EMG are an American company that specialize in producing high output active guitar pickups.
For many years, their signature models, the 81 and 60, in addition to the 85 and 89 models, have been synonymous with the more extreme forms of heavy metal. Their pickups are characterized with high treble and midrange, and strong pick attack.
They have been favored by Metal bands for their aggressive sound and high output, but have been criticized for having poor clean tone and and inorganic, artificial sound due to most of the output coming from the pickup's preamp, rather than the magnetic pickup itself. -Subjective opinion above: Both David Gilmour and Steve Lukather, among other, have warm and smooth tones using the EMG.
Popular active pickup. Used in neck position, usually with EMG 81 in bridge position.
EMG 81
Brand:
EMG
Model no.:
81
Construction:
Humbucker/ Active
Position:
Bridge and Neck
Magnet:
Ceramic
Description:
One of the most popular active pickups, first introduced in 1981. Usually found in the bridge position with a EMG 85, EMG 60 or a second EMG 81 in neck position.
EMG 85
Brand:
EMG
Model no.:
85
Construction:
Humbucker/ Active
Position:
Bridge and Neck
Magnet:
Alnico 5
Description:
Popular active pickup, first introduced in 1981. Used in neck position, usually with EMG 81 in bridge position, but some users have found it works very well in the bridge, sometimes with better results than the 81.
