85 Review

manufacturer: EMG date: 10/25/2012 category: Pickups
EMG: 85
Its sound is, bluntly put, massive. As a humbucker, its made for being a rythm pickup and having a huge crunch to it. And that it does.
 Sound: 8.7
 Overall Impression: 8.7
 Reliability & Durability: 9
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reviews (3) 33 comments vote for this gear:
overall: 8.7
85 Reviewed by: EpiExplorer, on june 30, 2009
4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 100

Purchased from: GuitarWorld - NY city

Sound: As one of the leading and most famous products of EMG, it definatly lives up to a reputation. Its sound is, bluntly put, massive. As a humbucker, its made for being a rythm pickup and having a huge crunch to it. And that it does. To me, it makes the sound of the guitar much thicker, it vastly improves the sound of a guitar, and gives it a unique tone too. I'm also able to mimic a vast range of band sounds, like Machine Head, Slipknot, Amon Amarth and to a lesser extent Scar Symmetry (cheap but good 7 strings are hard to find). Its got a very strong ''80's heavy metal'' quality to it, making it very appealing to the ears, so to speak. Sounds great for playing anything heavy, makes palm muting sound very chuggy like old Judas Priest or Metallica. It is best paired off with another EMG, possibly an 89 or in my experience an 81, which is a classic pickup set-up. The only thing I'm not comfortable with is its sort of, disdain for the top 3 strings (G B E). They sound incredibly thin, and even with the volume fully up, you cant get rid of the plucking sound which dominates the tone. That said however, in my set up of an Epiphone Explorer with an EMG 81 at the bridge and the 85 at the neck and the toggle switch in the middle, it has a very good solo-ing tone for Machine Head, particularly for their album, the Blackening. This has become my main tone for playing. It actually has a positive effect to distortion, it requires less effort for hammering and improves the crunch by a substantial amount and responds much better than an 1. I'd say keep the pickup in the neck position, it has no use in the bridge because of the confusing sound you get. By confusing I mean it has no real place, its too strong for soloing but with too much bass for rythm playing. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Like the 1 I wrote about earlier, it seems very durable, the only thing needing to be replaced is the battery which lasts very long indeed. Apprently if you have two battery connections it improves the sound somewhat, I havent tried this as it has a large electric fault factor. I can definately say I'd replace it if it did break. May be a pain because of installation waiting periods and the fact that its pretty expensive to buy. But dont let that put you off, if you happen to have 90 for a small, absolutely magical electromagnet, then dont hesitate! // 8

Overall Impression: Its a bit hard to fault, overall, though it does have some problems. Price for one, it costs a lot for the actual pickup, and it does increase the price of guitars with pre-installed pickups by quite a lot, such as when comparing the Ibanez MBM2 (Matt Bachand Signature and the Ibanez MTM2 (Mick Thomson Signature), The MBM2 is around 490 and uses an 81/85 setup, while the MTM2 is more or less the same except from the paint job and the headstock, yet the MTM2 has Ibanez passive V7/V8 pickups, and is around 100 less. As mentioned, I installed this into an Epiphone Explorer, which is a somewhat basic guitar, but the EMG makes it sound as good as something 3 times as expensive. And I wouldnt have it any other way. In all honesty, I couldnt imagine having a guitar without it. It just feels so good to play. Also, it looks killer, very smooth and shiny with that golden logo on it and of course, black goes with everything. In my humble opinion, if you're thinking about buying one then get it, the only thing you need to think about is what its attatched to (or not attatched to). // 9

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overall: 8.3
85 Reviewed by: sea`, on october 25, 2012
1 of 1 people found this review helpful




// 8

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overall: 9.3
85 Reviewed by: Fenderexpx50, on september 02, 2011
0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 75

Purchased from: eBay

Sound: It has a bit more output than the 81 according to EMGs chart. Can't really remember how much, something in the 2-2.4 volt area. It's fairly bass heavy, has good mids, but the treble seems to not be as present as on a passive or the 81. Probably has to due with my guitar being all mahogany and the alnico magnet. I've used 85's in both positions. Does well in all of them really. In this particular guitar in the bridge, it sounds great. It's got a really heavy, dark sound due to the pickups inherent tonal qualities and the thick mahogany body guitar. But it doesn't get muddy at all. It stays crystal clear even under high gain. It's a lot warmer sounding than the 81 which I like. I never cared for the 81 myself. I really like even though it's really bass heavy it can still have a defined sound. At home, I use it with a Vox Valvetronix. Sounds good through that. For times when I actually play out, I've got a Fender Champ 25SE and two overdrive pedals I use. The EMG makes that setup sound really heavy. I can actually go for some 80's metal and almost get there. No fault of the 85, but without real preamp tubes it doesn't sound quite right to me. It hits the amp nice and hard. It also has this tightness about it that no passive pickup I've heard has. Very articulate. It's important to me that the sound be very clear. The only downside is the slight loss of treble you get. // 9

Reliability & Durability: It'll last. It's sealed up in epoxy. Short of doing something crazy, I think it'll be alright. The only issue with these is the battery. I replace mine every few months. They get about 170 hours in two months, but the actual life is 3000 for one. I just always keep a fresh one in there since they're not that expensive. Basically when I change strings I change it too. They don't sound good when the battery goes. // 10

Overall Impression: I really love the huge bass and clarity of the pickup. The installation is a breeze, though the prewired pots might be a bit short for your guitar if the original pots were far away from each other. I put it in a Washburn X-50 Pro in the bridge. Kind of by chance really. I had it laying around and I figured the SH-11 would sound good in my RG. It did and this kicks a-s in the Washburn. It's the only functional pickup on the guitar as of now, the '59 is out of the circuit but still in the guitar. I'm thinking of a 60A for the neck. I've been using EMGs for nearly my whole time playing, not exclusively, but I've always had a guitar with them. They really do offer a specific sound, but if it's what you want you can't beat them. These are made for high gain amps. They're not bad clean either. I've stuck with the 85/60A setup. To me, that's the best. They do cause a slight treble drop, but I just add more when I use this guitar and it's good. But that tightness they have is worth that. EMGs are great if you want to hear yourself as clearly as possible. I'd highly recommend it to someone else. EMGs don't quite have that organic sound a passive does, but they have the clarity and huge sound passive's don't. If you have a second or third guitar and want different tones, these might be worth a look for you. // 9

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