EMG 85 Active Guitar Humbucker Bridge/Neck Pickup, Black

The 81/85 combination is absolutely awesome! I replaced this set in my Ibanez S521 with only minor alterations to the guitar. The only thing to remember is the jack wiring is slightly different from the directions. The battery black is on the right side tip, and the pot white is on the left side tip as you face the jack. Other than that, these pickups scream. Highly recommend if you want a metal sound.

Best investment, period. I grabbed an 81/85 combo, and it turned my stock knock-off guitar into a straight neck monster. Wiring was so simplistic. I used my stock bridge toggle, and that was as easy as stripping two ends and screwing it into the bus adapter. Just get a screwdriver and a 9v and you should be set. It says SOME situations require some soldering, but it's light work on metal and few and far between. The sound I got is fantastic. I can't really properly describe it, but you can check out videos, lots of em out there. I coupled these with a set of Slinky Cobalts and I feel like I have a real guitar now.

It's my favorite bridge pickup. I prefer the voicing better. 18v mod is also good. It opens up some headroom and some more complex tones can be produced. It's also great at 9v, scooped, clipped metal tone. Most people use it for the neck. If you've never installed pickups before, their self-installation guide makes it easy, even if you're adding extra controls. The diagrams are great, you don't really even need to read much. Just make sure you're looking at the proper diagram, there are a number of them for different layouts. You either love them or hate them.

I used to wrongly think that EMG's were only for heavy metal, until I got a guitar that had an 81 in the bridge. I liked that one so much for the wide variety of great tones it provides, I got the 85 as well. This is a really great-sounding neck pickup - very thick and warm tone but not muddy in the least. I like it as much, if not more, than the SD Jazz. It's a very versatile, great-sounding pickup and I highly recommend it for blues/rock.

Originally used this in the neck of my jackson js32 king V. Later on got a new guitar and stole the Vs 81 and swapped the 85 into the bridge. Its not as crunchy as the 81 for the bridge but is still a good pickup. Gonna buy more 81s for all my guitars and possibly some 85s and mayne even a 60 or two.

great distortion

No screws in sight and one of the screw holes was snapped clear off. It had obviously been opened before.

I love the sound of the EMG, and this sound incredible in my Jackson. I can't speak to the ease of installation, as I had them installed, I didn't do it myself.