Description
The 81TWX isn’t a coil-tap trick — it’s a genuine dual-mode humbucker built with a reverse single coil living inside the same housing as EMG’s iconic 81. Instead of thinning out a humbucker signal like traditional coil-splitting, EMG engineered two distinct, fully-formed pickup voices you can call up whenever the song demands it.
- Mode one delivers the 81’s signature aggressive crunch and cutting attack, the tone that’s powered high-gain rigs for decades.
- Mode two switches to a classic single-coil character, opening up a chimier, more textured alternative from the exact same pickup.
- A simple push/pull pot handles switching between the two — no extra routing, no complicated wiring schemes.
- EMG’s internal X preamp actively shapes both modes independently, so each voice stays distinct rather than blending into a compromise.
- Active EMG noise-cancelling circuitry is present in both single-coil and humbucker modes, keeping hum and hiss out of the signal no matter which side you’re on.
Being part of EMG’s X series, the 81TWX also runs with more headroom than a standard active pickup. That extra breathing room gives it a more open, organic response while keeping the tight low end and articulate clarity EMG pickups are known for — players often describe X series pickups as landing right in the middle ground between passive warmth and active punch.
Add in EMG’s solderless installation, and the 81TWX is an easy way to get genuinely two pickups’ worth of tonal options out of a single humbucker slot, finished in black.
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