Description
Every high-gain revolution needs an origin story, and for EMG that story is the 81. Built around potent ceramic magnets and tightly wound close-aperture coils, this active humbucker delivers a focused, aggressive voice with sharp high-end definition and sustain that just keeps singing. Drop it in the bridge and your leads won’t just cut through a dense mix, they’ll carve straight through it. Load it front and back and you’re in blistering territory. Players chasing versatility often pair it with an 85 or a 60 in the neck for a wider tonal palette without losing that signature bite.
- Ceramic magnet design for high output and aggressive attack
- Close aperture coil construction for tight, focused clarity
- Classic bridge-position workhorse; equally brutal in dual-pickup setups
- Pairs well with EMG 85 or EMG 60 for added range
What sets this particular finish apart is the cover itself. EMG went looking for a reliable source of true chrome-finished caps and found the plated options inconsistent from batch to batch, with no real control over how the coating might color the pickup’s tone – and no domestic manufacturer to speak of. Rather than gamble on someone else’s plating process, EMG engineered a solution in-house: a one-piece, mirror-polished stainless steel cover cap. It looks like chrome, it’s priced like chrome, and because EMG controls the entire process, the tonal output stays virtually identical to their standard molded caps, batch after batch.
Designed and produced in the USA.
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