EMG 81TW Black

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...

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.

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.

I bought these pickups as an upgrade in my LTD KH-202. It originally had EMG designed pickups which I felt were muddy when distorted. I installed the EMG 81-TW in the bridge and an EMG 89 in the neck. The results have been fantastic, with an aggressive clear and crisp tone from the bridge and a warmer tone from the neck. This combination allows me to coil split both pickups when pulling either corresponding volume knob, providing fantastic versatility and a wide range of sounds.

The solderless installation was a breeze and much more straightforward than other installs.

I highly recommend this pickup to anyone looking at an EMG 81 but wanting more versatility.