EMG 85 BK

218

Guitar Pickup

Active pickups in electric guitars are where opinions differ: But one thing must also be admitted by skeptics: The EMG pickups sound fantastic and produce no background noise, and the long list of prominent users (including David Gilmour, Steve Lukather and Metallica's Kirk Hammett) simply speaks for itself!

The EMG 85 is modelled on the legendary PAF, uses Alnico magnets and therefore sounds warm and melodious without emphasising certain frequencies. Pure guitar! Black with gold EMG logo.

  • Humbucker
  • Active version
  • No background noise
  • No humming
  • Alnico magnets
  • Warm attack with rich trebles and mids
  • Very similar to PAF
  • EMG logo gold
  • With potentiometers
  • Colour: Black
Available since January 2002
Item number 152101
Sales Unit 1 piece(s)
Active Yes
Wiring 2-Conductor
Output Medium
Kappe Yes
Colour Black
Position Bridge, Neck
$77
The shipping costs are calculated on the checkout page.
In stock within 3-4 weeks
In stock within 3-4 weeks

This product is expected back in stock soon and can then be shipped immediately.

Standard Delivery Times
1

218 Customer ratings

4.8 / 5

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sound

quality

100 Reviews

Wd
The classic
Why do I need nickname? 14.01.2019
Ordered this pickup a while ago for a project, used it in bridge position (with SA in the neck).
There are lot of stereotypes of EMG pickups on the internet, but screw them. Does it sound like a 59 Les Paul pup? Hell no.
But it is not supposed to. It is bright, aggressive, but can be tamed with volume pot. It balances well with active single coil in the neck too, giving the middle position a bit of extra depth and complexity.

Obviously, if you want best active pickups on the market, completely ignoring the cost, go for the Fishman Fluences. However, EMG 85 makes a compelling option both for bridge and neck positions.
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TH
EMG 85
Tomasz Helel Popowicz 16.05.2013
hi,

Fantastic active pickup for neck position.
Gives full and fat "neck sound" both overdriven and clean.


Tomasz
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A
Great pickups
Anonymous 17.12.2014
I bought this pickup together with the 81 for my ESP Horizon from 2000, which had stock pickups. For the style we play in the band (thrash), the sound is a huge leap from previous pickups. For rock to brutal metal, it's highly recommended. Cleans on this one (neck) are also actually quite well defined and warm.

The second great thing is the solderless approach. It comes with the needed pots, and without having much guitar tech knowledge, I managed to install everything correctly, until I came to the point to solder them to the selection switch... this I got a tech to do, as I don't know how to solder. Nevertheless, very good idea from EMG.
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J
Doubled the value of my guitar!
John84 16.08.2018
I bought this pickup to upgrade my matt black Epiphone SG Junior.
The pickup costs almost as much as the guitar but it was worth every cent. The sound is great with high sustain, excellent clarity.
Installation is very easy with this solderless design. Just make sure you have room for the 9V battery.
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