EMG 81TW Black

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Pickup for Electric Guitar

Active hybrid of a humbucker and a single coil
Ceramic and steel magnets
Position: bridge
Humbucker-esque crunch and attack, similar to the EMG 81 but with additional single coil sound
Output: high
Connections: solderless
Dimensions (width x height x depth): 69.9 x 38.1 x 27.6 mm
Distance between the mounting screws: 78.5 mm
Cap colour: black
Made in the USA

Included:

EMG's exclusive solderless installation system
25 k Tone potentiometer
25 k Push / Pull potentiometer
Battery bus
Stereo output socket
2x Pickup in / out bus
Mounting screws and springs
Pickup cable
2x Connecting cables
Output cable
Battery cable

30-Day Money-Back Guarantee

3-Year Thomann Warranty

Available since April 2008
Item number 205048
Sales Unit 1 piece(s)
Active Yes
Output Medium
Cap Yes
Colour Black
Position Bridge

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37 Customer ratings

5 26 Customers 4 8 Customers 3 2 Customers 2 0 Customers 1 1 Customer

4.6 / 5

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22 Reviews

A classic sound BUT a pain to install

Jackson99 24.03.2021

I got the 81 for the classic EMG sound to update my Washburn EC29. I got the solder less circuit with an EMG 3 position strat toggle to keep things tidy and fast (BTW I am very good at soldering)....IF ONLY I KNEW!!! The installation took me a whole day: 1. The prewired pickup cables could barely fit through the guitar holes as the ends with the click-on adaptors are bigger than the wire diameter and the TW has 3!!! The schematics are useless: LOTS of explanations and scenarios but lack of basic explanations of what the circuit should do and how the signal should run. I found out myself that when you get the EMG switch, you do't need the EMG cable base, how the signal should go in and out of the tone pots, how the power is distributed across etc... If I soldered the thing it would take me 10 minutes FFS...Be prepared for a lot of work AND be prepared that your guitar wiring holes might be SMALL which means you basically need drilling skills as well...

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EMG 81 but better

JesperCFC 17.08.2013

EMG has become a large part of a lot of metal musicians sound for many years.
I've tried lots of pickups and making the swap to active pickups was a great decision.
The EMG 81 is a great pickup, tight powerful sound. good response with a clean signal and tight punchy direct sound when exposed to a high gain signal.
The EMG 81TW version of the 81 has a pot that when pulled out splits the pickup so it acts like a single coil pickup. i used this in single coil mode when playing bright clean strumming and acoustic sounds. as with single coil pickups against humbuckers, the single coil mode is quieter than its humbucker mode so it responds just how you would expect it. think of it as an EMG 81 and an EMG SA in one slot
As for installation it was a five minuet job due to the simple non-solder set up. it turned my guitar into a monster that i gigged with for ages, and when i accidentally broke that guitar, the pickup came right out of it and into another guitar.
The 81tw is great if you like the tone of the 81 but want a little bit more flexibility.

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Very disapointed with TW81

Don Santiago 17.02.2026

I'm a huge fan of EMG. i have the Bone Breaker set, incredible Metal pickups. I had a EMG 58 and EMG 85 set on another guitar, I like it a lot but decided to trade the 85 for the 81TW so it was a more versatile guitar, with highs akin to the Bone Braker set.

the pickups weren't easy to instal. the technician had to remove the connectors in order to go thru the routing holes. But, worse than that, they sound anemic, no transients, no highs, not EMG characteristics found on another EMG PU.

the 58 on the neck has to be deep into the body, and even so, sounds louder than the 81TW.
i was thinking of pairing it with the 81TWx later on, but I'm going to take it out and install the 85 again.

i'm going to sell it has soon as I can, but I can't recommend it to anyone. very disapointed, not good enough for any Rock minded style, or anything else. they lack gain, sound weak, like a forgetable passive unit.

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Why is pickup not more poplar?

Token 21.04.2020

I love the sound of the EMG81. It's nice, thick and compressed. Great for High Gain sounds. I however have a single humbucker guitar and having just the 81 in the bridge does not cut it for cleans. Enter the TW. The split coil solves the problem. It maintains all the qualities of the 81, but cleans it up and adds the sparkle of a single coil to the sound. And it's noiseless!

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EMG 81TW Black

Pickup for Electric Guitar

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37 Customer ratings

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22 Reviews

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EMG 81TW Black

Pickup for Electric Guitar

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