out immediately, but I LOVE the cut it seems to have here. It'll be in a neck-thru 7 string so I think it'll be perfect.
very good comparsion
Nice profile, both pickups sound great
Regular 81 is tighter, and more bottom. 81-X has more mids and a little looser. Having used both, including swapping out the 81 for the 81-X in my ESP Eclipse just this morning I can say that I prefer the 81-X and the bigger difference between them isn't the EQ, it's the FEEL. The 81 is very firm with a hard, consistent attack. The 81-X has a slightly softer attack and it responds more to your playing. But, they are still both 81. It's not a complete change, it's just a variation of the same thing.
Dang really tough, I think if you were to adjust your EQ to compensate for the extra highs with the X you could really get nice punchy and sharp palm mutes while also keeping your biting lead/clean tones well intact
Ive got both, And have the 81/85x set in my Poplar body Jackson Warrior and it is one of the best Sounding Shred Machines I own. But I also like the sound of regular 81s in a Mahogany Body such as Les Paul or similar. Cant really go wrong with either just depends on what your Trying to Achieve.
Thanks for the review..
I have em both on deferent guitars both high quality super strats.
I prefer the x.
Thank you again Mike for another great video man. Both of them sounds killer as expected, but for me. And my taste emg 81 classic is unbeatable boss . i love 85 in bridge also...great pickup, an if I could ask for Emg 85 x vs Emg 85 in bridge position video. Thanks again 🤘🙏
Thank you for coming!! :)
81 all day. Although with some amp tweaking the 81x could provide some wicked bite if you blend in a bit more punch👊🏻. Might get some just for the hell of it.
I definely love the standard one
I think if you like a warmer tone go with the 81 and the 81x brightens things up. I'm deciding between the 2 right now and imma go with the 81 because I dont like really high tones, I like a dark feel more. It comes down to preference, I dont think one is better than the other.
On my studio monitors the 81x is alive. The 81 has more low end but is darker but has that compressed feel. Prefer the X!
81 for cleans and 81X for distortion 🧨
I got the opposite. Besides, why would you prefer the hotter, higher gain pickup for cleans and the lower gain pickups for high gain?
Having owned both in the same guitar I prefer the regular 81. The X sounds louder as it has more in the mids and is more open sounding. Granted I prefer passives but between these two I like the regular.
To my taste, 81 better for clean, 81X better for dirty. Thx for the comparison!
Basically, the X screams. Sounds more suited to heavy and power metal, while the normal sounds more suited to thrash and new.
Did you use an active tone control for x series? Standard is using passive tone control but x series has active VLPF tone control wired in series instead of parallel as standard 81.
Awesome video my friend ! Big Like!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍💯
81x is surprisingly killer, in comparison. still love the 81 but depending on if you have a scooped out amp setting, the 81x would be great.
They both sound great, but I think i prefer the original 81. It just sounds punchier and thicker to me.The difference I hear appears to be in the EQ curve of the pickup. It does make me wonder if these two pickups could sound almost identical,l with just a bit of tone adjustment of the amp.
To my ears the EMG81x don't have what I would equate to an "active" sound, the 81 sounds much more compressed and darker, the 81x really rings out in the higher end. I find this curious because as an 81 owner I always thought they were on the brighter side. I'm not sure which ones I like better.
Opinion weighs heavily with things like these, as we all see in the comments. The general consensus is pretty much the same, but as for it being better or worse is highly subjective. I can say I prefer the 81, if only because I run my settings with a lot of top end from the amp. That being said, a tone control with the X and I'm just as good to go.
But playing on preferences, I can say that the distortion shootout had way to much distortion to make a difference between the 2. But again, I run my amp hard to get distortion (more overall dynamic with my eq preference.)
Now I would say with the clean shootout, having an 81 in the bridge would suit my needs perfectly, and the X would be an awesome accompaniment in the neck. The slight treble boost would make for a great balance when switching, without being a dramatic change in tonal quality, if that is something you look for in a guitar.
Not a bad idea for placing the 81X in the neck. I was preferring it for the clean tones, and I often find my humbucker neck pickups don't have enough treble for my tastes. This might be a great idea :-)
They added mid and treble to the X. Sounds good but I'll stick with my 81..well actually wanna check out Hets and Hammetts
81 (And TW in my case) is and will be my choice
I always prefer the one I'm currently playing, until I play the other one again. The X is a different animal in any case. One might think it's simply an EMG 81 with more headroom, but I find myself playing/reacting to it differently.
81x sounds like an EMG competitor tried to copy the 81 and upped the gain at the cost of clarity. I'm speaking on the dirty tones btw. I feel like they tried to outdo themselves but fell short. I prefer the 81 but others might prefer the x.
81X - 3:31 3:54
81 - 3:43 4:06
81x is definitely louder and sharper. However, the 81 has better definition and better all around and still king.
that's odd ahah one of thoses test must have newer strings, I don't know
I already knew from other comparisons that I preferred the 81x for rhythm but I didn't think I'd prefer the 81 for cleans and leads that much!
Don’t fix what ain’t broken! OG 81!
The *81* have *more pressure* , *more accentuation* , *more overdrive* and *more clearity* . I go with the 81!
In this case the regular sounds better to me but I think the x is predestinated for extreme low tunings, 8 strings and such.
Хороший обзор, сам мав змогу порівняти обидва, версія Х на дісторшон має трішки більше верхів, в кліні дуже тихий як в брідж так і в нек тому класичний 81 більш універсальний.
Has anyone ever put an 85 in the bridge on strat style guitar? Differences between the 85 and 81?
My channel has a lot a comparisons with EMG 85 in the bridge position, and I use a custom strat for all of them. Check out the Guitar Pickup Comparisons playlist! :)
Achei q a linha X seria superior... Parece que os antigos são melhores. Vou comprar um pra guita de 7 cordas e esse vídeo me ajudou muito. Parabéns irmão. Comprarei a linha antiga.
Am I crazy for preferring the original 81?
As an old fan of passive pickups, which is now playing EMG 81/85, and has played the Fishman Fluence Modern set, I don't get why people lend over these middle ground options like "active pickups with passive feel". I've tried it with the Fishman Fluence's voice 2 and it's like mehhh... Even when I'm a passive pickups fan I am more happy with true active pickups like the original EMGs rather than FFM's voice 2. To me just give me one thing or the other, nothing in between. It just feels weird and doesn't sound good.
Playing distortion with less dynamic with the 81 can be quite tiring after awhile. I had them. Human inherently prefer dynamics, so i choose the 81X.
81 X sounds better. sound nice and clear. can't listen to this on a phone. use headphones of good desktop speakers. the 81 x sound like a awesome passive humbucker but as always better
The X is noticeably brighter but not enough to justify the cost to swap it out.
You want less 400hz and more 1.6 but didn't the original already have that?
🤔🤔 which would John Mayer pick? 😅
That 81 is the \m/
EMG 81's still King 👍
King of them all. Doesn't matter what new pickups or tech they come out with. The 40 year old 81 still beats them all.
Old 81 is better
🧙♂️
I'm a fan of the 81TW myself personally.
I dont think so
It is real that one little change in a pickup structure means born of an another chracteristic pickup. Emg81x is a different pickup and has good sound. Problem was that Emg got very very less product kind than SeymourD and Dimarzio (81.85.60...) Emg has tried to make an attack, first, 89 and 81tw disasters and lastly 81x 85x 60x.
The 81 seemed to be better on cleans but the 81x for high gain.
The X had more clarity or range where the standard 81 sounds scooped. I guess that's why Metallica from And justice for all and the black album sound the way they do. Fully scooped mids. A lot more so on And justice for all than the black album.
It's not scooped. It's all mids..
81x has just that little bit of extra head room.
I like both the 81x for dark sounding guitars and the 81 for brighter sounding guitars. Both sounded great.
Exactly. The 81X gives a dark guitar the bite and percusiveness it needs and the 81 gives a thinner sounding guitar that low mid growl.
So, I’m deciding between the two. My guitar body is swamp ash. It will be a single pickup guitar. Which one? Is swamp ash brighter than alder or basswood?
The standard 81 has more of a scooped tone, 81x has more bite. 81x I think would be worth the upgrade if you play lead and rythm and not just rythm.
Yeah you nailed the difference
Playing distortion with less dynamic on the 81 can be quite tiring after awhile. I had them. Human inherently prefer dynamics, so i choose the 81X.
Yea the 81x sounds the slightest bit more clear
81
81 is simply a much much better pickup.
Why 81 sounds so quietly and thiner compared to 81x XDDD
3:06
3:18
3:31
3:43
besides the X is louder, the 81 is better in low end, and less high mids, that nasty noise :D
Under distortion both sound great to me, but for cleans, it's the standard 81 all the way, the 81x is just way to bright and shrill to be usable imo, the demo hurt my ears at some points.
81 X sounds more rough but the 81 sounds better
The 81x has a more full tone, its lows are more similar too something like a fishman fluence
The 81 is more scooped and compressed than the 81x. The 81x sounds hotter too.
The X sounds less compressed compared the original.
The x has to much hair on the highs
EMG sound better for me. If I want passive electronic sounding pickups I go with Seymour Duncan or something else.
shit...I love my 81 like no other but I like the 81X a little better...IN THIS comparison.......
Surprised that I liked the regular 81 more. 707-Xs smash the originals
OG 81 All day. It's an unmistakable sound. 81X sounds like it's trying to be a Fluence Modern. . .a bandwagon I won't jump on.
81X came out way before moderns, lol.
81x was pretty much EMG's response to the Duncan Blackouts so you're wrong about them trying to be like Fluences
@@jayz6008 Ok, the second time that this has been pointed out to me. So to clarify. It sounds similar to a fluence modern to me. I get that the 81X was out before the fluence.
@@mikeallen4200 it needed repeating in how wrong you are :)
@@jayz6008 Fair enough. Lol. Stay safe out there
I have 81 on the bridge and in this video 81x seems better....
The difference is too large.. Something between would have been great for an evolution of the most used active pickup.
The X is much tighter sounding.
EMG 81 is more balanced in frequency range than EMG 81X
EMG 81X once again proves that you can't improve upon perfection. I'll stick with me 81's.
81x is like Marshall JCM800 while 81 is like JCM900. :)
Everyone has a preference… The X series sounds much better to me (regular sounds compressed and dull in comparison)
El emg x gana. Más abierto mejor brillo y claridad.
it would be better if the comparison would be properly level matched imo
My thoughts exactly. People with untrained ears will immediately vote for the louder one.
EMG 81 RULES!! Period.
I STILL THINK 81 better
The EMG 81 is my favorite bridge pickup and the X doesn't come close to me.
81 non X - top
No X
The 81x is what the 81 should have been.
81x excels in riffs whereas 81 has better solo sound --- less 'squeally'
X sounds very fizzy
EMG needs to do a better job explaining/marketing the purpose and differences of the "X" pickups.
Why "X"? What's different inside? Who should use these?
Some people will just insist on using them because the letter "X" seems cool - no matter the meaning or results.
agreed, there's no information on these pickups and some X series models do not have a single demo online, not even produced by EMG. they wouldn't be losing popularity if they'd stop setting themselves up for failure.
Emg 81 better
81 is fuller.. X is too trebly and thin.
81X all the way. The 81 was laughably bad by comparison.
lmaooo
81 sounds better,
The 81+ completely lacks warmth and character. The 81 sounds more organic like a nice glass of organic beer 🍺
81 all the way. 81x was way too bright and punchy
Old 81 better
Original 81, much better and musical
81 sounds heaps better
81X sounds so thin. I don't think it'll be that usable. 81 sounds better to my ear