EMG X Series Pickups-81x and 85x

[ayakosha]

U SUCK

[fedorets1992]

Marty McFly is that you =)

[ultram4]

paul is such a bad guitarist, it´s incredible he´s allowed to do these reviews...

Why not just use my mom, she is as metal as he is!

[FearToNothing]

The sound is too "pussy" to play metal. but great for clean settings.

[newkurosawa]

ESP ltd snakebyte

[newkurosawa]

Too much bass

[ShamusMistickokat]

Shit i got my emg x 81 and 85 set installed in my Ibanez rgd2120z , i hear a bad feedback after and during playing Riffs ...not good kinda regret slapping them in and i wish i had Seymour duncan Envaders !!! I think these emgs are way too high output for my line 6 Shit!!!

[morfoo]

i prefer SD blackouts

[zombiekiller833]

should i get the X Series 81 and 85 or just the 81 and 85?

[iEADGBE]

@zombiekiller833 Depends on what you expect from your pickups, from what i heard the normal 81 and 85 sound kind of sterile but are very accurate, and the x's sound less sterile so also a bit less acurate. If i were you I would go to a shop where they have guitars with the normal 81 and 85 and guitars with the x's so you can compare them and see what works best to you.

[zacy81996]

I stillthink seymour duncan blackouts emty AHB-3 pickups are way more output and clarity i like emg but prefer SD

[Mr101395]

i acually like these there the first emgs that sound good

[peeetttaaahhh1]

did he just say "fine" and "washburn" in the same sentence?

[Church8826]

@peeetttaaahhh1

Washburns are actually really good guitars. Knowing some people who own them, they have nothing but priase for them.

[LTCimbulletproof]

okay i'm tired of watching this video everyday.

[kssork]

sounds muted.

[runalanrun]

DWIGHT CAN SHRED

[lintball0190]

@runalanrun yea he was pumping out some sweet riffs..i dig that first one !

[lintball0190]

yea dude..that first riff was tight...

[treydanforth]

emgs suck dick seymour duncan all the way!

[b4zii12]

@treydanforth thats why near to every metal celeb uses EMG and ESP..

[treydanforth]

@b4zii12 seymour duncans have alot of celeberties too, and seymour duncans have the heavier more clear rich sound to them. and what about esp guitars esp guitars are awsome.

[Fluffypopcicle]

@treydanforth

duncans suck, dimarzio all the way! seriously though, they suck. all i hear in a guitar with duncan pickups installed is an overload of muddy treble. it's one thing to have a nice pick attack, but it's another alternate pick and ONLY HEAR PICK ATTACK!!! i can't even freaking hear the notes, i JUST hear pick attack. duncans blow.

[rocafella142]

@treydanforth seymour duncans aren't versitile at all. If you buy blackouts then all you can use that for is metal. All they have is a muddy tone.

[Dimebag08RIP]

Batteries are for flashlights, not pickups. That is all.

[AlFguitar992]

they should replace this guy with tosin abasi

[MrLordfetenter]

hey !!with the mid gain setting the EMG have a Judas Priest sound!!!!!

[OceanOfOilFilms]

@shreddernuo I have had them for awhile man, I can vouch that they sound great in any setting, recording, live, or practice.

[AleifrLeifrson]

I like these pickups, I think they sound fucking great high-gain, but clean they're really dull. Does it make sense to install an EMG humbucker at the bridge and a single coil of some kind at the neck, or would that just throw all the nice noise canceling technology away?

[omenofdeath11]

They are better than emg 81 and 85 right?

[Mikeymoomah]

im thinking about getting an ibanez RG1570L prestige..... and would these compliment the guitar? or could i get any better pickups cous the things i would play would be like August Burns Red... Trivium.... mainly like that. but i do play.. pretty much everything..

[Whyrendog]

Sounds like just before you open the door of the sound room someone is doing a sound check in. Seems like it is good but you have to open the door and see.

[djg0603]

@Whyrendog I know what you mean :P. Lots of reverb here.

[guitarshreder91]

i like the regular 81 85's more

[FeelMetalMan]

sounds scooped, I wanna try these and the blackouts too, although I didint like slipknot's sound with those, so far the best metal pick ups i've tried and they are passive where the Seymour Duncan Dimebucker, fucking orgasmic

[brayant152h]

The sound like any other pick up I prefer blackouts

[drummerdudeperson]

turn the low's down and the high's up. the amp setting sucks for this.

[SpearShark]

Paul has no balls at all.

[nickerz65]

I dont know why these idiots setup the pickups backards..they should have the 85 in the bridge giving more bottom end and beef and put the 81 in the neck giving it some chop and more of a woody tone...Knuckleheads lol

[Jackson1010]

@nickerz65 ive tried the 81 in the neck and it sounds like and it still sounds like im playing a bridge pickup

[nickerz65]

@Jackson1010 Not really...alot depends on your guitar...what kind of wood the body and neck has and what kind of amp...Scooping back the Mids on your amp wil help...bring your bass about 3/4 way up then tweak from there...But always...play what makes YOU feel good...thats where individuality comes in as it should be....Whats right for Me is not necessarily right for you or someone else...good luck in your almighty quest for TONE!!

[nathan6t9r]

ahh sounds like dirty anus

[FiestyMclovin]

@nathan6t9r I didn't know it had such a distinct sound.

[killthepixelnow]

Too much reverb, it sounds horrible.

[ClearTheHaze]

to be honest...emg have only released these things, well in my opinion, because blackouts are a much better pup than the old emg series...

[hanjo1505]

do they come with the new solderless installation technology?

[Guitarmaster0024]

Or this pickups are pretty shitty, or the amp it's pretty shitt, maybe both, or maybe Paul it's pretty shitty

[KingsOfHeadbang]

what is that for a song that hes playing clean?? I think i know it fom somewere

[Crazymofoinamajikbox]

Must have those pickups O.O

[bryancmcguire]

omg they sound muffled! am I the only one hearing this?

[kiznert]

Is there anyone who does a REAL test of these pickups? Like someone that actually plays extreme metal instead of some weak ass guitar center riffs.

[sl6ip6kn6ot]

@kiznert yeah i totally agree! based on the major use of specific pick ups, there should be "genre-favored" riffs to truly demo the capabilities

[jayjabo]

hey can any1 just say weather these pickups wud be good for classic rock aswell as metal

[haropro2]

I really want these pick ups in my Jackson Rhoads:

Neck: EMG-X 85

Bridge: Seymour Duncan Blackout

I bet I'd get an interesting sound using both Pick ups

[sk8jon2]

@haropro2 id would put a more bassy pickup on the neck

[Jerrymonyor]

whaats the difference in sound between EMG 81 and EMG 81X

[differentone7]

sodder?? did he say sodder dont you mean solder with a ( L ) 

[ReaperOfMen]

@differentone7 There is, but you do know the 'l' is silent, right?

[differentone7]

@ReaperOfMen haha lol are you completely stupid or what the L is definitely not silent you must have went to the same screwed up school paul did

[differentone7]

@differentone7 Apparently its an American thing where they dont see the L for some reason but In proper english its pronounced with the L in the United kingdom, Australia and pretty much all English speaking countries except for America they call it sodder over there ya

[ReaperOfMen]

@differentone7 Sure, let's just go with I'm stupid or something. What does it matter how people pronounce it?

[differentone7]

@ReaperOfMen Sorry your not stupid my mistake, I honestly didnt realize You all pronounce like it that over there,I thought it was just you and Paul, soder solder either way doesnt really matter

[ReaperOfMen]

@differentone7 At least you weren't hostile about it =P No hard feelings.

[planetofzeus]

nice clean part

[OceanOfOilFilms]

I just got in my 808x's yesterday. They are sweet and I suggest anybody who is curious about them go and find out for yourself how powerful yet articulate they are. Especially if you are into the whole "djent" style.

[joniiboy]

Was kinda annoyed of all the active pickups since my guitar isnt set up for that atm, t hen i found the Alexi Laiho signature passive pickup and boy does it sound great

[Albigatnz]

I think these sound sterile... yuck to my ear... If I could blend that balls sound with the clarity of a strat pickup or tele pickup thatd be a huge tone...

[shrink91]

@Albigatnz already been done. check out Langcaster pickups

[khjr1]

Clean neck position, metallica written all over it

[ViceOfKilling]

Someone should make a comparison video with these and the EMG 81-85 :)

[Zhorellski]

Sounds "AIRY" for an active PU's...

[guitarralaraja]

cool picks ups, will these be the perfect combination for neck and bridge? any better sugegstion? i play metal,, and passive pickups sound not very good..

[xMontblanc]

not only is his tone bad, his playing style isnt even what emgs are really meant for -_- i wanna hear some actual metal, not hard rock

[slayerrulesyo]

Either they didn't mic it, or paul doesn't know how to set the amp.... the lead tone is wayyyyyy too bassy. It's rocking everything on my desk.

[elementskater94]

@slayerrulesyo

yea they always use shit settings on amps

[lintball0190]

@slayerrulesyo i know ! it's great ! : )..sounds great in my earbuds !!

[TheRealSonicYouth]

@slayerrulesyo Sounds awesome too me. Just because you dont like it doesnt mean its not good. the first riff was amazing

[SiferdX8X]

na cleanie dziwiek zdaje sie bys suchy i przymulony ale juz lekki drive pięknie spiewa

[AngelOfChaos963]

What is the difference between these pickups and zakk wylde's EMG 81 and 85?? Cause I think I'm gonna get zakk's for my Jackson Randy Rhoads guitar

[klummster88]

EMG 'Quik-connect' system: you can take your pickup out, put another one in, and play. Is this true in most cases?

[wslx0195]

so much more balls than the blackouts i think. The low dynamics are still there along with great balance with highs and mids.

[Darkdevil1584]

i think i might get a esp with a batery in it and replace with these pups :D

[quinnmyster]

Well I expected a much better recording of the guitar parts he did. I also expected some real fat metal squeals, which I did NOT hear, on the metal playing at the end. Poor review.

[that1guyfromdat1time]

that sounded awful at the end

[ghostschiphon]

one of the few demo guys i can actually listen to XD

[86108610]

lol 'soddering'

yank faggots

[Trondset]

Anyone know anything about EMG 707x?

[elementskater94]

@Trondset

ive heard somebody in a forum talking about it but he hasnt said much on it

[TreyarchIsGay]

@elementskater94 why even reply if you have no substance in your comment.... that was pointless

[ibanezszred]

I dont know yet I went ahead and took the plunge and ordered one emg707x because there are absolutely NO reviews for this pickup online anywhere so when i get it in about 4 more days i will be happy to send you some clips or just tell you my opinion. i play AEADGBE moslty heavier stuff. I have tried the blackouts 7 they are WAY TOO FIZZY IMO way overdone and are horrible in mahogany bodied guitars i use an ibanez rga 7 string about a 500 dollar guitar but kicks esp/ schector guitar ass also IMO

[elementskater94]

@ibanezszred

nice let me know when you get them, i wanna hear how they sound too

[philipstricken]

@ibanezszred They sound just like a emg 81 but made for a 7 string ! Killer sound ...Best pickup I've ever heard ! But make sure you get the right strings or a bad day..

[wslx0195]

@ibanezszred dude definately say how they are. I'm curious to how the 707x will sound in that exact guitar.

[Wrathofkala]

@ibanezszred dude I agree with you 100% ABOUT THE BLACKOUTS. I tried them too but I was getting way too mush extra string noise/fuzz. I did like the more organic sound and chug but I couldn't get past the noise. Anyway, what I did to solve my issue was to install a EMG 60 in the neck to give me 81/60 combo. This is perfect IMO because the 60 gives you the clarity and organic sound.

[JaredFury]

@ibanezszred lol dude your full of shit The EMGS are wayyyy Muddier Than The Blackouts. Maybe If You didnt use those shit ibanez, Try a Wider Body Guitar Like a ML or Something of that nature youd have better Results

[TBMsGuitarGod]

@JaredFury It's all about preference dude. I simply have an EMG 81/85 setup, and prefer it over blackouts as is. The distortion I get is JUST what I need, and for clean stuff, I just turn the tone or volume knob down a tad and add a touch of reverb or chorus and it does the trick. And the guitar doesn't so much matter with the active pickups, because they have their own preamp. In theory at least, you could take an Ibanez Geo series guitar and make it sound damn good with actives.

[JaredFury]

@TBMsGuitarGod The Resonacy Of The Guitar Has Everything to Do With Tone Even When It Comes To The Pickups, And Yeah I Know Its All Preference Im Just Sayin.

[TBMsGuitarGod]

@JaredFury Actually with the EMG's they do have their own preamps, you can look it up. It does affect it a little, but not much at all really.

[JaredFury]

@TBMsGuitarGod I Know They Do, and Yeah Man, Wood,Shape and Pretty Much Every Fucking Thing thats Built on that Guitar Have Everything To Do With The Tone, Maybe If You cant Hear it But Its True. Ask any Guitar Maker

[TBMsGuitarGod]

@JaredFury Ok I see what you mean there. It DOES affect the tone but surprisingly very little. Why do you think that every pro luthier either uses their own personally created pickup, or the preference of the customer? For instance, the fretboard... no tone difference really. Tuners? no tone difference, just tuning stability. Man, study up on this stuff. I can't say you're wrong with your comment, because as we both know, it's all preference. But listen to my stuff, it's all EMG. You'll see.

[JaredFury]

@TBMsGuitarGod The Fret Board Can Give You Warmness or Brightness Depending on the Wood I Mean Think About It, When The String Vibrates Off The Wood when You Fret a Note, The Sounds Travels Through That Wood Before Anything Really Besides The Bridge, so Depending On The Density of The Wood (among other things) It Matters How The Sounds Gets Through It and How The Pickup Precedes It, and I Know That The Tuners Dont haha There All Pretty Much Made The Same Way, I Know EMGs, Ive tried before duncan

[TBMsGuitarGod]

@JaredFury I suppose I'm just biased towards EMG's... I've been using them the past 5 years and they've always done just what I've needed them to. I still can't say they're muddy, I think that's just the way someone set their tone. I know when my band plays, (and up until recently we had 3 guitarists along with bass, drums, and vox) my tone always cuts through for rhythms and solos alike. And we had varying pickups, one Duncans, the other used stocks in his Dean ML Shadow, and I had the EMG's.

[JaredFury]

@TBMsGuitarGod I Know There Good Pickups But To Me When You Compare THem To The Blackouts There Muddy and Dont Sound as.....Perfect haha

[TBMsGuitarGod]

@JaredFury lolz, and we come back to the preference thing from earlier XD I'd like to get my hands on some X series pickups though... test them on something that's actually dialed to sound GOOD unlike this video... I'm pretty sure he just left the EQ at 12 o'clock...

[JaredFury]

@TBMsGuitarGod Haha Yeah Yeah Dude, I Heard Them X Series, They Dont Sound Much Different, They Sound A Little Richer To Me

[blacksgslayer]

@ibanezszred yea dude, ibanez kicks all other guitar companys asses.

[VMP007]

@Trondset I wanna know too.

[DruidxSephiroth]

@Trondset I want them more than any other pickups. For sure. Best pickups in my opinion

[UltimateGuitarist17]

that tone lacks balls

[dpapaioannow]

you might lack balls too ;)

[PrsFenderJackson1980]

Does anyone know for sure why his sound goes from sharp to dull when he puts the amp on "metal" setting. Did a tube blow, did someone turn the bright mode off?

[DeanMLFlame]

the amp is fine...most people would say a "metal" setting has scooped mids. the settings would be something like 8-bass, 4 or 5-mids and 5-treble

[DVpk47]

im getting a set of these as a replacement for my set of 2 emg 81s so i can try them out and from what ive heard and seen these are very good

[dirthead16]

these dont sounds that great,lower out put than norml EMG's and norml EMG's sound thin razory no mids,. blackouts/blackouts metal ftw

[Typ6o6yp]

there is no difference

[PrsFenderJackson1980]

If you were to replace just one of the pickups with the X series version. Which one would you replace?

[jasonmathieu1]

ide replace the bridge pickup

[PageIdol69]

they soaked the sound in reverb that makes it hard to hear the real tone... i also really wish that they told us what amp or amp modeling tools they were using, thats half the tone of the thing!

[meah941]

Paul's a great player, but I swear he has such a terrible sound on his amp.

[benducken]

@meah941 watch the one where he plays the orange thunderverb 50 amp

[guitaristguy20]

Your right!

[wslx0195]

@PageIdol69 Yup lol. Pickups are only so much of the tone. But I swear they always use the lesser than best settings for pickup reviews. wtf.

[illtattoo]

whats the difference between normal emg 81/85s to these emg x 81/85s can anyone tell me?

[6Metal6Head6]

the x is suppose to have a more natural sound, dif requency range, I still prefer the regular emg series to these x series.

[ZargoDox]

So, having both 81x and 85x, the 81x is a better choice for neck if you're a lead shredder?

[6Metal6Head6]

85/89/60 for neck, 81 in neck sounds weird

[ZargoDox]

Cool, thank you.

[thebearchord]

Joel from KSE and Jon from shadows fall both use 81's in the neck. i guess its just a different sound that people like

[Broodkill]

i put the 18v mod on my emgs and its sounds just as good as this shit does.

[Broodkill]

he could have cleaned the guitar before he filmed.

[PS3catboy93]

hi paul from guitar world!

[maitallica]

does anyone know how much these cost. Cuz i was thinking of buying these 2. What is cheaper 2 blackouts or these, and what would u recommend?

[elementskater94]

the emgs r like 20 dollars more than the balckouts

but i cant which ones to get cause i havent tried emg x

but blackouts are still beast

[H3lloSE]

@elementskater94 i got the EMTYs of mick thomson, THEYRE AMAZING!!! i have a review of em on my youtube account, although my clean bit sucks. had some problem with amp. im getting these ones this summer or just the normal emgs. we'll see

[deftones615]

can i keep my 60 and put in an 81x?

[elementskater94]

idk

cause the emg x have a new wiring system thing

[deftones615]

yea thats what i thought. so if i wanted to go emg x id have to rip out all the wiring? lol.. f*** it then, ill just go SD Blackouts instead.. any suggestion anyone?

[elementskater94]

SD blackouts ftw

[eddieboy1234]

@elementskater94 hey bro are Sd blackouts better in your opinion?

[elementskater94]

um i personally havent tried them

ive tried a couple of emg guitars

but i heard from this one guy that has tried both sets in his guitar says they sound "fuller" and they have more chunky sounds comes out of them and their cleans are really nice

search up "Seymour Duncan Blackout vs. EMG ESP lh-300"

he has a good example of in his video

[Th3R3GuLaToR]

@elementskater94

thats not even a fair comparison...EMG ESP lh300's....really? thats like comparing an EMG 81-85 set or an 81-60 set to Duncan designed pickups...or even better the Seymour Duncan JB set....its not a fair comparison. I seen someone even say that those EMG-ESP's are passive. really?

[petersamps]

The new pickups are compatible with the original EMG pickups' wiring. The new system makes it easier to wire without soldering, includes an active tone control (which you may not necessarily care about), but that's the only real difference. They still function the same in general (same voltage, signal goes the same way, etc.) At least that's what I saw when I read the PDF on the EMG site.

[epicrate31]

wait a minute man... I put X'm in my guitar and it's not hard at all to do. No soldering, it comes with everything you need. And you can switch them out if you want. I was debating blackouts or X's and I went with the X's and I'm glad I did

[elementskater94]

nice bro how do they sound?

is it true it uses ur amps natural gain?

[epicrate31]

They are awesome. I just made a video of mine. Check out my vids. I'd say that it gives a better sound to the metal guitarists and the hard rock guitarists because they have a lot of headroom. They also give great harmonics in the leads. As to natural amp tone, theres a lot of gain in the pickups so you get some distortion in the clean tones unless you have your gain down a lot on the amp

[CreeCore94]

i poped the 81 on my single pickup jackson and it sounds fucken amazing

[H3lloSE]

@epicrate31 i got the blackouts EMTY, now im getting the Xs EMG this summer

[Th3R3GuLaToR]

@deftones615

they have a 60x as well

[Fluffypopcicle]

i think i might have to get these. its gonna come down to these or some dimarzios. ive always liked dimarzios better though so i dont know...

[LeoRyan]

nice head room!

[FeelTheFight]

Ooo, clean tones are really better... But I hope that

distortion sounds better, than in this video. : |

[lenmetallica]

oooo do i spot a missed note on 3:32?

[RipIPDime]

horrible tone imo, but i still heard the good dynamics and stuff of thepickups which is nice