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Your cart is empty.The EMG 85-X provides increased headroom giving the voicing an organic and open tone while still maintaining the clarity and response that EMG’s are renowned for. Featuring close aperture coils loaded with Alnico V magnets and powered by a newly designed preamp, the 85-X is a powerful pickup with exceptional tone and versatility across the spectrum. The Alnico magnets give a warm growl and velvet lead tones that enable you to play the deepest of blues to the most extreme metal. Try it in the bridge position for exceptional smoothness and soul. This pickup pairs well with just about every other humbucker in our line. Give it a try and experience why the “X” factor is exciting players all around the world.
Carol sanders
Reviewed in the United States on May 16, 2022
This pick up kicks ass
Kindle Customer
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2016
Awesome pickups clean metal sound. Very professional in jackson and ibanez. I would recommend them to anyone.
Michael M.
Reviewed in the United States on December 24, 2013
I replaced my EMG 81 with this pickup in the bridge position. Great alternative, more beefy and balanced sound, basically what you read about this versus the older series is true.
A. Oliveti
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2012
I'll start off by saying I was never crazy about the 85. I always preferred the 81 in the bridge position, but the 85-X has swayed me a bit. It seems to have a tiny bit more output than the original 85 and it sounds less dark. The 85-X sounds great in either the neck, or the bridge. I've got one in my Godin Redline 1, which only has 1 pickup. I play melodic death/thrash, which is a hard sound to conjure. Its gotta be heavy and brutal, but also clear... A contradictory tonal nightmare. This pickup bridges the gap adequately.
Austin
Reviewed in the United States on January 31, 2012
I've been using EMGs for over 5 years now since getting them stock in my EC-1000. I was at first apprehensive about having to use a 9v battery which of course needs continual replacement, but after reading that EMG estimates 3000 hours of play time per battery, I thought it would be of little consequence for what is given in return (which proved to be true for me). I originally had a 60n-81b set up until deciding to experiment and getting an 85, as I was at the time very much into playing metal and the 85 sounded better for dealing with high gain stuff and pinch harmonics in the neck position. Eventually, I put back the 60 because I now play a much greater variety of music and it has a much nicer clean/crunch sound. While I was replacing pups, I decided to put the 85 in the bridge to see how that would sound compared to the 81 I'd been using for years. The 85 proved to be a much nicer bridge pup for me. It sounds far less bassy, though it is by nature a bassy pup, more articulate and versatile than the 81. Soon after this, I discovered the x series and after a few side by side sound tests, I was sold. The x series is supposed to have a more organic and clear sound while maintaining the aggressiveness and punch of the original and indeed it does! They maintain all the things I loved about the originals, while improving greatly the things I disliked. When compared side by side, the originals sound muddy and more noisy (in a bad way). I bought a 60x for my neck which improves on the original on all fronts. It's similar to combining the 85 and 60 minus the cons of each, i.e. the 60x has more punch, nicer harmonics and better sustain than the original (all the reasons I replaced it with the 85 in the first place!) while maintaining the clarity and articulation of its predecessor. I have read of people not liking the x series as much because of the decreased output and aggressiveness, which is something that worried me at first, being a lover of the art of shred (pantera reference! m/ lol) however, I find the x series to sound far nicer even for seriously overdriven stuff. I was thinking very seriously about getting some Seymour Duncans, as they make the best passives I've ever played and I even thought the blackouts sounded better than the original EMGs. The x series changed my mind and with EMG's solderless system, changing pups is a breeze. I've had my 60x/85x setup for a few days now and my rig is sounding better than ever! If you find yourself on the fence, go to youtube and find a video that involves a good test and mic for recording and judge for yourself.
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